refuse to avoid the hard work of naming, evaluating by, and living into your conviction
May 26, 2026
Summary: There were no audio or video recordings made. This messages mines the interaction between Jesus and Lawyer in Luke 10 to inform a call to name convictions, evaluate self in their light, and change as necessary.
Message Notes
Parents, family, friends, teachers, staff, administrators: Welcome.
In just a couple of nights many of us will be gathering for the commencement ceremony, a time to recognize the delights and challenges of the past, to celebrate accomplishment, and to look to the future.
Tonight, we’ve gathered for a baccalaureate service. The baccalaureate service invites reflection—it’s a time to give thanks, to honor the people who have poured life and wisdom into these students, and a time for them to reflect on what kind of people they’ll become.
(to students for most of the speech)
Graduates, I invite you to consider who you are and what kind of person you want to be.
Consider—in these moments,
and in the quiet moments between events this week,
and in those spaces this summer when you begin to wonder “What have I
gotten myself into?”
When the questions come, don’t shrink back from asking them. And, don’t shrink back from answering them.
The lawyer who challenged Jesus was asking “What kind of person should I be?” — he just didn’t expect the answer would, in turn, challenge him.
Jesus did not answer the lawyer’s question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Instead, he returned a question: “What do you think? What is written in the law?”
With those questions, Jesus gave the lawyer a chance to name his conviction.
The lawyer could have said, “I asked you first!”
or he could have said, “I won’t play this game!”
He could have shrunk back from the question and the situation.
But instead of shrinking back, he named his conviction.
The amazing thing here is that the Lawyer and Jesus came from the same place: drawing from God’s law, they agreed that the key to life, the key to flourishing is loving God and loving neighbor.
In their brief back and forth, the Lawyer and Jesus declared to each other that when humans love God with everything that defines them-heart, soul, mind, and strength-they will also love their neighbors as themselves.
You are going to come face to face with similar questions. Even tonight you may be asking, “What kind of person do I want to be?” “What does it mean for me to flourish?”
When those questions come, you could shrink back.
They can be scary questions to answer. The answers can challenge how you approach life.
But I encourage you – join the lawyer.
Don’t shrink back from naming your convictions.
Answer the question
– even when you don’t know what your friends will say
– even when you do know your answer won’t be their answer.
(provide time for both these questions to linger)
What kind of person do you want to be?
What does it take for you to flourish?
The lawyer named his conviction and discovered that Jesus agreed. You’d think the lawyer could be standing there with confidence.
The startling thing in this moment with Jesus is:
the lawyer almost immediately began to recognize that something was wrong.
We don’t know whether he could name what was wrong, but he began to sense that his life was out of step with the conviction he had just named.
Something about the way he treated people was striking him as off, as wrong. He had just declared that he needed to love his neighbor as self, but having said those words, he was seeing far more than he bargained for.
He could have quietly left. He could have left well enough alone. He could have shrunk back from looking too deeply at his own life, from measuring it by his own standards.
But there, in the presence of Jesus, he couldn’t let it go. He wanted to evaluate himself, more than that, he wanted to tell himself that he was doing okay. But he couldn’t quite do it.
He may have wondered: “Am I excluding people I shouldn’t from my list of neighbors?” As he turned to Jesus, the lawyer had an even simpler question, “Who is my neighbor?”
When you name your convictions, you will begin to see pieces of your
life that aren’t aligned.
How you treat a few people.
Where you spend your time.
What you do with your money.
The job you chase.
The pictures you post.
The text you send.
When you begin to see those misaligned pieces,
you’ll want to shrink back from your conviction,
you’ll want to shrink back from evaluating yourself in the light of
those convictions.
Don’t. Don’t shrink back.
Instead, face the evaluation. See where you stand. As soon as you can, put it into words.
Go one step further than the lawyer did: don’t seek to justify yourself. Instead, ask the questions that will help you live a life that matches your conviction.
Surprisingly, even though the lawyer was seeking to justify himself, he asked the right question. And Jesus was ready to help him see.
Tonight, You’ve heard the story Jesus told.
A man, beaten, robbed, and left for dead,
He was ignored—actively avoided—by two of his own people.
He was finally helped, in all the ways, by an outsider—seen, met, bandaged, anointed, carried, treated,
and paid for.
When Jesus asked the question: “Which one proved to be a neighbor?”, the lawyer knew the answer. The neighbor showed mercy. The outsider, the Samaritan could simply see another person in need and respond with compassion.
With the answer, came the challenge: Go, and do likewise.
We wonder, what did the lawyer do?
We don’t know how the lawyer responded. Did he shrink back from Jesus' challenge – or did he embrace it?
As I think about the moment, I wonder how I would have responded – and then I wonder, “How am I responding?” Because I believe that trusting Jesus and following his teaching leads to life, I hear this as a challenge for me.
How about you?
When you name your convictions and evaluate yourself in their light, there will be times when you fall short.
How will you respond?
Jesus, in effect, issued a godly challenge to the lawyer – you know the right thing; you’ve seen how to flourish; will you embrace this call to change?
Or,
will you shrink back?
(pause, then turn back to auditorium)
Graduates, parents, family, friends, teachers, staff, administrators:
It is a night to consider who you are and what kind of person you want to be. This opportunity sits before the graduates-and before all of us. Don’t miss the chance you have tonight; take time to reflect this week.
Much of this is work you will do yourself. But the lawyer shows us, it’s work you can do with others. So, I urge you – help the graduates find the time and the space to ask and answer:
(keep these together)
What kind of person do I want to be?
What does it take for me to flourish?
(turn to graduates, slight pause between each)
Name your conviction.
Measure yourself truthfully.
Go to where the truth leads.
(brief but real pause, then conclude:)
Do the work.
Don’t shrink back.