The Exam

Sermon manuscript for Sabbath, June 11, 2016
Green Lake Church of Seventh-day Adventists

Texts: Daniel 1; Matthew 25


Seminary programs are designed to begin in the fall. I started in the spring. In the seminary bulletin the class descriptions frequently came with footnotes about prerequisites and proper order. You could not take exegesis classes until you had taken Greek and Hebrew. You couldn't take Old Testament Three until you had taken Old Testament One. I, of course, blithely ignored all these stipulations and signed up for classes that looked interesting.

Two or three weeks into the quarter I was summoned by the dean. When I was ushered into his august presence, he was not smiling. In fact, he was rather huffy bordering on irate. What did I think I was doing signing up for New Testament exegesis classes before taking Greek? I replied that even though I had not been a theology major in college, I had taken Greek. And had pretty good teachers, thank you.

That was NOT good enough. Everyone entering seminary was required to take Greek or pass an exam proving their competence. His scowl deepened. He was clearly offended that I was messing with his system.
 
“I'm happy to take the exam.” I said.
“But you have already enrolled in classes. You can't continue in the classes you are taking until you've passed the exam.”
“No problem, I said. “I'll take the exam now. Do you have one ready?”
He wasn't ready for that. “Well, you don't have to take it today. We'll schedule it.”
“Whenever you like,” I said.
He set the exam date for a couple days out and I went back to class. I took the exam and then heard nothing. A couple of weeks passed. Three weeks.
Finally, I went back to see the dean. The secretary sent me into his office. “I was wondering if my exam has been graded yet.”
He glowered at me over his glasses. “Do you speak Greek?”
“What do you mean? I took Greek in college.”
“I'm working on some Greek manuscripts doing collation—that is compiling a comprehensive catalog of variants. I have a grant to hire a few students. Would you be interested in joining our team?”
“Sure. That sounds great.”

I never did find out what my score on the exam was. But I think I passed.

Exams can be terrifying if you're not ready. If you are ready, an exam is a validation.

In graduate education a thesis or dissertation defense is an occasion for demonstrating mastery. Real questions are asked. You better be prepared. But the presumption is that the student will shine. And if the student shines that makes the teacher look good.

Our OT reading today features a final exam.

Daniel, and his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, had been taken to Babylon along with thousands of other Jews. They were selected for a special program that trained junior royalty from conquered nations in the language, culture, and knowledge of Babylon. It was a three year program with a comprehensive exam at the end.

Right off the bat, the four Hebrews made waves. The king had appointed a sumptuous royal diet and plenty of wine for the trainees. This was part of the assimilation program. If these trainees were going to join the Babylonian nobility, they might as well begin getting acculturated now.

Daniel and his friends said, no. They wanted their own special diet. And only water to drink.

The way I understand this story, it was a question of identity. By insisting on a special diet, Daniel and his friends were keeping alive their distinctive identity. This sense of being special, of being different, influenced every other aspect of their lives. They didn't study like Babylonians. That is they studied harder. Longer.

I was amused at a comment I heard from some culture historian a few months ago. He noted the Enlightenment in England and the explosion of science and innovation in the late 1700s came at about the time coffee houses appeared.

Before that, people spent their days drinking beer. Everyone was slightly drunk all the time. When you switch your beverage from a sedative to a stimulant, it will have an impact on your productivity, especially your mental productivity. Mornings, while their buddies were dealing with hangovers from the night before, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, were getting miles ahead in their studies.

If you get a couple extra hours of productive study every day for three years, it will pay off come exam time.

And sure enough. At the end of the three years, in the comprehensive exams conducted before the king, Daniel and his friends shone. Their scores were ten times higher than the scores of those who had tried to study through the haze of drunkenness.

Sometimes, difference is an advantage.

Let me state the obvious: The performance of Daniel and his buddies on their comprehensive exam was not magic. There was no “trick” or gimmick. Neither was it an accident or “miracle.” It was the natural result of three years of wise habits. The exam put on display the persons these four guys had been building block by block over the course of those three years.

Graduates, you have completed a course of study. Eight grades of elementary school. College. A Ph. D. You are already started on your preparation for you next exam. Even if that preparation is simply a respite from the pressure of study.

For most of you school will begin again next fall. You will begin again getting ready for some future comprehensive examination. If you aren't going on in school, you'll look for a job. Where habits will be just as important as they were in school. To a large extent your success or failure will depend on your habits. The exam that matters is not scrutiny to see if you ever goofed, if you ever slacked off, if you ever made a mistake. The exam that matters is the view of your habits. Did you come back to the pursuit of your goals over and over. Did you act in agreement with your true identity? Did you live as an agent of the kingdom of God, a member of the royalty of heaven, a disciple of Jesus?

