{"id":765,"date":"2013-09-29T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-09-29T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/?p=765"},"modified":"2019-11-19T12:14:56","modified_gmt":"2019-11-19T17:14:56","slug":"spiritual-imagination-in-college","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/2013\/09\/29\/spiritual-imagination-in-college\/","title":{"rendered":"Spiritual Imagination in College"},"content":{"rendered":"

Luke 16: 19-30<\/a><\/p>\n

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

Click here to hear the sermon only.<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Life<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

In college\u2014and indeed in life, all of life\u2014a moment of quickened spiritual imagination is at hand.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

One such may enliven you today, in the ancient story of Lazarus and Dives, a harsh, a tough, a dark tale.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Let me ask you a question.\u00a0 Do you want to do well, or do you want to do good?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Here is a fresh-woman, from another country, not sure whether to stay in school, watching the strange behaviors of classmates enjoying their own well-being, and not aware let alone concerned about global hurts and doing good.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Here is a young man studying theology and wondering what his future in the world will be and what his future in the church will be and whether in one or the other he will be doing well or doing good.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Here is a newly wed couple emerging from the film, \u2018the Butler\u2019, jolted by the reminder of deep racial animosities, and wondering about a balance, for the rest of life of achievement and service, of acquisition and generosity, of being well and being good.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Here is a woman whose neighbor, just a boy, was killed in April and she wonders what good in the end it is to do well, and what doing well means in the shadow of such a day.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Here is a man who has done well, a successful businessman, who lingers in the shadows of the church, listening on the radio, longing for some fuller something, and disappointed in the ministry of the church, so focused as he thinks on being right rather than on doing good.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Do you want to do well?\u00a0 Do you want to do good?\u00a0 And if rightly you surmise that some balance of the two is what you seek, how in such seeking will you find?<\/p>\n

<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Luke<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Through this summer and fall it has been the career of St. Luke to probe your spiritual imagination, at the intersection of well and good.\u00a0 The gospel, at least as read if not as preached though we hope too as preached, has been circling you, surrounding you, out to capture you with pointed parables and probing questions.\u00a0 You have every right to be alert.\u00a0 Listen to Luke\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

With the dust of the Jericho Road swirling, your spiritual imagination hears, \u2018Who do you think proved neighbor to the man who fell among thieves\u2019?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

With tears on the fatherly cheeks abounding, your spiritual imagination hears, \u2018This my son is found.\u00a0 Should I not have celebrated his return?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

With a green visor in front of you, your spiritual imagination hears, \u2018What shall I do?\u00a0 I am too weak to dig and too ashamed to beg?\u2019<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

With a full barn waiting, your spiritual imagination will hear, \u2018These possessions, now whose will they be?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

With a field of flowers fluttering, your spiritual imagination hears, \u201cWhich of you by being anxious can add a cubit to his life\u201d?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

With fear and anger floating forward, your spiritual imagination hears, \u201cDo you think I have come to bring peace?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

With coins jangling in the pocket, your spiritual imagination hears, \u201cWhat must I do to inherit eternal life?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And were not 10 healed\u2014where are they?\u00a0 And what a Zaccheus given\u2014half his estate?\u00a0 And would I not say to the servant, \u2018your field work is no substitute for your domestic duties\u2019?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The parables of the Gospel According to St. Luke, these holy words and holy reminders of the holy One, the Son of God, are tapping, tapping at your spiritual imagination\u2026And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain thrilled me filled with fantastic terrors never felt before<\/i><\/p>\n

<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

The parables of Jesus, the gospel of Luke, the books of the New Testament, the witness of the church, the saints of God, the preaching of the church, the ministry of Marsh Chapel and this sermon itself are hunting for your soul, are searching for your soul, are chasing you, are pursuing you\u2014to ignite your spiritual imagination.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Soon, like Lazarus, you will be dead.\u00a0 Soon, like Dives, I will be dead.\u00a0\u00a0 Time flies?\u00a0 Ah no. Time stays.\u00a0 We go.\u00a0 What you are going to do, as Jesus said to Judas, do quickly.\u00a0 Your incessant quest to do well will not go well unless you do good, too.<\/p>\n

