Prove him wrong!
Deuteronomy 31:6 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid and do not be terrified before them, because the LORD your God is going with you. He will not abandon you and he will not forsake you.”
The Navy recruit stood on the beach. The surf coming in that day was about 8 feet high. The recruit was training to become a Navy SEAL – one of the hardest things to do in the military.
The SEAL instructor stood 6 foot 2. He towered over the recruit who stood 5 foot 4. The instructor looked at the recruit and said quietly, “Do you really want to be a SEAL?” The sailor stood straight, with a look of defiance in his eyes. He shouted, “Yes, sir, I do!” The instructor said loudly for all the other recruits to hear, “You’re a tiny, little man! Those waves could break you in half. You should think about quitting now before you get hurt.”
The sailor shouted over the breaking waves, “I won’t quit!” Then the instructor leaned in and whispered something into the student’s ear. He said, “Prove me wrong!” … And he did! (adapted from “Make My Bed.”)
Graduates, Satan is coming at you hard! He is working overtime to make you quit. But at the same time, Jesus whispers in your ear, “I know you can do it. Satan thinks you can’t. Prove him wrong.”
I want you to remember seven lessons today. Seven lessons are hard to remember, so, I wrote them down for you. Go ahead and reach under your seat. You’ll find a card taped for you to keep and remember. If you find any gum under there, you can keep that, too.
1. Make your bed. How many of you make your bed every morning? Very soon, you will be moving out of your parents’ home. That means you won’t be able to count on mom to make your bed, do your laundry, or make your meals. You won’t always have dad available to fix your car, help with your finances, or give you advice. You’ll be on your own. It can be chaotic.
The devil lives in chaos. He wants you to be too busy, overburdened, and overwhelmed. He wants you to be driven solely by emotions. He wants you to be filled with fear and anger and turmoil.
Your God, though, is a God of order. There is order in the days of creation. Followed by the order of creating man and then woman. There is order in how God planned everything so that at just the right time, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law.
Life will be chaotic. If you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It provides a sense of structure. You accomplish one task, then another and then another. Making your bed reinforces the fact that little things matter. If you can’t do the little things right, you will never do the big things right.
Satan wants you to live in chaos. Jesus whispers in your ear, “Prove him wrong. Cut the chaos. Add order. Make your bed.”
2. Shower daily. As high school seniors, I don’t think I need to tell you to shower daily. But that wasn’t that way in middle school. Back then there were signs in the hallway like this that read, “Stop ignoring your two best friends!” It showed a picture of a shower and deodorant. The sign continued, “The rest of us will be very appreciative!” After a hard day at work or before a full day of classes, I’m sure your fellow students and workmates will appreciate you taking a shower.
The devil doesn’t really care about your physical hygiene or your smell. He wants you to get dirty every day with sin. Your sinful nature loves the dirt and filth of this world. Dirty words. Filthy images. Vulgar lyrics. Impure thoughts. Hurtful actions. Indifferent inactions.
Pray daily with King David, “Be gracious to me, God, according to your mercy. Erase my acts of rebellion according to the greatness of your compassion. Scrub me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin” (Psalm 51:1-2). You wash yourself by confessing your sin. Begging for God’s mercy. Then letting the forgiveness Jesus won on the bloody cross and the open tomb wash over you. Remembering your baptism.
The devil wants you to remain filthy with sin. He doesn’t think you want to be clean. Jesus whispers to you, “Prove him wrong. Shower daily in baptismal waters.”
3. Stretch. You’re young enough that with a little bit of stretching you’re ready to go. When you get to be your parents’ and grandparents’ age, it seems like no matter how much stretching you do, you will always be stiff. But you need to keep stretching to prevent injury.
As you age, you will be tempted to become sedentary. To doom scroll on your phone. To binge-watch Netflix while eating Cheetos. To play video games. To watch life on a screen instead of experiencing life in the real world.
Jesus wants you to get up and stretch. Not just stretching your physical muscles, but also stretching your spiritual muscles. Bow your head in humility. Fold your hands for concentration. Kneel beside your bed for prayer. Open your mouth for praise. While in church, stand to confess your sins and confess your faith. Sit to hear God’s Word in the Scripture lessons and sermon. Walk forward to receive the Lord’s Supper. Then go home and go into your workplace, move around, and put God’s Word into action.
The devil thinks he can make you sedentary. Isolated. Lonely. Lazy. Jesus whispers, “Prove him wrong. Stretch. Exercise your body and exercise your faith.”
