The Missio Dei: 2026 Graduation Address

Introduction

I am pleased to be with you this evening and to congratulate this school’s graduating class of 2026. This is a very special occasion, not just for the graduates but also for the families, teachers, mentors, and friends who have loved, supported, encouraged, prayed for, and helped these young men and women to reach this important milestone. Above all, this is an occasion to thank God for his mercy and goodness in allowing you to complete this phase of your education and to become a high school graduate.

This evening I want to talk to you for a few minutes about the missio Dei or mission of God. This is the mission God created the world to fulfill, more specifically it is the mission he has given us as image-bearers. Each of you has a purpose, and that purpose is not dependent on your academic record, personal talents, or future opportunities. Some of you may go on to pursue college or graduate degrees. Some of you may join the military or enter the workforce and seek a profitable career. Some of you may marry, bear children, and become COO of a household. But wherever you go from here, whatever you do, your life is to be guided by the mission of God.

Defining the Missio Dei

There are a number of ways the mission of God has been defined, but we might broadly summarize it with three words: fellowship, faithfulness, and fruitfulness. Every one of us is made and called to live in fellowship with God, to be faithful to him, and to be fruitful in order to glorify him. The Bible tells us of Man’s creation by God in the beginning:

Gen. 1:26-28: Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Mankind, both male and female, was made as the image of God and in his likeness. We have a moral and spiritual resemblance to God, and we are to represent him on the earth. Besides the moral and structural aspects of our creation, there is a functional aspect to our role as image- bearers. Men and women image God by exercising dominion as his representative delegates, lesser kings under the High King who made us all.

The rest of the Bible unpacks this idea in a number of ways. Isaiah tells us God made us for his glory (43:7), and Paul says in Colossians 1 all things were made by God and for him. We exist for God. Our lives are for his glory and under his rule and purpose. The WSC summarizes it this way in Q.1: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.”

How can we glorify God? Romans 1 tells us that man’s fundamental sin is a refusal to acknowledge God and to give thanks to him.

Rom. 1:19-21: What may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

The first and most basic way that we glorify God is by acknowledging that there is a God and that we are not him. It is admitting that I did not make myself, I cannot sustain or save myself, and that I owe thanks and gratitude to another for my life and all the good things I enjoy.

God hates pride, and a proud man cannot be thankful. He might say the words thank you, but he does not mean it. A proud man always believes that he deserves whatever good he has and that he deserves more and better than what he has right now. Those who would glorify God must be humble: humble enough to admit they are not God, humble enough to admit that their lives and the good things they enjoy in life are blessings, undeserved gifts from the hand of another.

We said that the mission of God can be summarized as Fellowship, Faithfulness, and Fruitfulness, and all of that comes out of the words we read in Genesis 1. We are made to enjoy life with God in the world, to do his will, and to fill the earth with glory. Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. Subdue it to what? Not concrete and skyscrapers. Subdue it to the will of God. Bring creation into obedience to its Maker. We have a mission, and that mission can only be fulfilled by those who are in fellowship with God—living in humble, grateful acknowledgement of him—and who are faithfully pursuing fruitfulness in obedience to his will.

What the Mission Does Not Depend On

Many people think that their success in life depends on what opportunities they are given. Successful people are beautiful, intelligent, wealthy, and have unfair advantages in terms of the opportunities given to them. They may work hard, but it is something about them that makes it possible for them to be successful. But this is false. The mission God has given every one of us does not depend on our personal traits or opportunities. Fellowship with God, faithfulness to God, and a fruitful life lived in obedience to God is possible for us all.

Many people weigh the significance of their lives by what they accomplish. A doctor or decorated soldier or politician or social media influencer is a significant person, but the rest of us are just ordinary, by which we mean, insignificant. But every one of you is an image-bearer of God. You were made by God, like God, and for God in order to glorify and enjoy him forever. It does not matter what you do. What matters is why and how you do it.