<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Lazarus<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Here is Lazarus, whose name means \u2018God heals\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0 He has had no earthly blessing, no purple robe, no fine linen, no sumptuous meal every day.\u00a0 Here is the rich man, traditionally known as Dives, from the Latin for \u2018rich\u2019.\u00a0 He has known no earthly bane, sores, hunger, dog bites.\u00a0 This old, old story, probably predating the Christian era, perhaps coming up out of Egpyt, is out to get us, to quicken the spiritual imagination.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The parable accosts us with a stark forecast of death, proximate and personal, as does the benediction in every Marsh Chapel service of worship.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The parable accosts us with a ringing reminder of the irreversibility of time, the permanent loss of time past, as does the sung Kyrie in every Marsh Chapel service of worship.<\/p>\n

The parable accosts us with a plain, unvarnished harsh admonishment about economic justice\u2014the divine economy in which those who have much have not too much and those who have little have not too little\u2014as does the offertory, offering and offertory prayer in every Marsh Chapel service of worship.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The parable accosts us with a direct assault on the soul, on the human soul, on your soul and mine, as does the sermon in every Marsh Chapel service of worship.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The parable means to awaken your spiritual imagination.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Do you want to do well or do you want to do good?\u00a0 Granted that the answer is \u2018both\u2019, then where is the balance, where the bridge, where the dialectic, where the dialogue between the two.\u00a0 Can we do well by doing good?\u00a0 Is there a way to do good on the basis of doing well?\u00a0 If you have not done well at all your capacity to do good will be limited and if you do no good what is it to have done well?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There are two ways to be wealthy:\u00a0 have a lot of money or have very few needs.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

At age 19, I was taught how to help sail a sail boat, a \u2018Flying Dutchman\u2019.\u00a0 The elderly lawyer whose boat it was, due to age and to a compromised leg, needed someone to crew for him.\u00a0 I knew nothing about sailing and must have endlessly frustrated him as I learned.\u00a0 His world\u2014a yacht club, the boat, different clothing and cars and refreshments than I had know in a parsonage growing up\u2014was all new to me.\u00a0 Gradually we improved along the ten mile inland lake.\u00a0 We even started coming in ahead of dead last on the Saturday races.\u00a0\u00a0 The lawyer by the way had done well but he had also done a lot of good, including in his tutelage of me.\u00a0\u00a0 One day when we had mastered the mainsail, down and up, and had mastered the jib, up and down, and the wind was full in our back and the sun bright and hot he shouted:\u00a0\u00a0 \u2018now for the spinnaker\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 That third sail made us fly.\u00a0 It depended on the set up of the other two and a good wind from the stern.\u00a0 But it was the addition that made all the rest \u2018sail\u2019.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I think some of our institutions, when they have done well with two sails, might want to think about doing good by putting up the third, by directly doing good without intention of gain.\u00a0 I think some of our colleges, when they have done well with two sails, might want to do good by putting up a third, a kind of spiritual spinnaker, by directly helping others without intention of gain.\u00a0 I think some of our professionals, who have done well with in life, mainsail and jib, might want to do good by putting up a kind of spiritual spinnaker, by directly helping others without benefit of gain.\u00a0 I think some of our bright students, who have done well, from SAT to MCAT to LSAT, might want to do some good by putting up that third sail to catch the full wind of the full spirit of the full presence of God.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Even in college you may find a moment when a word spoken, like this parable, quickens, enlives, saves, heals and makes your spiritual imagination whole.\u00a0 This\u2014right now\u2014may be that moment.\u00a0 Right now.<\/p>\n

<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\u2018Lege\u2019<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Or, the maturation of your spiritual imagination may come later, as you read, study and grow.<\/p>\n

You are in college.\u00a0 You are here to read.\u00a0 \u201cTake and read.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hunt for the quiet places.\u00a0 Find yourself in front of the sculpture of Arthur Fiedler, on a bench.\u00a0 Sit farther along the river, as the sun sets.\u00a0 Make permanent friends with the quiet pews of Marsh Chapel and the hidden crannies of the library.\u00a0 Locate that 2am diner like the one at breakfast that helped Fred Craddock become a preacher.\u00a0 Find the Public Library reading room, a beautiful spot. When others are at war with the administration, you read.\u00a0 When others are cursing their professors, you read.\u00a0 When others are finding fault with faculty hairstyles, you read.\u00a0 Learn with to \u201csanctify ambition, not crucify it\u201d (A Pierson).\u00a0 A close distinction in a careful reading of life.\u00a0 Learn with Hildegard of Bingham to \u201cbecome one\u2019s ownmost\u201d.\u00a0 Learn with 19th<\/sup> century Methodism the lasting danger of poor financial planning.\u00a0 Learn the merits of disciplined sacramental observance. \u00a0All this and more, you can read in the books of your teachers in this finest of Methodist schools.\u00a0 Read what you want, what you need, when you want, as you need.<\/p>\n

