Praying and Learning Convocation Address Hubert R. Krygsman, President 8 September 2010

Transcription

1 1 Praying and Learning Convocation Address Hubert R. Krygsman, President 8 September 2010 Esteemed colleagues, students, and guests: On behalf of the Board, faculty, and staff, welcome all of you to Redeemer University College, whether you are a returning or a new student. And if you are new here, you should know that I am too. We ll discover our place here together, but from the three months that I ve been here, I can tell you this much Redeemer is a wonderful, hospitable community that will work hard to help you feel like you belong here. I hope you can sense the excitement in this place. We re expecting record enrolment this year, with over 900 students, including about 250 first-year students in the class of We ve hired new faculty and staff, we ve added course sections, we ve been preparing our courses, writing articles and books, and exploring ideas for teaching and spiritual development, and we ve been improving our facilities to provide welcoming service and maintaining a beautiful campus for all of us to enjoy. And we ve been praying for you all summer long not only that you might join us here at Redeemer, but also that your hearts and minds might be prepared for the work of the coming year. That work is not only exciting, but it s also a high calling and responsibility, and one vital to your growth and future: it is about developing your understanding, talents, relationships, and faith commitments in ways that are Scripturally-directed and rooted in a living faith in God, that help your God-given gifts and passions to blossom into good fruit, and that equips you for leadership and service to God s kingdom in the world around us. Quite a task! And its one that you cannot do on your own you will need to lean on the Lord with a great deal of prayer. In fact, our communal theme this year is pray without ceasing, as the apostle Paul instructs in I Thess. 5:17.

2 2 Perhaps at first glance this theme pray without ceasing is strange for Redeemer University. After all, you might think, you re here eager to take on the world to dig into your studies, prepare for your chosen career, develop your talents and relationships, and discover all things in Him, as we say. And Redeemer is just the place to do it: we hold to a Reformed, Biblical worldview that declares God s sovereignty and redemptive claims over all of life and our calling to serve actively as His hands and feet in the world. And now you re here, and the first thing we tell you is to go pray without ceasing. Does this seem like a bit of a downer? Pray without ceasing might sound too much like the desert fathers of the early church or the monastic orders of the Middle Ages, with men and women who sought to flee the corruptions of this world to focus on the life of prayer in order to get close to God and experience a foretaste of eternity in the present. Perhaps we re more inclined to sympathize with Mark Twain s Huck Finn. In one vignette, Huck remembers the time that he and his father were packing the winter s supply of salt pork. In a flash of witty practicality, Huck brightly suggests saying grace over the entire barrel to be done with it and save all those rote prayers at each meal. I suspect that some of us who wonder if prayer routines are meaningful would sympathize with Huck, and might not be too excited about the theme of pray without ceasing. The truth is, however, that leaders of the Reformed tradition like Luther, Calvin, Knox, Tyndale and Cranmer, and many others were also people of deep prayer, and in this way not so different from great Medieval church leaders like Gregory the Great, Anselm, Bernard of Clairvaux, Hildegard of Bingen, or Thomas Aquinas. Remember Luther praying on the steps of his monastery. Or read Calvin s commentaries on the Psalms, where you often will find him bursting out with the Psalmist in prayers of praise for God s glory displayed in creation or of confession and supplication. The same is true for Abraham Kuyper, the pastor and politician in late 19 th Century Netherlands who called for a renewed faithfulness to God in all areas of life and founded of a Christian university not unlike Redeemer. Kuyper s meditations like those in Near Unto God show a lively prayer life and deep fellowship with God. In fact, Kuyper goes so far as to say that to seek the nearness of God in the fellowship of prayer is the chief end of man, for it is in this fellowship that we most fully realize our calling to be image-bearers of God.1 So why is prayer so important for your education and development here? In a moment, I d like to take a closer look at I Thessalonians 5. But first I d like to show you some family photos. Here are

3 3 photos of our three children, all of them in their twenties and living on their own. Yes, my wife and I are empty-nesters. And yes, I know that you can t see these pictures from way at the back. Of course, the fact that you can t see them doesn t mean that the photos aren t there, nor that our children aren t real. We know them as we have all their lives. And even though they now live a distance away from us, we re still their parents, and they belong to us no matter what they do. The family relationship remains regardless of where we are. And we do our best to stay in touch with them, visiting when we can and phoning regularly just to talk, hear their voice, and stay in touch and on the same wavelength. I think most of you can relate, especially since you too will be living on your own, many for the first time. Even though we re not always with our children or talking with them, we always remain their parents, and they re always on our hearts. To pray without ceasing reflects a relationship with God that is something like this family connection. Let s turn to a closer look at I Thessalonians 5. Paul s letter was written to a young church in Thessalonica a church young in the faith, that is that was struggling to discover what it meant to live as Christians, while experiencing persecution from both Jews and Gentiles, and being uncertain about its future, and anxious about Christ s coming return. Sound familiar? It s a letter well-suited to young adults living in a world where all sorts of cultural forces and relationships can challenge us or corrupt us. And Paul s letter is one of encouragement, of instruction in living sanctified Godly lives between the times in the hope of Christ s coming Kingdom. Chapter 5 comes as the concluding summary of Paul s letter: 1 Thessalonians 5 4 But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. 5 You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. 6 So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and selfcontrolled. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. 9 For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10 He died for us so that, 1 Abraham Kuyper, Near Unto God, adapted by James C. Schaap (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 23.

