I think it was the most celebrative graduation that I have ever attended. Graduations on the outside can be happy. There can be lots of smiles. Graduates are thrilled. Parents are proud.I cannot properly communicate the level of joy and happiness and celebration that occurred at our 14th annual commencement exercises at Danville Prison on June 3.Every face was lit up with smiles. Around fifty students and graduates celebrated along with board members, faculty, and the three wardens. My wife Paula attended as the pianist. She played graduation songs as well as various hymns. Afterwards I heard irreverent comments from my students about how they now knew who the better pianist in my family was. My son Peter attended as the photographer.
I think that my students are so joyful when they graduate because the graduation does not just become a celebration of their academic accomplishments, but a celebration of how God has saved them and renewed their minds. They are rejoicing in their justification and sanctification. We don’t normally do this at graduation celebrations on the outside. We celebrate that a loved one has graduated from a Christian school or from college or even from seminary. But we do not think of the graduation as a time to celebrate our salvation and sanctification. Since our students have grown in grace, they have grown in Christian joy. They love their fellow students. The seminary community is a brotherhood where there is mutual support and accountability. They rejoice in the Lord’s work in each other. I had asked Chaplain Christopher Easton to give the commencement address. He has supported the seminary for the last 14 years by carrying out many administrative duties. He oversees the scheduling of the chapels where my students present the sermons. Chaplain Easton gave an encouraging message on the account in the gospel of John of Jesus’ first miracle in Cana of Galilee. After the message, I called out the names of the graduates and the chairman of our board of directors, Dan Woldhuis, handed out the certificates and diplomas. Twenty-two students graduated. As I announced the names of the graduates, I shared something amusing or encouraging about each man. Afterwards my students were claiming that I was such a comedian. I recognized students who had undergone recent transformations. Throughout the ceremony I asked various students to stand and be publicly recognized for their accomplishments. Mr. John Hamstra handed out the diplomas to two Hispanic students whom he has mentored and taught. Then one of our older students, who is the most effective of our “preachers” on Sunday morning, gave an exhortation to the graduates. I put “preachers” in quotation marks because technically I would say that he “speaks a Word of edification.” He delivers richly biblical, theological, pastoral, and Christ-centered messages. He delivers his sermons using the extempore method. He functions in a pastoral role with the other Christians who attend the chapel services. Then the graduates all had an opportunity to give brief speeches. They commended the faculty, thanked the board and supporters, and gave glory to God. Following this the warden addressed the graduates with many encouraging words. He has made the point that the Lord has called him to serve the individuals in custody. He knows that Christ will hold him accountable for how he governs the prison. We sang “Great is Thy Faithfulness” and “In Christ Alone.” The graduates, as a choir, sang “Amazing Grace!” Once the commencement address, the awarding of diplomas, the speeches, and the singing was over, the celebration was not. The prison cooks served a wonderful meal for the graduates and guests. I let my students vote on the menu. Among their selections, they chose fried chicken, baked macaroni and cheese, and for dessert, carrot cake. So we feasted together and laughed and celebrated. So, it was a joyful graduation. And there was such great joy because the men were celebrating not just a graduation, but they were celebration their salvation in Jesus Christ and their liberation from bondage to sin. Some of these men have been delivered from sin and Satan within the past few years. They know from what they have been delivered. And they know to whom they now belong. You can see their joy in the graduation pictures.