Princeton Theological Seminary

Opening Convocation for the 2017–18 Academic Year Speaker: Jacqueline Lapsley, associate professor of Old Testament

President Barnes talks with Old Testament Professor Jacqueline Lapsley about her experiences teaching scripture and working alongside her students at the Farminary.

President Barnes talks with Ronald C. White, best-selling author and historian, about how his theological training informs the way he does history and thinks about the intersection of religion and politics.

President Barnes talks with Lisa Bowens, Assistant Professor of New Testament, about reading scripture through a missional lens and how she seeks to prepare students for the exciting challenges of church planting.

President Barnes talks with Kenda Dean, Professor of Youth, Church, and Culture, about how churches can learn to take risks, innovate new forms of ministry, and make a difference for the good of their communities.

May 20, 2017 | Princeton University Chapel Speaker: President Craig Barnes

May 20, 2017 | Princeton University Chapel 205th Princeton Theological Seminary Commencement Exercises

Preacher: Dr. William Robinson, chair, Board of Trustees Miller Chapel

President Barnes talks with Nate Stucky, Director of the Farminary Project, about theology, sustainable agriculture, and the kind of formation that happens when students learn with their hands in the dirt.

"RE:think the Reformation" Auditorium, Mackay Campus Center Moderator: President M. Craig Barnes Panelists: Kenneth G. Appold, James Hastings Nichols Professor of Reformation History Karlfried Froehlich, Benjamin B. Warfield Professor of Ecclesiastical History Emeritus Geddes W. Hanson, Charlotte Newcombe Professor of Congregational Ministry Emeritus Elsie Anne McKee, Archibald Alexander Professor of Reformation Studies and the History of Worship Peter Paris, Elmer G. Homrighausen Professor of Christian Social Ethics Emeritus

Reunion 2017 | Miller Chapel

Reunion 2017 | Miller Chapel Preacher: President M. Craig Barnes

"The Whole Gospel" Lecturer: Eugene Cho, Distinguished Alumnus

"Christian Ministry: Reformed and Ever Reforming" Lecturer: William H. Willimon A retired bishop of the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church, Willimon currently serves as professor of the practice of Christian ministry at Duke Divinity School.

March 30, 2017 | Miller Chapel "It is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed." A plot develops to kill Jesus immediately after he raises Lazarus from the dead. Seeing the new life that Jesus offers forces a choice. Do you want it? Or would you rather orient your life around the old paradigm of coping with losses? The church needs more than ministers who help people cope.

March 23, 2017 | Miller Chapel "Unbind him, and let him go." Grace is the startling act of a Savior who stands at the doors of our tombs and invites us to “come out.” Faith is the God given courage to walk out of the tomb into which we have settled. Both are necessary to enjoy new life. But Jesus has no interest in helping us make our tombs more comfortable.

March 16, 2017 | Miller Chapel "Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" Martha rushed to Jesus, but Mary remained lost in her tears. But both of them offered the same lament at different times: “If you had been here our brother would not have died.” They both believed in their expectations of what Jesus should have done, which is not the same as believing in Jesus.

March 2, 2017 | Miller Chapel "...after hearing that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was." The RSV states that “because” Jesus loved them he stayed away when he heard that Lazarus was dying. Some translate the text by saying, “Jesus loved them; therefore, he stayed away...” Jesus doesn’t come just in the nick of time, but long afterwards. That’s because he wants us to love him and not what he can do for us. When we surrender to that love we discover that he does far more than we imagined.

February 23, 2017 | Miller Chapel "God changed his mind..." The Hebrew notion is that God’s will is open ended, waiting to make holy responses to our response. It is always possible to repent, or turn, to the God who is waiting to turn to us. But this grace is a scandal to those who think of themselves as righteous. Our calling is never to judge who is right and who is wrong, but only to invite others and ourselves to keep turning back to God.

February 6, 2017 | Miller Chapel "Jonah set out to flee to Tarshish from the presence of God." Jonah received a clear mission from God he did not want. So he tried to run not just from this calling, but also from God. But mission is not just an option on career day. We don’t look for it; it looks for us. And to reject it is to flee from being in the presence of God. But God will relentlessly look for us. It is impossible to hide from God.

April 6, 2017 | Miller Chapel "Mary took a pint of costly perfume...anointed Jesus' feet, and wiped them with her hair." This scene provides the fulfillment of the conversion motif that has developed through the previous chapter. Mary is again at Jesus' feet, but in worship rather than grief. Judas objects to her extravagance, even though he was stealing from Jesus. We either give or steal when we come to Jesus.

April 20, 2017 | Miller Chapel "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven." The risen Jesus said the Holy Spirit gives us the power to forgive sins. This may be more power than we want. We would rather leave the forgiving business to Jesus so we can continue to nurture our hurts. But we have to forgive not for the sake of the offender, but for the sake of our own souls.

How do we make sense of the call to child sacrifice to God? We cannot. Blessedly it did not make sense to God either. But all of us will find that we are repeatedly called to be willing to sacrifice our blessings.

Immediately after Abraham received his calling things became hard in his life. So he went to Egypt where he tried to manage his way into a blessing, only to make great mistakes. Only God can give what God has promised.

God made a covenant not only with Isaac, but also with Ishmael. This means the church has to be a blessing to those who not are part of our faith tradition. We cannot fulfill our calling without caring for the “other.”

Advent is either judgment or the coming of a miracle. If we use this season only to work ourselves into a frenzy to create the perfect holiday for those we serve it will inevitably be a judgment because we cannot possibly do enough. But if we lead others in opening our hearts, we may see a holy day of miracle. Holiday or Holy Day. It’s up to you.

In the end Abraham is a model of faith in a dream that outlived him. As Niebuhr claimed, “Nothing worth doing can be accomplished in one lifetime.” Our lives find meaning in being called to something bigger than ourselves.

“He believed the Lord who reckoned it to him as righteousness.” Eventually we discover our call is not to do something spectacular for God, but simply to place our lives in God’s hands.

Sermon: “Dreams and Realities of Community”

Ten lepers were healed by Jesus, but only the Samaritan returned to give thanks. The outsider became the only insider of those who understood grace. The community Jesus is creating is made up of those who know they have received his grace. Thus, gratitude should be the hallmark of the church, and perhaps the measure of our spirituality.

Jesus tells Mary Magdalene not to hold onto him. Easter is in part the discovery that there is more to Jesus than we know. This is part of the mission of theological education. We learn to discover more of Jesus in order to show others this mystery.

By denying that he is a disciple, Peter is actually telling the truth. If being a disciple means being a follower then Peter and we are not disciples after we realize Jesus is leading us to the cross.

The miracle about how many fish the disciples caught, and if this really happened, is a distraction from the most unbelievable thing in the text—there is a Savior on board

The first question is Jesus do you “care that we are perishing?” The second question is from Jesus who wonders why his disciples would be afraid? The third is again from the disciples who wonder about this Jesus. Having Jesus on board is a constant experience in amazement, if we are paying attention.

Pilate’s real choice was to make the people his real King, and that is what sentenced King Jesus and the world’s hope to death. We are all Pilate making this choice even though we do not realize it.

Pilate, who is no doubt weary of his compromised life working for the system, cannot handle Jesus’s words about the truth. “What is the truth?” We say that we pursue this question, but are actually terrified by where it may lead us.

It is hard to be a useful disciple of Jesus until one gets out of the boat and starts walking on water toward him. Eventually we discover we cannot walk on water and cry out to the Savior.