4 whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. 4 Final Instructions 12 Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. 13 Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. 14 And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 15 Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else. 16 Be joyful always; 17 pray continually; 18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 19 Do not put out the Spirit's fire; 20 do not treat prophecies with contempt. 21 Test everything. Hold on to the good. 22 Avoid every kind of evil. 23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it. I d like to suggest four main points about this passage that connect our lives as a Christian academic community to praying without ceasing. 1. First and most broadly, as believers we are called to be children of light. As children of the light, God is working to sanctify and transform us in our whole lives, and in the process to shine His light through us to the entire world. And perhaps most significant is that word belonging the discipline of being sanctified children of the light is rooted in the fact that we belong not to the darkness or the powers of evil, but we belong to and are known by God, and He is working in us to become children of light from the inside out.

5 5 In other words, to be Christian students and scholars, we need of course to be Christian. I m sure you ve heard it before: you can get all the test questions right, ace all your courses, even sing all the latest praise songs and do volunteer work, and still flunk life. At Redeemer, your coursework and the Christian worldview that you develop are not just abstract theories or mental constructs; they are about real life, and your growing understanding is part and parcel of your whole person and life lived before the face of the living God. In fact, Paul s reference to light and darkness sets this passage in the context of the great cosmic spiritual struggle between obedience to God or Satan-led rebellion against him. In this struggle, we are called to resist the forces of darkness and disobedience in the world around us, and to be renewed as the image-bearers and the grace-filled community that God made us to be. But this, of course, is precisely what we cannot do on our own; we need God s grace in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ and the presence of the Holy Spirit to turn our hearts toward God. Prayer is one of the vital ways that God meets us with His grace. That we can pray at all is due to Christ s redemptive work and intercession, and to the Holy Spirit working in us. In prayer we acknowledge that we walk before and depend on God, and in the act of prayer God is working us over, restoring our fellowship with Him. Notice how Paul sums up with several key phrases: Be ever joyful that is, be fully who God is calling you to be so that the gifts and passions he s given you may flourish. Pray without ceasing Give thanks for every circumstance trusting in God s will, and don t quench the Spirit s fire, -- keep the Spirit-mediated lines to God open, and He will do it. Pray without ceasing seems to refer here to not just the occasion or act of praying, but a posture of having our faces turned toward God, or a state of being in a restored and open relationship with God. Or, it s a bit like that family relationship, where we are parents or children at all times no matter where we are, and we need to communicate to be united, in touch, and on the same wavelength. If you read the Psalms, especially those written by David, you ll know that this is a deeply intimate relationship. Think, for example, of the beautiful Psalm 139, which begins: O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. Here David pours out his heart, secure in the knowledge that he is known and loved by God inside and out. In prayer, God grows in us roots that drink from the living waters of God s grace, as Jeremiah and Jesus described it (see Jeremiah 2, 17; John 4:10-11),

6 6 so that, like David or like the righteous man in Psalm 1, we can rest in the sure knowledge that we are His, and then bear good fruit (see also John 15 Jesus Christ as vine, we as branches bearing good fruit as we abide in Him.) 2. Secondly, our fellowship with God in prayer also is important for our academic work. In Paul s description, to live as children of the light includes knowing the times we live in, testing the spirits of the culture around us, and discerning good and evil. Or, as many other parts of Scripture put it, we are called to seek wisdom the true understanding of reality in terms of God s ordering and purpose for it, so that we can know how to live rightly as God s image-bearers.2 Pursuing wisdom is a thus spiritual activity -- something we do in response to God s purpose, and that either acknowledges or denies God and is part of that great cosmic spiritual conflict. People living in darkness, however, do not see this relationship. As Paul writes in his letters to the Corinthians, the gods of this world dull our minds, preventing us from seeing the true light of the gospel in Jesus Christ, and clouding our ability to understand reality in the light of God s revelation in Christ (II Cor. 4:4). Our false gods and sin dulls our understanding of the whole truth and meaning of creation and leads us, as philosopher Roy Clouser explains, to create idols to explain life, its problems, and solutions.3 Pursuing wisdom, then, requires the transformation of our minds so that we take on the mind of Christ, through the work of the Holy Spirit (Romans 12:2; I Cor. 2, ). You know that familiar phrase from Proverbs: the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 9:10). To truly learn requires a spirit of humility and prayer. As children of light aware that we live and study before the face of God, we should recognize our own limits and the impact of sin on our own understanding; we should ask for forgiveness for our intellectual idolatry, for a humble heart willing to learn from others, for patience and strength to work at understanding others views; for the analytical skill to discern how creation is ordered and inter-related; and for spiritual insight to test what is true or false, and what is good or evil. In short, in our classes and studies we should pray without ceasing for God, through the Holy Spirit and Scripture, to lead us into all truth, and to direct our learning to 2 Science, as Kuyper argued, seeks the inter-relatedness, unity, and origin of the cosmos. See Kuyper, Lectures on Calvinism, , See Clouser, The Myth of Religious Neutrality, throughout.

