SENIOR SERMON 2008

Following is Hampton Moore's Senior Sermon, delivered on May 4, 2008.

 

Good morning. My name is Hampton Moore. I am a senior at Fayetteville Academy, and I was asked to speak to you today as a senior member of the youth at this church.

Eighteen years ago, the Rev. David Chamberlain baptized me at that baptismal font. Since then, I have gone to Sunday school and Vacation Bible School, where I later served as a youth volunteer.  I have been an acolyte since the third grade, and have served as a youth representative to the Diocesan convention.    I am currently in my 7th year of the Journey to Adulthood program.

St. John's has also introduced me to other youth activities sponsored by the Diocese of East Carolina. When I think about my closest friends, many of them are people that I have met through New Beginnings, Happening, Celebration, and Camp Trinity. I am grateful to the people of this congregation and diocese, for these opportunities to grow as a Christian, and for the friendships I have made.

             

I know it is customary for the sermon to be related to the Gospel.  Well, when I sat down to read today's Gospel, I paused when I got down to the part that says, “Glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.”    

I was just thrilled that I had such an easy Gospel lesson to work with.   I mean, it is soooo obvious and self-explanatory; you probably don’t even need to hear my thoughts on it.  I wondered if we should just skip the sermon and go straight into the Nicene Creed.

I was hoping to get a Gospel reading like the 13th Chapter of John, where Jesus washes his disciples’ feet. Then I could have talked about how my youth leaders have taught me about discipleship and service.

Of course, the highlight of the youth experience at St. John’s is the pilgrimage. I went on the Italy trip in 2005.  The Vatican, the caves in Assisi, and the city of Rome were amazing, but none of it would have been nearly as meaningful without the love and leadership of Mrs. Edge, the Koonces, and the Guzmans, who got us through those ridiculous airport nightmares.  These leaders have taught me many things about the church and myself, but most importantly what it means to be a Christian in our society.

You will never know how much the support of this congregation has meant to us as we moved from Sunday School and through the Journey to Adulthood program.  Thank you.

Back to the Gospel … It would have been nice to have an assignment like the first chapter of John, the part when Jesus calls his first disciples. He gives Phillip the famous, but simple message: “Follow me.” In an instant, Phillip’s life is transformed.  He adjusts his plans and embarks on a journey based only on faith.

I had an experience earlier this year when I had to make an adjustment, and it was not a good feeling …How many of you have wanted something incredibly badly, only to come up short?  Well, the thing that I wanted was an admission ticket to the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. As much as it hurt when I didn’t get that ticket, I realized that God must have a better plan for me. I cannot imagine going through that kind of disappointment without my faith.

And I’m now very happy that I’ll be attending NC State University, where I also will be a member of their ROTC program.  (By the way, State has a MUCH better ROTC program than Carolina.)

Without putting it off any further, let me try to tackle today’s reading with a story from my experiences at Camp Trinity.  Camp Trinity is the best place in the world. I have been going every summer since the second grade and this summer I will be on staff!  I have made a point of going to as many youth events there as I possibly could.

Camp Trinity sets aside one week every summer for Adventurers, a very unique camp for people with special needs.  The campers’ needs range from all extremes of mental and physical disabilities. Their needs are so demanding that each camper needs their own volunteer, in addition to the entire summer staff.

I have had the privilege to serve as a volunteer camper the past three summers.   You should be proud to know that, here in the Diocese of East Carolina, there are more youth volunteers for this demanding job than there are positions to fill.  And at the end of that week, since there is no expectation of any monetary reward, we all simply go home.  Our society expects money or some other kind of compensation for hard work, but I’ve learned from Adventurers that there are higher forms of compensation.

For one, I had an opportunity to grow in character, learning how to be responsible in caring for someone who truly needs you.  Another reward is the chance it gave me to make a new friend and have a positive influence on someone.

Last summer, I had the pleasure of being the companion of Carter. Carter is paralyzed from the waist down, but is very capable mentally.  On the first morning of camp, we had to wake up at 6 AM to get him ready for breakfast at 8. Those first two hours really foreshadowed how hard I was going to work that week. To get the campers to and from each activity requires a lot of physical activity and it can drain you mentally as well.  That is particularly true when your camper is paralyzed and cannot help you much.

Carter is one of the most polite, respectful and loving men that I have ever met. In fact, just last week, he sent me a Facebook message, “I hope you are doing well. The time is drawing nearer to when we are going to see each other again. As you can imagine, I'm very excited. I saw that you were going to be graduating on the 30th of May. I know it is a while a way, but I will be thinking of you that day. Take care, and I hope when you start taking exams that they go well.”  This just shows you what kind of a person Carter is, and how meaningful the Adventurers experience is to him. The smile on his face and the others throughout camp is a fine enough reward for the volunteers.  In reality, he gave more to me than I gave to him.

But there’s even more: there’s the reward of being with my friends in the Diocese and together drawing closer to God doing His work in the church.  And here’s what I take from today’s Gospel reading. I envision Jesus having this conversation with God about the job that Jesus has been doing on earth.  Jesus has completed the mother of all chores: to be in charge of everything human, so that he might give real and eternal life to all whom God rules.   Jesus’ only reward is our salvation.  He gets to be our only mediator and advocate.

There’s a key word there – only mediator and advocate. There is only one who can go to God the Father on behalf of all humanity because there’s only one of us – ever – who has done everything God asked of him, down to the last detail and in a way that glorifies God. And he did it all perfectly.

He asks God to guard us as we pursue this eternal life in a world where Jesus will no longer be visible, so that we can live our lives as the J2A banner proclaims: with one heart, one voice, one body, one spirit.  Jesus set the perfect example of working toward a higher purpose. He set the bar so high that none of us will ever be able to clear it, but that does not mean we shouldn’t always try to do the right thing.

This church and this diocese and people like Carter have shown me the rewards of working for a higher purpose.  As I leave home to finish my education and serve my country, I will always keep those lessons in my heart.