What Comes Next?

This May, I gave the message at York College's graduation chapel service. Here's what I shared:

So, what comes next? You are here standing on the edge of graduation, you’ve paid your dues, and now it’s time to get moving. You may have a picture in your head of what your life should look like a year or 5 from now. I know I did!

Many of us have been told that the path to a life of comfort and success is through higher education. And now, you are here – tomorrow, you’ll be receiving the most expensive piece of paper you’ll ever own (unless, perhaps, you go to grad school). What will life hold for you? What comes next? And how will you define success?

Many of us, grew up believing that success looked like owning your home, not renting. Owning a car for each driver in the household, not resorting to the bus. Being salaried, not paid hourly (or God forbid, in tips). Marriage, kids, maybe some dogs. Respect of your peers, approval of your boss, getting a leg up on retirement.

What comes next?

Jesus once told a story about how to live a life well… or not.

The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, "What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops." Then he said, "This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, 'You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.'"

But God said to him, "You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?"

This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

- Luke 12:16-21

By any objective measure, this guy was living the dream. Well provisioned, master of his destiny, the means to achieve anything that he could want. He spent a life pursuing the dream that our culture markets to us from every imaginable angle today. But the story ends with a grim reminder – what good does all of that do you? The story calls into question many of the yardsticks by which we measure success. We all die, eventually, and what have we done with our lives, besides seeking comfort?

An uplifting thought, for sure.

Fortunately Jesus continues with words of hope and wisdom:

God loves us even more than
the Ravens ;)

Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

“Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
 

- Luke 12:22-34

Where do you keep your treasure? In your wallet or your relationships? In your car and home equity, or in care and social equity? In your retirement account or an account of your service of God and others?

What if, instead of working so hard to measure up to this one popular conception of success, you spent your life in pursuit of God’s kingdom righteousness? What if you put this privilege, these resources, this means to affect change in the world in service of God and others, rather than our collective obsession with accumulating “stuff?”

This used car (an '82 Nissan Sentra)
got me through some tough times.

“Sell your possessions and give to the poor?” What if, instead of buying that new car, you picked up a ride from the classifieds and began supporting a world-vision child with the surplus? What if instead of taking the job that simply pays the highest salary and has the best location, you instead took the job that pays poorly but serves those who are in the greatest need?

What if you took as your own our collegiate motto – Servire Est Vivere. To serve is to live. To make it your life’s goal to view your privilege as a sacred trust, a holy stewardship, a means by which you would live as a blessing to those around you. This is the challenging call that God directs toward each of us. Just a few verses later, Jesus phrased it this way: "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." (Luke 12:48)

Friends, you have received much. And you have many choices ahead of you. Where to work, who to befriend, how to live. So I pose the question once more to you, and perhaps share the challenge – What comes next?

This is my prayer for you. That you would find contentment in God, and not succumb to the pressure to measure you life according to outward appearances. Rather, that you’d know the joy and contentment of living simply, using your privilege, position, and provision in service of God, and in caring for those who are unable to provide for themselves.

God bless you as you step into what comes next.