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POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE
Philippians 4:11-13
INTRODUCTION:
I want to
thank the Clay City High School administration and the Clay City
Ministerial Association for the invitation to speak at today’s
baccalaureate service. I consider it a distinct privilege.
A
baccalaureate service. Haven’t you wondered what that word
“baccalaureate” means? Many people believe baccalaureate is a Latin word
meaning stuffy gymnasiums and stuffy sermons.
Noah Webster
breaks down the meaning of the word “baccalaureate” like this: “The
first part of the word is from the same root as . . . bacca or ‘berry’;
and the latter part, from laurea or a ‘laurel’. [A baccalaureate service
comes] from the practice of wearing a garland of bay berries for a
ceremonial occasion.” This service was intended to be a time of
recognition when a person received a garland of accomplishment, similar to
the way racehorses have garlands placed upon them for finishing in first
place.
You will not
be receiving a laurel wreath or a garland of berries today but we do want
to pay special recognition to you and your accomplishments. We have tried
to do that by having you march into the room in formal procession. We
have tried to do that by asking God’s blessing on this service. We have
tried to do that by sparing no expense in securing a speaker…(you DID
spare no expense to secure me, didn’t you?) And we have selected special
music for the occasion.
You graduates
marched in to the strains of Pomp and Circumstance by Sir Edward
Elgar. Now a graduation tradition, Pomp and Circumstance was first
used for a graduation ceremony when Elgar, himself, was awarded an
Honorary Doctor of Music from Yale University on June 28, 1905.
What we know
as Pomp and Circumstance
was actually written as the first in a series of five marches that Elgar
named Pomp and Circumstance. I guess he had trouble coming up
with new names for his music. Pompe meant “a sending” in Greek;
pompa “a parade or procession” in Latin. Circumstance is
defined as “a condition that accompanies or influences some event or
activity.” Taken together the words have come to mean “a ceremonial
procession that accompanies a significant event.”
Well, that is appropriate. This is a significant
event. This is probably not the first significant event in your lives and
I pray that it is not the last. Many of you will reach wonderful
goals in your life:
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College graduation,
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Marriage,
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Career or a great Job,
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Fame,
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Wealth, etc.
Now,
I’m not a doom and gloom sort of guy. If anything, I’ve gotten myself
into trouble for joking too much. I truly hope that each of you gets the
very best life has to offer. However, you also deserve the truth. And
the truth is that some of you won’t achieve your goals or realize your
dreams. Another truth is that, whether sooner or later, all of you will
face hard times and perhaps even tragedy. Life is like that.
Almost 40
years ago, I stood where you now stand. Almost 40 years ago, to the
strains of Pomp and Circumstance, I marched into a Southern
Illinois high school gymnasium. At that time, I suspect I expected more
pomp than circumstance in my life. But looking back, I have to say there
has probably been more circumstance than pomp.
So, some four
decades after my high school graduation, may I share with you some
observations about living with pomp and circumstance?
I. LIVING WITH
POMP
It may be that
tribute, honor and praise will come your way during your lifetime. Let me
warn you that these can be among the most challenging times of your life. In
many ways, success is more difficult to handle than failure; praise more
difficult than criticism.
One reason for
this is that in the face of triumphs and tributes, we can begin to define
ourselves by what we do instead of by who we are. Let me tell you that
character matters more than achievement. It seems that every few months, we
hear about politicians and professionals, athletes and actors, clinicians and
clergy who were proficient at their profession but who were corrupt in their
character. I’m sure that the problem is that they got their identity from
what they did and how they did it rather than from who they are. Rather than
existing as human beings, they became human doings.
Another reason
acclaim is more dangerous than criticism and success more perilous than
failure is because a good person with great potential can be ruined if he
listens to the praise of people who are trying to encourage his best efforts.
While these good hearted folk mean to urge him to keep trying, he may
misunderstand their words to mean he has arrived so he can quit trying.
Here is a principle you can remember: we are never as good as our greatest
admirers tell us we are and we are usually not as bad as our worst critics say
we are. The truth usually lies somewhere between the two extremes.
So,
please allow me to share this counsel on how to live in times of pomp:
1.
Keep your
head on your shoulders.
Don’t let what you do
define who you are and don’t let the estimation of others define you, either.
In Romans 12:3, the apostle Paul said, “For by the grace given me I say to
every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but
rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure
of faith God has given you.” Paul said, “think of yourself with sober
judgment.” In other words, take a realistic assessment of yourself.
2. Keep
your feet on the ground. Don’t let the high regard of others cause you to
think you are better than anyone else. You are undoubtedly aware of the
perils of Paris: Paris Hilton and her 45-day jail sentence. You may also know
that she has posted an on-line petition to California Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger asking the Governor to commute her sentence. The petition
begins with this paragraph:
To:
The Honorable Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
Paris Whitney Hilton is an American celebrity and socialite. She is an
heiress to a share of the Hilton Hotel fortune, as well as to the real
estate fortune of her father Richard Hilton. She provides hope for young
people all over the U.S. and the world. She provides beauty and excitement
to (most of) our otherwise mundane lives.
