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Text: Acts “My Sheep Know Me” In the name of our Good Shepherd,
who laid down his life for the sheep, dear friends in Christ: This morning’s reading from the Acts of the
Apostles gives the account of the events that followed what might be thought of
as the first persecution of the Christian Church. Sure, we know that during his ministry, the
Lord Jesus often faced stern opposition, to include several attempts on his
life. And, of course, at the end of his
ministry, he allowed his enemies to do their worst, subjecting himself to all
their hatred and violence as he gave his life an offering for the sins of all
people. But these attacks were directed against
the person of Jesus himself. He had been the target of the world’s
animosity, not his folowers. The assumption of his enemies was that once they
got rid of the Shepherd, his sheep would be scattered and lost. Without him they would amount to absolutely
nothing. No doubt that’s what the sheep
themselves thought as they huddled together in shock and fear in the aftermath
of the horrific events of Good Friday; but something changed that. And we know what it was: the Good Shepherd who laid down his life took
up his life again, just as he said he would. In the Gospel reading last week we heard how
Jesus came to his disciples where they were hiding out together behind locked
doors, and how he showed them that he had truly risen from the dead. The disciples were filled with such wonder
and inexpressible joy that they couldn’t believe their eyes – they had to touch
him and watch him eat something before they could be absolutely sure. But once the fact of his resurrection had sunk
in, he began to explain to them what the events of the past few days, and
really, what his whole mission from heaven had all been about. He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,
and he showed them that God’s plan of salvation had all along been written down
by the prophets and psalmists – that it was God’s intent from the beginning to
send his Son to be the sacrifice for the sins of the world – and how now that
it had been accomplished, he, Jesus, was sending forth his disciples to share
this good news with everyone. He
commissioned them his apostles to carry the declaration of God’s forgiveness in
Christ Jesus to the world so that believing in him everyone could have life in
his name. And in the forty days that
followed, the Lord Jesus continued to teach them and ground them in the sacred
Scriptures so that they would be equipped to carry out their mission when the
time came. Right before he ascended into
heaven, he told them that even though his visible presence was going to be
taken from them, they could be assured that as they went forth Baptizing and
teaching in his name he would always be with them to guide, lead, and protect
them. He would always be their Good
Shepherd. The Apostles took great comfort in
this, and after the day of Pentecost, when the ascended Lord sent his Holy Spirit
to them in a spectacular way to empower them, they began in earnest to perform
the mission he had given them. It wasn’t
long, however, before they began to face the same opposition that Jesus
had. It began when Peter and John were
at the So when Peter and John were released
and went to meet with the others, they had some very serious business to
discuss. Moving forward and continuing
down the path they were treading was going to be a dangerous and costly
undertaking. Weaker and more timid
hearts might have decided that now was the time to give it up, lay low, play it
cool and silent, before things got out of hand.
And we can understand this because there was much at stake: not just their own lives, reputations,
wealth, and livelihoods (as if that weren’t enough); but these were people with
dependent families – children and elderly parents to take care of. The potential costs were high. But these people also knew their Shepherd,
and trusting in him they knew that they could count on him to lead them safely through
even the darkest valley of death’s shadow.
They decided not to back down or give up. Instead they prayed for even more boldness to
confess name Christ before the world. And,
as we heard in today’s lesson, the Lord granted it to them. And now, today, nearly 2000 years
later, and still against the opposition of the world, which continues its war
against God with ever increasing fury, the Church of Christ continues to attest
to the saving work of the Lord Jesus. We
do this both collectively, like when we gather here to worship and receive his
gifts of forgiveness, and also individually as each of us in our day to day
lives shows forth the work of Christ in us by our words and actions. And on this day, we are privileged to be on
hand to witness yet another way in which the children of God proclaim his truth
before the world as two young people confess the name of Christ in a special
way: the Rite of Confirmation. Jesus says that his sheep listen to
his voice and that they know him. It is
precisely through listening to his voice that came to them through his Holy
Word that these two have come to know him.
