Happy Graduation!
James 1:12 (NIV)
"Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him."
Graduations are a special time for families and for our children. There are many here this morning whose children have graduated to the next level of their education. They may have finished kindergarten or elementary school and they are moving on. You have celebrated with beautiful and creative photos on social media. The school year has ended and there have been award ceremonies that you have attended. Your children have accomplished things that we celebrate this morning!
That is the nature of human life. We take time to celebrate the accomplishments of those we love. We set aside moments to mark the time when we pass from one phase of life to another. We recognize, acknowledge, and celebrate those who graduate.
The word "graduate" has a range of meanings:
to receive an academic degree or diploma
to pass from one stage of experience, proficiency, or prestige to a usually higher one
to change gradually
to mark with degrees of measurement
to divide into grades or intervals
to admit to a particular standing or grade
All of these meanings have the idea of progressively moving from one place to another. They have to do with growth.
This morning our graduates symbolize for us, most visibly, principles from Scripture about living the good life. We find happiness in our moments of growth. In our moments when we graduate.
Our text begins with the word "blessed" or "happy." The desire for happiness is something that God placed inside every human life.
God is happy. From the opening chapters of the Bible, we hear that God looks at what He has made progressively, each day graduating to the next, sees that it is very good, and He smiles. Each year the priests of ancient Israel would bless (or wish happiness) on the nation of Israel as they would call the Name of the LORD over them. They would recite:
“‘“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”’ (Numbers 6:24-26 NIV)
A shining favorable face is a smiling face. Eugene Peterson translates this blessing: "God bless you and keep you, God smile on you and gift you, God look you full in the face and make you prosper." (MSG)
God is happy. Zephaniah 3:17 (NIV) says "The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.” God is happy and rejoices when we graduate from one place spiritually to the next.
One of the things that can dry up your spiritual life is to imagine God with a scowl or a frown. God is happy.
One of my favorite portraits of Jesus is of Him laughing. Many of you use the YouVersion Bible app. You can watch videos of the Gospels. My favorite has an actor that walks through every scene of the life of the Lord smiling. Luke 10:21 (NIV) says, "At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit..." This was at a moment of graduation for the disciples and Jesus was happy. The word translated "full of joy" or "rejoiced" has the range of meanings: "to be exceedingly joyful, exult, be glad, overjoyed." He was happy through the Holy Spirit. Being full of the Spirit of God should produce a visible happiness in our lives.
God is happy, and graduates, today He is smiling on you.
"Blessed" or "Happy" is the one who perseveres.
In order to graduate, you have to endure. These graduates represent endurance and perseverance which is something that is essential to the life of the spirit and essential to being happy. Graduates you didn't give up, you persevered. Now, sometimes when we read texts like these we tend to read them through our individualistic culture. We look at these graduates and we are inspired to "pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps." But, that is not how it happened. There have been those along the way that helped as you have graduated along the way, gradually. Teachers and parents and friends... The Holy Spirit is called the Helper. He comes alongside us (with happiness) and helps us out of those tough spots. He rejoices when we graduate from one victory to the next!
"having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life..." When you make it through a test, God increases your power. Jesus is fully Human and fully God. When He was baptized in the Jordan River by His cousin, John the Baptist, He explained to John that it was for the purpose of "fulfilling all righteousness." Jesus had a complete Human experience in solidarity with us. Luke tells us that when Jesus came up out of the waters He was full of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit descended upon Him in the form of a Dove and a voice came from heaven saying, "You are My Beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased" (Luke 3:21-22). There was happiness in that moment of graduation. While JESUS was fully Human and fully God from the moment of conception, this anointing at His baptism was for the purpose of His ministry. He lived out a genuine Human life and modeled that life for us all the while the Fulness of the Godhead dwelt in Him. Paul calls this "the mystery of godliness!' Jesus went in to the wilderness after this. He had graduated. He endured forty days of testing as He fasted and prayed. He came out of the wilderness "in the power of the Spirit!" (Luke 4:1-14).
God in Christ showed us His intention for us to grow, graduates! This growth comes from a willingness to yield to the Holy Spirit as we graduate progressively as He leads and guides us into all truth. The Holy Spirit is The TEACHER. It doesn't mean that you will not progress slowly, or that you will not stumble along the way. The Holy Spirit helps you endure, get up, dust you off, and try until you get it. God doesn't give up on you. You don't give up either, persevere! You have made it this far and you're going to go on to wear a crown!
God doesn't want life to beat you up, graduate. He wants you to win. And winning brings happiness. Winning brings joy. We throw parties at graduation! We hand out gifts and cards. We make happiness! Graduates wear special gowns and hats. Some have regalia that indicates their achievements along the way. James says that those who graduate after persevering through the tests of life receive "the crown of life." The word translated "crown" is one that James's hearers would have recognized as what happens when someone graduates. It was a woven wreath of greenery that was given to athletes who persevered through their rigorous training and abode by the rules of the competition and won the contest. They finished! Graduates, you finished one phase of life! There is more! It was a wreathen crown given to civic minded citizens who did good for their community. They were crowned in recognition of their achievements. And I can see them standing before the other citizens smiling, happy.
But, James says this is not just any crown. It is "the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him." Like happiness, life is something that we all want. God promises a "crown of life" to those who endure the test, and the key to endurance is love.
These graduates represent to us today a conclusion that is also a doorway to something new. The life that God gives us is eternal. It is not temporary like the wreathen crowns of the Greco-Roman world. It is a crown that goes on forever. We look to you today graduates! Thank you for your example and your imaging of the Christian life! You did it! We rejoice with you! We celebrate you! We are going to follow your example in the other areas of our lives and in our spiritual lives!
We are going to be happy. We are going to endure. We are going to receive the reward of life because we are going to love the Lord all the way to the end.
Acts 2:38 (ESV) "And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
