To him who is able to keep you from falling . . .v 24
To convoke is to call people together, to assemble formally in one place. Thus, a formal assembly of people for some official ceremony is called a convocation. In some traditional churches, the term convocation refers to an assembly of clergy in a diocese. And we are all familiar with the convocation of university students, with their family and faculty members, on graduation day.
During convocation, three kinds of presentations are noteworthy. Firstly, each graduand walks up on stage to be "presented" to the Chancellor of the university by the Dean, as having fulfilled all that is required of him in his course of study.
Secondly, the graduand is "presented" with his scroll by the Chancellor - an instrument by which the graduand is conferred a degree from the University: be it a Bachelor's, Master's or Doctorate degree.
Finally, the graduand is "presented" to the entire audience in the convocation hall, not the least to his parents, guardians, family and his friends.
Every Convocation of graduating students is an occasion of great joy and celebration. The graduand looks back at the years of hard work that is now behind him with a great sense of accomplishment. His family and friends are all very proud of him. And the faculty of lecturers look at each convocation with great satisfaction.
We Christians, too, have our convocation. It can be likened to our graduation day, a day when we will be presented before the glorious presence of our God:
Jude 1:24 - 25 NKJV
24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling,
And to present you faultless
Before the presence of His glory
with exceeding joy,
25 To God our Savior,
Who alone is wise,
Be glory and majesty,
Dominion and power,
Both now and forever. Amen.
Brothers and Sisters in the Lord, let us look forward to our Convocation. On that day, all of us who have been kept from falling, who are without fault, will be presented before our glorious God. It will be a day of great joy.
