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Better Together
"Matriculation"
by Pastor Bill Geis
On
Wednesday I had a new experience as I attended my daughter,
Erica’s, Matriculation Ceremony who is a freshmen at Oklahoma
City University. I was impressed by what seemed like the entire
faculty present and robed in academic gowns to welcome the new
students. We processed into the auditorium for a beautiful
worship service of hymns, scriptures and exhortation. Their new
president explained “matriculation” best as he described it as
an adoption into a new family. The university would be a mother
(matri) who would join their parents from this day forward. This
was a covenant to support one another—not only for their stay at
the university—but also beyond as they scattered the globe in
their vocations.
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Left to Right: My daughter,
Monica, in the dorm room of my daughter Erica and me.
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I’m impressed by this
university tradition that seems to have a real backbone behind
its outward ceremony. This seems so complimentary to what life
in Christian community should be. Underneath all the ceremonies,
rites and activities at St. John’s is a real backbone of
commitment from this church to be your family—forever. It’s not
just for the time we meet on a Sunday or the time that you will
live in this region. We’re committed to be a family to one
another here and for eternity, because that’s God’s design for
his Church. When you were baptized into Christ Jesus, he handed
you over to the care of a “mother,” the Church.
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Throughout its history,
the Church has had its share of failures in living the virtuous
life of a godly mother. Many don’t trust it any more. And yet
that’s why it is so important to intentionally matriculate one
another (to renew our commitment to be family) as those who love
each other like Jesus. Families aren’t instant, shake-in-bake,
products. It takes work to support, nurture and love your
family. It isn’t any less work for the church. As a father, I
can say it’s hard, and sometimes painful, supporting a family;
but it’s a labor of love. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’d
sacrifice everything to keep my family whole and united to
Jesus. I’m convinced that we shouldn’t feel any different about
our brothers and sisters in the Church. We can be a pain at
times, just like children! Never, however, do we want anything
to come between us and the love of God that is ours in Christ
Jesus. That means we must go deeper than an hour on a Sunday
morning. Surely we would invest more in our own households. To
experience the support of a church means we’re
going to go deeper in our relationships with each other with
Jesus at our side. This is, after all, his family adopted and
united together by his suffering and death. His vision for us is
not 1/168th of a week; it’s one of a family committed
to one another forever, even when circumstance scatters us. |
Erica's mom and my dear wife
(Sandi) here with us. She's the mother who works hard and prays
constantly to keep our family together.
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Today we begin an intentional effort to matriculate as a church
family. It is something just as important as the intentional
times you celebrate and work through issues at home. We call
this effort, “40 Days of Community,” but the impact is designed
for an eternity together. This 40 Day intensive calls on each of
us to make…
-- a weekly commitment to worship;
-- a weekly commitment to our educational hour special events
each week;
-- a weekly commitment to a home group where family bonds are
made deeper;
-- and, a commitment with your home group to 1 act of service
for your neighborhood community in the name of Jesus.
My
prayer for this church is that Jesus will bring us closer
together as a family with bonds of love than cannot be broken
over any distance or circumstance. My prayer is that your
mother, the church, will be the community that shapes you for
eternity because it is through her that you
Meet
Jesus, Experience the Support of a Church
and
Live as
Disciples.
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