"Where is God?," the senior sermon of James Thomas, from the Church of Christ, Austin, given in Christ Chapel on April 17, 2007

Today, three numbers excite me: 678 hours, 392 days, and 757 days. In 757 days, the ETSS Junior class will celebrate the 58 th Commencement; in 392 days, today’s ETSS Middlers and LSPS Seniors will celebrate the 57th Commencement, and in 677 hours and 59 minutes, I will join the ETSS Seniors in the completion of one journey and the beginning of another.

Today, I am saddened too. In Virginia, there are a number of families that were looking forward to celebrating on May 11 th. On that day they would anxiously wait to hear a particular name; they would take the graduate and family out to Zeppoli’s or the Wilderness Inn for dinner, and at this dinner, they would have praised their loved one for their accomplishment. But because of yesterday’s shooting spree, they will not be celebrating; they will be mourning, so I ask you to take a moment to speak a word of prayer for these families silently or aloud.

Would you pray with me:

Our intimate God, who shows us the way of love within the Trinity: Reveal to us your call upon our lives: for many are the plans in our hearts, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails. Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Here these familiar words, with a few modifications:

One night a man had a dream.

He dreamed he was walking along

the beach with the Lord.

Across the dark sky flashed scenes from his life.

For each scene, he noticed

two sets of footprints in the sand,

one belonging to him and the other to the Lord.

When the latest scene of his life (being ordained) flashed before him,

he looked back at the footprints in the sand.

He noticed that many times along the path of his life (having to deal with Imus’ outburst)

there was only one set of footprints.

He also noticed that it happened at the

very lowest and saddest times in his life. (murders at Virginia Tech)

This bothered him and he questioned the Lord about it.

When we look back at various times and events in our lives, how many times have we asked the question: Where is God?

Essence Carson, Heather Zurich, Kia Vaughn, Katie Adams, Matee Ajavon, Dee Dee Jernigan, Rashidat Junaid, Myia McCurdy, Epiphanny Prince, Judith Brittany Ray. These are the members of the Rutgers University scarlet Knight basketball team, and these young women are valedictorians of their class, future doctors, musical prodigies, and Girl Scouts. This group of young women have come from Utah, New Jersey, Indiana, Ohio, and New York to play basketball together, and this year, their team made it to the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship game. A team that began the season with 2 wins and four losses was playing for the championship.

Without any provocation, Don Imus attacked these young women, our future leaders, and these women handled this attack with courage, dignity, and grace. Where was God in this episode?

Many of us here know that we have been called. We are able to look back and recognize the moment, but if we were to go back to that moment, some of us would remember our confusion. Is this real? I never wanted to do this? Why me? What are you doing God?

In the Tanakh reading from the book of Esther, we hear of a Jewish celebration, the Festival of Purim. This festival celebrates a victory over bigotry, oppression, and potential genocide.

In the story, King Xerxes is married to Vashti. When Queen Vashti refuses the king’s request for her to appear, King Xerxes gives a royal decree and Vashti was never again to enter the presence of King.

Mordecai’s cousin, Esther, is selected to be King Xerxes new wife, and she assumes her place as queen. The King’s prime minister, Haman, plots to have all of the Jews killed (he did not know that Esther was Jewish) because Mordecai (who earlier helped to reveal a plot to assassinate the king) refused to kneel and honor Haman. Esther saves the day for her people: at the risk of her own life, she tells Xerxes of Haman’s plot to kill all the Jews. Haman and his sons are hanged, and Mordecai becomes the prime minister. However an earlier edict decreeing the murder of the Jews cannot be rescinded, so Xerxes issues another edict allowing the Jews to take up arms and fight to kill their enemies, which they do.

Each year, Purim is the last festival before Passover, and it is one of the happiest of all the festivals because it celebrates the Jewish people living in Persia being saved from destruction.

But as you hear this story, where was God, or was this just a matter of being in the right place at the right time?

Isn’t this always our struggle? In the moment we wonder where is God? It is difficult to see how he is acting.

Remember back to when you were a little kid. I imagine that a few of you wanted to be a fireman, a nurse, a doctor, or a priest.

In High School, we became sophisticated and we began planning for college and our future careers. Now we wanted to be teachers, lawyers, engineers, and politicians.

This is what our culture encourages; our grandparents, parents, and their friends told us to get good grades so that we could get a good job, and once we got that good job, they wanted us to continue to work hard and climb the corporate ladder. Where is God in these decisions?

So how do we know when God is acting in our lives?

One way is to give an event three to five years to mature. This year, one of my CPE group members shared his call to ministry. For him the moment of his call was back in the seventh grade. He clearly heard the call, but he could not imagine how this was ever to happen. You see, he was a poor student, and he hated school. At the time, his goal was to finish High School, and he was not sure that this would happen. Once he finished High School, two things happened: he was married, and he was diagnosed with ADD. Once his medication helped him and his wife encouraged him to return to school, he found that he loved school, and he completed his bachelors degree in three years. After obtaining this degree, he joined the US Armed Services, and he is now on track to become a military Chaplain. In our group, he shared how he is now able to look back and see God’s hand at work. Does this story resonate with you?

When we look back we are better able to see God’s work. We can see that moving out of a degree in Engineering into Liberal Arts; our being active in a youth or campus ministry, being active in the choir, being on a vestry, being a small group leader for our church, or becoming Queen Esther were all places where God was molding and directing our lives. He is placing us so that we can be His agent.

A second way is because we know that we are all participants in the priesthood of believers, but how does this work? We have been reminded in the seventh chapter of the gospel of Luke. John the Baptist sent a group to Jesus to ask “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?” Jesus’ reply shows us how we can recognize God’s hand: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised and the good news is preached to the poor.

We see God’s hand at work when racist and sexist remarks are countered with courage, dignity, and grace. We see God’s hand at work in the comforting of a grieving family member. We see God’s hand at work when we leave this institution and share the gospel in our communities.

The Lord replied "My precious, precious child,

I love you and would never leave you.


During your times of trial and suffereing,

when you see only one set of footprints in the sand,

it was then that I carried you."

May we come to fully realize God’s call upon our lives; may we have the courage, dignity and grace of Esther to confront evil as it appears, and may we have the courage to proclaim the gospel to everyone, and help others hear God’s voice.

.