Sermon 571+April 26, 2009

Third Sunday of Easter
St. Dunstan’s Day
678th Week as Priest
504th Week at St. Dunstan’s
139th Week at St. Matthew’s
Wisdom 3:1-9
Psalm 1+Beatus vir qui non abiit
Philippians 4:4-9
Luke 6:17-23

The Compass.

Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

He is Risen!

Alleluia! Christ is risen.
The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!

Yes, this is the Feast of St. Dunstan’s, but it is also the Third Sunday of Easter, part of the Great Fifty Days in which we celebrate the resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

A Gifted Generation.

Among other reasons for our being here—the Breaking of Bread, the Prayers, the Apostles’ teaching and Fellowship, we are also gathered tonight to honor our Faculty Advisors and Staff Members, but most of all to recognize our Students who have been Officers for this Year of the Word, and those Students who are graduating and leaving Auburn for the next stage of their life’s journey. These young people are part of a gifted generation of Americans; in many ways they remind me of the generation of World War Two. They are young men and women of character, who possess self-confidence without arrogance, and a sense of direction and purpose without selfishness.

The Students who are graduating and leaving Auburn this Spring will need this sense of themselves for the journey ahead, because we are in difficult economic times, and just getting a job can be a real challenge. They will need that character and self-confidence, and they will need to discover within themselves a strong sense of direction and purpose.

Last weekend, two former students, members of this Gifted Generation were married at St. Dunstan’s. Theirs will be a journey made together, a way of joy and some sadness, prosperity and perhaps some adversity. But I believe they have a clear sense of the direction they want to go together. They understand that marriage is truly the “Most Important of Relationships,” and at times, the “Most Difficult of Relationships.”

The Compass as Symbol.

Episcopalians also understand the importance of symbols—outward and visible signs of grace. The groom presented each of his members of the wedding party with a remarkable gift: a brass compass. But it was more than a gift, much more than a gift. It was a symbol. The compass is a symbol of the direction that each of us receives along the way from many people including our parents, our friends, and our teachers. Each of us knows full well that we have made the journey thus far with help and encouragement and support from others.

The Compass as Metaphor.

The compass is also a metaphor for the principles that guide us in life—principles like honesty, hard work, loyalty, and the commitment we share with our family and friends. We have been shaped and molded since childhood by others, and we will continue to develop until we reach the full stature of Christ—whenever that might happen. You may already have strong core beliefs about your life, and work, and relationships, but the truth is that we are all works in progress. We all have a lot left to learn.

The Compass as Calling.

The compass is a sign of each person’s unique purpose and direction, and I believe strongly that the discovery of this calling in life is a part of everyone’s journey. Your calling in life should be your vocation (the work or career that you have chosen or found or has fallen in your life) and your avocation (your interests apart from work, your hobbies, your particular gifts and skills, perhaps even your consuming passion). By the way, if you are miserable in your major at Auburn, or in your chosen vocation, let me tell you what I tell all college students: Get out of it. Do something else. Do something you really love.

I was forty years old before I discovered what I wanted to be when I grew up. I had done a lot of different jobs, and done them pretty well, in fact. It was only when I lost my job in an acquisition that I finally decided it was time to pay attention to my true calling.

The American poet Robert Frost wrote this:

My object in living is to unite
My avocation and my vocation
As my two eyes make one in sight.
Only where love and need are one,
And the work is play for mortal stakes,
Is the deed ever really done
For Heaven and the future’s sakes.

The Compass as Guide.

The compass provides us something else: it tells us about the decisions that we have made along the way, and sometimes the compass lets us know that we have taken a wrong path, or we have wandered away, ignoring our own compass. The compass becomes our method of finding our way back home. Or, in the case of the Prodigal Son, of coming to our senses. If you have the courage to make decisions, you’re going to make some mistakes. But let your internal compass be the guide in your relationships—as a son or daughter, a husband or wife, a father or mother, a student, and a citizen of the world. Sometimes that means taking a different way from most folks. Robert Frost spoke of The Road Less Traveled, and of the necessity at times of choosing the more difficult path:

Two roads diverged in a wood
And I took the one less traveled by
And that has made all the difference.

The Compass as the Way.

Finally, the compass is a wonderful metaphor for the Christian journey, the life of faith. Jesus of Nazareth told us that he was “the way, the truth, and the life.” Certainly, in its best representation, the Church is a community of fellowship and love, a group of people who are truly your “companions in the way.” I believe that the Students of St. Dunstan’s really get this. We know that we will always be better, stronger, and more effective together than we would ever be apart. We know the value of community, and of cooperation, and we believe in the way of love—of sharing, forgiving, learning, being patient and kind and gentle and generous with each other. And that, my friends, has made all the difference. Amen.

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