early taste of summer

For God and Country

When I got the message inviting me to speak in this joyous occasion, I was trembling. I do not know exactly why. Maybe I was scared. I have never spoken to this big a crowd before. Maybe I was excited. I would be lying if I tell you that the thought of speaking to the graduating class of our beloved JBI never crossed my mind. In fact, it did. I just never thought it would be this soon – just 11 years after my own graduation.

But recognizing that it was such a privilege, a great chance to share what I have learned in the relatively short span of 11 years, I humbly accepted the offer.

So, here I am.

It was not too long ago when I was in your shoes, so I know you guys are still in a “seventh heaven” state right now. You feel like you are on top of the world; you feel like a warrior who has just won his toughest fight yet. But let a few weeks pass and reality will start to hit you. Before you know it, you are faced with various choices – some of them are just waiting to be made; others may be the only ones you have; others still may have been made for you.
No, I’m not going to tell you what choices to make. I am not going to help you answer the question, “What do I do now?” That would be unfair because the circumstances I had when I was you may be far different. Rather, I would like to help you answer a far more important question: “What do I do with what I have?”

Wait, do you know what you now have? Each of you now has under your belt what I would call a Bethelian education, the same one that I have. Some of you will continue to gain more education, some may not; but wherever you find yourself in the next few months or years, and even for the rest of your lives, I urge you to use what you have gained from our beloved school.

The scripture reference of today’s celebration is found in James 1:25, which says,"But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act – they will be blessed in their doing."

The measure of how we fair as Christians is how we apply what we read from the scriptures. And it would seem that a similar yardstick is used to see how much we have learned academically.

And for you who are recipients of not just any education but a Christian education and a good one I may add, that yardstick is quite long. You are expected to reflect just that in your daily lives. Wherever you are and whatever you do, if indeed you have learned something, it should shine through.

Quality education therefore dear graduates, is not what is given to you. It is what you make out of what you are given.

Just as learning is an unending process, education does not end on graduation day. The first part of education, which is instruction, may end when you leave the classroom, but the next part, which is application, is just about to get serious.

Continued Responsiveness in Delivering Quality Education amidst Global Changes – this is today’s theme. At first look, it seems to be addressed to just the teachers, the mentors. But it is actually addressed to you graduates, and to all of us. The responsibility of delivering quality education falls on us all.

How do we deliver quality education? – by being doers who act. We impart our knowledge to the people around us by applying to our daily lives what we have received, what we have learned.

I would like to give an analogy to this. And what better example can we have than the heroes of the Bible. Noah is a good example of what it is to be a doer. Noah received instructions from God to build an ark. Can you imagine what would have happened if Noah never set out to build the ark? Nobody would have been saved from the flood. More importantly, we would never know how Noah responded to the instructions of God.

In the same way, if you don’t apply what you have learned, people will never know if you ever learned anything at all – you yourself will never know if you have learned anything at all.

I am fond of big words – words that most people do not know or use. So, as much as I can, I improve my vocabulary. And how do I know that I have indeed learned new words or expressions? It is never enough to know what they mean. It is even not enough to know how these words came to be – their etymologies. It is when I find the perfect opportunity, in a free conversation, to use the words that I know I have learned them.

Let us now revisit the Parable of the Talents? (Matthew 25:14, ff) Three servants were given by their master different amount of talents each according to their abilities. The two of them used their talents and gained more talents. While the other one, did not, in any way, make use of the talent that was given to him. And we all know what happened next. To those who have, more will be given; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.

Be doers, act and be rewarded in your doing.

So that’s it. Apply, use, capitalize on what you have – on what you have learned. That is the only way to do it.

And you may say, “Ok, now what?”

Dear graduates, it doesn’t end there. There is an even greater question that you all need to ask yourselves. And the question is: “To what end shall I use the things I have learned?” “To what purpose shall I use the things I have learned?”

When I was on my first or second year in high school, my dad left me a gift for my birthday. He could not give it to me personally because he works in Cagayan de Oro and my birthday was on a weekday. My mom was the one who handed me the gift and said that there is a message that goes along with it and that I should read the message first because it’s a clue as to what’s inside.

