Text:  1 John 1:1-2:2 (Luke 24:36-49)                                   Misericordias Domini (2^nd Sunday after Easter)

“This We Proclaim Concerning the Word of Life”

            In the name of him who has risen from the dead, given us his peace, and has opened our minds to understand the Scriptures, dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

            Today, in a very short time, we will have the privilege of hearing the spoken confession of faith of two very special young people. They will stand here, before God’s altar and all of you, in order to declare and confirm the saving faith once granted and given to them by the Holy Spirit in Baptism, and that now, through thorough instruction and careful study in God’s Word, they are able to articulate clearly for themselves.  It is for them a completion of a major step on the journey of their Christian lives – a milestone on the road toward spiritual maturity that, with God’s grace, they will continue to pursue for the rest of their lives.  And I want to emphasize that:  Confirmation is not graduation.  It isn’t the point at which learning and growth in the Lord stop. Rather, it’s a point at which we can say that the essential foundation of the faith is in place so that construction on the building proper can begin.

As most of you know by now, each year I ask the confirmands (in both the first and second years of confirmation instruction) to prepare a paper in which they are to give personal testimony and express in their own words the faith in Christ they hold.  For them it is an opportunity to organize a comprehensive summary of what they’ve learned of the faith at home, at church, and in two years of focused Confirmation instruction.  And trying to get all that captured and put in words is for most of them something of a challenge.  After all, they’ve never had to do it before.  So there’s usually a bit of struggle as they work through it – as indeed there should be.  The Christian faith is serious business.  For me, it’s an opportunity to see how much of what has been taught has actually been absorbed and internalized.  It also gives me a chance to make final adjustments in appropriate emphasis and clear up any lingering misconceptions.  And so often times, the final papers are the result of an interactive process.  They write a draft, which I look over and point to something and say, “Hmm … did you really mean to say this?”  To which a bright student who takes the not-so-subtle hint might properly respond, “Um … no?”  And then I’ll say, “Oh, that’s good; because what you’ve written here sounds a lot like an ancient heresy called ‘Nestorianism’ that the church rejected over fourteen hundred years ago.  You know, they used to burn people who believed that.”  “Oh.  I guess that means I have to rewrite it, huh?”  Seriously though, the papers allow the confirmands a vehicle to express their faith with clarity and precision that serves as a testimony to us and the whole church, and that they can use to look back on as a record of this day later in life.

In any case, I was struck by the Epistle lesson for today because it reads very much like one of papers.  In fact, if a student had simply copied that passage I read and handed it in, he would have fulfilled about ninety percent of what was asked for.  (Sorry, it’s too late for you two.  And for those who are looking ahead to next year, I’ll make sure the assignment precludes that sort of approach.)

In this passage, St. John, speaking as one of the disciples, gives his testimony about Jesus Christ whom he calls the Word of Life, that which was from the beginning, which he had heard, which he had seen with his eyes, and that his hands had touched.  He was speaking, of course, of the physical Lord Jesus whom he had, with the other disciples, followed throughout Galilee and Judea during his earthly ministry. With Jesus himself as teacher, leader, and companion, John had had his mind opened to understand the Scriptures. He didn’t get it all at once; it was a growth process.  He had his own faulty human misconceptions about power and glory that Jesus had remove. Still, when he followed Jesus to Jerusalem, he was expecting something a lot different than what happened.  Though Jesus had told them all plainly what was about to unfold, they were surprised and crushed emotionally by what took place: a trial, a crucifixion, and a death. At length, and not without a good deal of confusion and hardship, John and the others came to see and understand God’s great love and his plan of salvation in Christ.  Jesus rose from the dead and came to his startled disciples to complete their instruction.  He ate and drank with them, he let them touch him, and he had fellowship with them. And he sent them out to bring others into this fellowship in Christ – a fellowship that comes of hearing and believing the Gospel.  And so, John writes, “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you.”

Likewise, today, our confirmands give similar testimony.  They too have been with Jesus, the Word of Life.  They have been listening to him speak to them through his Word; and by it, and the illumination of the Holy Spirit, he has opened their minds and allowed them to hear, see, and touch him.  And so, I would like to share with you from their papers, their own proclamations concerning the Word of Life.

Identifying the problem of the human condition, St. John says, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” We find no such self-deception in our confirmands.  This confession from one:  “The Bible tells us that we are born sinful and that we desperately need God’s forgiveness.”  And from another:  “I was born dead in sin; spiritually blind, deaf, and dumb, condemned to death and hell.” 

God, however, in his infinite mercy and love did not leave us in that wretched state.  St. John writes, “We have One who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.  He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for the sins of the whole world.”

Echoing his hope in Christ, we hear these declarations from our young people: “Jesus Christ is my true God … His name means ‘the Lord saves’.  He saved me from my sins so that I could have eternal life.”   This from another: “My sins are forgiven because Jesus, the Son of God, was born a man and lived a perfect life.  He took responsibility for my sins and sacrificed his life on the cross for me …”

 And finally this:  “God knew that I couldn’t fulfill his Law, as he required me to.  So he sent One who could:  his only Son, Jesus, who not only was the Son of God, but also became Son of Man. Into this world he was born, and on it he grew up. … He followed God’s Law perfectly for me … and then he died for me. Not just ‘died’; he was tried in court, beaten by a whip, ridiculed by the guards and crowd, spit on, forced to carry his cross up to a hill, nailed onto it, and hung their slowly suffocating. And then, when his Father looked down upon him, Jesus was not recognized.  God did not see his perfect Son.  He saw me there, suffocating on my sins and pride.  God’s wrath burned against Jesus for me, and he, totally forsaken, died.”

            So it’s clear that our confirmands understand the very heart and center of the Christian faith:  the gift of God to us in the sacrifice of his Son – Christ and him crucified.  They understand too that this faith in which we stand is itself a gift of God.  Writes one, “I received faith through the Holy Spirit.”  And they understand how God worked through ordinary means, his Word, and his Word combined with water, to touch them and create the faith they have.  One of the confirmands says it this way:  “Jesus especially invites little children to come to him.  As sinners, babies need what Baptism gives, and babies also are able to have faith in Jesus.  When I was baptized, the people of the church, my parents, and godparents spoke my faith for me.  Now that I am older, I have this opportunity to again publicly state my faith.” Another writes, “Baptism is a sacrament of spiritual rebirth in which I received the Holy Spirit.”

In his Epistle, John wrote about the continuing need for God’s forgiveness because ongoing sin in our lives destroys our fellowship with God.  And our confirmands know that they can return daily to the cleansing of Baptism in repentance, and so be restored again as John says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  They also understand that assurance of this forgiveness comes to us when Jesus touches us through Holy Communion.  Says one:  “I want the Lord’s Supper to get closer to the Lord … his undeserved forgiveness of my sins and the closeness that comes from taking into myself Jesus’ body and his blood that was shed for me.”  Another writes, “After I am confirmed, I will be able to take part in the Sacrament of the Altar where I too will be able to drink his blood and eat his body, which is truly a wonderful gift from our Lord Jesus.”

The purpose of all this, of course, is that we keep the fellowship with God that Christ gives us by his atoning death.  And like any ongoing fellowship or relationship, it’s something that has to be maintained for it to be real.  I said before that Confirmation is not Graduation.  The confirmands understand that.  Writes one:  “The Christian faith isn’t one that when once you have, you’re all done.  It’s a faith that keeps on going.”

They understand too that the life of faith is one that carries responsibilities. John writes, “If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son purifies us from all sin.”

One of our confirmands said pretty much the same thing this way:  “Jesus wants us to follow his commands, and to walk in the path he has made for us.  He has made a path for me, and I need to stay on it – even though sometimes there are going to be bumps and maybe even hills.  But I know that he will always be there for me.  When I fall off the road, I know he will be there to help me back on.”

With the desire to lead a godly life in Christ comes also the desire to share the good news.  John says he writes what he does so that you also may have faith and fellowship with us in Christ.  So too our confirmation students; one of them wrote: “I will continue to meet new people in school, at work, and socially.  Many of them will not know Christ …. But with faith and prayer, I will be an example of God’s grace and holiness to them.”  They understand also that this desire to share salvation in Christ crosses generations, and is especially a responsibility of parents with respect to their children.  This from one of the papers:  “Someday I will have a family of my own.  It will be up to me to see that my children grow in the knowledge that Christ is their Savior, that he died for them, and that one day we will all be with him in heaven.”

And that, we all know, is the ultimate goal of our faith:  everlasting fellowship with God and with one another in heavenly glory.  For that reason Christ came.  For that reason he suffered, died, and rose again.  And for that reason John and the other apostles wrote of it to share the saving Word of Life with us.  And because God has done all this for us, we are able to hear today how his goal is being accomplished in the lives of these young people, and indeed in all who share with them the confession of faith they make today.

John wrote his Epistle, he said, in order “to make our joy complete.” That is, speaking for all the faithful, he has joy in sharing the message, and he has joyful hope that those who hear it will believe and so enter also into eternal life with Christ. Now, having heard from the confirmands, we too share in this joy that is being made complete, and that will be brought to its fullness when through perseverance and faith, we all enter into everlasting glory.  Christ grant us all the grace to confess his name to the end.  In his holy name.  Amen.

Soli Deo Gloria!