Cantate (Confirmation Sunday)

Rev. Thomas Van Hemert

St. John 16:5-15

Cantate (Confirmation Sunday)

May 2, 2021

In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus is going away. Last week, Jesus said that for a little while, we would not see Him. And then in a little while, we would see Him again. He said that we will be sorrowful and lament, but in the end, our sorrows will turn into joy and no one will be able to take our joy away from us. Thus, He has promised us both sorrows and joy—sorrows because we live on this side of glory, in a dying world ruled by the sin and the devil. But we will have joy because Jesus has destroyed sin and the devil and death by His own death. Jesus lives.

Now Jesus is saying that He is going away, that He must go away, that it is to our advantage that He go away. He must go away so that He can send the Helper, that is, the Holy Spirit to us because the Holy Spirit will convict the world concerning sin. He will call us by the Gospel and will declare us righteous because of our faith. He will speak concerning judgement because Satan has been judged and has been found guilty.

Jesus is leaving because He’s going to send the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth to us. The Holy Spirit will speak of the things of Jesus. He will take all that belongs to Christ and will declare it to us. We are heirs of Christ.

So how fitting is it that we hear Jesus giving this promise on Confirmation Sunday? You [Hayden] are to be confirmed in the faith this morning. This faith that we speak of, is the faith taught by the Holy Spirit, who has called you by the Gospel and has given you this faith in Holy Baptism. Jesus has promised to send you His Holy Spirit and that promise is fulfilled anew today.

Confirmation is no laughing matter. It’s no child’s play. To be sure, it’s not a Sacrament. There’s no mention of Confirmation in Holy Scripture nor is it commanded by God. But it is meet, right, and salutary, that because you have been taught and have been examined, you ought to be confirmed in this Christian faith and welcomed at the Lord’s Table. And you must come to the Lord’s Table because all that is Christs, is yours.

Shortly, you will make confirmation vows just like the majority of the members of this church once made. These confirmation vows remind us of the vows, confessions, and promises made at Holy Baptism. First, you will acknowledge the gifts that God gave you in your Baptism—that you were washed clean of all your sin, new life was bestowed, and you became a child of God. Then, just as in Baptism, the question will be asked of you, “Do you renounce the devil and all his works and all his ways?” To “renounce” means to formally and publicly declare one’s abandonment of something. In Holy Baptism, with the help of God, the Holy Spirit, you abandoned the devil himself. You abandoned all his works, and his evil ways. You abandoned him and were claimed by God to be His own. And in confirmation, these vows are remembered and called to the forefront.

Since you have thence turned away from the devil and all that is his, in whom are you to confess faith? Who then can and should you turn to? Just as in Baptism, you confessed your faith in God, the Holy Trinity, yet again this morning, in the presence of this congregation, it is good that you confess your faith in God the Father who created you, God the Son, who redeemed you by His blood, and God the Holy Spirit who called, gathers, and enlightens you by the Holy Gospel. 

How do you know about this God? How do you know who He is and what He has done for you? You know because you have studied the prophetic and apostolic Scriptures, which are the inspired Word of God. And this is what separates you from a large number of Christians. You believe that the entire Bible is God’s Word, not just part of it, or only the parts that you like. The entire Bible is God’s Word.

You have also studied Martin Luther’s Small Catechism, of which, the question will be asked, “Do you confess the doctrine—that is, the teaching—of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, as you have learned to know it from the Small Catechism, to be faithful and true?” And of course, it is. What Luther teaches us about the Ten Commandments, the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, Confession and the Office of the Keys, and the Sacrament of Holy Communion are Biblical. What we learn about these teachings, these doctrines, come straight from the Bible. They’re Biblical doctrines.

Next in the Confirmation rite are the vows. Most of us here today have also made these vows and it’s good that we hear them again. “Do you intend to hear the Word of God and receive the Lord’s Supper faithfully?” This means, will you listen to the Word of God, during the church service, when the readings are read from the lectern? Will you listen intently to the sermon and meditate upon what is being said? Will you never space out or daydream during these sacred acts of the Church? And will you receive the Lord’s Supper faithfully? That means, will you receive it every time it’s offered? That’s what faithfully means. Will you receive the Blessed Sacrament even in the face of all this world throws at you, even if it is deemed “unsafe” by secular authorities? Because in this holy meal, no matter what the outside world says about it, true life, eternal life is bestowed. Receiving these things faithfully means that we promise and vow that we will never miss church. In Confirmation, we vow to put aside our work, our sports, our fears and superstitions, whatever it is, and we will come to this place of comfort, no matter what is going on in the world. Thus, it goes without saying, even if there’s a global pandemic, if there is mass hysteria, and blasphemies and hatred spoken against the Church, you will vow to be here. Because the world is dying and full of decay. But in Church, is found eternal life.

The last two questions and vows that we make are really like military vows. “Do you intend to live according to the Word of God, and continue steadfast in this confession and Church, to remain true to God and suffer death, rather than fall away from this faith?” This is no child’s play. The Christian faith is a matter of life and death. It has consequences for us, not only in this life, but also in the next. Our faith matters. The only place it can be strengthened and sustained is by receiving God’s Word, by receiving heavenly food, bread from heaven that sustains us in our journey in this life.

Will you suffer death rather than fall away from this faith? It’s not likely in our day or in our country, at the present time that we will. But it is an ever-increasing reality. The world is becoming more and more hostile to the Church. There may come a time where we are called upon to give up everything, even life itself, simply because we are Christians. But God willing, we will remember these Confirmation vows. Will we suffer death, rather than fall away from this faith? We will, by the grace of God. Because it’s only because of God, because of His love for us, because He has sent us His Holy Spirit, the Comforter, that we are able to patiently suffer injustice, the hatred of others, and death itself. We know what awaits us in the life to come.

We don’t make these vows willy-nilly or on a whim or just because it’s a nice way to parade around our children. We make these vows because they’re serious and they have consequences. These are adult vows, but Hayden is ready to make them. He has prepared for this day with careful study and examination. And God be praised that he is able to make these vows and to carry them out, by the grace of God. Jesus has sent the Holy Spirit, not only to Hayden, but to all of us as well. Jesus has gone away, but He is always present with us. What I don’t mean by this, is that Jesus is present with us in our hearts in a superficial way that might make us feel good. Jesus has gone away but is truly present with us in a greater way than when He was with His disciples on earth. He is present with us, the members of His Church in the means of grace. He has also sent us the Holy Spirit. And He, the Holy Spirit, is bringing us closer and closer to our heavenly reality.

In +Jesus’ name.