Matthew 28:16-20

"Off to a Great Start"

Trinity Sunday (A)/Graduation Sunday Our Redeemer Lutheran Church 5-18-08

I imagine many of you have played the board game called "Life". And if you have then you might recall how you get a car, spin the dial, and move spaces around the board. Of course as you move around the board you get married, have kids, buy a house, get regular paydays. The winner is the one with the most money at the end, who then gets to retire to millionaire acres. But one of the first decisions you have to make in that game is whether to go into debt by going to college or just head straight out into the world and get started right away. If you go to college, you typically have much better paydays and more opportunities to make money throughout the game. If you don't go, you save a bunch of money at the beginning and get a head start on the rest of the players. In other words, how you start the game of "Life" makes a huge difference in how the game goes.

And of course that's true in real life as well, isn't it? How you start makes a huge difference in what happens to your life. Of course today five of our young people - along with another one last weekend - graduate from high school. And of course high school graduation, while it is the end of one stage of life - it really is only the beginning of the rest of your life. And graduates, in speaking to your mothers the other day it sounds like you six certainly have some great plans in how you want to begin this next phase in your life. Sounds like we might have a couple of future engineers among us, perhaps an auto restoration expert, maybe a college history professor and two young future business-women who certainly have more creative talent than I know I will ever have. Good plans. Good starts. And no doubt those starts will make a huge difference in what happens in your life. And no doubt - at least we pray that it might be the Lord's will - you six will have many bright and joyous days ahead of you.

But I'm going to be a pessimist here for just a moment. Not always popular this time of year I guess, but oh well. Actually I'm probably being more of a realist than anything. For as I'm sure many here today will attest, while life will probably hold its share of joys for these six graduates, it will also have its sorrows. While life will have its bright days, it will also have its dark days. While today accomplishment is celebrated, failures will be experienced. That is reality.

That is life in a fallen world. And I can say this because frankly, I know my own life, I know my own failings, I know my own sin. That's reality - a reality we confessed at the beginning or our service as we reflected on our sins in thought, word, and deed. That's reality.

And so before these six go off to college, before they go out to take the world by storm, we need to consider our start. For again, how we start makes a huge difference in what happens in your life. And I say "we need to consider our start" for today is not just the beginning of the rest of life for our graduates, but it is also a beginning for all of us. Today, right now, we all start the rest of our life. And we can all probably use a new start or two. For I imagine all of us have had good plans, only to fail; I imagine we have all made promises, only to break them; I imagine we have all had good intentions, only to fall into sin. It's exactly like St. Paul says, "The good I want to do, I don't do. The evil I don't want to do, that's what I end up doing." That's reality and so yes, I imagine all of us could use a new start.

And so if that's the case, where do we start? Where do our graduates start? Well, today is what the church refers to as the Sunday of the Holy Trinity. Today we celebrate and marvel at the fact that our God has revealed himself to us as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit - the Triune God.

And in fact that was how we started our worship service this morning, wasn't it? The "invocation" we call it. "In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." And you want to talk about a great place to start, well now there is a great place to start. For where was it that we first heard those words? ……….. That's right, baptism. In obedience to Christ's command which we heard in our Gospel reading for today, your parents, your sponsors, the church brought you to the baptismal font where God put His name upon you. "I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." And there, life began for you, right? Eternal life started for you as God's baptized and redeemed child.

But that was then, right? There has been - so to speak - a lot of water that has gone under the bridge since then. And I suppose that's true - that's reality. But consider this. In Lamentations, chapter 3 God's Word says, "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail; they are new every morning, great is Your faithfulness (O Lord)." God's love, God's compassions, God's faithfulness, God's mercy is new every morning. In other words, our God is a God of new beginnings. No matter our past failings or sins; no matter where we are at, our God is a God of fresh starts. And again, how we start makes a huge difference in the rest of our life. …

And so how do our graduates get off to a great start? How do each of us get off to a great start, each and every morning. Well, we remember our baptism. We remember the name of our Triune God which was put upon us through that Baptism - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. We remember "I am baptized!" No matter what the world says, "I am a baptized child of God."

And what difference does this make you ask? What real and concrete difference does this make in our life - in our new start in life? .. Well, first of all, beginning with Baptism makes a huge difference in how we see the world we live in and how we see our place in that world. Baptism means that we know God is our Father and that He is the Maker of heaven and earth. It means that we know that the earth, stars, animals, plants and universe are not just nature or not just an endless product of evolution, but rather all is fearfully and wonderfully made by God.

Baptism means that we believe God still cares for His creation. He doesn't just watch from a distance but rather keeps and protects His creation. Sure we see wars and natural disasters, signs of a dying earth, we see hatred and violence that makes us doubt. But when you begin with baptism, you believe that a wheat field is a gift from God so you may have food on your table. You believe that a mechanical engineer is God's instrument to design and build devices that help us and our neighbor to live and to work. Beginning with baptism you believe that an architectural engineer is God's instrument to provide us safe shelter for living and working in. You believe that teachers and professors are God's gift to help us all learn about our history and the world around us. Beginning with baptism you believe that those who design, make, sell our clothing are God's instruments to clothe us. You believe that those in the automotive field are God's instrument to provide us transportation today and maybe even still enjoy the classic automobiles of "the good ol' days." Beginning with baptism you believe that those who work with our computers and internet are God's instrument to help us learn about our world and sell and buy our goods and services.

Beginning with baptism work and school are gifts from God for us to use in serving him by serving one another. That's a life that starts in baptism. That's a life that's off to a great start.

But there's more - much, much more. For a life that starts in baptism makes a huge difference in our relationship with God. In fact it makes all the difference in our relationship with God. Baptism means that again and again and again you are invited to hear God the Son - the second person of the Trinity - speak His word of forgiveness to you. A life that starts in baptism means the Lord invites you to kneel at His altar and receive His body and blood given and shed for you on Calvary's cross. A life that starts in baptism means that He invites you again and again and again to remember your baptism - to remember that you are His, that He is yours - forever. Yes, forever. And no, not in millionaire acres - for no, it's not that He who ends with the most money wins. No rather it's that he who ends with Christ - covered in His blood, wrapped in His righteousness - he who ends with Christ has something far more valuable and sought after than money can ever buy. He or she has eternal life, bought with the blood of Christ. He or she has a place in heaven. Yes that's a life that starts in baptism. That's a life that's off to a great start.

And finally, a life that starts in baptism, it makes a huge difference in the kind of people we become. We believe the Holy Spirit - that third person of the Trinity - has brought us together in the church to become different people, yes, people with different talents and abilities. But also He has brought us together to support one another, to encourage one another, to teach, to build one another up. You graduates, I pray that's something you can discover as you go out into an oftentimes hostile and confusing world - that community of believers; the fellowship of God's baptized saints. There will be fellow brothers and sisters in Christ there to welcome you, to support you, to encourage you, no matter where life takes you. As you move to a community, I pray you will make that a priority - to get connected to a Christian congregation - and yes, oh by the way, there are LCMS congregations in each of the towns you will be attending schools. .. Fellowship in the Christian church - brought there by the Holy Spirit - is a great place to start.

Each of you - each of us - as baptized children of God have been given a new beginning through the waters of Holy Baptism. A beginning we can go back to each and every day in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And so on this Trinity Sunday - but also this Graduation Sunday for several of you - I can think of no better way to celebrate than by thanking our triune God for getting all of us off to a great start. And yes what a huge difference that start makes - now and into eternity. Yes what a huge difference baptism makes - in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.