Sermon Text: “Commit your way to the LORD, trust in him, and he will act.”
Have you ever wished you could travel by car wherever you went as you do on the Interstate? I personally think they’re great, with a relatively well maintained roadway (at least they should be with all the construction you see on them!) controlled access and exit ramps, you can just set the cruise control on your car at a legal, comfortable speed, and there’s little for you to worry about. Now if you had a built in guidance system that could keep your car on course with no possibility of crash or mechanical failure, some people might think “hey, now that’s the way to travel! It’s safe, it’s comfortable, no responsibilities, no worries. That would be great!”
In a similar way, as we ponder the graduation of our high school seniors this year, wouldn’t it be wonderful if all I had to do tonight was stand up here, and tell you graduating seniors that life was just going to be great from here on out, that everything in your life was going to be under control, nothing will ever go wrong, you’ll never have any problems, or responsibilities, or anything that will trouble or harass you. But, as many of you probably already know, that’s not the case. Even though many of you have had the privilege of growing up in Christian homes, under the care and guidance of myself and the other Pastors and churches in our community, and the relatively quiet peace and tranquility of life in a rural community like Audubon has to offer, we’re not immune to the tensions, burdens, frustrations, and issues of life that the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh cause. It’s part of living in a sinful, fallen world, the sinful, fallen world we’re sending you out into. However, tonight, we’re going to find some comfort and strength to send you out into the world with, the knowledge of the One who holds all things under His control. I’m going to tell you about the God who loves you.
For you seniors, tomorrow I understand is your last day of school. Being the “young pup” among the Pastors of our community, it wasn’t that long ago (13 years to be exact, I know, I know, to some of you it seems like forever, because you’d have been in pre school or kindergarten back then) when I had my last day of high school. It was an exciting time, and yet to some degree a sad time, when you realize that commencement on Sunday will be the last time that you will all be together in the same place at the same time as a class. On Sunday, you’ll be leaving High School, facing the tensions and temptations of the world under less controlled circumstances than what you’ve experienced up to this point in your lives. So on this occasion, it’s appropriate to reflect on the verse of the 37th Psalm that I shared with you. Through this verse, God is encouraging you, and all of us here tonight, to trust our lives to His care and keeping.
Commit your way to the Lord. In this Psalm, God is telling us not to envy the wicked, not to get upset by evil people, or jealous of those who seem to “get away” with doing wrong where if you tried the same thing, you know you’d be in big trouble. And you know what, it’s very easy to fall into that. In the workplace, you may work hard at your own job, but notice a co-worker is slacking off on their responsibilities, and yet, they seem to get by without anyone saying a word, whereas if you so much as take a bathroom break, your boss is right there to harass you. Or, while you’re trying to do the right thing, and you get passed over for a promotion, the person at your work who uses others to get ahead, and takes credit for their work, gets that promotion you had your eye on and the big raise that comes with it. It may seem very tempting to say “Well, God, you have told me in Your Word how you expect me to live my life, but it sure isn’t getting me anywhere right now!” And maybe, to some extent, you’re already thinking these things. But in the words of the 37th Psalm, God is telling us not to get wrapped up in all of that.
Instead, we’re told simply “Commit your way to the Lord.” The word we translate into English as “commit” is actually a Hebrew word that means to roll over, as you would a stone. In other words, one could say that in this Psalm, God is encouraging us to “roll over your cares and burdens onto Jesus Christ” or “Commit all of your concerns as you leave high school to God!”
Often in the Scriptures, our lives of faith are described as a journey, or a path that we take, knowing that heaven is our eternal home. Another memory I have of my own high school graduation is the feeling that “life only gets better from here!” But, there are plenty of roadblocks, obstacles, and detours that life in a sinful, fallen world bring. As you meet new friends in college, or in the workplace, you may find they’re what I call “fair weather” friends, people who will be your friend when times are good, but if you go through a tough time, or don’t agree with them on something, they’ll be quick to abandon you. The world around you may look at the values that you have grown up with in a small, rural community like ours, and your Christian faith, and say “eh, that stuff isn’t going to get you anywhere, you’re an idiot if you believe all that childish stuff!” Or, you’ll discover the sad reality that bad things do indeed happen to good people, and for no apparent reason sometimes. The devil, the world, and your own sinful flesh will use these things to get you off of your path to your heavenly home, and abandon your Savior. You will find your convictions, faith, Christian principles challenged by the world out there. So, what should you do about this, in the face of difficulties in life?