Now
that, my friends, is a portrait of a person who hasn’t kept her feet on the
ground. She thinks she is so much better than the rest of us that her mere
existence brings beauty and excitement to our lives. Regardless of her
physical appearance, her arrogance is ugly. But then again, arrogance always
is. During times of pomp, keep you feet on the ground.
3. Keep
you heart on your purpose. Don’t let your successes seduce you from your
identity, your values and your goals. Some of the most capable preachers I
have known have been enticed from their calling by the lure of a lesser god.
Some hobby, a diversion or a temporary necessity came to take first place in
their lives and they lost their passion for preaching. It doesn’t just happen
to ministers, either.
As you may
recall, Josh Hancock was a promising 29-year-old relief pitcher for the St.
Louis Cardinals. He had bounced back and forth between the minor leagues and
four or five different major league teams until the Cardinals got him in
2006. 2006 was the best year of his career. Things were looking up for the
young athlete. But 2006 was also the last full season Josh Hancock would play
baseball. While he loved baseball, he seems to have lost sight of his goal.
On April 29, 2007, Joshua Morgan Hancock was killed in an automobile accident
on I-64 in St. Louis. He was legally drunk, talking on his cell phone and not
wearing his seatbelt at the time of the accident. Marijuana was found in his
vehicle, too.
2007 graduates of
Clay City High School, don’t let anything seduce you from your identity, your
values and your goals. People who set out with high ideals and selfless goals
can become victims of their appetites, their opportunities and even their
successes. In times of pomp, keep you head on your shoulders, your feet on
the ground and your heart on your purpose. Don’t let your achievements derail
your dreams.
II. LIVING WITH
CIRCUMSTANCE
While most of you will have to live
with occasional times of pomp, all of you will have to live with times of
circumstance. Someone has said, “Life is what happens between goals.” I
believe that to be true. No matter how carefully you plan, organize and
strategize, stuff happens. (I think I read that on a bumper sticker once:
“stuff happens”.) And it is true. Expect the unexpected, plan on the
unplanned, anticipate the unanticipated because it happens.
Your mower will not always start on
the first pull. Someday you will have a flat tire when you are in a hurry.
Your baby will puke on your new outfit. Occasionally the Cubs will beat the
Cardinals. Hardship happens. And for most of us, the way we cope with the
unexpected, the unanticipated and the unforeseen defines our success or
failure in life. So let me give you some suggestions for living in times of
circumstance:
1.
Maintain your focus – no matter
what circumstances you face. Many people will fail in life, not because they
lack talent, ability, connection or goodwill but because they lack focus. If
you are going to reach your goals in life, then it is of the utmost importance
that you maintain your focus. Nobody ever succeeded in life without some
measure of tenacity and grit. A donut shop in New York City is said to have
had this slogan: “through all of life, whatever be your goal, keep your eye
upon the donut and not upon the hole.” That’s just another way of saying:
no matter what circumstances you meet in life, maintain your focus.
2. Maintain
your flexibility – This is a must as you face unexpected circumstances.
One thing I’ve noticed out of the life of Jesus is his amazing flexibility.
He told us the goals for his life. He said they included doing the will of
his Father who is in heaven and seeking and saving those who are lost. But in
spite of the fact that he was goal-oriented, he remained remarkably flexible.
He was almost always available to be interrupted and he seized on those
interruptions as unplanned opportunities to advance his goals. That is an
example we all ought to follow. Maintain your flexibility.
3. Maintain
your faith – If you want to be successful in life, despite any
circumstances that come your way, maintain your faith. In a letter to a young
man named Timothy, the apostle Paul told him to hold on to his faith and to a
good conscience. Then he said, “Some have rejected these and so have
shipwrecked their faith” (I Timothy 1:19b).
Most of you know that to maintain your health, you must watch what you eat,
exercise your body and see your doctor regularly. If you will maintain your
faith, you must watch what you feed your soul, you must exercise your faith
and you must spend time with the Lord. You cannot neglect your faith if you
expect to maintain your faith.
Graduates, maintain your faith even
when circumstances are not what you anticipated. Maintain you faith even when
life is difficult, when friends desert you and your health fails you.
Maintain you faith in spite of financial reversals, career setbacks and
personal failures. Maintain your faith no matter what. If you would enjoy
success in this life and reward in the next, maintain your faith.
CONCLUSION:
There is one
passage of scripture that perhaps best summaries what I have tried to say
regarding living in times of pomp and living in times of circumstance. In
Philippians 4:11-13, the apostle Paul wrote:
I have
learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know
what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have
learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well
fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do
everything through him who gives me strength.
To be
content in any and every situation, to learn to be yourself in times of
pomp and in times of circumstance: that, graduates, is a measure of
maturity. And to learn the secret of being content (that you can
do all things through Jesus Christ who gives you strength): that is the
measure of success.
To the
2007 graduating class of Clay City High School, I leave this challenge: learn
to live for the Lord in times of pomp and in times of circumstance and if you
do, you will have achieved success.
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