The Rev. James Forbes, Jr., senior minister of The Riverside Church in New York City, delivered the sermon at Elon University's Baccalaureate service Friday, May 23 in Alumni Gymnasium. Details...
In a rousing sermon titled, “Your Project and the Power to See It Through,” Forbes challenged seniors to find a project or purpose in life and follow through on it. It is more important now than ever.
“I feel a sense of responsibility to get right down to business because these are difficult times in which we live,” Forbes told students and families gathered in Alumni Gym.
Today our powerful nation is trying to strike a balance between security and integrity. “That’s never easy to find,” he said. “Compassion without power is futile, but power without compassion is fatal. These are difficult times and thank God we have new leadership coming from our nation’s colleges and universities. This is no time for foolishness.”
To make his point, Forbes the preacher became Forbes the rapper, singing about the ills in society and asking the audience to sing, “This is no time for foolishness,” after each verse.
“This is a serious problem for folks who don’t have a project,” he said. “To be without a project, you become a danger to the community. You are not quite the human being you were meant to be.”
In a humorous moment, Forbes said people without projects become “easily recruited by the devil to take a job as a project inspector of everyone else’s project.”
He urged seniors to find a project or at least know what it might be before they receive their diplomas on Saturday. He jokingly urged President Leo M. Lambert to withhold the diplomas of any student who does not have a project on graduation day.
Forbes said his project has changed over the years but that his ongoing mission has been to spark spiritual renewal nationwide.
He urged students to seek God’s help in seeing their projects through. “It’s time to check in with God who made you and knows your project. You are God’s project. Do what you can do best and affirm your own DNA.”
Lastly, he urged students to recognize the importance of working with others and not to focus on the negative in life. “Don’t let the flaw become the fixation in your life. Get on the path, get on the path, get on the path, I’ll meet you there.”