Thursday evening, after an afternoon working on this sermon, I was headed home and listening to an audiobook. A nineteen-year old woman was at some kind of school in pre-war France that trained young women in the graces and manners of well-bred women. Isabelle had been expelled from a whole series of schools which had tried to squeeze her into their idea of a model young woman.

A teach at this final school was scolding Isabelle. “Why haven't you learned anything?” She exclaimed. Isabelle retorted, “It has been said that if a student hasn't learned, the teacher hasn't taught.”

I laughed and laughed at her impudence. Given her history, I suspect it was not merely defects in teaching that were the problem. But her comment highlights the reality that teachers are crucial. A good teacher can make a huge difference. I benefited from some teachers like that. I left their classes ready for all kinds of things—like a surprise Greek exam. Because of the quality of teaching I had enjoyed, I knew I was ready for any exam. An exam would not be a threat. It would be an opportunity to demonstrate the mastery drilled into my head by Drs. Springett and Holbrook.

One of the values that has animated Mr. Dunston and Mr. Roberts through their years of teaching is a drive to see their students excel. When kids leave Cypress Adventist School and go elsewhere, they outperform their peers. They are a credit to the teaching they have received. I don't know if they are ten times better than other students. But they are measurably, noticeably advanced. A credit to their teachers and their school.

Thank you Mr. Dunston and Mr. Roberts for you long and faithful service.

Our NT reading (Matthew 25) also features a test.

There was a wedding in the works. Part of the custom of that time and place was for a group of bridesmaids to be in waiting. Sooner or later—or later or even later—the groom's party would show up. The bridesmaids would join the parade and they would all head to the groom's house for the festivities.

In this story there were ten maidens, all of them dressed and ready. All of them had little lamps that were essential for the night time parade. They were all beautiful. They were all sleeping.

Then there is a commotion. The groom is arriving. They wake up and trim their lamps. Oh no! They have been asleep so long, the groom has taken so long to arrive, their lamps are flickering. Their oil is running out. For five of the maidens, no problem. They have little flasks with extra oil. They refill their lamps and step out to join the parade. The other five maidens rush out to buy oil. By the time make their purchase the parade has already entered the groom's house. The door is shut and they are excluded from the party.

What made the difference? The foolish virgins lived to the test. They figured how long it would take for the groom to arrive and they were ready for the wait. The wise virgins made no such calculations. They simply did what you do when you have a lamp with limited reservoir capacity. They brought lamps and extra oil. It's like the rule about head lamps. You take a headlamp AND extra batteries. You can go on a hundred hikes and never need those extra batteries. But being responsible means putting them in your pack.

Don't live to the test. Live to your duty. Do the right thing, the wise thing, and the test will take care of itself.

The Bible is full of stories about Judgment Day. Sometimes religious people can get caught up in these stories and live with a lot of anxiety. What if the Judgment reveals some flaw, some overlooked error that they have failed to correct. But this is a misunderstanding of the teaching of these stories.

God is not playing a game of “Gotcha!” The judgment is not about finding that one forgotten offense for which you did not apologize, that one character flaw who failed to notice in yourself.

The message of the judgment is that our lives here and now matter, the entirety of our lives, especially our habits. In Matthew 25, after this story of the ten maidens, there are two other stories of judgment. In both of them the decision of the judgment is based on unremarkable, prosaic labor. There was no drama in the preparation. No gimmicks. No magic formula. There was simple, uncomplicated faithfulness.

For the maidens who had batteries for their headlamps—extra oil for their lamps—the time of the grooms arrival was unimportant. The groom could come whenever he wanted. They were ready for his time table. They didn't insist he bend to theirs.

In the second story, three servants were given money to invest. Two of them got busy and did what they could. And their master was well pleased with their performance. One servant was scared to do anything, so he did nothing. The master was NOT pleased.

In the third story, the winners had no idea there was going to be a test. And even if they had known there was going to be a test, this knowledge would have not been much help because (in the story) they would have misunderstood what questions were going to be on the test.

The final judgment simply revealed the pattern of their lives. The question was: were you generous. Everyone thought the test was about who you gave to. But what mattered was the giver not the recipient. In this story, the crucial question is: how generous are we? How readily did we give? Not how discerning were we in our giving?

You have graduated. You have demonstrated mastery, intellectual excellence. What will you do with the skills and knowledge you have gained? Jesus invites you to be generous. Pour yourself into endeavors worthy of the gifts you have received.

Figure out the universe.

Heal disease.

Feed the hungry.

Inspire holiness.

Create beauty. Make music. Paint pictures. Create joy, health, happiness.

Cooperate with God in extending the reach and impact of the kingdom of heaven.

Do this, and the Great Final Exam—whenever it comes—will be a glorious affirmation of your life.