“LORD, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below—you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way.” 1 Kings 8:23
We are participating in a historic moment. For those who joined the Capstone journey before there were students, teachers, or a campus under construction, this moment may seem surreal. For some, it may have seemed like a long wait. For others, it may seem like just yesterday that we gathered as a school community for the first time at Rheault Farm. For those who joined us this school year, our permanent campus was a foregone conclusion, but joining a two-year-old school that has yet to graduate a senior class is still a founding kind of move—one that also requires faith.
For the founders and founding families, a permanent campus was a matter of faith before it was brick and mortar. We were confident in what we hoped for and assured about what we could not yet see. (Hebrews 11:1). This faith was a gift from God (1 Cor. 12:9), without which Capstone would never have seen the light of day. This moment is a good time to stop and to marvel at God’s kindness in giving such faith to all of us for such a time as this.
“I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.” (Psalm 130:5) These words have been the constant refrain of the Capstone community on this journey. God has certainly been gracious to all of those who have built this ministry by waiting upon him and putting their hope in his word. As we move into our new campus this week and start classes January 8, the waiting doesn’t stop. We cannot and must not stop waiting for the Lord and placing our hope in his word alone. “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.” (Psalm 20:7) Waiting upon the Lord is not about passing time. It is about knowing from whom all Goodness, Truth, and Beauty come. It is remembering that though the horse is prepared for battle, victory belongs to the Lord.” (Proverbs 21:31)
Our completed campus, growing enrollment, excellent student outcomes, and growing favor in the community are all successes to be celebrated with thanksgiving. On the other hand, perhaps ironically, they come with peril. Success has a way of diminishing faith and causing us to abandon waiting upon the Lord in favor of trusting in ourselves, our things, or our reputations. It is terribly easy to find Christ-centered institutions that, once successful, abandoned faith. Harvard, whose motto was originally In Christi Gloria (For the Glory of Christ) and later became Veritas Christo et Ecclesiae (Truth for Christ and the Church), eventually reduced its motto to simply Veritas, and like Pilate before Jesus, added a mental question mark, “Truth? What is truth?”
This is a good time to open the pages of 1 Kings, one of the histories of the Jewish kings, to borrow from King Solomon’s prayer of dedication when he completed the Temple in Jerusalem. At its close he stood and blessed the whole assembly of Israel, and we adapt that blessing for this, our Capstone community, today:
“Praise be to the Lord, who has given rest to his people just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he has given us. May the Lord our God be with us as he was with our ancestors; may he never leave us nor forsake us. May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in obedience to him and keep the commands, decrees and laws he gave our ancestors. And may these words of ours, which we have prayed before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, that he may uphold the cause of our school according to each day’s need, so that all in our community and beyond may know that the Lord is God and that there is no other. And may your hearts be fully committed to the Lord our God in the days and years to come, to live by his decrees and obey his commands, as at this time.”
As we enjoy his good gifts in the days and months ahead, may we never stop marveling at his grace so evidently present in them. As we celebrate Advent, Christmas, and the wonderful mystery and comfort of Emmanuel, God with us, may we rejoice in the gracious reality of Emmanuel at Capstone and renew our commitment to faithful stewardship of the tremendous gifts we are receiving in this historic moment.