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Silliman University's 106th Founders Day
WORSHIP SERVICES MESSAGES
Theme: "Descending Into Greatness"

 Dr. Noriel C. Capulong
 8:00AM Guest Preacher, August 26, 2007

"Descending Into Greatness?"
Texts: Mark 10:42-45; Luke 9:23; Philippians 2:3-8

Good morning!

Today is a very special Sunday for all Sillimanians as we celebrate Silliman University’s 106th Founder’s Day anniversary. And so, we offer our thanksgiving and all praises to our God, by whose gracious will and loving mercy this great Christian institution of higher learning became a historical reality. Today, Silliman is continuously making its mark of excellence in various aspects and areas of education, service and witness to the greater community, the nation and the rest of the world. No doubt about it! Silliman has been quite a blessing and a channel of God’s grace to many people. And I can say this right from experience, how in the days of my life threatening illness leading eventually to a kidney transplant, I have been blessed with a new life by the graciousness of so many Sillimanians through the power of their unrelenting prayers, through the spirit of their continuing generosity and goodwill, through the unwavering warmth of their love and concern that no words of appreciation and thanks will ever be enough.

Today we celebrate this joyous occasion with this thanksgiving service and at the same time, reflect and meditate on the theme of this year’s Founder’s Day observance: “Descending into Greatness.” At first glance this theme is somewhat intriguing if not paradoxical. The two big words here, “descending” and “greatness” could raise a lot of questions in the course of our reflection.

Let’s begin with the first word of the theme. “Descending” would imply coming down from a position of higher elevation or higher status or from a position of power, wealth and privilege and embracing the situation of those who are below, those who are without status, power or privilege. It is like the gods in Mt. Olympus descending upon the earth to make a rare visitation among mere mortals in their daily life struggles. It is like God coming down to earth through his son Jesus, who then, as our text in Philippians 2 says, “emptied himself (like a bucket being poured and emptied of its contents!) and took the form of a slave, and was born in human likeness, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death.” In Jesus, God did not just descend but emptied himself of everything that pertains to power, wealth and privileges.

Our theme seems to imply that Silliman has been up there all along, occupying a privileged position among the elite or ivy league educational institutions of the nation. Now, Silliman is being called to “descend”, to go down and stay at the level of those who had been down there below. This leads us to the second big word of the theme—“greatness” which implies fame, influence, prestige and power.

Our theme presumes that greatness, being great, having a great name, is to be found down there, not up there. And this is what is intriguing and ironic in this theme. But let us be a little bit more practical and follow for a while the logic of this success oriented, greatness obsessed society of ours. Normally, to be great is to be identified with being successful in life, in one’s own profession, in one’s own business endeavor, to acquire wealth, power and privilege along the way. To be great, to have a great name, normally, is to climb up the ladder of success. It is to ascend, not descend, the steps that lead to the top. Otherwise you will be going against the tide, against what is normal, against the usual expectation of the society, even of your family.

I am afraid Silliman is still drawn into this kind of expectation and striving for greatness. This could also be the reason why we prefer to invite speakers during occasions like graduation exercises, people who really have made great strides in climbing up the ladder of success, people who overcame great odds and made great sacrifices and succeeded in being up there. And from their positions up there they can now proceed to be more philanthropic, socially concerned and generous. But they do not have to descend in order to be great. They can safely and securely remain up there and still serve as models and even sources of inspiration for our young students.

And we in Silliman can remain contented and secure with this kind of value orientation since practically our whole educational program is geared towards enabling and equipping our students to ascend or climb the ladder of success in the practice of their respective professions. Of course, we prefer to be always no. 1, to be always at the top and ahead of the rest. Who would not want that? This is a very normal human aspiration for greatness and success.

The problem however is, as implied by our theme, this prevailing value orientation runs contrary to the biblical principles proclaimed and practiced by no less than Jesus himself.
Jesus has a very different view and understanding of greatness. Greatness for Jesus is not something identified with the acquisition and ascending to positions of power, wealth and privileges. That kind of greatness, according to Jesus, from Mark 10:43 is the mark of the gentiles. The gentiles, according to Jesus, acquire greatness by lording it over the others with their acquired power and wealth. And as they lord it over them, they develop the tendency to become tyrants over them. Another name for domination and oppression. But, according to Jesus, this is not so among you. Christians have to live by a different kind of value orientation. It is the value orientation of humble and selfless servanthood: “Whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.” Greatness, for Jesus is simply the product or by product of a life offered in sincere service and witness to all people in the community including and especially those are quite down below and whom others would normally ignore.

In short, to descend into greatness is to be more focused on people, to be concerned with people, to be more people-oriented, to know how they are doing, especially those suffering down below. It is to descend into the level of their own suffering, pains and struggle for healing and alleviation, just like what Jesus did in his life and ministry to the poor, the sick, the lame, the blind, the ostracized, the demon possessed. It is to feel what they feel, and experience what they experience and see in them the very face of our own Lord Jesus suffering with them too.

