{"id":1438,"date":"2016-09-04T11:00:05","date_gmt":"2016-09-04T16:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/?p=1438"},"modified":"2021-02-26T09:54:23","modified_gmt":"2021-02-26T14:54:23","slug":"on-beginning-a-conversation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/2016\/09\/04\/on-beginning-a-conversation\/","title":{"rendered":"On Beginning a Conversation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Click here to listen to the full service<\/a><\/p>\n

Luke 14:25-33<\/a><\/p>\n

Click here to listen to the\u00a0meditations\u00a0only<\/a><\/p>\n

*On Beginning a Conversation: \u00a0<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n

A Psalm, 100<\/span><\/p>\n

*On Beginning a Conversation:<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n

A Prayer<\/p>\n

Gracious God, Holy and Just, Whose Mercy is over all thy works<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

We invoke thy blessing today as we embark on this new journey<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Guide us as we sail out for points unknown, ports unseen, and horizons unexplored<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Be our North Star, our compass, sextant<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Keep a clean wind blowing through our lives to make us happy and humble<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Help us to seek shelter when the gusts of loneliness and failure threaten to capsize<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Bless and help us to be a blessing to those commissioned to sail this ship, to the set our course, and to the lead the way<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

And a special intercession today for all sailors and crew on the good ship 2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

For those on the bridge\u2014wisdom<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

For those learning the ropes\u2014patience<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

For those working the in the rigging\u2014a light heart<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

For those who bid farewell at the gangplank, our parents and sponsors\u2014thanksgiving, <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

thanksgiving for the birthpangs that brought life, the hands that prepared us to sail, the hearts that forgave and conditioned and seasoned us, for the tear filled eyes and proud hearts that wave to us as the ship leaves the harbor, our mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, and our communities of meaning, belonging and empowerment\u2014thanksgiving, thanksgiving.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

O Thou who stills waters and calms seas, grant us fair winds, bright skies and an adventurous voyage <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Amen<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

*On Beginning a Conversation:<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n

Questions at the border (4): \u00a0What is your name? Where are you from? \u00a0Where are you headed? \u00a0Do you have anything to declare?<\/span><\/p>\n

*On Beginning a Conversation: \u00a0Read<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/strong>Here is a matriculation account. Vernon Jordan went to Depauw, a small Methodist school in Indiana, lead by various BU graduates. \u00a0His dad, mom, and younger siblings drove him up and dropped him off their in Greencastle, \u201cup south\u201d, Martin King might have said, from their home in Lousiana. \u00a0Weeping, his father said, \u201cVernon, we are not coming back until four years from now. \u00a0You are here where your future opens. \u00a0At graduation we will be here, sitting in the front row. \u00a0This is your time. \u00a0I have one word of advice. \u00a0Read. \u00a0When others are playing, you read. \u00a0When others are sleeping, you read. \u00a0When others are drinking, you read. \u00a0When others are partying, you read. \u00a0When others are wasting precious time and encouraging you to do the same, you read.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0He did. \u00a0Read, that is. \u00a0Last week, on Martha\u2019s Vineyard, Mr. Jordan celebrated his 80<\/span>th<\/span> birthday, in the company of Presidents Clinton and Obama.<\/span><\/p>\n

Speaking of Presidents, Boston University\u2019s third President, Lemuel Merlin, left Boston for Greencastle Indiana, to become the President of Depauw, nearly 100 years ago. \u00a0All of our Presidents\u2014Warren, Huntington, Merlin, Marsh, Chase, Christ-Janer, Silber, Westling, Chobanian, and Brown\u2014would salute this Augustinian slogan, \u2018take and read\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

For like our gospel lesson today, they and this University, have been interested in what makes a person human, in what makes a human be human, in what lies not outside, but inside, not in measurement but in meaning, not in the visible but in the soulful, not in making a living, only, but in making a life, fully. <\/span><\/p>\n

*On Beginning a Conversation: \u00a0Gaining Soul<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n

Your challenge in these fours years is not only to earn a BA. \u00a0Your challenge is to do so without losing your soul. \u00a0Your challenge is to do so gaining your soul, tending to the inside, walking in the light, becoming your own best self, finding the place where your heart, \u2018the inside\u2019 comes alive, uniting the pair so long disjoined, knowledge and vital piety, and uniting vocation with avocation, \u2018as two eyes make one in sight\u2019. \u00a0Frost:<\/span><\/p>\n

Yield who will to their separation<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

My object in living is to unite<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

My vocation with my avocation<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

As my two eyes make one in sight<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Only where love and need are one<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

And the work is play for mortal stakes<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Is the deed ever really done<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

For heaven and the future\u2019s sakes.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Each Synoptic passage is like a choral piece, including four voices. \u00a0There is the Soprano voice of Jesus of Nazareth, embedded somewhere in the full harmonic mix. \u00a0In Mark 7, Jesus conflicts with the Pharisaic attention to cleanliness. \u00a0There is the alto voice of the primitive church, arguably always the most important of the four voices, that which carries the forming of the passage in the needs of the community. \u00a0Here the community is reminded about the priority of the \u2018inside\u2019. \u00a0The tenor line is that of the evangelist. \u00a0Mark here, marking his own appearance in the record. \u00a0\u00a0The baritone is borne by later interpretation, beginning soon with Irenaeus, Against Heresies: \u00a0\u201cWhat doctor, when wishing to cure a sick man, would act in accordance with the desires of the patient, and not in accordance with the requirements of medicine?\u201d (in Richardson, ECF, 377) (If our church music carries only one line, we may be tempted to interpret our Scripture with only one voice, and miss the SATB harmonies therein, to our detriment.)<\/span><\/p>\n

*On Beginning a Conversation: \u00a0Mortality<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cIs it dead, Papa?\u201d \u00a0I was six and could not bring myself to look at it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYes\u201d, I heard him say in a sad and distant way.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhy did it die?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEverything that lives must die\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEverything?\u201d
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYes\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou, too, Papa? And Mama?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYes\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd me?<\/span>
\n<\/span> \u201cYes.\u201d, he said. \u00a0But then he added in Yiddish, \u201cBut may it be only after you live a long and happy life, my Asher.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

I couldn\u2019t grasp it. \u00a0I forced myself to look at the bird. \u00a0Everything alive would one day be as still as that bird?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhy\u201d, I asked.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the way the Ribbono Shel Olom mad this world, Asher.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo life would be precious, Asher. \u00a0Something that is yours forever is never precious.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRecently I\u2019ve been thinking about the difference between the resume virtues and the eulogy virtues. \u00a0The resume virtues are the ones you list on your resume, the skills that you bring to the job market and that contribute to external success. \u00a0The eulogy virtues are deeper. \u00a0They\u2019re the virtues that get talked about at your funeral, the ones that exist at the core of your being\u2014whether you are kind, brave, honest, or faithful; what kind of relationships you formed (p. xi).\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cPeople with serious illness have priorities besides simply prolonging their lives\u2026avoiding suffering, strengthening relationships with family and friends, being mentally aware, not being a burden on others, and achieving a sense that their life is complete\u2026our system of technological medical care has utterly failed to meet those needs\u201d (p. 155)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

*On Beginning a Conversation: \u00a0Scripture<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. I was saying these things and weeping in the most bitter contrition of my heart, when suddenly I heard the voice of a boy or a girl I know not which\u2013coming from the neighboring house, chanting over and over again, \u201cPick it up, read it; pick it up, read it.\u201d [\u201dtolle lege, tolle lege\u201d] Immediately I ceased weeping and began most earnestly to think whether it was usual for children in some kind of game to sing such a song, but I could not remember ever having heard the like. So, damming the torrent of my tears, I got to my feet, for I could not but think that this was a divine command to open the Bible and read the first passage I should light upon. For I had heard how Anthony, accidentally coming into church while the gospel was being read, received the admonition as if what was read had been addressed to him: \u201cGo and sell what you have and give it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come and follow me.\u201d By such an oracle he was forthwith converted to thee.<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    So I quickly returned to the bench where Alypius was sitting, for there I had put down the apostle\u2019s book when I had left there. I snatched it up, opened it, and in silence read the paragraph on which my eyes first fell: \u201cNot in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof.\u201d I wanted to read no further, nor did I need to. For instantly, as the sentence ended, there was infused in my heart something like the light of full certainty and all the gloom of doubt vanished away.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

    *On Beginning A Conversation: \u00a0Spirit<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n

    Class of 2020: \u00a0we are here with you because we are here for you (repeat). \u00a0We have come from many regions of the world and many ranges of your past experience in order to be present here, to share your presence, and our presence with you. \u00a0Here with you, we are here for you.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

