“Go out into the world overflowing with all that you have accumulated over the past three years; go and be the salt and light and be world changers and history makers.”
That was the message of SMMS President Dr Rowanne Marie, to the exiting seminarians during the valedictory service, on 1 November.
Reflecting on the narrative of Jesus and the Samaritan woman (John 4:4-26), Dr Marie said what is important in the story is that the woman at the well had her cup filled with living water which became an attraction for others.
“For this woman, her encounter with Jesus at the well determined what was in her cup. If life’s challenges happened to bump her and knock her about, there would have been living water spilling out from her cup, simply because she had had an encounter at the well. Each one of you exiting today, came to this well where you were seated and drew from for the past three years.
“As you are about to leave, what is in your cup? As you leave the seminary, what will spill out from your cup when you get bumped by the challenges that life outside seminary presents you with? Do people want what is in your cup today? When it spills out, does it look clean, refreshing, appealing and life giving?” she asked.
Dr Marie urged the Class of 2019 to go with a life-giving mission that will heal our broken world.
She said, “It is our prayer that like the woman at the well, if you have truly encountered living water, then each time you get bumped, you would spill a little bit of patience, some love, some gentleness, a bit of meekness and humility, patience, kindness and even long suffering.
“As you prepare to leave SMMS, may you continue to draw from the well of living water. May your life be an attraction to those you minister to. Each time you get bumped by life, allow living water to spill out from your cup. Go and spill out into this broken world, bringing healing, renewal, restoration, change and hope. When people see what is in your cup, they would ask: ‘Where can I get some of that?’”