Graduation day is finally here. I’m glad for those that are graduating, and I’m glad for their parents. It’s probably a toss-up as to which ones are the happiest. This is a graduation sermon and it will be directed primarily at Lee and Mike, who are our graduates this year. However, I want everyone here to listen to the message in this sermon, because it is for each one of you, also.
Graduation Day. “G” Day for short. Of course the “G” could stand for anything. It could even stand for groundhog, couldn’t it? You know what a groundhog is, don’t you? It is that furry little animal that co-starred with Bill Murray in the movie, ‘Ground Hog Day.’
For those of you who have not seen it, let me give you a brief synopsis. Bill Murray plays an obnoxious newscaster who is sent to Puxatawney, Pennsylvania for the official Ground Hog day. That is the day when the ground hog comes out of its hiding place. The legend is that if he sees his shadow, we will have six more weeks of winter, and if he doesn’t see his shadow we will have an early and warm summer. It may not be a big deal out west here, but back east they actually live for that tradition!
Anyway, Bill Murray hates this assignment, and he tries to hurry everyone into getting this job done so he can get back to the comforts of home. What he doesn’t know is that he’s doomed to relive Ground Hog day over and over again, until he gets it right by treating nice instead of how badly he treats them now. All of this leads to a very funny movie. The movie hinges all around one very important day. A day that just kept repeating itself, giving this man chance after chance to finally get it right.
I looked up the word ‘day’ in the Bible and was surprised by how many meanings there were. “Day” could refer to a 24 hour period or to an infinite period of time, like the day of salvation. And the phrase “last days” has a unique meaning, all to itself. Today, I will be talking about a day, and the meaning will be referring to a time of opportunity. A time of opportunity for all of us broadly, and for Mike and Lee specifically, to get it right.
In JOHN 9:4, Jesus says,
“As long as it is day, we must do the work of Him who sent me. Night is coming, when no man can work.”
In this verse, Jesus is telling us we must do God’s work while we have the chance, because there will be a time coming when the day of opportunity will be over and we will never get a chance to do it after that. And so, we all have a day of opportunity given to us, and we must now decide if we are going to use it for God or not.
Lee and Mike, you are facing a time of opportunity in which you can literally make your life anything you’d like for it to be. So, decide this day whether you are going to use it to get it right the first time around. Bill Murray had many chances to get it right, but as your new day begins, you don’t know how many chances you will have, so I encourage you to make sure you get it right on the first try.
In times past, it has often been young adults like yourselves, who have ignited the fires of passion within the church. You have been raised in the way of the Lord, and now you are getting ready to begin your own life. No matter where your life takes you, I encourage you to stay in church. Take your unique skills and insight, your idealism and enthusiasm – and ignite fires of passion in that church.
In the movie, Bill Murray poses this question: “What if there isn’t a tomorrow? There wasn’t one today.”
Everybody, please listen to this. What if there isn’t a tomorrow? What if this day is all you have? As today slips into nightime, are you going to be sure you did all you could for Jesus? Are you going to make sure you got it right today?
I have three challenges that I want to offer you this morning.
1. BE PERSONALLY ACCOUNTABLE
Like it or not, we are all accountable to somebody for some thing. The biggest area of personal accountability we have is to God.
ROMANS 14:12 tells us,
‘So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.’
In MATTHEW 12:36, we are reminded again how accountable we are.
‘But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted and by your words you will be condemned.’
I would suggest that one of the first things you do is to set a standard of accountability for your life, and hold yourself to that standard. You will soon be getting jobs that will help you earn your way through life. I used to have a boss who would tell new employees that if they did a really good job, they would get a bonus. They would ask what the bonus was, and the boss would say, “If you do a good job, I’ll let you keep your job.” He was being humorous, but he was also keeping them accountable. And your employer will be doing the same for you.
Holding people accountable is why they show up for work on time. Holding people accountable is what spurs people to excel in their jobs. If it weren’t for being held accountable, people would just take one big coffee break all day long.
You will soon find that, outside the church, life is moved by accountability But, inside the church, things are run not so much on accountability as self-motivation. If you are accountable to God, you will be motivated to do for God.
As you begin your adult life, be sure to include regular church attendance. Be disciplined to include church in your life every week, and to include Bible reading in your life every day.
Think of it, not as making a decision to do it, but as managing your decision to do it. You can make all kinds of decisions, but if you cannot learn how to manage the decisions you make, your decisions quickly become a thing of the past. Just ask any person who has made New Year’s resolutions.