“Commit your way unto the Lord” or as St. Peter encourages us, “Cast all your cares upon Christ, for he cares for you. When you find yourself in trouble, not knowing what to do, what career to pursue, what college to transfer to, you can go to God in prayer and say “Lord, you know my way, the problems I have to face, the opportunities I have. I’m going to turn them over to you. Direct my way, keep me from what would be harmful, or if I have to endure a trial for a time, use it for good, to the glory of Your name.”
Now this is easier said than done. People, young and old alike, often fail to trust in the Lord in all things. And it’s the problem of humanity’s whole predicament. All you have to do is go back to the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3 to find the root of it. You’ll remember that God created the world, and everything in it, perfectly, without sin. Adam and Eve didn’t know sin. Then along came the serpent, the Devil, telling Eve “Did God really say you can’t eat from that tree?” You’ll hear that same line out in the world too. “Did God really say that you can’t take credit for your classmate’s work on this assignment? You need the grade to get somewhere in the world you know!” “Did God really say you can make up something about that co worker who’s competing with you for that promotion? You’ve worked hard enough, you deserve that raise, what harm will it do?” Well, you know what happened in the Garden, Adam and Eve ate the fruit, and consequences came into the world. Sin and death now entered the picture. Ever since then, every sin is a rebellion against the good God intends for us.
But thanks be to God that He sent His son, Jesus Christ, into this world to live the perfect, sinless life you and I could not, and then suffer, die, and rise again so that we could be forgiven of all of our sins and receive the gift of eternal life.
Just as God promised Adam and Eve a Savior in the Garden after their sin, He promises that He will care for our needs as well. He’s forgiven our sins through Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension. He will provide for your needs in life, sustain you through the difficult times, and use all things for your good. Sometimes you won’t necessarily see it that way at the time, but eventually, when you look back, you can see how things worked out so much better than you could have imagined, simply because God led you down a different path than what you had intended, and used some of those roadblocks and difficulties to get you there!
For you, the graduating class of Audubon High School, your High School careers are rapidly coming to a close. It’s been no doubt a whirlwind year. You’ll hear a lot about the “last time” for things, the last day of high school, the last time you’ll wear the Wheeler’s colors in various sports, the last concert, the last contest, and yes, the last time your class will be together in one place at one time. This week, you are writing the concluding words of a chapter of your life, and that brings a degree of sadness. However, it’s also an exciting time for you, as you have new chapters in your lives that are about to be written. I’m sure you can’t even keep track of how many times you’ve had to answer the question “so, what are you going to do now that you’re a high school graduate?” For many of you, the answer is…..more schooling. For some of you, next fall will take you to a college campus, in some cases, in another part of the country, or into some type of specific job training programs. For others of you, the end of your high school years means employment, service to your fellow man. Some of you may be entering the armed forces, in service to your country. Maybe a couple of you might be sticking around Audubon, to begin working on the farm. But no matter what your answer to the question “what are you doing after high school” will be, for all of you, you have two things in common, some things about your future are certain, while others are uncertain.
But no matter what the future holds for you, whether you’re going on to further your education, enter the workforce right away, or even if you’re undecided about your future plans, you will have opportunities to witness your faith in Christ, and put into practice what you’ve learned through the years here in this community from your Pastors, Sunday School teachers, and what you’ve learned from your teachers here in the Audubon school system. You will at times have to face the cynical attitude of the world, you may endure indifference or some form of persecution because of your Christian faith, or simply because you come from a small town. But when that happens, don’t sweat it, because no matter what your future holds, no matter what your plans may be, I would encourage you to keep the words of our text for tonight in your minds, the best advice and encouragement I can offer you: Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He will act.” May God grant that to each of you for Jesus sake. Amen.
