“Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham…” Genesis 22:1
For our man, Abraham, this must have been the moving of the tassel moment!
“Traditionally, the moving of the tassel at graduation is called, “turning the tassel” or “the turning of the tassel ceremony.” It symbolizes one’s transition from candidate to graduate. Standard protocol in the U.S. dictates that the tassel be worn on the right side of one’s mortarboard at commencement and then, during the ceremony, moved to the left side. Teachers and administrators at commencement place their tassels on the left.” (From Answers.Com)
Before graduating, a candidate must have been proven. At least, in the traditional educational sense of the word, tested and approved. For the student/learner, every test along the way is an unsettling, sobering challenge. At the time of the examination, it feels like nothing more difficult or unnerving could possibly enter the life than the work that lies immediately before them. But then, as the learning process continues, the testing also increases and becomes progressively more challenging. By the final exam? Those first ones seem like nothing more than insignificant “pop quizzes.” The journey: from beginning to graduation.
Our man, Abe has faced his tests. Called by the Living God to abandon his homeland of false gods and familial relationships to relocate to an as-yet-undesignated location. Instructed to leave behind almost all of his family. Then, having settled in nicely in his new environment, and with his father’s death fresh on his heart, comes the call to uproot once again. Trial, followed almost immediately by the urgencies of survival, through a season of famine. And the disastrous deception on the Egyptian sojourn. Then the stresses of multiplied wealth and the tension with nephew Lot. And the assault on Sodom and the need for a rescue party, which is followed by the temptation to a short-cut to a financial windfall. Did I mention the continual month-by-month disappointment of infertility while under the cloud of a Divine promise unfulfilled? Or the conflict between the two women of his tent and the painful parting with his only flesh and blood? Our man, Abe has faced his tests. But he was still unqualified for the “moving of the tassel.” There remained yet before him, one major final exam: the mother of all tests!
At the end of a four-year college program, which I had “crammed” into five years, came one final exam. All previous quizzes, papers, and presentations in the rear view mirror seemed as nothing in light of the document that lay before me on that desk. “Bibliology and Theology Proper.” A required course, if the tassel were to be moved. It was make or break time. I stared down at that test and convinced myself that graduation day for this man was not going to come. In resignation to the unavoidable, I marked a few answers, folded my paper and solemnly went to the front. I did not know how I would break the devastating news of personal failure to Linda. I simply did not have what it took to pass that exam! But suddenly the gracious surprise…
I recall, with clarity, the emotion of the moment at the end of that grueling activity packed week when the graduating class of Western Bible College 1976 stood to move their tassels. With the right hand we carefully took it from the right of our mortarboards (perhaps so named to identify the block-heads who wore them) and draped it on the left. The honor granted “to him who is tested.”
“Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham…(beyond the multiple relocations, beyond the forsaking of family and friends, beyond the struggles to survive, beyond the temptation to immediate wealth, beyond the sorrow of painful partings…) And He said, ‘For now I know that you fear God…” Genesis 22:1,12
Facing the greatest test of His life, Abraham found the grace and courage to lay before the Lord the absolute dearest thing he had after 115 or so living years. God asked for the son of the promised blessing, and Abraham placed him on the altar. To him who is tested, God honors with the moving of the tassel.
Congratulations, High School and College Graduates, Class of 2011. May you proudly wear your tassel on the left! And, may He who has tested you and found you faithful, be found abundantly faithful to you!
See you Sunday, Church!
Pastor Tom
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