A Baccalaureate Address for the Local High School in Luverne, MN
July 1, 2009
You’re Birthright
Genesis 25:27-34
Thank you for your kind invitation to give a brief Baccalaureate Address for your class.
It is a very exciting time for you and a very important time.
Time to make plans for work, college, some form of service (military, peace corp)
Let me begin by telling a story.
Jacob and Esau were two brothers. Esau was favored by his father, and Jacob was favored by his mother. Esau was a great hunter; and Jacob was a quieter person and enjoyed being around the home.
One day Esau had been out hunting all day long, and he came back from hunting absolutely famished. His brother, Jacob was a very tricky fellow. In fact, the word, Jacob means trickster, cheat or clever. Jacob said to his brother: “Esau, my brother, I would love to have your inheritance; I would like to have your birthright.”
The older brother, Esau, said, “You’ve got to be crazy, but what do you have to offer?” Jacob said, “Well, I’ll give you a good bowl of porridge. I’ll give you some real hot oatmeal right now.”
Esau was very hungry; he had been out hunting all day long; his stomach was growling; he was light headed he was so faint with hunger. He was also irresponsible, a little bit careless and a little bit impulsive, and so he blurted out, “All right, give me that bowl of oatmeal.”
But Jacob cleverly persisted, “Can I have your birthright? Can I have your inheritance?” And the older brother said, “OK, but give me the food. I am absolutely famished.” He ate; he woofed it down.
The next morning, the older brother Esau woke up, and he was absolutely sick; he was mortified; he was so ashamed of himself that he had given up his birthright, his heritage for a bowl of (oatmeal a prop) oatmeal.
The telephone rang in the middle of the night at the pastor’s house.
The young man said, “Pastor, quick, would you come down to the police station. I have to talk with you.”
The young man was nervous and told me the story.
The boys had been fooling around, racing in their cars between stoplights, and they came to a stop light. They didn’t stop in time.
An old Chevy pulled out into the intersection, and they smashed into the car. They quickly got out of their car, ran to the old Chevy, looked into the window, to see the face of death for the first time in their young lives.
The ambulance came; the family came; the chaos came; and soon they were in the police station. They had called me and I came over to be with them.
They said, “We were messing around. We didn’t mean to. We were just a little careless, and it was costly.”
It was in the newspaper.
The man who had boarded up the house was a little careless and forgot the one lower window, down there on the edge of the basement. It was easy to miss. The children of the neighborhood were playing “hide-go-seek”.
A little child came to that window which had not been boarded up, and the child thought that the window was a wonderful place to hide.
Four days later, when the police finally found the body.
Someone had been careless, just for a moment, and it was costly. It was utterly tragic.
People leave drugs out on the medicine cabinet.
Somebody goes deer hunting and they shoot at something red.
A woman has a lump on her breast and doesn’t go see the doctor.
A man has a palpitation of the heart and doesn’t go see a physician.
Kids go drinking and hit an old car as it comes through an intersection.
Everybody learns a very tragic lesson about life: carelessness is immensely costly.
I have discovered that very often, we do more harm and damage to the people around us, not because we hate them; not because we are mean or cruel; not because we are unintelligent; but very often, we hurt people most deeply primarily because we have become careless with that primary life relationship.
Careless is costly in our relationship to God as well.
We have eyes to see the beauty of God all around us. We have ears to hear the symphonies in nature.
It is not that I hate God; it is not that I am mean to God; it is not that I am cruel to God; but I am one who can confess to you that is very easy to become careless with our relationship with God.
When I see people hurting, it is almost always because somebody has become careless with important relationships.
If you think that Esau had a good birthright, yours is even better.
You have been blessed with homes where you experienced true love. The quality of love that has been poured into you has been truly wonderful.
You have a good birthright. You have clothes on your back and shoes on your feet and God has given you good personalities, even if kind of weird at times.
God has given you a good birthright. God has given you wonderful families who love you. God has given you the power to handle immense suffering. God has given you material possessions. God has given you wonderful personalities.
God has given us his son Jesus. Take good care of that birthright that God has given to you. Be careful not to carelessly exchange it for a bowl full of oatmeal, some instantaneous pleasure, something that you think is so important at the moment, but you really lose your whole inheritance.”
What does it mean to take care of your birthright?
It means to take care of your relationship with your mother and or father.
I want all of you think of your high school friends. In thirty years, you won’t know each other. That is a scary thing. All those friends at school that you think are the most important; in thirty years, almost all of them will no longer be your friends.
In all probability, in thirty years from now, you will still have a mom and or dad still loving and caring for you.
The point is: take good care of your birthright, of your relationship with your parents.
Take care of your relationship with Jesus Christ.
You are so fortunate to have Jesus Christ living inside of you, and to take care of that relationship is absolutely crucial.
What you have in Jesus Christ is your most valuable possession. It is the church, the people of God, who helps you to hang onto that sacred possession. If you don’t, the carelessness is very, very costly.
I would like to say a word to the parents who are here today, to all of you who have children.
I say, take care of your children and raise them in the Christian faith. Take good care of their religious education.
We are so pleased to see your children in church with you.
I know that you parents are committed to raising your children in the Christian faith. It isn’t the money, education, status, a fancy car.
The most important thing you ever could give to your child is the possibility of them knowing Jesus Christ.
If your child knows Jesus Christ, it is the most powerful influence they can ever have. To all of you who are Christian parents, I say, “thank you for rearing your child in the Christian faith.”
The telephone rang in the middle of the night. They didn’t mean to, “We were careless, and it was costly.”
I have found that people who have been hurt in life. It is rarely because of hate; it is rarely because of meanness; it is rarely because of cruelty. When people are hurt in life, it is because they have become careless. So my word to you is this: Take care of your birthright. Amen.
