1 Philippians 1: 1-11

Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,

To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:

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

I thank my God for every remembrance of you, always in every one of my prayers for all of you, praying with joy for your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because I hold you in my heart, for all of you are my partners in God’s grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the tender affection of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what really matters, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.

Sermon Text

Memory is a blessed thing. When we remember what has happened to bring us where we are today, it is often the sweetest parts of the past that linger with us. The light breaks through the dark just as cream floats to the top of a vat of milk. Remembrance, different than simple recollection, brings us into a state of bliss, of joy at what has been and an understanding that that same goodness is possible, maybe even more likely still, to happen once again. It is this reason that Christ tells us to, “Do this in remembrance of me,” in every table set for the Lord’s supper, there is always a reexperiencing of God’s goodness, of God’s love, of God’s salvation.

Today we have a homecoming service, a day where we gather as much as we are able from every corner of our Church’s diaspora. Kids and grandkids, cousins and beyond, this is the scope we dream of with such a day. The fact is that this Church has touched just about every corner of the world.

That may seem like an exaggeration, but think of where our family lives. Many are still local, but we have some people as far as Alaska. Some have gone international, if they don’t live outside the continental US then they have done work there. From a little church on the corner of a little neighborhood in the littlest state of the Union that could, the world is forever changed by the work of the children of this Church.

We celebrate today, not just the past, but the future. We have celebrated four graduates today – one from high school and three from Masters programs. Each is going forward to serve the world in new ways. Whether in healthcare or teaching, with solid plans or far flung hopes, the future is defined by the people who, having been raised up in love, are now willing to go forward and spread that love further still. Like the small seed, falling into the Earth and suddenly producing an abundant crop, a young person raised with love, support, and affirmation, can go forward to cause more good than any generation before them had ever dreamed of.

Paul, looking at the world from behind prison walls, was not constrained in his imagination. Sitting in the midst of darkness, he found hope in God. However, that hope was not empty hope – it was hope in the people that God had placed in his life. As anyone here who has been through tough times, especially anyone behind actual prison walls, can attest, connection is everything. We do not think of any aspect of life or faith except through how other people show it to us. Paul, constrained in that moment, was free to have hope because he knew that good people were doing the work he could not – and that he had his own work to do in the meantime.

For those of us gathered today, those who hold the past as something we were a part of, and those who have a entire future still to write, we find ourselves in a similar place. The young people we celebrate today may go any number of places in the future. They may remain local in their work, or go far away. They may stay in their current careers, or use their learning for something completely different.

Whatever they do, the duty of those of us who send them off into that adventure is to support them fully, to never cease to be their advocates. As Paul, we must constantly think of them as Christ does, as beloved children, siblings, and friends. We pray that their life is full of joy, free of trial, and that they constantly grow in knowledge and goodness.

For those who we celebrate, the message is very much the same. To remember those who have supported you, and wish them all love and support going forward. I do think a larger burden is placed on young people, though, and that is to make sure those that raised them do not forget that the future lies with them, and not with us. We who press on in our work locally, sometimes get locked into ways of thinking, ways of being that crush us. This year, one of our goals as leadership in this church is to put as many young people – 20 somethings and 30 somethings, onto committees, to constantly push our vision forward rather than back,

At moments like the one we find ourselves in now, we celebrate the work of God in all ages. This building, older than all of us here, has seen a great deal of change over the years. From physical changes like the addition and subtraction of parts of its makeup, to more abstract ones – the changing of denominations, ministers, and mindsets. It is my prayer that this church continues to be a testimony of all those things – the past in all its glories and trials. There is a light that shines out, not just from our large illuminated cross and flame on the side of the building, but from the people of this congregation. Long may it burn and light up the darkness of a world often lacking in hope.

Beyond what was, though, there is always the transformation of the world into newness. If we listen to young people, if we trust that our raising up of them was really into righteousness, then their work will outshine anything we ever did before. The prayer Paul had, that the Philippians would increase in knowledge and insight, is not a prayer for one people at one time, it is a prayer for all of us everywhere.

We must pray that God changes our minds, brings us into new places, for only through such transformation will we understand what God is doing in the here and now. “A small child will lead them,” said the prophet long ago, and now I augment his words to say, “We will be raised up by the children we once raised ourselves.” If only we follow their example as they once followed ours.

A wise man, or rather a wise muppet, named Yoda put it this way. “[Teachers,] are what [their students] grow beyond.”[1] Lord may we believe that to be true. May each of the people we celebrated today, not only meet our dreams and expectations of their goodness, but far exceed it. May they be blessed to outshine us, in every conceivable way, for theirs is the future, and theirs is a legacy they shall carry forward into the world. From its root here in North View, from this state of West, by God, Virginia, and into all the world. – Amen.

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[1] The Last Jedi, directed by Rian Johnson (Lucasfilm Ltd., 2017).