Greetings! I’m glad to be with you today, on this Thursday, in the Pastor’s Workshop.
As you are well aware, Sunday is Senior Sunday at Spring Valley. We’re proud of our seniors and all they’ve accomplished. We’re grateful to be able to share in this special time of worship with them.
Our Scripture is from Philippians 1:2-6, 2:12-13. The deep affection of the Apostle for the church of Philippi witnesses to the same heart we have for our graduates.
Thursday is the day “bring it all together” in the workshop. We review and reflect upon our thoughts, notes, and reflections from the week. We pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We ask God to help us see and “give voice” to the message “emerging” from the intersection of our “life focus” (commencement) and the Holy Scripture (Philippians).
Here’s what’s coming forward for me for this Sunday:
We are so proud of our Seniors on this occasion of their graduation. It’s a major milestone that speaks of hard work and effort, accomplishment and achievement. Congratulations!
At the same time, we’re hopeful for our Seniors about what’s ahead. Whatever path their lives will be taking we pray God’s best for them.
And we’re thankful for all who have stood with them and supported our Seniors. Family and friends, teachers, coaches, directors, mentors, youth pastors and pastors and a host of others have been a “great cloud of witnesses”. We share their joy!
In the midst of all this blessing, if there were one other desire I would have for our Seniors, it would be they would have a “better world” to enter. As they commence into this next step of their lives they would inherit a less troubled and more “whole” world.
Just in the last three months there have been seismic societal events that have rocked our country. The COVID pandemic, massive unemployment, and the social unrest following the killing of George Floyd have all been major social upheavals. And as you look at the “growing up” time of our graduates they have come through climate change, school shootings, and the political and social acrimony of “culture wars”. It’s been hard!
If wish I could “change that world” for them. But I can’t. We can’t. But what we can do is choose how we live in this world. What they can do is choose how they live in this world!
We can choose to live reactively. When we “Live Reactively” we have our outlook and attitudes about life shaped by these circumstances.
Or we can choose to “Live Proactively”. In the words of the Scripture, we can live each day in a way that we are “working out our own salvation”.
The Scripture from Philippians outlines “how” to live “working out our salvation”.
It begins with a foundation of “Grace and Peace” (verse 2). Grace is God being “forever for us”. Grace is God’s heart of love always turned towards us in Jesus Christ and with us by the Holy Spirit. Peace is the calm assurance grace brings to our lives as we stand on this “rock” of grace.
Then the Apostle writes, “I thank God whenever I think of you…”. Surely that is our “mind” towards our graduates as we think of them. We remember lots of fun and special times spent together. Those memories bring us joy.
At the same time we hope that these fun times were also faith times and that the special times were also sacred times. We pray that in the midst of our life shared together, our graduates also got a sense of sharing life with Jesus Christ. Ours has been a “partnership in the Gospel”.
In that partnership, we pray that our graduates will not only stand on the rock of “Grace and Peace” but will Rise Up on that rock and live out lives of love.
God’s grace not only “comforts”, it also “calls” us and our graduates. God “challenges” us to be the best we can be, so we can bring the blessings God would have us to bring to our world each day. Whatever path life takes the challenge is always the same. Love the world with Jesus’ love. Change the world through love. Love the world into change. Live a life that really matters and makes a difference. Live out, “work out”, “your own salvation”.
Do it with “fear” and “trembling”, awe and wonder. As you seek to love the world, you are joining Jesus in his work. As you join him in his work, he “joins you” with strength and support for the task at hand. But more, God’s grace will grow and mature you as a person of grace. As you seek to make a difference through love, God will make a difference in you. The Apostle says, “God is at work in you”.
Life is qualitatively different if you take this proactive path to living, if you live “working out your salvation”. Some people think of faith as the “great escape” from life. I think of it as the “great embrace of life”, life at its highest, best, deepest, and most abundant.
As I think about our graduates, my prayer for them is that as they reflect back on their time at Spring Valley they would do so with fondness. I also pray they would say, “Spring Valley provided a foundation and paved a future for my life of faith with Jesus Christ”. I pray they would live out “their own salvation with fear and trembling, knowing that God is at work in them, enabling them both to will and to work God’s good pleasure”.
That’s a pretty complete outline of my message to the graduates and us for Sunday. What are your thoughts? What is the message that has come forward for you from Philippians 1 and 2? Again (and always) pay attention and take the time to write down your “message”. This is how God is speaking to your heart.
Make sure you “tune in” to worship on Sunday. You will want to see our Senior video and experience our Senior leadership. It will be a blessing that puts a smile on your face and brings a joy to your heart.
In that promise, I look forward to joining you for prayer on Saturday and in praise on Sunday as we “work out our salvation” together at Spring Valley!
Prayer: Gracious God, thank you for the blessing of our Seniors. Thank you for this opportunity to celebrate them and Your grace in their lives. Thank you for the opportunity not only to reflect on your word, but also to be called by Your truth to live out Your love in our lives. Strengthen us as we would seek to “work out our salvation” today by blessing our world with your love. Guide us in that faith in ways that are to Your glory. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen