Some Fatherly Musings

This past Wednesday evening I had the awesome privilege of attending my daughter Suzannah’s high school graduation. Thankfully the Lord held off the rain so that the commencement could be held out of doors. I must confess to being a proud father on this occasion. I, of course, was not alone in this sentiment. Many fathers and mothers, sisters and brothers, grandparents, and other family members and friends were on hand to salute the soon-to-be -graduates.

As you might imagine, this scene got me to reminiscing about past graduations of my own. There was my own high school graduation back in 1982. Has it really been 28 years since then? Where has the time gone? Then there was my college graduation to be followed many years later by my graduation from seminary. Graduations are much like birthdays and anniversaries. Indeed they might just be like a covenant renewal. They give us the occasion to not only reminisce but also to recall the gracious care and blessings of God in Christ. They also give us the opportunity to renew our love and commitment to the Lord.

I am thankful for a lovely, loving, and godly wife and two daughters who love the Lord. In fact, my eldest daughter has far surpassed me during these past few years in school. Back in the fall my daughter was accepted into the National Honor Society and my family and I had the privilege to attend her induction. Each inductee was given an opportunity to share about his or her past and about the hopes and dreams for the future. My daughter opened her remarks with a declaration of thankfulness to Jesus Christ for redeeming her. “Wow,” I thought to myself, “what fortitude.” I myself was not even a Christian in my senior year of high school. Suzannah has reflected her Christian faith, by God’s grace, throughout her years of schooling. I am most blessed.

Back at the commencement I was reminded of the real world we Christians inhabit. During an otherwise momentous, albeit at times lighthearted faculty address, a speaker felt it necessary to ridicule Christians with comments about “feeling” evangelical but not religious and eliciting amens and testimonies. I was irritated and disappointed. Why did this speaker feel the need to insult Christians? For an address calling these students to be open minded and non-ideological, it was ironically close-minded and most ideological. Then I remembered that our Lord told us that the world hated him and so it would hate us. I was also reminded recently that the life of the Christian is cruciform. Whereas I might be tempted (indeed I was!) to demand my rights as an American citizen (and there are times when that is appropriate), I am reminded that I have no right to not be offended. Paul tells us that we Christians are the fragrance of life to those who are being saved and the stench of death to those who are perishing. Christians ought to expect insults, derision, and even persecution and loss of life. Did I experience that? Not at all. But the occasion reminded me that even though I am a citizen of this community, I am more importantly a citizen of heaven and a pilgrim down here for a little while. Perhaps also if I responded to this teacher with irritation or frustration I would lose the opportunity of sharing the gospel. After all, every opponent of Christianity (from our limited human perspective) is a potential convert to Christ. Remember that the apostle Paul was not always the apostle to the Gentiles.

It is amazing what happens at graduations. I am grateful to God for a godly family (not a perfect family, but a redeemed family) and for the gift of salvation. I am thankful even for the bracing swipe against Christians. It reminded me to whom I belong and to where I am going. Another benefit of this experience is that my family was able to talk about this incident and what its significance is.

Oh yes, I did pay attention to what was going on at graduation too!

This entry was posted on Friday, June 18th, 2010 at 10:04 am and is filed under Miscellany. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.