The Day of
Pentecost (C)
The Confirmation
of Matthew James Krenz
June 5, 2022
Text: 14:23-31
“If
anyone loves me, he will keep my word” (John 14:23; ESV). That really is the essence of Confirmation,
isn’t it? It really is a response to the
love of Jesus and the saving Word He speaks to us. We love because He first loved us (1 John
4:19). And we keep His Word because He
has first given it to us. And
Confirmation is an expression of love for Jesus, and a confession of His saving
Word.
In
the Lutheran Church, Confirmation is not a Sacrament. But it is an opportunity for the baptized
child of God to confess the gifts God has given him in his Baptism, the truth
of God’s Word as he has come to know it in his study of the Holy Scriptures and
Luther’s Small Catechism, and what it is that he receives from Christ in
the Holy Supper, namely, the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ under
the bread and wine, given for us Christians to eat and to drink, for the
forgiveness of sins. And it is an opportunity
for the baptized child of God to be strengthened and sanctified by the
benediction of God’s Word and the prayers of Christ’s Church.
In
the Lutheran Church, First Communion is not the same thing as Confirmation,
though in our congregation we celebrate the two together. We wouldn’t have to. In fact, I think there is some benefit in
instruction leading to First Communion at a younger age, followed by more
instruction leading to Confirmation, but that is a discussion for another
day. Suffice it to say, First Communion
is the true Sacrament going on here today.
Confirmation is a human rite… a good one, but not commanded in the
Bible. Catechesis is commanded in
the Bible: “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you”
(Matt. 28:20). The Lord’s Supper
is commanded in the Bible: “Take, eat… Drink of it, all of you” (Matt.
26:26-27). “Do this in remembrance of
me” (Luke 22:19). Confession of
faith is commanded in the Bible: “everyone who acknowledges me before
men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven” (Matt.
10:32). Confirmation is not
commanded.
But
Confirmation is this vista along the way in our Sacramental journey, our
life of faith in Christ. From it we view
our Baptism, reveling in the gifts given there, and for those of us baptized as
infants (as Matthew was), this is our chance to speak for ourselves the
promises that were spoken for us at the font by our parents and sponsors. We view our life in God’s Word, nourished by
the Scriptures in the Divine Service, in Sunday School, and intensified over
the course of our Catechesis. And we
view our Communion with Christ and with one another at the Lord’s Supper,
connected to Christ the Vine, and to one another as members of Christ’s Body, as
He hand-feeds us the fruits of His cross, and gives us to drink of His
resurrection life. So, Confirmation is
not a Sacrament, but it is chock full of the Sacraments, and of our
Sacramental life.
And
how appropriate to celebrate Confirmation on the Feast of Pentecost, as is our
tradition, and the tradition in many congregations. Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit… Who will do what for us, according to
our Holy Gospel? “(H)e will teach you
all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John
14:26). In other words, the Spirit will give
you to keep Jesus’ Word by His teaching and calling to remembrance, and
in this way, He will fan into flame your love for Jesus. That is His work. The Spirit works through the Word and the
holy Sacraments. He brings you to faith
in Christ, and He sustains you in the faith of Christ. And He brings you here to confess it and live
in it. This is what we mean when we say
with Dr. Luther that “the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened
me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.”[1] The Spirit does it. He gives the gift. We receive. And by His gifts, He works in us to love
and to keep.
So
it is with Confirmation as it is in our Holy Gospel… The emphasis is not first and foremost
on our loving Jesus and keeping His Word, though that is certainly
important. It is first and foremost
about God’s loving us and keeping us, from which our loving and
keeping flows. The emphasis is on the
Father’s love for us, in which he sends His Son for our
salvation. It is the Son’s love for
the Father and for us, and His loving obedience to the Father
in working our redemption, His suffering, His death for us on the cross,
His burial, His resurrection, and ascension.
It is the Father and Son coming to us, and making Their home with us
(John 14:23). It is the coming of the
Holy Spirit, the Helper… literally the Paraclete, the One we call to
our side for counsel, for aid, for consolation… our Advocate, whom
the Father sends in the Name of the Son (see, by the way, how this is
preparing us for next Sunday and the Feast of the Holy Trinity?).
And
what is the result of all God’s loving and keeping us in this
way? Peace. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give
to you” (v. 27). This is not the
world’s idea of peace, as in complete avoidance of conflict, distress, or
pain. This is true peace, Jesus’
peace. Peace with God. Peace with one another. Sins forgiven. Healing.
Wholeness. Life. All that is meant by the Hebrew word, Shalom. “Let not your hearts be troubled, neither
let them be afraid,” Jesus says (v. 27).
Trouble cannot ultimately harm you, and there is no need for fear. Jesus died for your sins. You are forgiven. Jesus is risen from the dead. You have eternal life in Him, and He will
raise your body from the grave. It is
true, He has been removed from our earthly sight for a time. But He is coming back. And in the meantime, here is the Spirit, and
here is Jesus Himself, with us bodily in His Word and gifts, and here is the
Father declaring us His own precious, redeemed, forgiven, and sanctified
children. No one can snatch us out of
His hand.
Now,
there is a warning here. “Whoever
does not love me does not keep my words” (v. 24). And that is to miss out on all the gifts our
Lord here gives. Loving Jesus and
keeping His Word go together. You don’t
get to say, as is so fashionable today, “I love Jesus, but I don’t believe
everything He says in the Bible.” Love
for Him keeps, or better, treasures, His Words. All of them.
For they are all gift, and they are all given for our good.
And
there is another warning. Life in this
fallen world is dangerous, because the ruler of this world (v. 30),
Satan, comes to rob us of our love for Jesus and our treasuring of His
Word. But he has no claim on Jesus, and
so he has no claim on those who are in the love and Word of Jesus. If you want to be safe from the evil one, be
in Jesus, which is to say, be in His Word. Be in the water with Him, and be at
the Table with Him. Be in His
Church, which is His Body, the Communion of saints. Be where He gives His Spirit and His
gifts.
Confirmation
is not only an opportunity for the confirmand to confess the faith, and
so love Jesus and keep His Word. It is
also your opportunity to examine yourself, repent of wherever you have
not loved Jesus or kept His Word, re-commit yourself to that love and keeping
by making the vows your own once again, and revel in the gifts that Jesus pours
out for you here for your forgiveness, life, and salvation. For Jesus unfailingly loves and keeps you
for the Father by the Spirit who proceeds from them both. And here is the manifestation of that. Here you are, by God’s grace, immersed in the
Sacramental life of the Church… your life in Jesus Christ. Thanks be to God. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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