For the most part, my generation missed realizing how important accountability was. We have seen many tragic examples, over the years, of how people who have no self-accountability tend to suffer all kinds of damage to themselves and to their families. Two men who fit into that example are Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton. Neither held himself accountable to any particular standard, and both suffered permanent scars of public humiliation. This is not what you want for yourself today, and it will not be what you want for yourself tomorrow, so start today, and get it right the first time.
The second challenge I give you, is to make sure you …
2. MAKE THE RIGHT FRIENDS
You are going to be meeting many people in the days to come. Some will not be the type of people you will want as your friends, and others will be. I highly suggest you make that distinction very quickly.
And when you meet someone who is not going to help you grow, make the decision not to be friends with them, but always share the word with them, and keep them in your prayers. As you open the door to enter your own life, continue to live for Christ. You will have an influence on many people as you progress through life, and you will never know how many will later come to Christ because of you.
In 1 TIMOTHY 2:1 you are reminded of being intercessors for others. That means to pray for others.
‘I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone …’
You will also meet many who should be you friends. You will recognize them by where they stand with Jesus. Always look at the type of person you would like to have as a friend, and try to be that type of friend for others. And the best way to be the best friend is to set, and then maintain, Godly standards in your life.
DEUTERONOMY 4:29 reminds us,
‘But if from there, you seek the Lord your God, you will find Him if you look for Him with all of your heart and with all of your soul.’
You are going to want many things in your life, and there is nothing wrong with wanting that, but you must set priorities; and God should always be your top priority.
MATTHEW 6:33 teaches us to -
‘... seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.’
Seek God; pursue God; chase after God. Never, ever, ever be willing to sit and wait for God to come after you, because He won’t! But, if you seek Him, He will respond to you by giving you those things you want in your life that will glorify Him.
I strongly encourage you to develop and keep a strong prayer life; always seeking to do the will of God.
Perhaps the strongest, and best, challenge I can give to you is to …
3. BE TRUE TO WHAT GOD WANTS YOU TO BE
Most of us are always trying to change to be more of what we should be. And that is the key – always be willing to change to be more like what God created you to be. Think of the type of person you most admire, and model yourself after him. For starters, I would suggest a man by the name of Jesus.
Bill Murray would walk by the homeless man and put his hand in his pants like he was going to give him some money, but would then walk right on past without so much as a nod. Is this what Christ would have done? No! Christ cared about others, and as Christians, we are called to care about others, too.
And as you leave here today, be sure that you start looking at your fellow man as you have never done before. See how you might help him, or how you can share the Lord with him. I challenge you to look at each person and see if there is any way you can help them for God’s greater glory.
I look forward to a new day in the church; a day when sanctuaries are filled with people who feel the awesomeness and the presence of the Lord. I truly believe that day could be closer than most think.
When that day comes, the church will begin to feel alive like it has never felt before, and many new things will happen in the church that will impact all of society. That will happen when young adults like you start getting involved and start asking how you can make the church more attractive to non-Christians. And by ‘attractive’ I am not talking about how it looks or how comfortable it is. I am speaking about what will attract non-believers to church. That will be the church of the next generation – your generation. I pray you will be ready for it.
In the movie I have been referring to, the entire plot is centered around Bill Murray having to repeat one single day over and over until he gets it right. What is right? Right is when he applied the Golden Rule: ‘Do unto others as you would like them to do unto you.’
Will the Victory Singers please come forward?
As you leave your teenaged years behind you, and as you let your high-school days slip into the shadows of your memories, you will be heading out into a world that will not always be nice, and it will not always be comfortable. But you can still get through it if you remember two very important things.
First, remember Jesus Christ in all you do and take him everywhere you go. Never be ashamed and never be afraid of somebody’s comments. It isn’t worth your very salvation to do these things. Instead, be bold, as Paul commanded Timothy, and that will enable you to do the second thing.
Love your fellow man with all your heart. Care about them. Pray for them. You are going to meet many people, and not all of them are going to be winners. Be prepared to surround yourself with the armor of God, and remember to pray for those who attack you.
Paul writes: “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom mysteries and all knowledge – and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.”
With this in mind, let me say that as your new day begins, your new opportunity, I invite you to do everything you can to get it right the first time around.
Happy G-Day – no, not Groundhog Day, but Graduation Day. Congratulations and may our Lord bless you abundantly.
INVITATION