7 7 faithful knowing, praising, and serving God. 3. Thirdly, note that Paul portrays being children of light rooted in spirit-filled fellowship with God as something communal. This community includes a God-given structure, so that Paul says: Respect those who work hard or are in authority over you in the Lord. But he also points to a communal responsibility that we each have to Encourage each other and build each other up. Paul s reminder about mutual encouragement and edification echoes Jesus prayer for unity in the church (John 17:23). And elsewhere Paul spells it out further, urging believers to be unified in the Spirit as grow in faith together, and as a sign of mature faith (Romans 15:5; Ephesians 4:1-13). We know well that this kind of encouraging community is very important for our academic community, and especially for young adult students who are forming their identities, faith commitments, and relationships as well as their academic gifts. And it can be especially challenging in something like greenhouse conditions where you are thrown together with 900 other young people, diverse views and personalities, stresses of studies and many other decisions like your Major and career, your friends, etc. I would say, then, that prayer is a vital part of our communal life and growth, because it is in the fellowship of the Spirit that we can truly grow in unity. To give just a few examples: In the prayerful classroom, we can encourage each other, being vulnerable and gracious to our colleagues, appreciating each other s gifts, and even debating with each other as iron sharpens iron (Prov. 27:17), as we wrestle together toward full understanding. In our relationships with our peers, colleagues, friends, and room-mates, our prayerful posture and attitude will help to bring grace, patience, encouragement, purity, and other fruits of the Spirit into our relationships. In recognizing our diverse cultural backgrounds and Christian confessional traditions. I am convinced that centering our life on Jesus Christ through prayer provides the basis for our unity and fellowship as a Christian community. In this unity we can be hospitably Reformed : that is, unabashedly advocating a comprehensive Biblical worldview while welcoming the diversity and gifts that other fellow-believers bring into our fellowship. As II Peter 4 urges, being hospitable is part of the transformed, Spirit-filled way of living.

8 8 4. Fourthly, prayerful fellowship with God also puts us in a position of readiness to be servants of God s kingdom. Jesus made this clear when he taught us to pray thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven (Matt. 6, Luke 11). To pray these words is not to say it s all up to you, God; instead, it expresses our willingness to accept and be instruments of God s kingdom. But this prayer also means that our fellowship with God, and indeed his coming kingdom, are not otherworldly or abstract, but are realities of fully-embodied, earthy, creaturely life. As Kuyper emphasized in contrast to the desert fathers, the nearness of God is not to be experienced in seclusion or escape from the world s problems, in some abstracted spiritual world. Instead, fellowship with God becomes real and meaningful in the face of the sin and conflicts of the world.4 Paul s Thessalonians passage certainly seems to indicate this same expectation but begins with our own sanctification. Put on self-control, test the spirits, hold fast to what is good, and avoid what is evil, all of these tell us that God s kingdom coming begins in us. Our prayerful fellowship with God, then, should include the renewal of our desire, courage, and skills to be kingdom citizens, and to be hands and feet of that kingdom by bringing healing and shalom to the world around us. Indeed, as we become grafted into Jesus Christ, the living vine, we may also grow into the imagebearers he calls us to be. Our goal and prayer at Redeemer is that we all will grow more fully into being children of light, knowing that we belong to God, equipped to test the spirits of our age, filled with the joy of growing into what God has called and gifted us to be, and ready to be hands and feet of His coming kingdom. May we pursue this work in prayer, continuously aware of our dependence on and fellowship with our gracious God, not as a replacement for our studies, our work or our engagement with the world around us, but as the condition and inspiration of being faithful, grace-filled, and transforming image-bearers in our classes, in our residence halls, in our work, and in the communities we live in. And remember: He is faithful, and He will do it! 4 Abraham Kuyper, Near Unto God, adapted by James C. Schaap (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 23.