Today I want to try and accomplish a bit of a difficult trick with the sermon: I want to speak to everyone in the church but at the same time really speak just to the confirmands. So you two listen up—this is for you! The rest of you, listen up! This is for you, too.
All year long in catechism class I think I’ve really been trying to get at just three main things. Three things, and if you guys can really understand, if you can really remember these three things then I think we’ve accomplished what we set out to do.
The first thing that you need to keep in mind is that we’ve got a great, big, wonderful, awesome God who is able to do anything far beyond what we would expect or be able to see. We know this, because we can see Him working in our lives. We’ve shared stories over the past year about what He’s done for us.
We know God has this awesome power because we read about it in the Scriptures. The Old Testament reading from today—Deuteronomy 6:4-9 4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.—that comes from a time when the children of Israel were about ready to cross over into the Promised Land. They had seen with their own eyes what God could do. They had seen Him defeat entire armies, they had seen how He had provided food for them for 40 years, and a few of them had even seen how God had saved them through water, when He parted the Red Sea as they escaped the slavery of Egypt.
This is the God who is working in your lives today. He has saved you through water—not by parting the Red Sea but by giving you baptism—freeing you from the slavery of sin. He has worked in your lives through His word as you received instruction about Him; not just in catechism but in your homes, in the years you spent in Sunday School. Even the times that you’ve been able to share His word with someone who needed it, God has been working in you.
And you’ve grown in Him. Obviously you’ve grown physically since your birth, Amen? But you’ve grown spiritually, as well. I can see that even just over our past year together. And why have you grown? Because you’ve received His pure, wholesome Word. His word is like pure, healthy milk; it’s something that’s essential for good health not just when you’re little, but also when you’re older. We never outgrow the need for pure milk. Like Peter says in 1 Peter 2:2-3, “2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.”
Because you’re growing up in your salvation, you also need to know the second thing I need to tell you today: God has no grandchildren. There is never been a person alive that could say God is their grandpa.
That may sound odd, but it simply means that you cannot be a part of God’s family because of the faith of your parents. Yes, your parents brought you to the waters of baptism when you were just a ittle-wittle baby, they made promises for you when you could not speak . . . but today and from now on you must speak for yourselves. Today you say for yourself that this is your faith, that this is your belief, that this is your church . . . and that God is your God.
Again, from today’s Epistle lesson: Romans 8:14-17 14 because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons (and yes, daughters) of God. 15 For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship—that means that God has adopted us you as His children—And it is by the Spirit that we cry, "Abba, Father." 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.
Confirmation is not graduation, it is a rite of passage. You are not being released from responsibility, but instead you are moving into adulthood. Adults have responsibility for themselves and for others. That is why from this point on you are will be members of the church in your own right. You will not be members just because their parents are, but because you yourself have chosen to be.
The third and final thing I need to tell you is that you need to continue to grow in Christ. I said before that you’ll continue to need milk, and that’s true, but Hebrews 5:13-14 also tells us that “13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”
It’s kind of funny the way that works, because becoming mature is entirely dependent upon both of the two things that I’ve already told you. See, because you’re saying this is your faith, because you’re becoming an adult, you have a responsibility to do the things that will bring you growth in Christ. Not too long from now there will be a day when no one will be waking you up to take you to church, no one’s going to send you to bed early on Saturday night because we’ve got church in the morning. No one’s going to check and make sure you said your prayers or read your Bible.
You’re an adult, you’re a child of God, and it’s up to you to do the things that children of God do. You’re going to have to make an effort to stay close to God, and let me tell you you’ll be glad you did, because it’s a rough old world without Him.
But the reason you’re going to be able to grow in Christ is not because you chose Him, not because you are becoming an adult, but because He is able to cause you to grow! God has chosen you as His children, He has chosen you as His priests. As He hung on the cross He was thinking of Sam, He was thinking of Kate. As He told His disciples to go to the ends of the world with His message, He was thinking of where He would send you.
You’re going to hit hard times. It’s not always easy to walk the road God has put before us. Every adult who’s been confirmed as a teenager can name members of their confirmation class who promised to remain faithful to our Lord, to conform their whole lives to His Word and to make faithful use of the Word and Sacraments . . . but who no longer attend church anywhere. It’s hard, being an adult. And there’s going to come times when you’re not sure which way to turn and you’re not sure you can distinguish good from evil anymore, and you’re going to be tempted to turn away from God and His word and go your own way.
But when those times come, I want you to remember something: I want you to remember that God’s been with you throughout your entire life. I want you to remember that there’s never been a time that He’s abandoned you. And I want you to remember that He loves you, and that those hard times are just His way of growing you in Christ.
We have a need to be constantly refreshed through encountering God in His church. I myself am only here because I know my sin, I know my heart . . . and I don’t like what I see. I need God’s presence in my life, and He gives that to me through His church. You, too, are going to need His presence in your lives continually.
Sam, Katie . . . remember that God can do anything far beyond what you need or expect. Remember that you are His very own child. And remember to continue to grow in Him throughout the rest of your earthly life. The journey that began with your parents bringing you to baptism is now yours to walk as one with the rest of us. Philippians 1:6 May He who began a good work in you carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
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