Lighting of a Fire

As a child, I was called a nerd. In the late nineteen-eighties and early nineteen-nineties, “nerd” was a nomenclature that was meant to ridicule someone, but I gladly embraced the term. As I moved on to college, graduate school, and seminary, I transitioned from being a nerd, to being a scholar. By definition, a scholar is “a person who is highly educated or has an aptitude for study.” Whatever you call me, it is no secret that I love learning. As a lover of learning, I agree wholeheartedly with William Butler Yeats who wrote “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”

There was a kindling--a spark--in my formative years that transcended the scholarship of the academy (though I am technically in the 22nd grade as I am back in school working on my Doctor of Ministry degree at the Theological School at Drew University). God has used this spark in ministry and shaped me into the pastor-teacher I am today. As a covenant-disciple at the Bethesda Baptist Church, I was the first one at Bible Study on the front pew, soaking up every word taught by Dr. Weaver (the most gifted pastor-teacher I’ve known). I could not get enough of learning about the unsearchable riches of God and how to apply God’s word in my life. When I answered my call to ministry and went to seminary, I found immense joy in the rigors of the classroom, even in moments when my faith was challenged. With every course, in church and in seminary, God added kindling to keep the fire ablaze.

God continues to keep the fire burning, even now. I bring this fire to the pulpit and Bible study each week. And it is this fire that inspires this sermon series, “Class is in Session” as God impressed upon me that UnAshamed witnesses must be lifelong students of Jesus whose lives are set ablaze and guided by his teachings. May this series be kindling in your fire, a fire that continues to grow as we, together, remain lifelong students of God’s truths.

Growing in Christ

Pastor Donna Olivia Owusu-Ansah