Confirmation 2015
The Reading: John 3:1-17
Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the
Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you
are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do
apart from the presence of God." Jesus answered him, "Very truly, I
tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from
above." Nicodemus said to him, "How can anyone be born after having
grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be
born?"Jesus answered, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the
kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the
flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.Do not be astonished
that I said to you, 'You must be born from above.' The wind blows where it
chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from
or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."
Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?" Jesus answered him,
"Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?
"Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we
have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about
earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about
heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended
from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him
may have eternal life. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only
Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal
life. "Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the
world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
The Message:
In a few minutes, Sebastian, Danielle, Michael and Samantha
will be confirmed. After time spent studying the scriptures, thinking about
faith, learning the history of our church, helping others and seeking to
understand God’s presence and work in the world, they are going to confirm and
claim the promises that were made in their Baptisms.
During the actual confirmation service, I will ask two sets
of questions. First, there are questions
about how to live. They are the same questions asked in Baptism: “do you
renounce the devil and all the forces that defy God”? “Do you renounce the
powers of this world that rebel against God”? and “do you renounce the ways of sin that draw
us from God”? Here we are promising to reject, avoid and fight against all of
the things that separate us from God. This is a reminder that since Christ is
Risen from the dead, sin and death have no power over us. Instead, we have
God’s assurance of forgiveness, God’s promise to be with us through all things,
and God’s promise of eternal life. These
Questions are also our commitment to put God first in our lives. They are not small promises for us to make, we are in a
time and place (like most others) where there is a lot of smart, aggressive and
deceitful competition for our attention, time, money, resources, belief, trust
and faith.
Second, I will ask questions about what you believe: “do you believe in God the Father, do you
believe in Jesus Christ the Son of God and do you believe in God the Holy
Spirit?. With these questions, I am
asking you to agree with and claim theological statements from the core of our
faith. Here they are centered in scripture, revelation, tradition and
experience, as expressed through the ancient words of the Apostles creed.
For the second set of questions, I very comfortable explaining
the history, theology and meaning of the statements I am asking you to make. I
have spent years studying and learning the details. I have illustrations for
our experience of God as Trinity, as three in one, I know the history and
context of Baptism, it’s origins, changing role in the Christian faith and how
this sacrament unites and separates different churches. I know the social context surrounding our
scriptures and centuries of different interpretations, I know the debates and
disagreements that led to the wording of the creed. I do not know everything,
but I could easily fill this sermon with information.
This morning, I have asked the Confirmation class to do new
things they might not be comfortable with, to publically read the scriptures,
lead the prayers, assist with communion, and help with worship. To be fair, I am going to do something that is
uncomfortable for me. Instead of talking
about what our statements of belief mean, I am going to talk about what our statements
of belief mean to me. For those of you who are disappointed that I am not going
to talk about Trinity Sunday, Stay calm, don’t worry, I will next week.
For what I believe, I could hide behind a statement like “I
believe in God as revealed to us through the scriptures and revelation and
interpreted by the Augsburg Confession and doctrines of our church”. That would be the right answer for a Lutheran
pastor but it does not say much. Confirmation is really for all of us. It is about
public affirmation of our faith, of telling people about what we believe and
showing people who the God we worship is. It is about claiming our faith with joy and
confidence, growing and being strengthened here in the safety and community of
this place so that we can fulfill our Easter responsibility to go and tell the
others Christ is Risen from the dead.
I do believe in the teachings of our church. I choose to be
a Lutheran, to be a member and then the pastor of a church which believes the
leaders of the Reformation were guided by the Spirit and helped us understand
and experience God’s revelation. My favorite part is that our faith comes out
of concern for others and a desire for people to understand what God has done.
The Reformation started because Luther did not clearly hear the comfort of the
Gospel, he was never really quite sure if his sins were forgiven and he knew
others felt the same way. He also knew the God who lived as one of us, died and
rose again did not want us to live in a constant state of anxiety over rules or
wonder if we would go to heaven and hell. God did not just love us so much “that he gave
his only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in him would not perish but
have eternal life”, God loved us so much, God wanted to make sure we knew it. God wanted to make sure everyone had the joy,
peace and comfort that comes from knowing God’s love without doubt. The only
way for that to happen is if salvation is God’s work. We can mess up, God can’t
I believe that some of the things we do at church are
boring. Well boring is not exactly the right word, I mean some of the things we
do here are not engaging, they do not point directly at God’s grace. We are shy
and quiet. We do not clearly and joyfully announce God’s healing to a hurting
world or the promises of God to a people who need to hear them. We do not do a
great job at expressing the welcome, comfort and peace God gives us. The best
example of this today is Westboro Baptist Church. They are a group of about 20 people
who have manage to get constant worldwide attention for their awful views. They are media geniuses, best known for the
disgraceful slogan “God hates fags” and the previously unimaginable protesting
of US military funerals. They are very adept at telling people about their
demented view of who God is. One of the
most difficult parts is that many people assume all churches think that way. At the same time, I know there are tens of millions
of Christians who quietly know God does not hate people, God hates the awful,
greedy and violent things people do to each other. We worship and know a God who
hates inequality, who hates hate, who hates war and exploitation, who hates rasicm
and who hates poverty. I believe that
God wants us to make the world better and that means telling people what we
believe, to speak of God’s grace to doubt, to share it with the stranger, the
difficult and the different. That starts with Confirmation, with the understanding
and the public affirmation of our faith.
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