    And yet, quite soon, we will not be present, at least some \u00a0of us. \u00a0The airplane will taxy down the runway, the gas tank will be filled, and we will be off, absent, or present in thought and care but not in flesh and bone. \u00a0\u00a0We will need to give you over, and to give over your commitment to, your delight in, \u00a0and your wonder at each other, to\u2026Another Presence, \u00a0God\u2019s Presence. \u00a0God\u2019s presence, spirit, or, as the reading for today names it, God\u2019s Abiding in us. \u00a0As will you, day by day, so will we need to trust in\u2026Another Presence. \u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

    You will sense the warm breeze, the sunlit horizon, the abiding grace of God\u2019s Presence by its fruit (Galatians 5:23). \u00a0Another Presence, of which you become aware, in your daily life together, by sensing the fruit of this presence. \u00a0God\u2019s love abides in us and is made whole in us, through these marks, these footprints, these touches of grace.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

    In Love. \u00a0Love is the attentive gift of time, as in the course of a lifetime of marriage. \u00a0In Love.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

    In Joy. \u00a0Joy is happy embrace\u2014physical, mental, spiritual, soulful\u2014morning and evening. \u00a0In Joy.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

    In Peace. \u00a0Peace is the gift\u2014all these are pure gifts of God\u2014of real listening, listening with a full smile and a glad heart. \u00a0In Peace.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

    In Patience. \u00a0A marriage needs persistence, the accelerator, and patience, the break, to make it over the mountains and through the deserts, and across the great plains of life. \u00a0Said the Buddha: \u00a0patience is self-compassion which gives you equanimity. \u00a0In Patience.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

    In Kindness. \u00a0Kindness is the long distance run, the gift of a gracious long distance perspective, known in part in the openness to forgiveness. \u00a0In Kindness.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

    In Goodness. \u00a0Real Goodness bursts forth in generosity. \u00a0You only have what you give away, and you only truly possess what you have the grace and freedom to offer to someone else. \u00a0What you give is what you have. \u00a0In Goodness.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

    In Faith. \u00a0Faith is a gift, like all other signs of abiding love. \u00a0Faith is the capacity to withstand what and when we cannot understand (repeat). \u00a0When you face struggle, challenge, difficulty, may this gift be yours by divine grace. \u00a0In Faith.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

    In Gentleness. \u00a0Tea, sunset, backrub, quiet, handholding, prayer, worship. \u00a0In Gentleness.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

    In Self-Control. \u00a0Self-Control, a gift of God\u2019s Presence, guides you to work through any and all labors: \u00a0in care for family and extended family; \u00a0in stewardship of precious material wealth, never plentiful but always sufficient; in sensitivity in intimacy, sexuality, in preparing for an unforeseen future; \u00a0in the building of community (you both have great natural gifts and capacities for friendship, as is evident today)\u2014yes religious community, but also neighborhood, town, school, city, and a culture gradually amenable to faith. \u00a0In Self-Control. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

    You will sense the warm breeze, the sunlit horizon, the abiding grace of God\u2019s Presence by its fruit (Galatians 5:23). \u00a0Another Presence, of which you become aware, in your daily life together, by sensing the fruit of this presence. \u00a0God\u2019s love abides in us and is made whole in us, through these marks, these footprints, these touches of grace.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

    Into Another Presence, into Another\u2019s Presence, we, your families, loved ones, and friends, now send you, married, from this day forward. \u00a0With Ruth may you say: \u2018Wither thou goest I will go, wither thou lodgest I will lodge, they people shall be my people, and thy God my God.\u2019<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

    *On Beginning a Conversation: \u00a02 Creeds<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n

    Coda<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n

    Boston University, proud with mission sure<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

    Keeping the light of knowledge high, long to endure<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

    Treasuring the best of all that\u2019s old, searching out the new<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

    Our Alma Mater Evermore, Hail BU!<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

    – The Reverend Doctor, Robert Allan Hill, Dean.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Click here to listen to the full service Luke 14:25-33 Click here to listen to the\u00a0meditations\u00a0only *On Beginning a Conversation: \u00a0 A Psalm, 100 *On Beginning a Conversation: A Prayer Gracious God, Holy and Just, Whose Mercy is over all thy works We invoke thy blessing today as we embark on this new journey Guide […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2679,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[52,22],"tags":[6],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1438"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2679"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1438"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1438\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1936,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1438\/revisions\/1936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}