A Step Backward or Downward
1 Corinthians 13:11-13
Gustav Klimt, The Kiss1 Corinthians 13:11-13
"When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."
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Dear Graduating Students,
Congratulations on your achievements! Because I came to this church about two months ago, I could not see clearly what you have learned at this church and how you have put into practice what you learned. However, today is a special day to celebrate your graduation. I am glad to share my thoughts on graduation with you today.
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Do you know the meaning of the word graduation? Graduation comes from a Latin word gradus. The word gradus originally means “a step climbed on a ladder or stair.” So graduation ceremony is to affirm that now it is the time for you to have completed a step forward or upward and begin to make a new step. When we imagine someone making a step forward or upward, we tend to liken that action to development or growth. With that imagery in mind, now we assume that you have more knowledge about God and Jesus and you are more ready to practice what you learned from God and Jesus on a daily basis.
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However, do you know that for Christians, graduation actually means a step backward or downward? While graduation outside the church means becoming more intelligent, more capable, more powerful, and more ambitious, graduation inside the church means becoming more foolish, more incapable, more delicate, and more humble. Sounds strange, doesn’t it? It is because Christian education purposes to teach you how closely we are interconnected with God and with others. It is because Christian education aims to teach you how important it is to be loved and to love. Our great teacher Jesus summarizes the very thick Bible into the two very simple sentences: “Love God. And, love your neighbors as yourself.” To be loved and to love, even though you are quite intelligent, you need try to remain foolish, To be loved and to love, even though you are quite capable, you need try to stay incapable. To be loved and to love, even though you are quite powerful, you have to become delicate. To be loved and to love, even though you are quite ambitious, you would better to remain humble. In this sense, Christian education is opposite to what we learn at the regular school.
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So from now on, I hope that you keep one word in mind. That is love, the purpose of Christian education. As you grow up more and more, I pray your love for God will also grow and mature. Remember your love for God begins with your honest respect for God. If you really respect God, I have no doubt that you take your worship time carefully and cautiously even if it is boring and tiring. When you respect and love God sincerely, I am pretty sure that you can respect and love your parents, your brothers and sisters, and your friends. As Apostle Paul says, as you grow up, I hope you can see God and yourself more clearly not like a reflection in a mirror but a face-to-face meeting. At the same time, I hope you will more clearly realize that the most important thing in life is neither money, nor social status, nor power, but love which lasts eternally.
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Congratulations on your achievements once again! Please keep growing up in God’s love and with God’s wisdom.
Prayer
God, we all get together here to celebrate our kids’ achievement and graduation. We all pray that as their bodies get bigger and stronger, their faith in you God gets deeper and wider. We pray in your name Jesus the Christ. Amen.
