Confirmation Sunday – May 16, 2010

Dear precious children - loved and redeemed by Jesus Christ:

In only a matter of minutes now, you will rise from your pew and step forward to this altar. You will stand before me, this congregation, and most importantly, before God, and you will make a promise. You will respond to some questions with the words “I do,” you will recite the Apostles’ Creed, and you will profess, “I do so intend with the help of God.”

But as we contemplate that which you are about to do, I must admit - I’m a little scared. I know I shouldn’t be, but I am. Why, you ask? Well, it’s not because I’m afraid you’re going to trip on the way up the steps. It’s not even because I’m worried that I will fumble over the words I speak to you. No, I’m a little nervous because I so dearly want you to be aware of the magnitude and seriousness of these promises. I’m a little anxious because I know how easy it is to sincerely promise today but then ignore those promises in the future. I’m a little scared because I know of some who are currently ignoring their promises; and that there are others who can tell you that in the past they did that too; and that all of us can tell you it’s not an easy thing to keep those promises.

So, to calm my fears and to help you focus on what you promise, we turn to the Word and let God tell you the meaning of your promise. It is a promise to resist sin; to love God’s Word; and to produce fruits of faith. Listen to the words of our God chosen today for the focus of your confirmation:

Psalm 1 - ¹Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. ²But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. ³He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.

My dear Christian friends – today you promise to resist sin! And you know, when it’s put like that it can almost sound kind of easy, can’t it? But make no mistake about it, it is not easy. The Apostle Peter, if you could sit down and have a conversation with him, would tell you it isn’t easy. So would King David. But since you can’t talk with them, why don’t you just ask your mom and dad! Or just pick one of the members in church today and ask them! In fact, why not just ask me! We’ll tell you, it isn’t easy. And that is because sin is deceptive, it’s sneaky, it’s sticky. It is a slippery slope – you see, once you start sliding, it’s hard to stop.

That is a truth the words of our Psalm point out. Notice how it warns against the gradual effect of sin. First a person might think they can just walk in the counsel of the wicked, indulging only infrequently in the sinful way of life. You know, like saying, “Just this once – to see how it is. Just this once – so I can fit in. Just this one time – so they don’t think I’m a goody-goody.” But don’t you see, if you give sin and inch, it will take a mile. And before you know it, you find yourself standing in the way of sinners.

Now it has become a little more permanent. Now a person practices it. Now, that which you found repulsive before doesn’t seem quite so bad. Just once didn’t work. Just once wouldn’t do it – after all, you kind of liked the attention it got you. Now, the thought has turned to: “Well, I’ve got to have fun when I can. Someday I won’t be able to do this, someday I’ll grow up.” Of course, when it all started, it wasn’t ever supposed to go this far, but now, now the individual finds themselves sitting in the seat of mockers.

Now sin has become a way of life. Now, life is considered boring without it. The person sitting in the seat of mockers now looks for ways to commit sin, completely controlled by one’s own desires. They won’t listen to what anyone else has to say. They have made a commitment to sin, sitting down to enjoy and agree with it. They have become, as the Lord says in verse 4 of the Psalm, chaff. That is, completely wicked individuals who will not survive the judgment but will be blown away to the fires of hell.

How easily the values of the world and the standards of Satan can creep into our way of thinking. And please, spare me the 8^th grade attitude that says you’ve got it all under control. Or that this could never happen to you! Or that you won’t let it get that bad! Or that I’m making a bigger deal out of it than needed! If you think I’m lying, go out and ask those who haven’t set foot in church since the day of their confirmation. See what those who come just twice a year have to say. Ask the members sitting behind you right now about their daily struggle to fight that urge, that temptation, to throw in the towel and just live like the rest of the world. You need help! That is why our Lord directs us to the one thing able to help – his Word. “Delight…in the law of the Lord, and on his law…meditate[s] day and night.” Dear Christian friends, today you promise to forever love God’s Word.

It is not a coincidence that immediately after urging us to resist sin, the Lord would point us to the one thing able to help us resist sin – his Word. He knows that whatever shapes your thinking will also shape your actions. And that is exactly what he’s aiming at – that every part of you: your mind, thoughts, beliefs, heart, everything be shaped by his Word. And when he uses the word “law” here, he isn’t just talking about the 10 Commandments. The Hebrew word used here literally means teaching or instruction. He is speaking about all of the Word. Yes, the wonderful news of the Gospel too.

It is in the gospel that you will find your greatest joy. For here is the Son of God born as the son of Mary, come down from heaven to take your place. Here is the young boy in his Father’s house; here is the grown man resisting Satan’s temptations; here is your Savior perfectly fulfilling the law in your place. Here is your Redeemer walking straight to the cross; here is your God shedding his own blood; here is your Rescuer forsaken by his Father and dying to pay your sins in your place. Here is your Champion bursting the shackles of death and gutting Satan so that you can have a place in His heavenly kingdom! Here is your forgiveness! Here is your life! Here is your salvation!

It is your weapon and your armor, as Paul describes it in Ephesians 6. It is the one thing needed, as our Savior said to his dear friends Mary and Martha. It is the power behind the waters of your baptism that brought you to faith. It is the power behind the bread and wine which assure you that you receive Christ’s true body and blood and lets you hear him say, “I love you. You are forgiven.” It is the sweet forgiveness for the times we have walked with the wicked. It is the pleasant pardon for the times we have stood with the sinner. It is the open arms of your Father inviting you to receive the unconditional forgiveness won for you by his Son, Jesus. It is the source of true happiness, for real happiness is the peace which comes through the forgiveness of sins. Real happiness is receiving the freedom to live according to God’s Word. Real happiness is enjoying the glory of living with God throughout eternity.

And how does our Lord want you to use his Word, he wants you to delight in it and meditate on it. To delight in it is to love it: and what we love we love to think. Meditation is to the soul what digestion is to the body. It means understanding the Word, “chewing on it,” and applying it to our lives, making it a part of the inner person. You cannot expect to resist the values of the unbelieving world if you devote only one hour a week to God’s Word. But when you meditate on it and delight in it, God’s promise is that he will preserve you in faith.

Preserved and protected in faith, then, the Word will provide the power and supply the nourishment for you to produce fruits of faith. Yes, dear Christian friends, today you also promise to struggle and strive to live in accordance with God’s will.

God wants your life to look like that tree planted by streams of water. That tree will have a good, solid root system. It will be strong and growing. Its leaves will be healthy and vibrant with color. When you love the Word, when you mediate on it day and night, when you are motivated by the gospel and guided by God’s law, it will only be natural that you produce works pleasing to God. Those works will begin with love for God’s Word. They will be revealed with a life characterized by confession, where you daily run to the cross in repentance, admitting your sin and guilt and receiving God’s free forgiveness. They will be seen as you resist sin! Seen in your refusal to draw your values and goals from the sinful standards of this world! Seen in your careful choice of friends! Seen in your watchful walk in this world, making sure you don’t fall in love it!

In many ways, you could say this Psalm is very simple. It says that there are two roads people can travel: the road of obedience to God produced by faith, which leads to life, and the road of rebellion which leads to hell. There are no other alternatives. And there is nothing in this life that is more important than being sure you are traveling the right road. My young Christian friends, the moment the words of God met the waters of your baptism, you were graciously placed on that road to life. By faith and by grace by way of the Word you have been walking that road for the past 13 years. Continue on that road with love for the Word – resisting sin and producing fruits of faith. As you do, you will be blessed with the happiness that comes through the forgiveness of sins and in knowing you will enjoy the glory of living with God throughout eternity. That is God’s promise. Amen.