The Student’s Life 

Church of the Wayfarer,

Scholarship Sunday 

Luke 2:41-52 

May 1, 2016 

Mark S. Bollwinkel

The church in all its forms and expressions for the last 2,000 years has established and supported institutions of learning.   Church based schools can be found all over the world. For churches to offer educational scholarships to young people not their own is not only a long tradition but one of the most “Christian” things we can do. In a way you all become one of our own here at Church of the Wayfarer as we pray for your success and long to hear of your progress. 

There is a long and significant emphasis in the Bible on the importance of education.  

Remember the story of the prophet Daniel?  Most of us learned about “Daniel in the lion’s den” from our Sunday school lesson.  If we study the Book of Revelation, there are multiple references to Daniel’s apocalyptic visions.   Few of us recall how Daniel got into the story in the first place. 

After the defeat of Judah by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BCE, Israel’s royalty, priesthood and intelligentsia were carried off into slavery (that date will be on the test!).  The King picked four of the best young scholars in Israel to be trained in the language and traditions of Babylon so that they might serve as official liaisons with the Hebrew captives.   Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are given the appropriate education to become top officials in the Babylonian government which begins all sorts of adventures, including the four of them being thrown into a fierily oven by their adversaries.  Protected by the Hand of the One True God they survive and throw their adversaries into the fire where they perish (Daniel 3:23).  (Remember, sometimes a good education can end up getting you in “hot water” for all of the right reasons! Although for Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego it wasn’t “hot water” but a “fiery furnace”!) 

As one of the most trusted advisors to the Babylonian palace, Daniel interprets dreams and has dreams of his own, seeing on the horizon of history the restoration of his people and the future of God’s reign.  In the most desperate times, people in our faith tradition looked to Daniel’s faith and vision for hope.  He got it in part from his commitment to learn. 

Our gospel report from Luke describes a young Jesus who runs off from his mom and dad in order to discuss theology with the elders.  When Joseph and Mary realize that Jesus is missing, they hurry back to find him three days later in the Temple of Jerusalem.   

Even Jesus illustrates the divine right of children to scare their parents to death! 

The boy is anything but repentant for the anxiety and grief he has caused his parents.  He responds to their concerns in amazement that they didn’t know where he was all along, “Didn’t you know that I had to be in my father’s house?”  Yet Mary and Joseph accept this mystery and end up treasuring such experiences in their hearts. 

Jesus will be called “rabbi” which means “teacher” or “master”.  Those given this title are acknowledged by the community for their learning and the application of knowledge.  In our tradition, wisdom and learning is held to be nothing less than a divine gift.    

The apostle Paul says in his letter to the church in Rome:  “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2). 

These young people we honor this morning with our scholarship support are seeking nothing less than the “renewal of their minds…what is good and acceptable and perfect” that they might transform their worlds and ours.    

It makes perfect sense for a church committed to “Reaching up, reaching in and reaching out” to partner with students.  Education is and always has been a real sign of hope.
             

            Amen.