His voice came to them first in Baptism, then through their parents,
families, and sponsors, through worship and Sunday school, and for the past two
years in more extensive studies in the Bible and Catechism. All of this has been for one purpose: that they might know their Shepherd and place
their trust for this life and the next always only in him. Today I am happy to report that they do know
their Shepherd – and that like the Apostles and saints before them, they are ready
to boldly declare their faith in him before you and the world. To this end, each year I ask the students
preparing for Confirmation to write a paper in which they are to express in
their own words their faith in the Lord Jesus and their understanding of his
Gospel of salvation. And so what I’d
like to do now is share with you some of their comments that you too may be
confident that they really do know the Good Shepherd, and that you, through
their testimony, may be encouraged and strengthened in your own faith. They begin, as is fitting when
discussing the Gospel of salvation, with why it’s necessary to be saved in the
first place. Regarding the fallen state
of mankind, both of them wrote, “Sin is every thought, word, desire, and deed
that is contrary to God’s Law.” (And I
have to admit when I saw that on both
of the papers, it looked to me like maybe there was some cooperation and
collusion going on – you’d think they were twins or something; but it turns out
that that, and the statement “I was
born a sinner” – a truth to which their parents would readily agree, no doubt –
were pretty much the only sentences the papers had in common. In any case) Referring to sin’s corrupting
power on a person’s life, one wrote, “I try to follow God’s Law, but I can’t”;
and the other, “it is impossible for sinners to follow God’s commandments”. One mentioned the devil’s work in fueling the
fire by stating, “Satan turned Adam and Eve away from God, just as he tries to
do to people today.” And regarding the
consequences of sin, this from one of the papers: “What I deserve for my sins is eternal
punishment. Just as it says in Romans
6:23: ‘the wages of sin is death’.” But as the Apostle John writes, “How
great the Father’s love for us that we should be called the children of
God! And that is what we are.” This same wonder over God’s great love for
lost and rebellious mankind is reflected by our candidates for
Confirmation. One wrote, “The Lord loves
us so much that he sent his Son to die so that our sins can be forgiven and we
can go to heaven.” And in the same paper
there’s this: “God the Father loves all
us very much. He saved the Israelites
from And just who is this Christ who was
sent to save us? The ready answer one of
our candidates gives is this: “I believe
that Jesus Christ is the true Son of God and that he is true man born of the Virgin
Mary.” And in both papers we find a
fairly extensive account of Jesus’ earthly ministry. One wrote, “Jesus taught the Word of God to
many people while he was on earth. He
preached and told parables. He performed
many miracles. He helped the blind see
and the deaf hear. He healed many that
were sick. He even fed 5000 people with only
a few loaves of bread and some fish. All
of this was a sign to the people, that he was the Promised One. He was the true Son of God.” How did the Son of God accomplish
our salvation? Again, our confirmands
demonstrate that they know. One says, “I
believe Jesus died on the cross. Jesus
was beaten whipped and tortured … he was hung on the cross until he died. He was mocked and made fun of, he was spit
on, and he had a crown of thorns put on his head. Jesus did all of this for us. … I believe
that all my sins were laid on Jesus, and that he has taken the punishment of my
sins.” The other wrote this: “Jesus has saved me from my sins. This is the greatest gift anyone has ever
given me.” And as part of their studies
this past year, after discussing the Lord’s sacrifice of his life, I asked the
students to view film The Passion of the
Christ in order to better impress upon them what our Lord endured. Reflecting on the experience, the same writer
reports, “The story of Christ’s crucifixion is a powerful story. I saw what Jesus went through to save
us.” “[But] When he rose again on
Easter, he fulfilled his prophecy to destroy the Of course, Christ’s work of
salvation would do us no good if we never heard about it. It has to reach us. Explaining the ministry of God’s grace
through his Church, one of the confirmands wrote that after overcoming death,
“[Jesus] saw his disciples before he ascended into heaven. He told them to go make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father the Son and Holy
Spirit.” This writer goes on to say, “I
don’t believe in God by myself. The Holy
Spirit is the one who helps me believe.”
“The Holy Spirit works inside of me … [he] works with [God’s] Word to
make me believe.” “When I was baptized
at only 2 weeks old, I believed in God because of the Holy Spirit”. Expanding a bit more on God’s grace given in
Baptism, the other writes this: “Jesus
washes away our sins through Baptism.
Baptism is the Sacrament by which the Holy Spirit brings people into
God’s family. During Baptism, water and
the Word of God are put together. In Baptism,
Christ grants forgiveness of sins, and saves us from the devil and death. Jesus washed away my sins when I was
baptized.” Besides the spoken message of the
Gospel and the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, our gracious God extends his grace to
us in yet a third way. One confirmand
said, “The Lord’s Supper is the true body and blood of Christ under the bread
and wine, instituted by Christ himself.
I want to take Communion because I want the forgiveness of sins.” “I want to take communion so that I may continue
to grow in my faith.” The other
explains, “The Sacraments are important to me because through them I can see that the Holy Spirit is working in
me. I can see that God is forgiving my sins.” With God’s forgiveness in Christ
Jesus come other benefits and responsibilities as well. There is also what one rightly called “the
rebirth and renewal of the Holy Spirit.”
That’s what gives birth in us to a new nature that trusts in God and
desires to do his will. Speaking of this
new nature, one of the writers said, “The Holy Spirit helps me to obey God’s
Law. [He] enables me to do good
works.” The other writes, “[God’s love]
teaches me to love everyone. God says
that we should love even our enemies.
[His] love also tells me to spread the Word of God so that others too
may receive his love just as I do.” One
also mentioned that sharing the Word is not limited to what we say alone, but
added “I spread the Word of God through music.
By singing, I spread the news about Jesus.” Finally, an evident theme in both of
our student’s written confessions is the idea that even though they’ve come a
long way in learning to know the Lord, the Christian life is one of continuing
to grow in this knowledge and trust.
There’s this from one of the papers:
“Confirmation is definitely not the end of my learning. I need and want to continue to grow in my
faith … I will remember what I have learned so that I can use that as a guide
to keep on learning and growing in my
faith.” There is much more that I could
share with you from their papers; but I’m certain that by now you have the
sense that these two youths truly do know their Good Shepherd, and that they
are ready to pass this milestone that we call Confirmation. And on a personal note, I’d like to add that
sometimes doing the work of teaching Confirmation can be a real challenge or a
chore – one that many pastors look forward to with a sense of reluctant gloom. With these two particular confirmands I’m
happy to say that it has not been that way.
They have made my burden light and pleasurable, for which they have my
heartfelt gratitude, and which I submit as further evidence that they do indeed
know our Good Shepherd, for they have learned to display his gracious and
humble heart in themselves. And with that, I’m going to ask them
to present themselves before the altar of God, and with the help of his mighty Holy
Spirit to boldly stand and make their declarations of faith in Jesus Christ our
Lord. In his holy name. Amen. Soli Deo Gloria! |
