Baccalaureate Sermon

Below is the text of Pastor Pamela Jensen’s Baccalaureate Sermon delivered Sunday, May 19, 2024.

 

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, and kindle in us the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and we shall be created, and you shall renew the face of the earth. O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by that same Spirit we may be truly wise, and ever enjoy your consolations, through Christ our Lord. Amen. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

We are gathered together tonight to celebrate an ending. For most of your lives, you have lived in the sure and certain love of your families and friends, as well as the security of your teachers, churches and communities. The years of your young lives stretch out behind you now, and you may be feeling a bit wistful about leaving childhood. But the rest of us can’t believe how quickly this day has come – this day of sending. For that is what we are doing. We are preparing to send you out into the world as young adults – to share your gifts with those whose lives you will touch.

 

So, really, we are celebrating a beginning. Soon, you will start something new. Some of you will enter college or vocational school. Others will become an apprentice or intern. Many of you will move out of your family homes and begin your first adult jobs. And some of you will get married and start your own families. But whatever you choose – wherever your path may lead you, we want you to know that our love and blessings go with you. And so, I say to you, just as Jesus said to the Apostles, "I have appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last." Soon, it will be your turn to go out and bear the fruit that will last. But remember, we can bear abundant fruit only when we’re in the vine, because apart from Him we can do nothing. A full and productive life can only be achieved with God’s grace.

 

That’s why it seems appropriate to send you out with the benediction of God. They are words that you have heard many times, but this evening I would like to share something of what Christ has for you in this benediction – Christ’s message to you. "The Lord bless you." May the Lord bless you with an abundant life. May you have everything you need and may you want everything you have. May you seek after and sustain the life in grace that you might obtain the kingdom of heaven. May you find comfort when you grieve and a calm spirit when you are afraid. May you be free from anxiety and doubt, but when doubts arise, may you rest in the knowledge that you are a child of God – and God is in the habit of loving you. May you hunger after the knowledge of God and thirst after the righteousness of God – and may your hunger and thirst be satisfied.

 

But not only that – may you be blessed in order that you might be a blessing to others. May you be gentle and kind, so that little children will want to crawl into your lap and play at your feet.  May you be merciful and forgiving as Christ has first forgiven you. May you be the listening ear and the warm grasp of the hand to comfort the grieving. May you be an encourager to your brothers and sisters in Christ. May you be a reconciler and a peacemaker (or one who helps to make others whole), for then you will be called children of God. And may you live a pure and holy life – for, then, you shall see God.

 

"The Lord bless you and keep you." May the Lord keep you from all harm and deliver you from evil. Every day, may you put on the full armor of God. Gird your loins with truth; put on the breastplate of righteousness; and, having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace, take up the shield of faith that will protect you from the flaming arrows of the evil one.  On your head, wear the helmet of salvation. And, finally, take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

 

May the Lord build a hedge of protection around you and your family. You are invited to live within the keep – the stronghold of the kingdom of God. But you have been kept for a purpose.  Ephesians, chapter one, says that we have been sealed in Christ with the Holy Spirit of promise. You have been set apart for good works by the power of the Holy Spirit.

"The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make His face to shine upon you." Psalm 80 pleads, "O God of hosts, restore us, and cause Thy face to shine upon us and we will be saved." The shining face of the Lord is a sign of His protection. The Lord is our rock. The rock is our refuge and our fortress. And, when we are weak and lacking perspective, may we cry out, "Lead me to the rock that is higher than I." The shining face of the Lord is also a sign of His salvation. The Lord is our redeemer, our deliverer. "The Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you." God is a grace-giver. May He make you holy by His grace that you might also be crowned with His salvation.

 

"The Lord lift up His countenance upon you." In the world of ungrace, this was seen as a sign of favor. When one came into the presence of the King with a request or concern, there was no opportunity to speak unless the King chose to look up. If the King looked up, it was a signal that the supplicant would be heard. May you always remember that your King has looked up – He has lifted up His countenance, His face. You will be heard. As the psalmists proclaim, "O Thou who hears prayer, to Thee all men come." "In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God for help; He heard my voice out of His temple, and my cry for help before Him came into His ears." The Lord has looked upon you with His favor. He hears your prayer because you are His favorite child.

 

"The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace." Christ is not promising us calm seas. He is promising us Shalom. Christ will make us whole. He will give us a supernatural sense of well-being in the midst of the stormy seas of life. The man who wrote the hymn, "It Is Well with My Soul," experienced this Shalom, this peace, first hand.

 

"Horatio G. Spafford, a forty-three-year-old Chicago businessman, suffered financial disaster in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. He and his wife were still grieving over the death of their son shortly before the fire, and he realized they needed to get away for a vacation. Knowing that their friend Dwight L. Moody was going to be preaching in evangelistic campaigns in England that fall, Spafford decided to take the entire family to England. His wife and four daughters went ahead on the SS Ville du Havre, and he planned to follow in a few days.

 

But on the Atlantic Ocean the ship was struck by an iron sailing vessel and sank within twelve minutes. Two hundred and twenty-six lives were lost – including the Spaffords' four daughters.  When the survivors were brought to shore at Cardiff, Wales, Mrs. Spafford cabled her husband, "Saved alone."

 

Spafford booked passage on the next ship. As they were crossing the Atlantic, the captain pointed out the place where he thought the Ville du Havre had gone down. That night, Spafford penned the words, "When sorrows like sea billows roll . . . it is well, it is well with my soul."

 

May you experience the Shalom of God as you go forward from this place. "The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace."