I think it went well. I had the seniors come up to the platform and sit so they could face the congregation.
Here is the video:
Judson Sermon 20140504 "Embracing a Vocation, Not Pursuing a Job" from Jacqueline Thureson on Vimeo.
And here is the text:
Embracing a Vocation, Not
Pursuing a Job
Deuteronomy 8:1-10 & 2 Corinthians
text: “this treasure in earthen vessels”
(2 Cor. 4:7)
Recognition of Seniors – Second Sunday of
Eastertide – May 4, 2014
Judson Memorial
Baptist Church
– Minneapolis, MN
The Rev’d G. Travis Norvell
When I was in seminary, in the Fall
of ’96, driving in Richmond,
VA I heard a Johnny Cash song on
the radio. After the song I headed home,
put all of my cds into a large cardboard box, went to Plan9 down in the Fan
neighborhood, and traded them all in for the Johnny Cash box set and any other
Johnny Cash cds they had. I now pass
onto you my essential Johnny Cash cd. I
know your parents meant well, but if you do not know these songs, well, ur, I just couldn’t bare
the thought of someone knowing you were from Judson, that I was your pastor,
and you didn’t know these songs.
Now for a few questions.
How many of you switched your majors
in college?
How many of you switched professions
more than once?
More than twice, three times?
The book of Deuteronomy subscribes
to the conditional theory of life, if you do X then Y happens. Deuteronomy, as you all know, is the second
(duetero) telling of the law (nomos), from the Greek, the name coming from the
Septuagint, the translation of the Hebrew, Tanak, into Greek. The Biblical authors knew human beings have
spotty memories, thus the second telling of the law – Exodus was not enough, I
suppose. Remember, remember the forty
long years you wandered in the wilderness, remember, remember, remember. There is also a tinge of fear in the voice of
Moses. Perhaps he was scared that since
he would not be with them in the promised land the Israelites would forget
their experiences with God. Likewise,
there is a bit of fear in this day. We
are scared, somewhat, that you too will forget all that happened in your years
here at Judson. Not really, but kind of
.
Years ago your parents either here,
or at another faith community, or in the privacy of their hearts made a promise
with God to raise you in a way so that you too would develop a vibrant,
life-giving, and liberating faith. And I
must say they, and Judson, have done a helluva job. And now it is time for you to take what we’ve
given you and expand, recreate, thicken, customize, and place your own
creative/imaginative mark on it. And
yes, you can reject it as well.
But what is it that we have given
you? A list. Here is what we hope you take with you. First, why a list:
When
Roseanne Cash was 18 years old in 1973 she spent the summer on a tour bus with
her, finally, clean and sober father, Johnny Cash. As they were trundling through the South they
started talking about songs. She
remembers the conversation this way, “he mentioned one, and I said I didn’t
know that one. And he mentioned
another. I said I don’t that one either,
Dad, and he became very alarmed.” In
response that afternoon Johnny Cash compiled a list of 100 essential American
songs for his daughter’s education. I
hope this short list sums up your formation of your time growing up at Judson.
1.
We
hope we have given you a model of authenticity.
I
am sure you take this eccentric, idiosyncratic, bizarre grouping of individuals
that make up Judson you take for granted.
Let me say they are living proof
that there is a balm in Gilead. We are living examples of folk trying their
best to follow and make real the way of Jesus in this world, sometimes we do an
amazing job and other times not so much.
We’re not seeking perfection, we are seeking wholeness.
2. We hope we have given you permission to
fail.
We
hope you know it is okay (and you’re even expected) to fail. The sooner you caress this idea the easier
your life will be; better to fail now and realize it is not the end of the
world then to let the fear of failure run (and ruin) your life. Fail and know that God will be present; fall
flat on your face and know it is not the end of the world, as C.S. Lewis wrote,
“God can use even the wrong road to get you to the right place.” Start reading Lewis, but first read your
Parker Palmer book, then Unto Me by Walter Rauschenbusch
One more thing about failure,
specifically grades. Here is a little
secret the other tour guides wont tell you, “other schools are the only ones
who care about grades.” According to my
calculations I graduated at the top of my class in divinity school. The school even put a nice little gold foil
stamp on my diploma that reads with
distinction. But guess what? Not one search committee has ever asked me
for my GPA. When I go to see a doctor,
or a dentist, or a lawyer I never ask them for their GPA or a copy of their
transcripts. When I read a novel it
never crosses my mind to think, “I wonder if they were at the top of their
class?”
How
many here have had a meaningful conversation about your grades in the last five
years?
Once
you graduate you, for the most part, will stop talking or even care about your
grades. Author Malcolm Gladwell has even
suggested we put a moratorium on talking about our grades or where we went to
school. You’ll be surprised how far you
can get in life with a little knowledge, some interpersonal skills, and passion
for your vocation. I’m not saying don’t
do your best, but always remember you are more than your GPA. We know it.
We hope you know it and we hope you make sure others know it.
If that wasn’t enough then always
remember the wisdom shared by our 43rd President at the 2001
commencement of Yale
University.
To
those who received honors, awards, and distinctions, I say well done. And to the C students I say, you, too, can be
President of the United
States.
A Yale degree is worth a lot, as I often remind Dick Cheney who studied
here but left a little early. So now we
know: If you graduate from Yale, you become President; if you drop out, you get
to be Vice President.
3. We hope we have give you a model of
Christianity that focuses on human flourishing, that takes the bible seriously,
not literally, that can stand caricatures, and that is overflowing with visions
of peace & reconciliation & hope.
We hope you take your studies and integrate them with a social gospel
fire. If we could have be assured and
gotten copies in time we would have also got you copies of Thomas Piketty’s Capital
in the Twenty-First Century. Your
life has been shaped by a financial collapse and the awareness of the 1%,
income inequality will touch every inch of your life. You will have to do your part to make sure
the world is a just and equitable world.
We hope this way of Judson has been
as thoughtless as your next breath. This
is the Horace Bushnell model, the erudite antebellum & abolitionists
Congregational pastor. We are hoping
osmosis works. Speaking of osmosis, my
Greek and Latin professor encouraged us to sleep with our readers under our
pillows; he advocated academic osmosis.
When asked if it will work, he replied, “it cant hurt.”
4. Finally, we hope you embrace a vocation and
not use your time over the next few years just pursuing a job. Listen to your life, your choices, your
loves, your passions they all are parts of the voice of God. And I hope you too will consider the
ministry. Like I’ve told my kids, you
can be anything you want to be as long as you are radical Baptist pastors. When they roll their eyes, I reply, how else
are we going to create a theological dynasty?
In all seriousness I hope you embrace a life in the service of others. For 18 years of Sundays you have been
surrounded by a community that has given of itself in the service for
others.
How many of you are ordained?
How many of you are married to
someone who is ordained?
How many of you went to seminary?
How many of you have worked on a
church staff?
How many of you are counselors or
social workers?
How many of you are PKs or MKs?
How many of you have passed on
higher paying jobs to remain in a
meaningful
vocation?
We
have given you a fragile treasure in an earthen vessel, we trust it with you
now.
In closing. Because churches like Judson are few and far
between you have our blessing to seek a non-American Baptist church, if you
cannot find another Judson. However, if
we hear that you have either started attending an evangelical campus group and
are going around declaring that you have found the truth and now see the Judson
way as wicked & heretical or you are attending a Presbyterian church and
loving it, I will form a posse and will arrange an intervention.
The Lord Bless You and Keep You. Amen & Amen.
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