Scriptures:

Old Testament - 2 Samuel 22:1-4
Epistle Reading - 1 Corinthians 12:21-26
Gospel - Matthew 28:18-20

I (JEFF)

Once upon a time, a city was built upon a tall hill.  The founders of the city were intent that their new home would be a safe haven for all generations to follow, so they set about constructing a great wall all around the city.  In order to make it strong enough to endure the rigors of time, the city folk crafted each block out of pure marble, and they cut each one to fit perfectly in place.  When it was finished, the wall was not only strong...it was beautiful.

It happened every so often that an army would pass through the valley below the city, and upon seeing the magnificent walls atop the hill they invariably attempted to conquer the city.  They also invariably failed.  In a relatively short time, the wandering marauders would pass by the city with no quarrel, knowing that the walls presented too great an obstacle to brave.

So it happened that the first generation lived and passed away in peace.  When the second generation took power in the city, they had little knowledge of the attacks the walls had so successfully repelled in past years, so in order to save money and lower taxes, they disbanded the city guard.  In its place, bands of citizens would gather to defend the walls should a conflict ever occur.  In this, they were successful.

And so it happened that the second generation lived and passed away secure within the great walls of their fathers.  It went on this way for many generations, until the walls became merely a part of the skyline, and one day a distant descendant of a master stoneworker got an idea.

“Our city has flourished for so long behind these walls,” he thought, “We should invite our allies for a great celebration of our success.”

Everyone thought it was a great idea, so preparations began for a grand celebration to which all kings and queens, lords and ladies would be invited.  The climax of the celebration, it was decided, would be a dance.  There was one problem with this idea, however.  The founders of the city, being primarily concerned with protection, had made no provision for a celebration of this scope.  A dance floor would have to be built.

After casting about unsuccessfully for dance floor material, one youngster came up with a novel solution.

“We could take down the top layer of the wall!” he said, “This would provide enough marble for a great dance floor.”  Everyone liked the idea, and so it was done.  The party was held and it was such a success that the city folk decided to hold another one the following year.  Not wanting to disappoint their honored guests, they began to seek a way to impress them even more the next time around.

“This time,” they decided, “We'll build a huge marble fountain in front of the dance floor.”

And this was done, and the party was once again a huge success.  It went on this way, year after year, layer after layer, until finally the streets of the town were paved with marble, the fountain became the centerpiece for a huge pavilion, and the wall that was once patrolled by alert soldiers became nothing more than a squat, decorative fence upon which lovers lounged and bards composed.

And thus it was when one day a particularly large army wandered through the valley below the town.  Upon seeing the once great wall reduced to its present state, they charged.  And on that day, many people perished in the shadow of a magnificent fountain, and on the stones of a great dance floor.

II (DAVE)

The Church is the village mentioned in the story; it has a responsibility to maintain the fortress wall.  All are given the Great Commission; each person and each congregation has their individual part to play in this charge.  College students are part of the body of Christ, just as the hands and eyes are part of the human body.  Just as the eye can't tell the hand, “I don't need you,” a congregation can't write off the college student; as part of the Church's future, the student is indispensable.  Despite this, the church loses many during the college-age years.  It is a challenge to find a place for young adults; we are too old to take part in youth programs, yet most of us are not ready to take our place among the adult members of the congregation.  The challenge is formidable, yet neglecting students jeopardizes the Church's future, and begins the erosion of the fortress wall.

Campus ministry is one way to reach out to the college student.  They can take part in a program with others of their own age group; furthermore, it is in this area that many young people have their first opportunity to take leadership roles in the Church.  The student's home church has a duty to tell them about campus ministry opportunities when they get ready to leave home, and to encourage them to get involved.  The congregation near a college or university has a more direct role in campus ministry.  Firstly, the congregation can make itself known within the campus ministry.  Then the church can offer help and cooperation in its programs - by helping staff it, sending representatives to its administrative board, and helping publicize campus ministry programs.  The congregation can also provide opportunities beyond the campus ministry.  Such things are a college Sunday School class or Bible Study, or an adoptive parent program:  this is where church members volunteer to be “parents” to students, usually new students, and help them adjust to a new environment and encourage the students to stay involved with the Church.  These programs require coordination with the campus ministry to keep the two from conflicting, and prevent the resulting competition.

