AU United Methodist Community

Rev. Mark Schaefer
Kay Spiritual Life Center
May 12, 2007–Baccalaureate Service
1 Kings 8:22-30, Psalm 121; Mark 6:6b-13

1 Kings 8:22   Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands to heaven.   23 He said, “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and steadfast love for your servants who walk before you with all their heart,   24 the covenant that you kept for your servant my father David as you declared to him; you promised with your mouth and have this day fulfilled with your hand.   25 Therefore, O LORD, God of Israel, keep for your servant my father David that which you promised him, saying, ‘There shall never fail you a successor before me to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your children look to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.’   26 Therefore, O God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you promised to your servant my father David.
27   ”But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, much less this house that I have built!   28 Regard your servant’s prayer and his plea, O LORD my God, heeding the cry and the prayer that your servant prays to you today;   29 that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you said, ‘My name shall be there,’ that you may heed the prayer that your servant prays toward this place.   30 Hear the plea of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place; O hear in heaven your dwelling place; heed and forgive.

Psalm 121:0    A Song of Ascents.
1             I lift up my eyes to the hills–
from where will my help come?
2             My help comes from the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
3                He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
4             He who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
5                The LORD is your keeper;
the LORD is your shade at your right hand.
6             The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7                The LORD will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
8             The LORD will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time on and forevermore.

Mark 6:6  Then he went about among the villages teaching.   7 He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.   8 He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts;   9 but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics.   10 He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place.   11 If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.”   12 So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent.   13 They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

I. BEGINNING

Welcome to one of the most interesting buildings on the American University campus: the Kay Spiritual Life Center.   The “flaming cupcake” as we like to call it.   Many of you have spent a lot of time here in this building.   For some of you, we should have charged room and board.   Others have been here regularly or on and off throughout the last four years.   For others here, this may be your first time in the chapel during college. Welcome.   I promise not to say which ones are which and in the receiving line, I’ll pretend to know all of you.

I often think of Kay as a microcosm of the entire community here at American.   There are people here of all faiths, some of no faith.   People of all political backgrounds, some of no political backgrounds.   There are activists and pietists, liberals and conservatives.   There are late night conversations, lots of pizza, and a constant shortage of available space.   All in all, an experience symbolic of one’s entire college experience.

II. THE DWELLING PLACE OF GOD

And of course, as everyone knows, the Kay Spiritual Life Center is where God lives.   At least on campus. (Now, of course, we know that God lives everywhere, it’s just that peple have a hard time imagining that God spends a lot of time in the dorms, particularly on South Side). In fact, a very old name for the Kay Center–probably as old as “flaming cupcake” is “God box.”   A comical reference to the nature of this building.

Now, some of you may recognize the Old Testament Lesson for this afternoon.   For it was the scripture lesson for the very first sermon I preached to you your freshman year, in August 2003.   I won’t poll you to see if you remember that. It is the story of the building of the Temple in Jerusalem.

The building of the temple was not without controversy.   Not in the same way that building projects today are controversial with questions of land use and zoning and all the things that homeowners worry about.   No, the building of the temple was controversial for theological reasons: whether it was right to build a temple for God at all.

Solomon’s own question at the dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem reveal the source of the concern: ” “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, much less this house that I have built!”

From the very beginning there were doubts as to whether it was right to box God up.   A sentiment echoed very well in an episode of The Simpsons when Homer becomes a missionary and helps the natives build a church.   “I may not know a lot about God,” he says, “but we sure built a pretty nice cage for him.”   And that was exactly the problem that many say with the construction of the Temple: it sought to domesticate God, keeping God safe and locked up.   Making God a servant of the state, rather than the power that stood apart from and challenged human power.

And there were consequences for their faith because of their having built the Temple.   When Jerusalem would be destroyed by the Babylonians centuries later, and the Temple burned, it would be a theological catastrophe: the dwelling place of God–the throne room of God was destroyed.   The people were carted off into Exile, removed from the land, removed from the dwelling place of God.

But it was at that time that the Prophets of Israel reminded the people of what they had known all along: God does not dwell in buildings–God goes with the people. Even away from home.   Even into exile.

God does not stay in the places where we are comfortable.   God goes with us into the uncomfortable reaches, into the mystery, into the places off the map.

III. TAKING ONLY A STAFF

That’s a comforting thought.   You’ve got enough stress at this time, with family and friends in town, dinner appointments to make, pictures to take, robes to rent (and return), platforms to cross without tripping.   It’s comforting to know that you don’t have to worry about the great unknown that lies ahead.