This is why we are called to serve, not to be great. Our calling is not for greatness, it is for the humble practice of service to others. The motive to attain greatness I believe should be erased from our minds and hearts as we carry out this task. Let’s forget about greatness. For if we serve because we want to be great, then our service to people is carried out for a selfish motive and reason. It no longer becomes authentic service. And immediately, true and genuine greatness according to Jesus becomes compromised. True greatness is not to be sought after. It simply has to be practiced out of our love for God and the people to whom we are being sent to serve even if this comes unrecognized, unrewarded and unacknowledged. The motive should only be love and not the aspiration for greatness.

If only we would forget about being great and simply aspire to being faithful as a follower of Jesus no matter what, perhaps our world will be a far better place to live in. For there will be less people who would be so obsessed with power and wealth. There will be less people who would be having delusions of grandeur, power and greatness. There will be less people who would think only of their personal success and greatness. But there will be more who would be genuinely motivated in bringing their Christian love through service and witness to many others.

Mother Teresa won the Nobel Peace prize not because she aspired for it, but because of her total passion and compassion for people who suffer in her own land and to serve them without any reservation. Sen. Jovito Salonga just won the Magsaysay award not because he aspired for it, but it was because of his unrelenting and uncompromising devotion to the cause of genuine public service, upholding what he believes is right and true and denouncing what he sees as wrong and immoral.

Instead of aspiring for greatness we are called to live the life of faithfulness. Instead of making a name and being at the top and no.1, we are called to a life of selfless, humble and loving service to the lease of our brethren. “Whoever wishes to be first among you must be the slave of all.” This is the central calling of every Christian individual and institution.

To be faithful as a follower and disciple of Jesus—this is the far greater and more difficult challenge for every Christian today because its demands run counter to the values and expectations of our world today. Because of the expected reactions and even resistance, this will always involve suffering as the price of faithfulness. “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” What could be more radical than this demand of Jesus for us to daily take up our crosses?
We live in very extraordinary times which demand very extraordinary responses from a Christian individual and a Christian institution like Silliman. We live amidst the various manifestations of the modern life. Dr. Paul Lauby, in his last sermon here in the campus, emphasized the fact that we not live in a global village. The world is shrinking in size and distance. For we have made fantastic strides in modern communications through computers, cell phones, Ipod, broadband Internet, that the farthest place on earth now becomes just a phone call or an internet connection away.

All this is supposed to bring peoples closer to each other. Yet in the midst of these modern advances, we also witness so much failure in communication, growing misunderstanding, intensifying conflicts, and divisions among people, unstoppable and very deadly wars being fought in so many nations and even in our own land today. So much advances have been made in the fields of science and technology, yet so many of our people still languish in the quagmire of ignorance, poverty and lack of opportunities to a better life, thereby producing so much insecurity, restlessness and even crime and violence among our people.

Indeed, our nation continues to be beset with a plenitude of problems that now manifest in the growing moral and spiritual breakdown as seen in the alarming rise in violence and unresolved extrajudicial crimes of murder and abductions, the growing dependence of so many youth on illegal drugs and other vices, massive corruption on various levels that result in the wastage and neglect of human and material resources and the destruction of natural resources resulting in ecological disasters of unprecedented proportions.
It is in times like these that great institutions like Silliman are called to a higher level of faithfulness, and also to a higher level of righteousness, even in the face of the difficulties, challenges and the sacrifices involved. Yes, in times like these Silliman is called to serve as a beacon of hope; providing the guidance and direction for our youth and the rest of society in these critical days. She is called upon to serve as a channel of peace and reconciliation based on a just resolution of prevailing conflicts in our land, creating an atmosphere conducive for open, honest dialogue between enemies. Silliman is called upon to serve as a faithful witness to the saving love and liberating truth of Jesus, affirming and defending the dignity and value of each person and of the whole creation; standing for and upholding what is truly right and questioning and exposing what is truly wrong.

Oftentimes, in times like these, the distinction between what is right and what is wrong, what is moral and immoral, what is ethical and unethical becomes blurred if not ignored for the sake of expediency. It is in times like these that Silliman is called upon to model an alternative set of values and lifestyle that can inspire hope, that can offer a new vision for the renewal of lives and of our society. This is the higher level of faithfulness and righteousness to which we are all being called today.

More than any other university, this calling is very crucial and critical for Silliman, because Silliman happens to be a Christian institution wedded to a mission that is in line with the very mission and work of Jesus Christ. It is a Christian institution founded on the liberating values of the Gospel, inspired and empowered by the teachings of Jesus. But in this kind of social context to which we are called to serve, where values and expectations often clash with gospel demands and imperatives, there will always be challenges to face and even sacrifices that need to be undertaken. The truth is, it has never been easy since Dr. and Mrs. Hibbard started Silliman Institute 106 years ago. It was never easy taking on a pioneering task in the name of the Gospel. But they did.

Silliman may have made its mark of excellence already in various areas of discipline. We can always be proud and thankful for these gifts. As we reflect however on the deeper implications of our theme, as we descend to the levels below where we are called to serve and witness, we may need to work and strive just as hard for the marks of faithfulness and righteousness that ought to distinguish a truly Christian university these days. Happy and blessed Founders Day to everyone. Amen.