Campus ministry, in turn, has a duty to encourage the students to get involved in the congregation; college outreach is to be a step in the student's Christian walk, helping them go ever forward.  In a verse preceding today's Epistle reading, 1 Corinthians 12:15, Paul's parable says, “If the foot should say, 'Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,' it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.”  If a young adult were to say, “I'm in campus ministry, I don't need the regular church,” they would be similarly wrong.  The responsibility goes both ways.

III (JEFF)

We college students have great potential to be like the last generation living within that city on a hill.  Many of us come from homes where the church truly is the fortress wall about the family, protecting in times of hardship, comforting in times of peril, comfortable in times of peace.  When we reach college, we tend to let those walls fall into disrepair.  We forget church because we're too tired to get up, or we have other more important things to do (studying is rarely counted as such a thing).  Maybe our friends think that church is boring, so we decide that they're right.  Whatever the reason, evidence exists that shows that if students are not captured by a church program within six weeks of arriving at college, they likely will not be back to church until well after graduation, if at all.

Dave has spoken some about how the church has a responsibility to reach out to students and provide a home away from home for them to continue to grow in faith and service.  As students, we also have a responsibility to the church.

First, we have a responsibility to our home churches, the people who brought us up in the faith.  They have set us on the right path, and we should honor their work by our continued service in God's church.

Second, and more importantly, we have a responsibility to the God who claimed us at the beginning of time.  That responsibility, in many ways, is to learn responsibility.  We need to grow up.

College is a time of growing.  It's the breaking away of an acorn from a greater tree.  It's worthy of notice that the acorn doesn't break away from a mighty oak in hopes of becoming mesquite, any more than a seed breaks away from a rose in hopes of becoming a weed.  It is honorable, however, for the acorn to strive to be a greater, sturdier, more stately tree than the one from which it sprang.  We, as the future leaders of the church, should have that kind of ambition.  We need to learn more about God, more about our faith and the doctrine we ascribe to, more about ourselves and our gifts to discern where we fit into God's plan.  We cannot expect to be taken seriously as leaders by the congregation gracious enough to take us in, nurture us and teach us if we refuse to be nurtured and taught.  We need to participate.  We need to grow.  It is our ongoing duty as members, and we are yet members, of Christ's church.

I say this with some certainty because I “grew up” in a college ministry.  My first experiences with this form of outreach were at the Coast Guard Academy in 1991.  There, I became involved in a program called Officer's Christian Fellowship and soon found myself teaching a Sunday school class.  I found that it was not until I was responsible for teaching about the Bible that I got serious about learning about the Bible.  It was when I gained responsibilities as a member of a council of students who governed the chapel that I began to see my responsibility to God in a clearer light.  Today, I'm headed for seminary, to learn to be a better leader of God's people.  I can say with utmost honesty that I wouldn't be on this road at this time if not, at least in part, for campus ministry.

There is another aspect of campus ministry that needs to be addressed.  That is, the opportunity we have as a church to reach students who have never known the peace that comes from living within the walls of God's grace.

IV (DAVE)

I grew up without the Church.  When I came to Huntsville to go to college, I became aware of a void that I had felt all my life.  More out of curiosity than anything else, I got involved in a campus ministry.  There, I gradually came to know Christ; I learned of His teachings, His wisdom, and His Gospel.  From there, I joined a church for the first time in my life.  I am a representative of the opportunity Jeff mentioned - those who don't know Christ, yet are searching.  Many can be intimidated by the regular church; unfamiliarity with rituals, scripture, lack of members their own age, or any number of reasons can make someone new reluctant to come into the Church.  Campus ministry can help bridge this gap.  As I said earlier, there are people from the student's own age group.  Also, campus ministries are rather informal; they often start with fellowship and can ease someone into Christianity.  Within the campus ministry, the young adult can realize that the unfamiliarity is really nothing to worry about.  Someone who is curious will rarely jump right into Church life; they generally want to find out something about it - if nothing else, what to do.  In this way, campus ministry can be a springboard into the Church.  I stated that I joined my first church after coming to Huntsville; like Jeff, I am now pursuing ordination as a minister.  If campus ministry didn't exist, I probably never would have heard God's call; at best, I would have heard it much later in life.  There is no telling how many can be reached by campus ministry, and learn of God's plan for their lives.  Supporting a campus ministry is an investment in the Church's future, and one step in maintaining the fortress wall.

Amen.

previous next

Copyright © 1996 by Dave Vaughn & Jeffrey Quinn.  All rights reserved.