Palm Sunday - Confirmation
Preached at
in honor of those being confirmed.
(Abby McCormick, Brooke Pelton,
Carly Rockman, Julia Sarnes, Sam Williams)
By Pastor Dennis R. King
congratulations
The Grace and Mercy of the Lord, Jesus Christ, be with you all.
This morning we remember Jesus processing into
Over the years confirmation day has been, for
many, a
“You do not want to leave too, do you?” That is a question you must answer,
as will each of us, repeatedly. Jesus essentially asks us, “Do you also wish to
leave?” Jesus first asked His twelve disciples this question. Let us not forget
that the twelve were Jesus’ best students, hand picked by Jesus Himself, but He
still questioned them. Remember, too, that Jesus had many students who followed
Him from place to place. But right after He gave them fuller instructions, sort
of confirmation instructions, many of these disciples deserted Him. It was not
that Jesus was a boring teacher or the instructions were too difficult to
understand. Quite the opposite, Jesus was so dynamic that His students would
chase Him for miles just to hear Him and watch Him in action. He could not even
get a recess for lunch. His sayings cleared up their questions the way a wind
clears the sky of clouds. But for many of His students this was a problem. They
had already decided what they wanted His answers to be, but they did not like
what His answers really were. How about you? Why are you here? Would you also
like to leave? Are you here to get something from Jesus or the church?
. . . some kind of guarantee that all your
needs will be met or a stamp of approval from others? Has your confirmation
certificate really been a graduation diploma which says “I have faith?” Some of
you may think that to learn no more of Christ or to walk with Him no more is
the adult thing to do. There are many poor examples in the world that one could
follow. Some people have drastically failed God. God’s word is their judge and
I would not want to be in their shoes when they stand before God with their
excuses. Make no mistake. God is a forgiving God, but He also is a just God.
Confirmands sometimes look so grand in new clothes or
gowns, so sure, so full of bright hopes, but in the nineteenth century so did
the Grand Army of the Potomac as it crossed Virginia’s Rapidan
River. Blue uniforms of the Union Army, golden buttons, the band playing, flags
flying, horses neighing as this splendid army marched south to invade the
Confederacy for the last time in the American Civil War. How full of hope they
were then! They would be victorious within a year. But of all those who crossed
the river that fine spring day six men out of ten would become casualties in
less than two months. A staff officer watching them cross the river wondered:
“What if some mysterious hand placed badges on their chest that day: red badges
perhaps to identify all who would be killed in the fight ahead, orange badges
to identify all those who would be wounded or maimed for life, and green badges
to identify all those who would die of disease or starvation in a prison camp!
Would these soldiers have marched out as if they were going to a party?”
What if some mysterious hand placed badges on all the confirmands in each church, each year, to identify all who
would desert Christ and lose the life He has won for them? How many
confirmation days would be turned from days of joy to days of tears and
heartbreak? Look around you. How many of the people you were confirmed with are
here or are active in their faith somewhere? Jesus grieves and we grieve with
Him as we see confirmand after confirmand
deserting Jesus. This is why I appeal to this confirmation class and all of
you. . . . Stay with Jesus. To His question, “Do you also
wish to go away?” let Peter’s answer be yours, “Lord to whom shall
we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
Life with Christ Jesus never ends. It goes on, from adventure to
adventure, from childhood dreams to adult responsibilities, from childhood joys
to adult joys, from battles and scars to victories and triumphs. This day does
not mean you have all the answers so now it is safe to walk without Jesus. That
is never safe! “By No Means!” Instead,
hopefully you will grow in your understanding so that now you can walk with Him
not as an immature child but as a maturing student who is eager to learn more
and to shoulder larger responsibilities in the Christian life.
Jesus has chosen you and gives you the bread of eternal life and He is
that bread. He wants you to make His Word and His ways a part of your life just
as food becomes a part of your body. Devour the Word of Jesus as you would
pizza or hamburgers and fries, and you will stay alive, full of faith and joy,
full of hope and the love of God. You will stay alive forever! Before
you leave church today I want each of you to be absolutely sure of this fact.
Jesus has chosen you for eternal life. Not because you are better, you are not
and I am not, but because Jesus loves you for His own reasons. At your baptism
He chose you as certainly as He chose Judas. As for Judas, He tried to love him
so that he would not leave Him. He tries to love us into being what He chose us
to be as baptized members of His Kingdom, people who have eternal life and
companions of all the heroes of faith whose lives we have studied: Peter, Paul,
Abraham, Moses, David, and all the others. By His planning and power He has
guided the history of nations and families, of ancestors and events. You were
born at just the right place and time to become His chosen, and He is serious
about keeping you. Until your dying day He will be faithful whether you are or
not. Some even describe God as the “Hound of Heaven” who is in constant search
for His own.
By now some of you may be saying, “Do not worry, I have been faithful
before and I will be faithful again. I will make it. God will not have to come
searching for me.”
I wonder if Judas did not say
something similar. I doubt that Judas was thinking, “I do not like being a
student of Jesus. I will leave the first chance I get.” Instead he may have
been thinking. “Maybe others could make me more famous or give me more money,
or meet my needs for the moment better. “But only Jesus can give eternal life.
I will stay!” Yet, Judas did not make it. Little by little he walked away in
his heart. His feet still walked beside Jesus. His body sat near Him at meals,
but increasingly His heart wandered elsewhere until finally he lost what Jesus
chose him to be. There are some who are regular church members that fall into
this trap. This grieves us and gives us reason to question ourselves as well,
“Do we also wish to leave Him?”
Jesus knows this could happen to any of us at any time in our life.
That is why He encourages us to eat His bread otherwise we may starve to death.
Many new confirmands become quick casualties because
they and maybe their parents think it is enough to draw near to Jesus only
occasionally. If we ate that way, our bodies would develop noticeable problems
in a hurry; rickets, scurvy, hunger pains, protruding
ribs, symptoms that would show us we were heading toward starvation and death. If only we could see such clear symptoms to warn us when we are
heading toward spiritual starvation. In a certain way we have such
symptoms or warnings in the words of Jesus, “Do you also wish to leave?” He
loves us and He chooses us. Surely, this is enough to make us cry. “Leave, BY
NO MEANS!” Who else loves me that much and has the words of eternal life for
me!”
Today you will receive a confirmation certificate. I pray that this
certificate be for each of you like the young skater’s new skates. The young
skater was asked, “Why are you getting all bumped and bruised up? I would not
stay on the ice and keep falling down so much. I would just come off and watch the
others.” The tears of the last fall were still rolling over his cheeks but the
child looked from his questioner to the shining steel on his feet and answered,
“I did not get some new skates to give up with, I got them to learn how with!”
May your confirmation certificate always be an instrument to learn how with –
how to live and receive God’s eternal blessings! Amen.