LEARNING!

The biggest day of the academic year at Dallas Theological Seminary arrived yesterday. Commencement. The graduation of over 300 of our best: Certificates of Graduate Studies, Masters of Arts, Masters of Theology, Doctors of Ministry, and Doctors of Philosophy.

Families. Friends. Fellows. Speeches. Songs. Scripture. Applause. Acclaim. Awards. Elation. Euphoria. Exultation. Cheering. Clapping. Clicking.

Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 ad infinitum.

Funny hats. Weird robes. And the colors. Oh, the colors! The pinks, greens, scarlets, golds, purples, blues, grays, whites, …. Academic regalia and panoply in glorious procession, signifying a variety of colleges and universities, degrees and honors. A veritable rainbow of academic achievements.

Yours truly got to wear ye olde toga rubra (red robe), the doctoral gown of the University of Aberdeen, and don the John Knox hat that gilds the scalp of Scottish doctors. I am not alone in this radiant declaration of my affiliation. Darrell (PhD, 1983), and Nathan (PhD, 1996) (and David, PhD, 1987—absent today) are my compatriots and fellow–Aberdonians at Dallas Seminary. All clad appropriately (except for the kilt—but, ah, laddie, one of these days, we’ll surprise these Americans).

As (I speculate) they used to say in ancient Rome and (possibly) medieval Aberdeen …

Qua solvam prece nescio:
Beatum ornat te toga rubra!

Who leadeth forward the ignorant:
Blessed is thy splendid red robe!
(Or something close.)

So there we are at DTS, ostensibly leading forward the ignorant.

Sometimes I wonder.

But I think I’ve finally figured it out—I’ve met the ignorant, and the ignorant is … me! Teaching has revealed to me, the one who professes, the depth of my own ignorance. A healthy, humbling enterprise—teaching. And, engaging in that activity, I am learning a lot more than my students are.

Surprise, surprise, I am not there yet. Oh, well, neither was Paul. I’m in good company.

Brethren, I do not regard myself
as having laid hold of it yet;
but one thing I do:
forgetting what lies behind
and reaching forward
to what lies ahead,
I press on toward the goal
for the prize of the upward call
of God in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:13–14

And he, Paul, and all of us, press on, striving for excellence, by the gracious power of the Spirit, for the glory of God.

Run in such a way
that you may win.
Everyone who competes
in the games exercises
self-control in all things.
They then do it to receive
a perishable wreath,
but we an imperishable.
Therefore I run in such a way,
as not without aim;
I box in such a way,
as not beating the air;
but I discipline my body
and make it my slave, so that,
after I have preached to others,
I myself will not be disqualified.
1 Corinthians 9:24–27

So that, one day, at the “Commencement Exercises” for believers in Christ, we might affirm, as Paul does:

I have fought the good fight,
I have finished the course,
I have kept the faith;
in the future there is laid up for me
the crown of righteousness,
which the Lord,
the righteous Judge,
will award to me on that day;
and not only to me,
but also to all who have loved
His appearing.
2 Timothy 4:7–8

Better than any graduation anywhere, anytime.

What a day that will be
When my Jesus I shall see,
And I look upon His face,
The One who saved me by His grace;
When He takes me by the hand
And leads me through the Promised Land,
What a day, glorious day that will be!
Jim Hill, 1955