Commencement Address, Homeschool Graduating Class of 2018 - San Jose, Costa Rica

April 28, 2018

Good afternoon – for those who do not know me, my name is Jonathan Hunter. I have had the honor of knowing these young men and women through their high school years as their youth pastor.

Jaci mentioned that everyone prefers funny speeches for graduations. She’s probably right. But, to your disappointment (I’m sure), I don’t have that luxury. You see, I have been given a responsibility toward these wonderful young men and women that I take very seriously A responsibility to continuously remind and point them to faith, to assurance in God and his promises.

For years we have gathered in this room and we have opened these pages to eat from the Scriptures. And as I began to prepare for this speech, I realized that for you four, this is my last chance to stand here to impart to you the Word of God. For my last words, I would leave you with one final warning. It is basic. So basic that might seem insignificant: like bringing a pencil to taking the SAT or wearing a bathing suit at the beach – you don’t think of the foundation that was laid under your house until it crumbles. So, the final warning I give is this: beware of forsaking Yahweh for something that feels more fulfilling – you will lose every time.

When God called Jeremiah, it was not to a life of fulfillment and comfort. There was no sweet spot for Jeremiah. There were no mass conversions – no revivals, no fruit of his ministry-unless you count number attempts on his life. Jeremiah is often described as the “weeping prophet”. He was the target of continuous judgment and persecution externally, and internally he was both haunted by the Lord’s hatred toward sin around and agony of what was to come:

My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain!

Oh the walls of my heart!

       My heart is beating wildly;

I cannot keep silent,

       for I hear the sound of the trumpet,

the alarm of war. (Jer 4:19)

And finally, in 586 BC, Jerusalem fell. Jeremiah’s book of Lamentations details the horrors that were burned into his mind in those final years.

In Jeremiah chapter two, the weeping prophet receives from the word of the Lord – here is the basic, foundational thing that thrust an entire nation into chaos and destruction. Jeremiah 2:10-13

For cross to the coasts of Cyprus and see,

or send to Kedar and examine with care;

see if there has been such a thing.

¹¹    Has a nation changed its gods,

even though they are no gods?

       But my people have changed their glory

for that which does not profit.

¹²    Be appalled, O heavens, at this;

be shocked, be utterly desolate,

declares the Lord,

¹³    for my people have committed two evils:

       they have forsaken me,

the fountain of living waters,

       and hewed out cisterns for themselves,

broken cisterns that can hold no water.

Has a nation changed its gods? All the pagan nations around keep their gods. The idea of anyone else switching gods was incomprehensible. It would never happen – even though they’re a bunch of phonies. And he says in verse 13 my people have committed two evils: Number One -  they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters and, TWO, hewed out broken cisterns for themselves that can hold no water.

Do you catch the irony in the imagery? What are they thinking? Have they gone mad?

It’s not too far off from what we might find here in Costa Rica. We know what it’s like to have water shortages in San Francisco – what person in their right mind would shut off their own water saying, “I’d rather use this water tank – I made it myself from old coke bottles and milk jugs! It is rife with holes and leaks, but I would much rather use this.”

Do not forsake Yahweh, the LORD Your God – do not hew out cisterns for yourselves, for they cannot hold water! When the nights grow long, when the homesickness sucks the air out of your gut, when you’re lying sick in bed and nobody is there to take care of you, or when things are more dangerous and you have straight A’s, good friends, and find stability – do not forsake the LORD and turn to find fulfillment in broken cisterns. Beware especially of Money, Marriage and Ministry.

Oh, Money can give you a rush. Money knows how to make a person feel valuable. Immediate, tangible results are what money offers – you want to know how much we like you, look at what we’ll pay you. Making money is exciting it’s an adrenaline rush. Money will give you great food, comfortable living, the best technology, and even plane tickets to come back to visit Costa Rica. But you cannot serve two masters, you cannot serve God and Money. 

And if your life here has taught you anything it is that you do not belong here. This world is not home. You will never belong here. Don’t you ever try and make it home. Do not forsake the Lord for money.

But marriage, you say, is an institution ordained by God himself. But do not let it become your god. Everything that batters our senses promises fulfillment and purpose in a romantic and sexual encounter. But do not make marriage your God. The LORD, who brought you out of slavery and bondage to sin, he is your God. A boyfriend or girlfriend, an intimate encounter of any kind will offer fulfillment and pleasure, but it is yet another empty cistern. And like money, marriage won’t last. You do not belong here. Do not forsake the Lord to chase marriage and intimacy.

Finally, do not look for life in ministry. I imagine a wail among the angels when a servant of the Most High God turns from God to the work of their own hands to find their meaning and life. God would not have you serve something you make and create – he would have you serve HIM! When ministry becomes your god, your prayer life wanes, your never at home with your family, and crossing church off the checklist begets a sigh of relief. This is subtle and almost undetectable, until everything crumbles. 

Like a bad dream when you look down and realize you forgot to put on your swim trunks. Like finishing the SAT having answered all the questions correctly, but not filled in any bubbles because you didn’t have a pencil. I have watched in agony as families have been destroyed because ministry had become their god and the foundation of their house crumbles. I have had to fall on my own face in repentance – ministry is a dry and crusty cistern – it is God alone who gives life! Do not forsake the Lord Your God who brought you up out of slavery in sin and death for a crusty broken cistern like ministry.

I think that the apostle Paul agonized like the Jeremiah. But unlike Jeremiah, who came to preach the news of Judgment, Paul was sent to preach the good news of Christ. And in his last letter, he writes to Timothy and says…

You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus,  and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. (2 Tim 2:1-7).

And Paul, who is known for his pages upon pages argumentation and logical progression, leaves his exhortation at this: The Lord will give you understanding. So take these words with you. May they be your companion in the years to come, and may the Lord give you ever more understanding of them.