Sermon: The One who begins. . .

Philippians 4:4-9

Here’s an interesting Austin Agape tidbit, if you will. I’m not entirely sure this is true, but I think it is; I think that the text we just heard has been our scripture text for the opening Evening Worship of the year, four years in a row! Well, I see a trend here. And so I chose this text intentionally this year. And. . . I guess I did last year too come to think of it. . . But why not continue a good tradition? Why not continue to make this text an important one for us? It’s a beautiful description of Christian living - of community living - and I think it’s an expression of who we are and who we’re always invited to become.

Our text starts out this way: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.” Rejoice. That word just kind of permeates this letter to the Philippians. It sums up the character of the letter, but also, the literal word - Rejoice - is used over and over again. All the way through the letter, Paul, the author, gives thanks for the people he’s writing to. In the beginning of the letter he says this: “I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you,” and he adds this too, “I am confident of this, that the One who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.” Clearly, something incredible is happening in this community. There’s much to rejoice about. Paul loves these people. And Paul loves what God is doing in and through them. He sees it and rejoices in it! Paul believes that “the One” who began a good work in them will bring it to completion. The One who initiated who they are will bring who they are tino a fullness deeper and richer than they can comprehend. That’s a process worth rejoicing about!

And that’s what’s happening here too. Something is happening right here in this community. There’s much to rejoice about. God is doing incredible work in and through us - as individuals - as a community - and this year, we have an opportunity to witness it growing deeper and fuller and richer. Perhaps Paul would tell us to, “Rejoice!” The One who began a good work in us is continuing that very work.

Campus Ministry at University Presbyterian Church actually began before any of us were born. It began before any member of this church was born. It began more than a century ago - before cars, and planes, and computers, and definitely before your ipods or iphones. In 1898, this church was founded to care for students. It was founded to provide them a home away from home. It was founded to tell the city of Austin that students can do incredible things - use their gifts to benefit others and live as incredible ministers to one another and to their larger community. The church believed this was possible and took an exciting risk. But they didn’t just do it on a whim or fling of imagination. They did it because they truly felt called by God. They felt nudged; they felt energized to step into this ministry of building a church because they believed it met a need here in Austin.

Did they have us in mind? Maybe. . . to a degree. They wouldn’t have been able to wrap their minds around ipods and iphones. That’s for sure! And I feel pretty confident that they wouldn’t have imagined a woman giving a sermon about them. But perhaps they knew that something bigger than themselves was beginning. The One who was beginning a good work in them would bring it to completion - perhaps in ways they couldn’t have imagined.

So did they have us in mind? Maybe. Did the One who began this work have us in mind? Did God have us in mind? I’d say yes. I’m not saying that God dragged us all here tonight like puppets or zombies or something beyond our will. But I am saying that God dreams for us - God dreams for this community with imagination and energy, and somehow - somehow! - we in our unique way help fulfill a very real part of that dream. Rejoice! Your gifts, your hearts, your brains, your passions, your imagination, your questions, your quirkiness, and unique histories have a place here. You and I are somehow a part of God’s dream, and God will use us to impact and form who will be here next. Who knows? Maybe even a century from now!

I’ll tell you something I love about campus ministry. It’s pretty much a new church development every year. There’s a character here - perhaps even a personality at Austin Agape - that somehow remains, but every year, new people with new faces with new talents with new questions come, and they add to that. They change us because we become in relationship with them. And that’s a wonderful thing. That’s something to rejoice in. We need those people.

Those of us who have been around Austin for a while know this, and if you’re new to Austin and UT, you’ll know it soon. In a few weeks - and honestly throughout the year - there will be a lot of high pressure religious groups on campus that will broadcast themselves as “the ones who have all the answers.” Some will stand on the West Mall holding big signs and yelling through megaphones as students walk back and forth to classes. I’m not saying that every group on the West Mall does this, but several do. Or maybe it’s just a few and they’re disproportionately loud. Well, they tend to give some form of this message: “We have all the answers. You need us. Come be a part of us and we’ll give you those answers.” I guess the answers, insights, and convictions should be celebrated when they come, but, maybe questions are just as important. Maybe even more important! The questions we ask inform how we want to live our lives. They inform what we seek to learn; they inform who we seek to care about.

This is a new church development every year. New people will come with new questions, and we’ll be richer because of it. Hopefully, this is our message. Instead of saying, “You need us! Come!” hopefully we can say, “We need you! Come!” Come be a part of what God is doing here in and through us. Bring your truest selves! Bring your gifts! Bring your very lives! Bring them to the One who began a good work here, the One who is bringing it to completion - perhaps a completion we can’t begin to imagine. We invite you to be a part of that completion alongside us. Who knows where it will go?

Who knows? This year, we can take those questions and make them into prayers together. We can live our questions. We can lift them to God. We can live the way Paul describes: “In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” And somehow - again beyond our imagination - the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will come and dwell with us. It will be a part of our completion - our coming to fullness.

And what will we celebrate in the process? What might permeate our lives here - so much so that we pass it on to people who will be in these seats decades from now? This year, if you are a new undergraduate student, a returning student, a graduate student, a seminary student, a young adult, or an older adult who wants to partner with us, you are invited to bring your truest self here, and be part of God’s completion for our community. And together, we will witness and live a part of God’s dream - a part of God’s dream that celebrates whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, whatever is excellent and worthy of praise. May the One working for our completion bring us into these things together. Rejoice! Amen.