Garden School Graduation Speech 2010

Yet again, my Seniors asked me to make a speech at their graduation. So, with much trembling and unsettling emotions, I offered up these words. It was an incredibly difficult speech to give, being so weighted with so many hopes and deep passion... I am thankful for my graduates who were so gracious while I struggled to read it.

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I would like to thank you, graduates, for the opportunity to come and share my thoughts with you one more time. I have been privileged to serve as one of your teachers this year. You have endured many lectures, rants, and off-the-subject stories in my class. So, for you to ask me to come and give one last lecture, means that something I said somewhere must have rung true. That, or we didn’t have money in the budget for a really cool speaker! I am hoping that it was the first option…

Today is special; probably more so than you even realize. This day marks a significant transition in your lives… a point that will grow in significance as time passes and you have the opportunity to reflect on it. I don’t want to say this to talk over your heads, or to treat you as though you are children, but to exhort you to take today seriously. In fact, I beseech you to take everyday seriously…

I know that your hormone-clouded minds are reeling, and you have probably had enough of “serious” in the past couple of months. You have been inundated with well-intentioned people who want to know your plans. “So what are you going to do after you graduate?” “Where are you going to school in the Fall?” “Do you have a job lined up?” “What kind of career do you want to pursue?”

Frankly, right now, I don’t care about that stuff. I couldn’t care less if you drive a dump truck or practice medicine. It doesn’t matter much to me if you go to college or not. I don’t mean to startle any of your families here today, but in the Final Judgment, those things are details. Instead, I ache to see each of you work for the Kingdom, and make your life an offering to your Savior.

It would be unfair of me to leave you with that sentiment by itself. It is a hard thing, to live such a life. It is absurd to attempt this life without having some guideposts… so, these are what I would like to give you. I can’t speak to every circumstance you may ever encounter, but I want to offer up some things that I hope will help you weigh your decisions. Of course, you will recognize many of these lessons from our study of the Scriptures, but the best lessons bear repetition. At least I hope so!

The first and greatest lesson we read is that we are each Created by a God who loves us. Not only that, but each and every human being bears His Image. I don’t know if the impact of these two truths can ever be overstated. It is simple enough for children to learn in Sunday School, but profound enough to make the wise marvel. Do YOU believe that you are Created by God, in His image?

We see a hopeless, childless old man promised a family. He believes Yahweh, and becomes the father of a mighty nation. Faith will not always make sense, but the reward is immeasurable… as the stars in the Heavens… Will YOU have such a faith?

We come to realize that our choices bear dire consequences. As we stand on the plains of Moab, we are confronted with this great distinction… will we choose Life, or will we choose Death? As we anticipate entering into our own Promised Land one day, we all have to realize that these are the ultimate ends of our actions. Will YOU choose life?

We encounter the miraculous. Seas are parted. Walls are felled. The infirm are restored. God acting again and again in ways that shatter our modern assumptions about the world. Do YOU believe that He still works miracles? Do you believe that He can?

Life is characterized by endless choices that we all encounter every day. We see both wisdom and folly calling us to follow them. Thankfully, in the Scriptures we also find True Wisdom to help us make such decisions. As you go out and seek counselors to help you through tough times, be sure to look for God-Fearing men and women to guide you. Will YOU follow True Wisdom? Will YOU live wisely?

By contrast, we find that every activity under the sun will prove fruitless if we act with the wrong motivations. Will YOU chase after the wind and make a name for yourself? Will You seek after a life of hollow pleasures and worthless treasures?

We see the Prophets of old speaking of a mysterious time yet ahead. In That Day, those who have built great temples to house their egos will find their idols destroyed. All who are hard pressed will find comfort. All who know only strife and conflict will find peace. Sin-stained hearts will be cleansed. Death will lose its’ sting. Do YOU look forward to That Day?

I am sure that it is no surprise that I am not offering easy answers here. That would be somehow untrue. I am leaving you with questions that you have to answer, and not just with words, but with your lives.

I have been deeply blessed to have shared this year with you, and I hope so much for each of you. Most of all, though, I hope that when That Day comes… the Day of which those prophets spoke… I will see each of you being richly rewarded for a life lived in His Name. And it is in His Name, the Name above all names, that I pray these things for you.

Thank you again for being such blessings to me, and may the Lord bless each of you as you go.