Remarks to the Class of 2009

This morning First Baptist Nashville honored the Class of 2009, and I had the opportunity to address the seniors during a special breakfast. Here's what I said:

Years ago I read a book by Norman Cousins called Anatomy of an Illness. One of the many things that intrigued me about this book was the author’s assertion that laughter has healing powers. The writer of Proverbs observed that “a cheerful heart is good medicine” (Prov. 17:22), so I don’t think Mr. Cousins’ thesis was far-fetched. And if laughter indeed is good for you, then I ought to be in great health because the Class of 2009 has made me laugh more through the years than any other group of people I’ve ever known.

The laughter started back in the days of Mission Friends with several of you. From those early experiences, I learned that you couldn’t sit still, you loved to do crafts, and you consumed snacks in great quantities. 

Then there were the Vacation Bible School experiences. I think I worked with your class at least four years in VBS. I remember laughing as I watched you enthusiastically learned the motions to the admit-believe-and-confess song of the year. And you couldn’t sit still, you loved to do crafts, and you consumed snacks in great quantities.

And then you entered the youth group. I hadn’t intended to work with youth, but when that first summer camp rolled around I found myself on a bus to Doublehead, ready to spend a week in a cabin with 7th grade girls. I distinctly remember our awkward cabin devotions that year – a bunch of girls sitting in silence under the watchful gaze of the framed picture of the Indian mother who looked like Nancy Brown. It’s hard to believe that there was a time when this bunch of girls didn’t have anything to say!

We found plenty of things to laugh about at each of the five camps we’ve shared together, but we undoubtedly laughed the loudest and longest the two years that Tom Richter was our camp pastor. And I still laugh when I think about the morning at Doublehead at the spirit circle when Bryan, attired in his Powerpuff Girls costume, tackled Josh from behind.

I’ve also laughed with you at five Labor Day Retreats. We’ve laughed in Sunday School classrooms, in Discipleship Training classes, and during the Monday Bible studies in my living room. We’ve laughed on mission trips to Atlanta, New Orleans, and Charleston, at DNow Weekends, at January basketball games, girls’ sleepovers, Super Bowl parties, family cookouts, Christmas cookie decorating parties, on the “Leadership Development Retreat” at Ridgecrest, and at the infamous cooking lesson at my house.

The ability to laugh has helped the Class of 2009 to navigate a difficult year. Many times, laughter has broken the tension. We’ve laughed, even though we haven’t really understood what God was doing – kind of like Sarai laughed when she overheard the Lord telling Abram that she was going to have a baby after all those years. And what did Abram and Sarai name that baby? Isaac – which means laughter.

But the best moments by far have been the ones when we’ve laughed together in sheer joy – and, thankfully, we’ve had an abundance of those moments during your senior year. I have watched you grow closer in your relationships with each other, but – more importantly – I’ve seen evidence that your personal relationships with Christ are ever deepening. Although this past year has been stressful, you’ve been able to take your faith to another level, as you’ve learned how to trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. And I have learned so much from watching your faith journeys unfold. So thanks for teaching me, and thanks for making me laugh.

I assure you there are many more laughs yet to come. We’ve got choir tour, camp, and the mission trip to Wales ahead of us this summer. In fact, missionary John Robinson has already warned us that we need to tone down our laughter while we are in Wales – that’s going to be a challenge for this group.

As you prepare for our adventures this summer and beyond, I hope you’ll remember this verse that we talked about in our Monday Bible study group earlier this spring – Zephaniah 3:17: “The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”