And what relationship shall the reader have to the read?\u00a0 Who among us does anywhere near enough to deconstruct our own various contexts?\u00a0 Is the text to have the sole divining voice, or is the reader king?\u00a0 What of the relationship between the unsaid and the uttered?\u00a0 In reading, how do ranges of power dance with colors of truth?\u00a0 Is the truth of Scripture the sole truth?\u00a0 Or one truth among many?\u00a0 Or primus inter pares?\u00a0 Or an anachronism altogether?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 How then do you read?<\/p>\n

Carefully.<\/p>\n

Misreading intelligence can land a nation in the soup of a civil war.\u00a0 Misreading tests can land a patient in the wrong surgical suite.\u00a0 Misreading accounts payable can land a business in bankruptcy.\u00a0 Misreading a traffic signal can land you in the ditch.\u00a0 Most of these have healing solutions available within one generation.\u00a0 Spiritual misreading lasts for several generations.\u00a0 It takes three of four generations to bring correction to a sincere or not so authentic spiritual misreading.\u00a0 Be careful how you read, for how read is how you think, and how you think is how you act.<\/p>\n

Here is an October Saturday in the sun.\u00a0 Read in the city! Take, Read.\u00a0 Read along with those who also rose to preaching amid the ruins of the church. You rise, books in tow, and walk the Emerald Necklace.\u00a0 You walk.\u00a0 At Emmanuel College you read a new book on.\u00a0 Bunker HillYou walk.\u00a0 At the Riverway you read A Bavevich, The Limits of Power.\u00a0 You walk.\u00a0 At Jamaica Pond you read\u00a0 M Proust,\u00a0 The Remembrance of Things Past.\u00a0\u00a0 Then you read Vaclev Havel, on almost anything.\u00a0 But perhaps this fall you read his thoughts on suicide\u2026sentinels\u2026 You walk, and you lunch.\u00a0 After lunch you read H Thurman, Jesus and the Disinherited.\u00a0 Boston is your campus.\u00a0 Then, resting at Jamaica Pond, you pull out a chapter from the Confessions of St. Augustine.<\/p>\n

Augustine did well for a long time\u2014eminent scholar, teacher of rhetoric, African philosopher, admirer of Ambrose.\u00a0 As a student he did very well.\u00a0 His Confessions is the primer, the original, the prototype for student life ever since, from 400ce until today.\u00a0 But like Dives, though sooner, Augustine found his spiritual imagination was kindled\u2026<\/p>\n

Now when deep reflection had drawn up out of the secret depths of my soul all my misery and had heaped it up before the sight of my heart, there arose a mighty storm, accompanied by a mighty rain of tears. That I might give way fully to my tears and lamentations, I stole away from Alypius, for it seemed to me that solitude was more appropriate for the business of weeping. I went far enough away that I could feel that even his presence was no restraint upon me. This was the way I felt at the time, and he realized it. I suppose I had said something before I started up and he noticed that the sound of my voice was choked with weeping. And so he stayed alone, where we had been sitting together, greatly astonished. I flung myself down under a fig tree\u2013how I know not\u2013and gave free course to my tears. The streams of my eyes gushed out an acceptable sacrifice to thee. And, not indeed in these words, but to this effect, I cried to thee: \u201cAnd thou, O Lord, how long? How long, O Lord? Wilt thou be angry forever? Oh, remember not against us our former iniquities.\u201d For I felt that I was still enthralled by them. I sent up these sorrowful cries: \u201cHow long, how long? Tomorrow and tomorrow? Why not now? Why not this very hour make an end to my uncleanness?\u201d29. 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.<\/i><\/p>\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.<\/i><\/p>\n

Do you want to do well or do you want to do good?\u00a0 The gospel addresses you, addresses your spiritual imagination, today.<\/p>\n

~Rev. Dr. Robert Allan Hill, Dean of Marsh Chapel<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Luke 16: 19-30 Click here to hear the full service. Click here to hear the sermon only.   Life In college\u2014and indeed in life, all of life\u2014a moment of quickened spiritual imagination is at hand.   One such may enliven you today, in the ancient story of Lazarus and Dives, a harsh, a tough, a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2679,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765"}],"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=765"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2425,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765\/revisions\/2425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}