God-Speech to Graduates

In Jeremiah 17, we can read about the contrast between self-reliance and reliance, or dependence, on
the Lord:
5 Thus says the Lord: "Cursed is the man who trusts in man And makes flesh his strength, Whose heart departs from the Lord.
6 For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, And shall not see when good comes, But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, In a salt land which is not inhabited.
7 "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, And whose hope is the Lord.
8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit.

We can choose to rely on self in all our imperfections and inadequate wisdom and strength, or we can draw on the strength of Someone who is greater than ourselves, the One who has loved us greatly and wants us to know Him deeply.  He calls us to a life of dependence on Him, where we are living in the power of the Spirit and putting Him first.  And, in humility, we recognize that without Him we can do nothing; we make it our goal to only do what we see the Father doing, just as Jesus said.

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Jesus related his dependence on the Father, acknowledging that He only did what He saw the Father do. Here are His words from John 5:
19 Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.
20 For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.

Last year, you had a high profile actor say this in an Oscar acceptance speech: "First off, I want to thank God, because that's who I look up to."  That's based on a report on The Christian Post website, which said the award-winning actor continued: "He has graced my life with opportunities that I know are not of my hand or of any other human hand."

Well, he's at it again; this time in a graduation speech at the University of Houston. How about this section of actor Matthew McConaughey's speech, dealing with defining success. He said, according to TIME.com:

How do I define success? For me, it’s a measurement of five things — fatherhood, being a good husband, health, career, friendships. These are what’s important to me in my life.

So, I try to measure these five each day, check in with them, see whether or not I’m in the debit or the credit section with each one. Am I in the red or in the black with each of them?

For instance, sometimes my career is rolling (in the black) but I see how my relationship with my wife could use a little more attention. I gotta pick up the slack on being a better husband, get that one out of the red. Or say my spiritual health could use some maintenance (red) but hey, my friendships and social life are in high gear (black)… I gotta recalibrate, checks and balances, go to church, remember to say thank you more often. I gotta take the tally. Because I want to keep ALL 5 in healthy shape, and I know that if I DON’T take care of them, if I don’t keep up maintenance on them, ONE of them is going to get weak, dip too deep into the debit section, go bankrupt, get sick… die even.

He also talked about the concept of crossing a truth.  He related a story of a 21-day adventure to Peru that he took after the success after the success of the movie, A Time to Kill.  He was frustrated and went through a rather cathartic moment - he said he was sick of himself, and after wrestling through the night, he experienced something wonderful on the other side.  He says (again from TIME.com):

You see, I forgave myself that morning. I let go of the guilt, the weight on my shoulders lifted, my penance paid, and I got back in good graces with God. I shook hands with myself, my best friend, the one we’re all stuck with anyway. From that morning on, the adventure was awesome. I was present, out of my own way, not anticipating next, embracing only what was in front of my eyes, and giving everything the justice it deserved.

He mentions putting ourselves in a position to receive the truth, personalizing it, internalizing it, and having the courage to act on it.

In 2007, as Hollywood.com reported, Beliefnet.com released a list of the 10 most powerful Christians in Hollywood.  This was in 2007, so it's no surprise that Mel Gibson topped the list then. At #2, it was Denzel Washington.   After that, it was Patricia Heaton, Tyler Perry, and Ralph Winter.  Denzel was also speaking of God in a recent graduation speech at Dillard University in New Orleans. From the CNSNews.com report:

"Number one: Put God first," he said. "Put God first in everything you do."

"Everything you think you see in me, everything I’ve accomplished, everything you think I have – and I have a few things," said Washington. "Everything that I have is by the grace of God. Understand that. It’s a gift."

He also reportedly said, "I pray that you put your slippers under your bed tonight, so that when you wake up in the morning you have to get on your knees to reach them." He continued: “And while you’re down there, say thank you," adding, "Thank you for grace, thank you for mercy, thank you for understanding, thank you for wisdom, thank you for parents. ... True desire in the heart for anything good is God’s proof to you, sent beforehand, to indicate that it’s yours already."

Awareness of God...that's the point of my sharing these two instances.  Now, I don't know a whole lot about the faith practice of these gentlemen looks like, but they have brought God-related principles into a public forum.  (I don't track with everything they said!)

I think there are several takeaways for us:

For one thing, Matthew can remind us to keep tabs on our spiritual health.  I don't know what his criteria would be, but it's important that we check up on ourselves.  We can measure our passion for God, our desire to obey Him, our faithfulness to spend time with Him, and the way that we love others as some of the indicators of our spiritual state.

And, as Denzel reminds us, put God first.   For the Christian, that means to really seek the Lord and to ascertain if Jesus is truly on the throne of our lives.  If we call Him Lord, then that Lordship will be manifested in a variety of ways.  We rely on Him to set the agenda for our lives and to order our steps in conformity to His will.  And, as Denzel also points out, we need to be thankful...and humble. Jesus acknowledged the Father and said that without Him, He - Jesus - could do nothing.

These are good words for graduates - and for us: make the spiritual component of our lives a priority.