Everything you Need to know

Everything you need to know…

Well, you made it!  You made it through the first week of classes! Congrats.  For those of you who are freshman, you also made it through orientation week, the most intense week of college outside your Ph.D oral defense.  Seriously I can’t think how in the world you can remember anything about what you are supposed to do or be or anything about this university from that week.  When I started, I remember vaguely the convocation service with the president and an outdoor cookout where we got t-shirts we could read upside down because they had been printed wrong.  Guess that’s what happens when you go to a school of 13,000 instead of the Behemoth that is Minnesota.

What you learned at orientation…well (and this is about the only time I’ll speak back against the university) is simply not preparing you for being here.  Everything you need to know in college, you’re going to learn it from experience.  What you need to know really isn’t what you think it is… And so with that, let us begin with things other would tell you, you need to know..

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

I can tell you that you need to know the bus schedule.  It’s quite simple.  Every five minutes, you are supposed to see a bus.  The connector goes to St. Paul.  If you live on West Bank, you’ll need this to come to Wesley in the winter (unless you call me).

You need to know it works well during the week, but on weekends, it slows down a lot.  In fact, if you live in Bailey, sometimes you might just want to call me an hour or two before worship for me to get you.  For sure you’ll want to ask for a ride home after worship.

You need to know the real reason for going to the football games is to watch the marching band.  No matter how they do the first four weeks of the year, there is no cheering “rose bowl, rose bowl” until they have defeated a big ten team.

You need to know that this school hates Wisconsin.  But I think it truly hates Iowa more.

You should know that there are really really good seats at Women’s Hockey games that you should go to.

You should know that chairs in Coffman are for sleeping, and they are quite delightful.

You need to know also that St. Paul campus is another world, but that it is probably the most beautiful part of campus (honestly).

You need to know that the real food diversity…it’s on the west bank.

You should know that although Dinkytown seems wonderful right now, you might want to become an advocate before it becomes all apartment complexes.

Now About College in General

You should know that being a morning person may prevent you from having any friends on the weekend…

You should know that your roommate may have their boyfriend over and that you should say something if you are uncomfortable.

Drinking happens every weekend, and most week days

No matter what you do, stay away from frats with Lions

A lot of you who might have relationships from your hometown will break up by thanksgiving.

You in about to change.  If you don’t want to change, better change your attitude.

It is perfectly acceptable to change what you thought you were going to be, even if you were planning to be a doctor since you were 6.

You should know that freshman know more than seniors…sort of.  You need to know that everything you have ever been told is about to be completely challenged.

You should also know some things About Faith

You should know some things around faith…and about your beliefs.

1.)   You should know that I am not here to dictate your faith.  Any clergy professional who tells you what to believe ultimately is to be steered clear of.  Faith is about experiencing your understandings and questioning for a lifetime.  Ultimately, the shared experience of the Church is one of individual and collective wisdom.

2.)   I would like you to know the definition of a few things.  The gospel of prosperity is one where people believe if you are faithful enough, you will receive extreme wealth.  If you have heard of Joel Olsteen, then you know what I’m talking about.  I can’t find a Biblical argument for this.  Let me know if you can.

3.)   You need to know that  Christianity is not about just going to heaven.  Saying the right words and a little prayer doesn’t prevent you from having to care about others.

4.)   You need to know that to be engaged in your faith from a social justice perspective means that you are engaged politically.  The separation of Church and State is real, but the reality of the world is that your faith should influence your advocacy and your decision making.  That also mean anyone who tells you who you can’t be a democrat and a Christian doesn’t fully understand how this relationship between political and Christianity works.

5.)   Christianity does not just happen.  It takes time, it requires doubt, questioning, and real authentic vulnerability. It is also not just a Sunday experience.  It is a community (more on that next week)

6.)   Finally, I want you to know that being a Christian does not make you necessarily happy or in a situation where nothing will ever go wrong.  People who are wandering around with happy faces all the time are typically not experiencing the world wholly…because it sucks sometimes.

NO,….What you really need to know

            NO…these are things to know, but In the end though, there’s really only one thing you need to know: Love.

And you need to know is that God loves you.  That sounds cliché, but it’s true.  You don’t need to have all your beliefs worked out, you don’t need to be a white anglo saxon protestant, you don’t have to be all grown up, you don’t have to be a heterosexual, you don’t have to be one political affiliation, you are loved.  You can question, doubt, run away from, and criticize  God, but you can’t run away from love.

You’re not hear tonight to hear a sermon about if you pray the right way or say the right words, everything will be fine and God will protect us or care about us more than others.  In fact, it’s just the oppositve.  God cares about you no less than whether you were here.  And that is worth coming together for.

In fact, I believe that’s why we are coming together.  We come together to worship a God who loves us, and we spend time together sharing that love with one another.  In fact, if you think about it, if you accept that God loves you, it’s hard not to love others.  Because if we are created in the perfect image of God, then not loving others is simply missing out on what God has done for us.

And contrary to what you may think, Love is not an emotion. It is not something that we feel, but something that we do.  I can tell my wife of seven years that I love her, unless we actually act out that love by spending time with one another and letting go of my wants in order to create space for our wants.  That act of vulnerability is everything that love is about.  The God we are talking about through our scriptures is not a dispassionate and distant God, but a God who loves.  And in so doing, becomes vulnerable and can feel the suffering of people’s in Egypt, who sorrows at the tragedies that befall the world.  And has to let go and be in the midst of the tragedies.  You are loved.

That’s all you need to know.

So in this community, we strive to love.  It doesn’t matter who you are, we seek to love you.  We’re not perfect, we have a long way to go some days, but we are called to love each other.  It doesn’t matter which football team you root for, even if you are a Packers fan, you are loved by this community.  This community welcome All.  And we mean it.

In the whole spectra of college, there are very few things you really need to know.  The problem with what you might have been told is that you’re really not hear to get a degree. You come here and leave here with expectations of a degree, but you’re hear to learn who you are, and how to learn who you are.  A

So if you are looking for a community who is willing to let you learn how to learn, to learn how to question, and to give you space to be yourself, then I personally invite you to stick around.  Because in the end, this community is learning to love.  And that’s all you really need to know!