4. Be present. Over the years I’ve had dads ask for advice. They have an opportunity for a promotion. It will mean more money, but it will also mean more time away from the family. Every one of those dads chose more time fishing, hunting, coaching, and hanging out with their family over the promotion. Moms have talked to me about remaining in their career while putting their kids in daycare or staying home to raise their children. Those who chose to be stay-at-home moms never regretted it.
Satan wants you to believe you can have it all. Career and family. To believe that quality time is equal to quantity of time. They are both lies. You must prioritize. You must sacrifice. When God blesses you with marriage followed with the blessing of children, your kids will need mom to nurture them and dad to train them. No one else will be able to know, care, and love your children like you will.
Satan wants you to be absent from your family. God the Father reminds you that he is present every day in your life. Quantity and quality of time. “You received the Spirit of adoption by whom we call out, ‘Abba, Father!’” (Romans 8:15). The Almighty God is your Father, Abba – Aramaic for Daddy. The only-begotten Son is your Savior and your Brother. The Holy Spirit is your Comforter and Counselor. Your Triune God is present every day in your life. Your graduation verse reminds you, “the Lord your God is going with you” (Deuteronomy 31:6).
Satan thinks you will forsake your family for your career. Jesus whispers in your ear, “Prove him
wrong. Your heavenly Father is present with you. Be a great father and mother and be present in your kids’ lives.”
5. Stand up to bullies. Bullies are the worst. On the playground. In the locker room. In the workplace. On social media. You’ll have bullies with atheist professors demeaning your Christian beliefs. You’ll have bullies as coworkers badgering you for your Christian conscience. You’ll have bullies on social media cancelling and doxing you for believing what Christians have always believed.
Graduates, when your grandparents were your age, Christianity was promoted. When your parents were your age, Christianity was tolerated. Today, our culture is antagonistic toward your Christian faith. This world hates you, hates what you believe, and hates who you believe in.
The biggest bully of all is the devil. Like any bully, the devil intimidates and insults. Like any bully, the devil has a gang that assists him in his dirty work.
Stand up to the bully of the devil and his demonic gang. Confront their lies with the truth of God’s Word. Swing the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God (Ephesians 6:7). Bullies back down when challenged. You have One more powerful than the devil, his demons, and this sinful world. You have the King of Kings and the Commander of the angelic army on your side. Jesus has already seen Satan fall like lightening from the sky. Confront the devil by reminding him he’s already beaten.
The devil is a bully thinking he can intimidate you. Jesus whispers in your ear, “Prove him wrong. Stand up to the bully.”
6. Don’t quit. The devil wants you to quit when you struggle. To give up when life becomes hard. To give in when the pressure is on.
The devil did everything he could to make Jesus quit. Mockery and shame. Piercing and flogging. Hell and wrath. But Jesus endured it all for you. Jesus didn’t give up on you. He did everything to save you. Now he is with you to make sure you do not give up your faith in him.
You may struggle. You may suffer. But nothing can defeat you. Nothing can keep you away from the eternal victory Jesus Christ won for you.” I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor rulers, neither things present nor things to come, nor powerful forces, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).
The devil thinks he can make you quit. Jesus whispers. “Prove him wrong. My victory is your victory.”
7. Have courage. Everything I’ve said today is going to be tough. But nothing worthwhile is ever easy. I would often tell my four daughters, “If it was easy, everyone would do it.” God has called you to do something difficult, something unique, something special. To be his child. To be forgiven. To carry a cross. To love your enemies. To pray for those who persecute you. To speak God’s truth in a culture of lies.
Not everyone can do that. You can. God gives you the strength and courage to do it. Nobody and nothing can stand in your way. With courage, you can accomplish the goals God sets for you. With courage, the demons cower, and the devil cringes.
As you stand strong with courage, it isn’t just for you. It’s for your classmates, family, friends,
co-workers, fellow soldiers, and neighbors. It’s for those who come after you – your family, your nation, and those in the next 50 years at Shoreland.
The devil thinks you will cower in fear. Jesus whispers, “Prove him wrong. I will give you courage.”
Your graduation verse sums up these thoughts very well. God was sending Joshua and the Israelites into the Promised Land filled with bullies, who hated God’s people, who wanted them to quit. Yet God told them the same thing he tells you today, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid and do not be terrified before them, because the LORD your God is going with you. He will not abandon you and he will not forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6).
The devil is throwing you into a world that threatens to break you in half. He thinks you’ll quit. Stand straight, with courage, with defiance in your eyes, and listen to Jesus whisper in your ear, “I’m here with you every moment of every day. I know you can do it. I’ll help you do it. Prove Satan wrong.” Amen.