This banquet is about: accolades, recognition of achievements, honors, kudos, laurels, and of course it usually focuses on the Seniors. Thus... the Senior Banquet. However for the next few moments I want to focus on the parents and grand parents.Let me say that I am in no way diminishing the accomplishment of our graduates. It is just that I know that in the next few days they will get a lot of attention. So, if we digress a bit for a few moments there will be no harm done.
I saw a commercial recently, in fact I have seen it a number of times maybe you have too. During the commercial there is a brief clip where a tiny duckling is nudged from, or falls from, a tall tree. After what seems like an eternity the little creature lands in a pile of dry leaves. Then you see the little thing taking a tremendous bounce but amazingly it seems totally unharmed by the trauma.
What is really amazing is that the clip itself only lasts about 2 seconds but it impacted me and made me think about what happens when a Senior graduates and leaves home. We parents have mixed emotions about this evening and this time of year. We are grateful for God's protection and blessing in your lives to this point but we also know that it is about time to nudge you from the nest. We also realize that life without you guys around is going to be SO different.
Now, I know that some parents say, "O MY I AM SO GLAD THAT SUZY OR JOHNNY ARE FINALLY GETTING OUTTA HERE!!!" However, I believe that most parents here tonight would say, with me, that these are not our sentiments.
Years ago (many, many, years ago) when I left the Clyde and Venna Jewell household (my parents home) there were many tears shed. No, not tears of joy.....
The year was 1975 BC (Before Computers) and both my sister and I were within days of being married. Not to each other but to our respective mates. Both Martha and I were very excited about the coming weddings and our pending "freedom" but I will never forget my mothers reaction. She sat at our kitchen table there at 836 Glaspie Road in good old Oxford Michigan and cried her eyes out!
I didn't understand her blurted words then but time has taught me to appreciate her sentiment and that particular reaction. We had created a lot of memories together. We'd had fun together. We had grown together. We were family. And all of that, except the family part, was about to change in a BIG way.
The older that I get the more I realize how precious, times together, and memories, are. They are a big part of who I am. And actually they are a big part of who you are too. They help you and me to remember where we came from and they help us to focus on where we need to be.
There was a time in King David's life where his memories helped him to relate what God had done in his own life with the goal of helping his son, Solomon, to become a great leader. Some of his words were:
Fulfill your duty to the LORD your God. Obey his directions, laws, commands, rules, and written instructions as they are recorded in Moses' Teachings. Then you'll succeed in everything you do wherever you may go. 4a You'll succeed because the LORD will keep the promise he made .... (1 Kings 2.3,4a) (the God's Word to the Nations Translation).
Soon after these words David died. His death put an exclamation point on his instruction in this text.
Parents, our times of instruction, at least the daily instruction that we can offer now, are coming to a close. We've had our shot! We've had our time of nurturing while our kids were still in our nest. They are now about to stretch those inexperienced little appendages of personal freedom and attempt to fly on their own.
Our tendency will be to ask:
Will they make it?
Can they do it?
Should I help them? Or...
They shouldn't do it that way!
These questions and responses will rush to our minds each and every time that we see them doing things a little bit different than we would.
We will have VALUABLE advice for them. But, now they just might not be asking questions as much as we would like them to. In fact they might go for a long while in between questions. Someone once said something like, "The older I get the more answers I have, it's just that nobody asks me the questions anymore!"
In this text we have a father, son chat that was recorded for our use. David spoke directly to his son and what he said was not that hard to understand. It wasn't a book like Jim Berg wrote to his daughters, which often overwhelms us as we think, "I could never do anything like that!"
Not everyone can write a book. But we can all do what David did. It was succinct, and simple, yet eternal in its profundity. And we all can learn from his words. He gave instruction and then related what would happen if Solomon did what he said:
Fulfill your duty to the LORD your God. (ie. Love the LORD with all your heart, soul, mind, your being).
Obey his directions, laws, commands, rules, and written instructions as they are recorded in Moses' Teachings. (Do what the Word says)
Then you'll succeed in everything you do wherever you may go. 4a You'll succeed because the LORD will keep the promise he made ....
Now our prayer as parents, or at least my prayer, and I think that every parent here tonight would concur, is that we have been setting the proper example in and through our own lives as we have been raising you.
Granted, no one is perfect. David wasn't perfect. In fact his life had many flaws. But he was called the "man after God's own heart". Why is that? Because his hearts desire, reflected in his writings, and life, was to please the Lord with every aspect of his walk.
In these words, as one commentator puts it:
The basic injunction was that Solomon was to conduct himself in his personal life, and in his role as leader of God's people, in accordance with God's Word.... Solomon was to be strong and show himself to be a man.... Solomon as the new leader was told to face courageously the various tasks, difficulties, and dangers he would face as king. For... Solomon, courage had its source in God. Its direction, the way it is to be exercised, is based on the Word of God, which also guarantees success. As Solomon steeped himself in and obeyed the Word, he would have both the knowledge and courage to act in accordance with God's will.Patterson, Richard D and Hermann J. Austel 1 and 2 Kings. The Expositor's Bible Commentary. Vol 4, page 34. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1988. 1
And guess what, those same principles are still valid today. As we fulfill our duty to God and obey His Word we will be successful.
Now we know that we are not nudging you out of the nest into the hopless beyond without the watchful eye of an all loving God. It is just that, we as parents hope and pray that WE have lived in front of you teens in such a way that you have no doubt that we want God's blessing and success in your lives.
In just a few years you will be where we are. If the Lord tarries His coming, you will be able to understand a bit better what we parents are feeling tonight.
Mom, Dad, don't give up on praying for your son or daughter! Grand Ma and Grand Pa don't give up praying for your grandson or granddaughter. Hold them up before the God of heaven daily. Pray for His help in their young lives. Learn when to offer advice but also learn when to keep quiet and allow the Holy Spirit to do His work. And keep setting the good example until you pass from the scene. Don't give up that battle and don't let your guard down.
That little duckling in my opening illustration would eventually fly away from it's own family. There would be no further ties to it's mother and father. There would be no memories from the past to help guide it to a successful life. It would only have it's God given instincts to help it survive and succeed.
God gives animals instinct. He gives us minds to remember and study His Word. Parents, Seniors, Class of 2009, can we count on good memories from you in the future? If we are willing to obey God and follow His Word, God guarantees that they will be nothing but good ones!
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