Today is a service to celebrate the end of school. It is very important to have a ceremony or party when we finish a grade
in school or birthday or some special moment in life. When I was in school, we each had our 
own desk with storage for our
papers and books. So the last days of school were getting ready for the final tests, getting our desks empty, and waiting for our last report card.
My desk and locker were a project just by themselves. A lot of us kept throwing things in them all year. Jerry didn’t take tests well, so he threw in things he wanted to forget. Patty wanted to save all her projects. Those got crushed. I saved old tests and school announcements, and menus of school lunches. They all had to go at the end of school.
But there’s two more things to do at the end of school. Do you know what those are? Well, of course, go to Summer Camp at Community Church. But we’re going to look at a Bible reading today that has two more ideas on what to do when you finish a big project. All students here today have just completed 180 days of school. That’s a big project. And some of you have just finished forever your days at PreK, or Elementary School, or Middle School, or High School or College. You will not be going back. How will you go on successfully from here? I believe you will hear the answer in the Bible reading this morning. Let’s keep worshiping and get ready to hear.
A lot of people fail right after they succeed in life. We offer Summer School because a lot of students finish the school year, they have done well, and then they take the summer off and lose what they learned. Schools usually spend until November reteaching what kids are already supposed to know. Taking off 12 weeks every year for a student is failing after you just succeeded.
Similarly, when you get out of high school or college, often there is no automatic plan for life. It all depends on your energy to use your accomplishment. Its even worse if you did not do that well. All successful people have some failure in life. If you were disappointed that we will not get a stadium on the West Side, it is interesting that Mayor Bloomberg’s people are working at this moment to present a plan tomorrow to have the Olympic Stadium here in Flushing. We’re about to get ringside seats. The point is that the Mayor has learned how to respond to failure.
The Scripture today gives two things you should do to finish the school year right. The first is to be thankful to God. Make a joyful noise. That is what we are doing in our songs today. We came into God’s presence with singing.
Giving thanks should be a much larger part of life. We pray before we eat so that in every day, we have times to give thanks. God wants us to turn around and be a blessing to others when we have been blessed.
I grew up in the country. And when the harvest in the garden was finished, there was too much of it. Sweet corn was almost never available, then in the middle of July, there was too much of it. When tomatoes are ready, you can eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and not get rid of them. I remember my grandmother canning to take care of the extra.
If you have gotten thru this year successfully, let your heart give thanks today. The prayer is so simple, O God, thank you for helping me in school. I love you. Can we all say that? It is so important to give thanks. And this goes for adults too. We are naturally born to complain. When God gives us a sunny day, we think that it is too hot and forget those cold February days where we wanted more sunshine. When we get a raise at work, we remember how big our bills are this month. Saying thank you to God is part of every good accomplishment. It gets you ready to move on to the next step in life.
The other step in life that Psalm 100 offers to is to ask God’s help for what is next. Psalm 100 compares us to sheep that need the help of God, like a shepherd. A lot of people have a moment of success and then don’t ask God for any help in the next step. And life has a lot of steps.
Maybe you don’t feel that happy about the school year. I talked to someone this week who struggled and didn’t do well. Got some Ds. Got an F. Failure happens in life. And what makes the difference in people is those who ask God for help and get started again and those that don’t. If you have failed, its easy to remember how unfair the teacher was. Its easy to remember that you didn’t have time to study. But the right way is to ask God, like a shepherd to help you get around the dangerous area and move on with life.
In a few moments the altar will be open today for special blessings. If you want to make a special gift, or ask for special prayer for the next step, I invite you to come as the choir leads us in the next song. And for everyone, remember to always give thanks and ask God for help.
