+ In the Name of Jesus +
Dear Graduates of Trinity Lutheran High School, esteemed Faculty and Staff, Parents, Relatives, and Friends:
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
I was encouraged in my invitation to preach today to give a brief message concerning Proverbs 16:3, the theme verse for the Trinity school year 2025-2026.
Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.
The verses from Proverbs 16 that have been read today are a description of how God operates in the life of a Christian: providing, nurturing, bringing salvation to you in body and soul, which gives you confidence and hope for today and tomorrow, no matter what the world or time itself may throw our way, and believe me, there’s a lot that can and will happen between this graduation day 2026 and the end of your life, the completion of your Christian baptism. Our focus today is on “your plans” that will be established by the Lord. Let’s hear the other two proverbs from chapter 16 read today that talk about our plans:
1The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.
9The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.
We humans can make all the plans we want in our heart for today, and for tomorrow. And God gives you a great privilege each day: you are not mindless robots, but you are created in the image of God with a free will to make decisions in life each day you live, guided by His Word and will, and that includes everything from whether or not to obey traffic laws, to major family and career decisions. And you use these gifts from God to make your plans and decisions: reason, intellect, wisdom, experience you’ve gained in life, the upbringing from parents and family and church, including the lessons you’ve learned here at Trinity Lutheran High School.
But it is the Lord who speaks His will, and establishes your steps. What words does He speak concerning your plans for life? That you follow and stay within the bounds of His holy Ten commandments in all that you do and say, and be willing to repent and turn to the Lord for forgiveness when you fail, and believe that you are forgiven for Jesus’ sake.
This humility and trust in the Lord’s Word is so that when plans you make for life don’t go your way, you don’t see it as God’s punishment, or that it’s because you did something wrong, but that instead you see it as God’s gentle, fatherly, guiding hand guarding and keeping you, providing for you and nurturing you as you live this life on God’s pilgrim way to heaven. It is to see your life with an eternal perspective, that this life we live today is not all that exists for you. Eternal life in heaven is the ultimate goal.
God gives you freedom to plan, but you must remain humble. Your plans do not control reality, God’s will and way ultimately does. So come what may, good, bad, or neutral, thank God for all things and give Him the glory and honor.
Before I was a pastor, I was a chemist. I worked in that field for nine years. Until a great pastor and friend and mentor to me encouraged me to the ministry, and I realized I liked talking about Jesus with others more than I liked mixing chemicals – as good as that vocation was to my family.
After seminary, I served a congregation as pastor in Texas for 5 years, and then in Terre Haute, Indiana, for 12 years. I thought, this congregation is awesome, if God wills it, I’ll serve here until I retire. God said, “Ha! Let me show you what I can do!” Five years ago, this coming August, I suffered a long bout with Covid, not helped by a genetic lung inflammation I was already being treated for. Doctors had to put me on the ventilator and under a coma that lasted eight weeks, where I lost all ability to move, walk, sit-up, eat on my own, you name it. The Lord spared my life, and I woke up after two months asleep. God built me back up one exercise at a time, one day at a time. My wife and my sons had to watch me progress patiently before I could come home after nearly eight months in hospitals and nursing homes. Those were tough days for all of us.
Why did we suffer? All we know is that the Lord establishes our steps, at His Word. We humbly follow Him. Great good has come out of suffering a little while: The Lord moved us back to my hometown, Seymour, so my sons could attend this fine school, and I now minister to the residents at the Lutheran Community Home, able to know what they are going through each day, and my dear wife returned to classroom teaching full time the young lambs at White Creek Lutheran School. My oldest son now is privileged to teach fourth grade at Immanuel Lutheran School. God had His plans; His will was done. He orders our footsteps by His Word, a lamp to our feet, a light to our path. Thanks be to God. We are today, thankful to be here with you, our fellow believers in Christ.
Why can I speak so confidently that the will of God is always good, just, and holy, even in the face of disappointment, changed plans, even suffering and facing down death itself? Why can we Christians speak confidently about the present and the future even when we’ve had a troubled past and face a stormy today and tomorrow?
God’s word from Proverbs 16:6 has the answer:
6By steadfast love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the Lord one turns away from evil.
We entrust and commit all things to God’s will for our life because God showed forth His steadfast love and faithfulness to us in willing that all our iniquity, all our sin, all our failures, even our flimsy plans we put our confidence in, and the things we suffer each day – all of it was totally redeemed and all things were made new in His Son Jesus Christ and His work on the cross, for our sake, who rose again victorious, ascended and even now rules and reigns over us all. God’s steadfast love in Jesus Christ frees you from guilt and allows you to turn away from evil to live a joyful, confident life where God is feared, loved, and trusted above all things, and each neighbor or person God brings into your life is valued, honored, and cherished, and where all things are committed to Him for our great and eternal good.
“Commit (or entrust) your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.”
This proverb mirrors a favorite passage of mine from Psalm 37:5,
Commit (or entrust) your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.
Which in turn is mirrored by my favorite hymn in the Lutheran Hymnal, which needs to be sung more than it is now, Lutheran Service Book #754, “Entrust your days and burdens to God’s most loving hand. He cares for you while ruling, the sky, the sea, the land. For He who guides the tempests along their thunderous ways will find for you a pathway and guide you all your days.” (stanza 1)
Commit or Entrust. It’s a call to pray to the Lord. To “commit” or “entrust” in Proverbs means literally to roll your burdens onto God, because He promises to carry them. Through every prayer, put your absolute trust in God’s promises for you fulfilled in the crucified and resurrected Lord Jesus Christ.
Graduates, in your daily life through your roles as a worker, as a citizen, or as a student, or in the future as a spouse and as a parent, as God blesses you, remember that God gives you the privilege and calling to work diligently and make wise plans in your everyday life using the reason and intellect and experience God has given you. Because of the steadfast love of God in Christ, you do not need to stress over the results of your work or your plans. Because the Lord works all things for His purpose, for the good of those who love Him, the believer in Christ is liberated from the crushing weight of trying to control the future.
SO, if your plans succeed, you give thanks to God, not your own wisdom. If your plans fail, you thank God for His mercy and grace, and trust that He has redirected your steps toward a better, divine purpose. Committing your days and burdens to God’s most loving hand, you can rest each day in the promise that your life is safely held in Jesus’ crucified and resurrected hands, independent of worldly success or standards that anyone else may set.
The writer of my favorite hymn says it best when he prays,
Our hearts and hands, Lord, strengthen,
With joy our spirits bless
Until we see the ending
Of all our life’s distress.
And so, throughout our lifetime,
Keep us within your care
And at our end then bring us
To heaven to praise you there. (LSB 754, stanza 6, by Pastor Paul Gerhardt)
May this be your prayer and mine every day! In Jesus’ name! Amen.