Westminster Seminary California’s 27th Annual Commencement:
“The Power of the Gospel”
by R. Scott Clark
Every graduation is special to the graduates and Westminster
Seminary California has been blessed with a number of gifted
commencement speakers in the recent past—our own
Hywel Jones, John
Piper, Ken Myers, just to name a few. In fairness to the speakers,
giving a commencement speech is a real challenge. A commencement
ceremony is not a little like a wedding ceremony. There are a lot of
arrangements—pictures to be taken, special clothing to be worn,
guests to be invited, and more. It arrives with much anticipation
and nervous energy. Most people want the whole thing to go off
without a hitch. Parents are beaming with joy and pride. Each actual
participant must stand before a crowd and do his part and into all
this comes a speaker, usually an outsider, who has to try to say
something meaningful to people he doesn’t know, which most will
forget before the event is over.
Not so this year.
Westminster Seminary California’s speaker this year was
R.C. Sproul.
Despite all the distractions and the very real physical challenge of
traveling cross country, he made a lasting impression with his
commencement address, “The Power of the Gospel.” He told the story
of Luther’s last sermon, given in Eisleben, in 1546. In this sermon
Luther warned the congregation to resist the temptation to try to
add to the gospel, to try to remove the offense of the faith. He
warned them about certain “jackanapes” (impertinent persons) who
were corrupting the gospel, and he exhorted them to let the gospel
be the gospel.
The great thing for our graduates, students, their families, the
faculty, staff, and everyone in attendance was to see Dr. Sproul
stand so firmly, so articulately, so winsomely on the power of God’s
Word and the good news of Christ’s obedience, death, and
resurrection. The great sin of modernist Christianity has been the
sin of trying to “fix” Christianity, of trying to take away the
offense of the cross, the offense of the mystery of the holy
Trinity, or the offense of the two natures of Christ. Dr. Sproul
reminded us that Christianity can’t be fixed. It is what it is.
Narrowly construed the word gospel stands for the announcement of
great good news, of Jesus’ incarnation, obedience for his people,
his mediatorial death, his vindication in resurrection and his
ascension into royal power. The gospel, broadly construed as the
Christian message to the world and thus including the command to
repent, is not a negotiation, it is not a request. It is not
calculated to create warm feelings or to enhance self-esteem. As
Luther before him, Dr. Sproul called us all to utter fidelity to an
uncompromised and uncompromising Christian faith.
The students had an opportunity to see and hear a man who seemed to
have the spirit of Luther upon him. I hope and guess they won’t
forget it soon.
|
|