The message was in fact a passage from the Bible: Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your father in heaven (Matthew 5:16).

And the gift was a flashlight – a very cool one, I might add.

I’m not going to talk about my flashlight; I’ll focus more on the verse. That verse has been one of my favorites since then. And that verse is what I would like you to answer to the question with.

Everything you do should bring glory to God. Use your skills, talents and education to that end, to that purpose and all things will fall into place.

There is nothing more to it. It’s as straightforward as that. Do whatever you do for God.

If there is another purpose for using the best of our abilities and offering the best of who we are, it should be that we do what we do for our country. And this is where I would solicit your support, your hearts the most. For many of our countrymen have forgotten or worse, blatantly neglect the fact that we are Filipinos. And our responsibility as a people is towards the Philippines.

There is no doubt that our first priority is to please the Lord our God in everything we do. But the immediate second should be that we should serve our country. These two responsibilities are closely linked to each other. How?

Let us remember that, during the Old Testament times, God did not only reveal His glory and grace to a person, nor to a family; He revealed Himself to a nation. “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you” (Gen 12:2a) was God’s promise to Abraham, the father of our faith. It was to and through this nation that God made Himself known – He blessed them as a nation and, at many times, punished them as a nation.

Our being Filipinos, our nationality, is probably the most visible, tangible will of God in our lives. We honor His by serving our country.

In the near future, you will have your own families to uphold, companies to run and jobs to do. But never forget that you have a country to serve.

Do you know the story of Nehemiah? Nehemiah is of course a person who lived during the Old Testament times. During his time, the Jews were defeated by the Babylonians and were brought to exile in Babylonia. And then came the Persians and defeated the Babylonians. Could you just imagine the predicament the Jewish people were in during that time? While many of the Jews were allowed to go back to Jerusalem, some were made to serve the Persian king in Babylonia and Nehemiah was one of them.

Nehemiah was the cup bearer of the king. As such, he was trusted by the king with his life. So he probably had the most luxurious life among the Jews in Babylonia. But then Nehemiah heard news that his country was literally broken – the walls of the city were broken down and the gates where destroyed by fire.

During the time, the walls protect the city from all threats from outside. Moreover, these walls keep the people united. A city with broken walls is like a naked person – shamed and defenseless.

Upon hearing this sad news, Nehemiah mourned for this people and cried out to God for help.
But he never stopped there. He set out on a journey back to his country and on a mission to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and reestablish the unity of his people.

Dear graduates, you, and all of us, should be like Nehemiah. You may live luxurious lives; but do not get lost in the comforts; never lose heart for your country. In your own little ways, honor God and serve our country, the Philippines.

At this point, I would like to ask: “Are you proud to be Filipino?”

Why?

If you point to the conquests of Manny Pacquiao or of Charice Pempengco as the source of Filipino pride, then my dear friends, you have fallen short of being Filipinos. Our source of pride as a country, as a people should lie within ourselves. Let us work together such that everything we do, and everything we are, would honor the country God has blessed us with.

Start with simple gestures. Follow traffic rules. Throw wastes properly. Be involved in the comings and goings of the country. In time, you will find ways to honor the Philippines in your own ways.

I dream of the day when Filipinos no longer have to point to someone else if asked, "Why are you proud to be Filipino?" I dream of the day that for each one of us, everything we do and everything we are are the very core from which Filipino pride radiates.

To end, let’s reflect on the words of Jesus himself found in Matthew 7:24 and following:

Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell – and great was its fall!

This is another of my top favorite verses. I can so relate to it because I am an engineer – a builder. For us engineers, for any structure – be it a house, a tall building or a bridge, it is not what you see on the outside that is important. It is the foundation – what is deep within, what you do not see with your eyes, that is important. And the general rule is that the bigger, the grander the structure is, the firmer should be the foundation.

So graduates, be doers and not just hearers. Use what you have learned for God and country!

Build your futures, and in turn build this country up, on the only foundation that cannot be shaken – God.

Once again, congratulations. May God bless us all.