You may pursue advanced degrees, complete two doctorates, publish research that changes the world, and be remembered in history as a great thinker and pioneer in your field. But if you do not know God, if you do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, if you do all of that from pride and selfishness, what will you have accomplished? Jesus asks the question: What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul? What really matters when you die? We all are living in a dystopian novel—no one gets out alive. So what will your life matter? One of my daughters is a nurse; every person whose life she saves will eventually die anyway. One of my sons is a firefighter, another is a cop, but everyone they help or rescue will eventually die and be judged by their Maker. This is why some Christians decide a life in ministry is the most meaningful life they can have, but this is a mistake too. Where would the world be if everyone was a missionary or pastor? Who is going to collect the trash, grow the food, and build new technology if the only thing we know how to do is lead a Bible study?

Your mission, as a human being, as an image-bearer of God, does not depend on your particular gifts, abilities, or opportunities. It involves how you use these things, to be sure, but it does not depend on them. We are not to think: “This person is significant because of the job they have, but this person is unimportant because they have another one.” What matters is why you do whatever you do and how you choose to do it.

Living Out the Mission of God

One person pursues education, fame, and fortune in pride, and another digs ditches and collects garbage but does so every day with humility, gratitude, and faith in God. Who is fulfilling the mission? Whose life is truly meaningful? One person attends college and graduate school, serves in the military, raises a family, builds a business, becomes wealthy and well-known, and does it all out of love for God and with gratitude to him, another person is lazy, unmotivated, undisciplined, and simply does the least that he can to sustain his Netflix and junk food habit. Who is fulfilling the mission? Whose life is truly meaningful?

You were made by God, like God, and for God, so you should go out and live with joyful, humble, grateful diligence. You are called to be faithful and fruitful, so whatever you do, wherever you go, whatever opportunities you may have, you should pursue them with all your might. This is what the Bible tells us.

Eph. 6:5-8: Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.

Col. 3:23-24: Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.

Col. 3:17: Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

1Cor. 10:31: Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Wherever you are, whatever opportunities you may have, now or in the future, you are on a mission from God. God has called you there. God has given you that opportunity. Is it going to college? Then be the best college student you can be. Don’t be content with a 3.5 if you are capable of a 4.0. Don’t waste time partying; put in the work. Be faithful and be fruitful as one who is in fellowship with God. Are you joining the military? Then be the very best soldier, sailor, airman, or Marine that you are capable of being. Whatever is asked of you, do it with urgency, discipline, and diligence. Seek to excel in every way. You are not competing with others—it is easy to out-work others nowadays—compete against yourself: your laziness, your lust, and your temptation to grumble and complain. Are you going into the workplace? Get a job, and use that job to develop skills and experience that will help you get a better job. Do not be content with just a job; pursue a career. Show up on-time and ready to work. Work hard without complaining. Do what is assigned, and be willing to do more even if it is not required. One day, Lord willing, you will have a family. Be the best husband or wife, the most faithful, wise, and attentive father or mother, the best provider, protector, and nurturer that you can possibly be.

I want each of you to be amazingly successful. I want you to make a lot of money, build things that will endure, impact lives, and leave a legacy that will be remembered after you are gone. But remember that it is not what you do that makes your life significant; it is why and how you do it that makes it so. Some of you may be very successful in business, in finances, in fame, but most of us will not be. You may not make a lot of money in your life. You may even struggle to make ends meet. But if you live in fellowship with God, if you are faithful to him, and if you aspire to be fruitful in everything that you do, your life will be meaningful and blessed.

Conclusion

Wherever you are, whatever you do, do it with humility, gratitude, and to God’s glory. Each of you were made for more. More than fame, more than fortune, more than foolishness, more than lazy, pointless fruitlessness. You were made to represent God by taking dominion and pursuing excellence. You were made to fill the earth with his glory. So go out and get to work, every day, everywhere you go, whatever you may do, tomorrow and every day of your life thereafter. Dare to do great things for God, and he will bless and reward the work of your hands.

May God bless you all as you complete this phase of your labors and go on to the next phase of godly endeavor. Congratulations to each of you and to your families. May God be glorified in all that you do from this point forward. Amen.