2019 Baccalaureate Message for North Butler High School

Sorry for being so far behind in posting sermons! I promise, I’ll catch up soon. In the meantime, I had the privilege this evening of giving the message at the North Butler High School Baccalaureate Service. The text I chose is 1 John 4:7-21.

Good evening. I’m Pastor Daniel Flucke, I serve at St. Peter Lutheran in Greene, and it’s an honor to be here to celebrate with you tonight. Your taking time to be here tonight in the middle of a very busy week says something about your priorities and how important faith is to you & your families.

I know there are all sorts of things on your minds tonight. Here at the end of your high school journey, you have a lot to celebrate, and I’ll get there, but first, I want to ask you: What are you afraid of?

We live in a world right now that’s defined by fear. I don’t know if the parents and adults here realize this, but this class of 2019 is the last to be mostly born before 9/11. All of them have grown up in a post-9/11 world. Since you were infants, you’ve grown up in a country that has continuously been at war.

Our media and politicians traffic in the language of fear. In political commentary and advertisements—and Iowa gets a lot of political advertisements—the focus is nearly always on what we’ve lost or what we have to lose.

Companies want to make you afraid so you’ll buy their products. Advertising is based on showing you what you’re lacking, and how a given product will fix you. There’s fear about the economy and jobs and trade wars and picking a career robots and A.I. can’t take over.




Sometimes the fears are personal. For some of you, there’s an empty seat tonight where a family member or friend should have been sitting. Maybe you’re worried about a parent or grandparent’s health, or about how your siblings will cope when you’re out of the house.

For me as a pastor, I’m always afraid I’m going to miss a phone call and not be there when someone needs me. I’m afraid of people not coming to church, and I’m afraid of offending people by saying something or changing the wrong thing. I’m afraid of misleading people. I’m even afraid this meditation might be just a rambling waste of time!

What are you afraid of?

You’re all in a time of transition right now, and times of transition are always scary. There are a lot of mixed feelings about graduating and moving on from North Butler.

Maybe you’re terrified of being done with school. Maybe you’re afraid of drifting apart from your friends once you’re not eating lunch with them every day. Maybe you don’t know what’s next for you. Maybe you’re worried about choosing the wrong major or the wrong apprenticeship or the wrong school.

Or perhaps you are so ready to be done with this place. Maybe you’re disillusioned and tired of this school or this town, or you’re really excited for what comes next. Maybe you’re more afraid of missing out on something good coming up and you’re one of those people who will be there on college move-in day 3 hours early ready to unload. What are you afraid of?

With all those fears in mind—and all the other things you’re thinking about today—here’s the good news I have to offer. 1 John 4:18 says, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.” Perfect love casts out fear.

The good news I have for you tonight is that God’s love for you is bigger than all of your fears. Love is the antidote to fear. It’s an incredible cliche, but it’s true. Love is all you need.

I don’t mean romantic love between you and your girlfriend or boyfriend (although that could open up a whole other area of fears about finding the right person, staying together, or breaking up), I’m talking about a deeper kind of love, a love that can sustain you through your whole life and beyond.

1 John says that kind of love comes from God. God’s love is revealed among us by God coming to us in the person of Jesus Christ, to bring us forgiveness and grace and meaning, to set us free from our fears. And God’s love for you never fails. Some of you come from churches with a tradition of picking a confirmation verse.

My confirmation verse is Romans 8:38-39, which says, “I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Nothing you’re afraid of is strong enough to separate you from God’s love. There is nothing you can do, nothing you can fail to do that can stop you from being loved.

Hear that promise: You are loved. You are enough. You don’t have the power to stop God from loving you. Nothing anyone can do to you. Nowhere you can go, no mistake you can make, no tragedy that can befall you can keep you from being loved. God’s love for you is perfect, and perfect love casts out fear.

So what are you afraid of?

Our love is always a response to God’s perfect love for us. We love God because God first loved us. And if you love God, you also have to love your brothers and sisters. Love is making the world a better place by caring about others. Love is looking for injustices in the world and doing something about them. Love is taking the things you’ve learned here at North Butler and the things you’ll learn in the future and using them to do things that matter, things that make a difference for other people.




Whether you feel ready to graduate or not, whether you’re afraid of leaving or afraid something’s going to come up in the next 3 days to keep you here, each of you has been equipped and formed by this place, and graduation is not the end of the story.

It’s the end of the chapter, but it’s only the beginning of a story. You get to decide the next chapter of the story.

Actually, that sounds nice and inspirational, but it’s not necessarily true. Sometimes your story doesn’t go where you want it to go. Sometimes fears are justified. Sometimes the job gets eliminated, or you don’t make the team, or the class is too hard, or family members get sick, or accidents happen.

All of you have experienced tragedy. I know some of you are in the midst of grief and pain and loss right now, and that’s ok. God is still with you, and God still loves you. Sometimes you don’t get to choose what happens, only how you react. And you always have the option to react with love. You have the option to decide and to act based on love rather than fear.

Because remember, everyone else is afraid too. Sometimes loving means acting despite being afraid. So class of 2019, how will you love?

In a few days, you’ll be officially done with high school, and you get to decide how you’re going to love. Here’s some questions to perhaps help you decide: What gives you joy? What are you passionate about? What gives you life?

In my church tradition, we pay a lot of attention to the idea of vocation. Vocation can mean a career, but it’s more than that. Author Frederick Buechner defined ‘vocation’ as “the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”

Whether you’re going into a job, or more school, or service, or something else you don’t even know yet, find your vocation. Find the place where your passion helps you to love others. Find the places where your love is needed.

And remember that no matter what, you are loved, and perfect love casts out fear.

Congratulations, Class of 2019. Go with good courage, and do not be afraid.