Because while you have been preparing for the last four years for this moment, developing skills, identity, and wisdom, it can still feel like you’re one of the disciples from the New Testament lesson: headed out with nothing “but a staff; no bread, no bag…” and especially “no money in [your] belts”.

A.  What you do take with you

But there are some things you do take with you.   You have grown in wisdom since your entry here.   I often say that no one knows more than a college freshman (just ask one) and no one knows less than a college senior (just ask one).   You’ve grown in some measure of wisdom in that you realize you don’t know as much as you thought you did when you first arrived.

You have seen something of the wider world, whether it’s through study abroad, or going to college in the big city (relatively speaking), or just having a roommate from somewhere else or with different points of view or different ideas.   You’ve realized the world is a bigger and more interesting place then perhaps you at first thought.

You have a body of knowledge that you’ve learned.   More importantly, you’ve learned that you can get by on your own.   The training wheels may not quite be off yet, but you can ride without relying on them.

And if those aren’t enough, let me give you some other lessons you can take with you:

B.  The next thing is not the last thing.

Every year I offer a support group for graduating seniors.   A chance for them to come together and share their concerns with one another and to talk out the things that are giving them anxiety.   One of the most common anxieties is job anxiety.   Particularly the anxiety of getting the right job.   I just want to say that if you don’t get your dream job right out of college, it’s okay: you can quit.   They can’t make you do anything forever that you don’t want to do.   If you don’t get your dream job right away–get a job that will pay you something, and go from there.   And I’ll let you in on another little secret, too: if you don’t like the career you’re in, you can leave that one, too.   I know whereof I speak–I used to be a lawyer.

C.  Your Parents are Faking It

Now, this is a secret that not many of your parents want you to know. At least not yet, but it may serve you well.   Everyone you’ve always looked up to, everyone who always seemed to have all the answers, who knew what to do in every situation, so confident and assured–all of those people…are faking it.   They’re making it up as they go along.   We all are.

Nothing, no amount of schooling, prepares us for everything life throws at us.   There are no classes that prepare you adequately for being a parent.   No class tells you how to make your husband, wife, or partner happy.   There is no degree that will teach you how to cope with a boss whose demands are unreasonable and coworkers who are unsympathetic.   There is no textbook that can answer all the questions you will have to face over the course of your lives.   And that’s okay.   You’ll think of something.   You’ll make something up.   Your parents and teachers and pastors were no better prepared for these challenges the first time they encountered them either.   You’ll survive.   And someday, little kids–perhaps your own–will look up to you and wonder how it is you’ve got it all together.

IV. MAKING A NAME FOR YOURSELF

So, here we are. At the end of your college careers.   It has at once been a long time and the blink of an eye.   You are headed out of here for bigger and better things.   Off to make a name for yourselves.

That part may be harder than you realize.   There are a lot of people trying hard to do exactly that and it’s been my observation that they don’t all succeed.   But there is something important to remember. The name you will make is less important than the name that you carry with you.   The Israelites had built a temple, a temple of which God had said, ” My name shall be there.”   But they found that when the Temple was destroyed, God’s name did not stay behind.   The name of God went with them in their midst.   In fact, the name of God was written upon them in the name of their people: Israel.

V.  END

And so it is with you.

You have come to the end of your college journey.   You will head out from here to graduate school, law school (God help you), the Peace Corps, government work, or the private sector.   You will try to figure out what these four years have meant and you may for a time be overcome by a sense of loss at leaving behind your college experience.

This may be your last visit to the Kay Spiritual Life Center.   The last real encounter with the community you have known here, the relationships you have forged here, the lectures you’ve attended here, the freshmen orientation sessions you had to sit through here.   The last time in this dwelling place of God.

But you never really leave it behind.   The experiences, the friendships, the memories, the things you’ve learned about yourself–they all go with you.   In the same way that God was not confined to the Temple in Jerusalem, your college experience is not confined to this campus.   Just as God’s name traveled with the people and was on their hearts, so too does this place go with you, and does this place write its name upon your hearts.

As you go off into the world to make a name for yourselves, remember the names that have already been given to you and the names that you have claimed as your own: son, daughter, brother, sister, friend, lover, fellow classmate, American University student, and beloved child of God.

For in many ways, as you go, you become the temples, the chapels, the dwelling places of God in the world.   The God who said of the temple “My name shall be there” has said that of you as well.   As you go off to learn, to teach, to serve, to work, you become the visible representative of this university, this community, and of the God who walked with you during your time here.

So, go…

Go from this temple, this dwelling place, this community..

Go into the wider world, to make a name for yourselves…

Go to be temples –dwelling places for God and for the name of God–for all those whom you meet…

Go to serve a broken world, a world in need, a big, wide world, waiting for you…