2007 Commencement Address
McAfee School of Theology
May 19, 2007
By J. Truett Gannon
Watkins Christian Foundation Professor of Ministry Experience
McAfee School of Theology
I love Dorothy, very much; always have. I’m older than she is. I was born in 1930, and she was born in 1939.
Our childhoods were so different. I was raised in a city where the roads were paved, the streets were lined with sidewalks and lights, the yards were covered with carefully manicured green grass, and we had running water inside the houses.
Dorothy was raised on a farm in Kansas, where the roads were not paved, there were no streets, and the yards were even dustier than the roads; farm hands were treated like family members, and school teachers rode bicycles to visit the parental homes of their students.
We were alike in one thing, however. We were always chasing rainbows. We both believed that somewhere over the rainbow, way up high, there is a land that we heard of in a lullaby; that somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true.
The problem is that in Dorothy’s world, only birds could fly over the rainbow. In my world, anybody can who believes in Christ.
You see, I agree with Paul; we can do anything in Christ. I know; that isn’t quite the way he wrote it; but that’s what he meant. Paul never intended for his giant spiritual faith to be literalized into absurdities.
Everything tangible has its intangible side, and everything physical has its spiritual side. It is the intangible part that gives beauty to the tangible, and it is the spiritual side that gives purpose and dignity to the physical. Our responsibility is to learn to listen to the spirit before we attempt to minister.
It’s like playing a trumpet. You can’t just push a valve down and expect to get the right note. There are 8 configurations of those 3 valves and every one of them will enable you to play the four notes of a major chord. You have to learn to hear the note you want to play before you play it.
You push the first valve down; well, what note do you want? Do you want a Bb, a D or an F? And the Bb, do you want the low Bb, the middle Bb or the high Bb? It all depends upon the note you train yourself to hear before you try to play it.
This takes a lot of practice, How long do we have to practice? Until we can do it! It’s the same way with ministry. We have to practice ministry until we can do what the Spirit is whispering in our ears.
When I was a child, I admired my father and wanted to do many of the things he could do. We burned coal in the living room fireplace and he could carry the coal scuttle all the way from the coal bin to the house without once ever setting it down. I said, “Daddy, how do you do that?” He replied, “It’s easy, son. You just don’t put it down until you get there!” That’s how to be faithful.
What if you just can’t do it? I was a trumpet player but I was no Wynton Marsallis; and as a child, I was never able to carry that scuttle all the way to the house without putting it down, either.
Let me tell you what my father was doing while I was struggling with the scuttle. He never chided me for not being as strong as he was; he never berated me for being slow; and he always waited at the door until I got the scuttle as close to the house as he knew I could get it. Then he would take the scuttle from me and carry it safely through the house so as to not get soot on the rugs.
Sometimes, when we were sitting around the fireplace, he would say, “Jewell, Truett brought the coal in tonight.” No, I didn’t. Yes I did. There I go, speaking out of both sides of my mouth, again. We both did it! He let me do what I could, and then he completed what needed to be done. God works with us that way, too, I believe.
When John Clow went forward in his church to share his belief that God had called him into ministry, some member friends reminded him that he had very few of the natural skills needed to become an effective preacher. He replied, “I know; but I believe if I do the best I can with what I have, God will make up what I lack.”
I want you to stake your ministry against that possibility. We must perform our ministries in the agony of our weaknesses, but we do so, assured that God will complete what we begin.
Now, a special word to Katye; many thanks to Horace Fleming; deep gratitude to Alan Culpepper; my heartiest congratulations to the trustees of Mercer University for naming William Underwood as our president; and my strong, strong admiration for you, the graduating class of 2007.
Go forth to share the joys and sorrows of ministry. You can do it, Chawanis, Elizabeth and Yvette. You can do it, George, Harry and Rory. You can do it, every one of you whose name I did not call.
When Diane Carrihill completed her final spiritual reflections for me, this semester, she titled her paper, “I Can Fly!” You can, too. And when she presented her paper, she sang it! That’s how it feels to serve Christ.
I believe God will bless your every effort. Thank you for listening with such grace. Amen.