Confirmation Sunday
II Timothy 3:14-17
Dear Members of Crown of Glory,
Dear Guests and Visitors here this morning,
and especially you, the Confirmation Class of 2003:
In just a few years, the seven of you will be taking another big step in your lives as you learn to drive a car. And sometimes when you are driving, especially out in the country, every once in a while the road that you are on ends and splits off into two different directions, and you have to make a decision. Are you going to follow the road this way, and are you going to go the opposite way on that fork in the road. And unless you have a lot of time to waste, you’d better make the right choice when you have those two options. If you choose the right road, you will get to your destination quickly with little stress. If you choose the wrong road, you’ll probably get lost, and at the very least, you’ll be frustrated because you wasted so much time taking the wrong road.
There are going to be times in your life when you aren’t even driving a car, and you have to make a decision about which road to take. “Should I go to the University of Florida in Gainesville, or should I go to a college up North?” These are two separate roads that you can take, but you can’t take them both, and the way that you choose is going to change your life forever.
Today is one of those days where you hit a fork in the road, and you have to choose which way you want to go. Up until this time, your parents made most of your religious choices for you. But that changes today, when you begin to be Christian young adults. You have to choose which way is the best for your life. And the two choices are very simple: you can choose to go through life with God’s help, knowing that he loves you and is always going to take care of you, and that he will take you to heaven…or you can choose the other road. On the other road you decide how you are going to live your life. On this road you don’t want God’s help; you think you can make it by on your own. And on this road, you aren’t sure what is going to happen at the end of your life. Now it is sad that many many people choose this road, because they think it brings them freedom. They don’t have to listen to God or obey him. You will run into a lot of people in the next years of your life who are on this road.
But of course, you are here, sitting in the front row on Confirmation Sunday, because you want to take the other road, the right road, the road that leads to happiness and eventually heaven. Later in the service, I will ask you to publicly declare What road you are going to take? It is my prayer, and the prayer of the congregation, as well as the entire Christian Church, that you 1. Choose the Right Road! and 2. Continue on the Right Road!
Part I
We have all heard of St. Paul. He was a person who started off on the wrong road, and by the grace of God he found the right road. And Paul dedicated his life to getting others to follow him on that right road. One person who listened to Paul and respected him was a young man named Timothy. There was a reason that Timothy was so receptive to the Gospel of Jesus Christ that Paul proclaimed: Timothy had been on that right road for a while already.
When Paul met Timothy, young Timothy didn’t know everything. But he had been given a good foundation from his family. As far as we can tell, Timothy’s father wasn’t much of a believer, but Timothy’s mother and grandmother were people were looking for the Savior to come into the world. From early on, they taught Timothy about Adam and Eve, about the Fall into Sin, about the promises that God made to Abraham, as well as all the other Bible stories. Our text says, “you have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood.” From his first days here on earth, Timothy’s mother and grandmother knew that the most important thing they could do for this little boy was teach him about the Lord. These grownups taught Timothy that the Holy Bible is the most important book ever written, because the words in their talked about the Savior who will bring all believers to heaven.
You seven students aren’t just my students, you are also my friends. And you aren’t just my friends, you are also my family. We are in the same family because you had grownups in your life who cared enough about you to bring you to be Baptized when you were a baby, they brought you to Sunday School, and they brought you to Catechism class, where we studied the Holy Bible. There, we learned that we were once part of another family, Satan’s. He wanted to drag us down to hell with him. But Jesus’ love overcame the devil’s hatred on the Cross at Calvary. Your parents made sure that they put you on the road that leads to eternal life with Jesus.
I know you all know how to play Phase 10. It’s a card game that we’d play somedays when we got through all our work. And you know that to get to Phase 4, you have to complete Phase1, 2, & 3. You are just entering a new phase in your life. And we aren’t talking about a game here. Before today, your parents made most of your decisions for you. And starting today, you are beginning to turn into adults. While your parents still are going to make a lot of choices for you, you are just beginning that Phase where you begin to make some life-changing decisions. You will learn that mom and dad won’t always be there to tell you what to do. I’m not always going to be there. When those forks in the road come, you will have to choose where to go. Some of these forks are pretty minor.
1. What should I do Friday night? Should I go to a movie, or go mini-golfing with my friends? It’s a choice, but a pretty insignificant choice.
2. What should I do about a car? Should I buy an old one that I can pay off in a summer, or should I get a nice new car that I’ll have to work 4 years before it’s paid off? That’s a choice, and it’s a bit of a bigger decision, because you could be strapped with a bad car, or with payments that you can’t afford.
3. What kind of person should I marry? That’s a huge choice, because you will be with that person for the rest of your life here on earth.
But today you come to a major choice in your life: Am I going to be a Christian, or do I reject what has been taught me? God willing, in a few minutes, each of you 7 will say, “yes! I want to stay on this road that my family has started me on. I believe that this church teaches the pure Word of God, and I always want to be a member of a church that doesn’t add to, subtract from, or change the meaning of the Bible. May Jesus keep me on this road until he takes me to heaven!”
Part II
And that gets us to the other thing I wanted to talk about this morning. 17 years ago, I was confirmed. I had about 15 fellow students in my Confirmation Class. And we all made that promise that we were going to stay true to the Lord, to his Word, and to his Church. Some of my classmates kept their promise. Some of them didn’t. Even after deciding to stay on that correct road, a few years later some decided that there were other things more important that Jesus, and they wandered off the road that leads to eternal life.
Look at what St. Paul tells us about the words of the Bible, “You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Jesus.” Some of the people that Paul taught the Word to believed, for a while, but then they began to think that the things of this world were more important, and they left that road. Other people, like Timothy, believed and continued on the right road.
Not all confirmation classes are like mine. There are classes where all the confirmands not only choose the right road, but continue on that right road. I pray, as well as the entire church prays, that all seven of you stay on that right road your whole life.
But you can’t do that yourself. You need help. Because you are going to hear many people telling you that they have a better road, an easier road, a road that leads to a better life here on earth. And it is so easy for our ears to listen to these encouragements to take the easy way out. That’s why you need the power that comes from Jesus. We learned in Catechism that Jesus not only died for our sins, but he also does all he can to keep us on that right road. The tool uses is the Gospel in Word and Sacraments. We learned that those are the Means of Grace. Up until this point in your life, all you’ve had was the Word and the Sacrament of Holy Baptism. And now, Jesus gives you another tool to keep you on the road: the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. When we read the Word, when we go to church and take Communion, Jesus sends power into our hearts to keep us on the road to heaven.
Conclusion
I’ll miss having you in confirmation class, but I know that’s not the last class I will have you in. There is so much in the Bible to learn and study, that I can’t wait to see you in other Bible classes that we offer. I thank Jesus that he has brought you here, and I pray to Jesus that he will keep you here: in the Holy Christian Church. Amen.
sdg
