INI Confirmation Sunday May 3, 2009

Sermon preached by Pastor . . .  at Cross of Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church, Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), 9931 Foley Blvd. NW, Coon Rapids, MN 55433. Please share this with someone else after you have finished. Thank you!

Bible Text—Matthew 6:33, But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, especially our 2009 Confirmands:

Do you remember what you were doing on May 3, 1985? Some of you may not remember since you weren’t even born yet. What about May 3, 2003? Don’t feel bad if you don’t recall the significance of those dates. There are very few dates we can think back to and remember where we were and what we were doing. Maybe you can still remember the day you graduated from high school or college, or the day you had the funeral for a loved one—although you may not remember what day it was on the calendar. For those of us who are married we remember the date of our weddings. I’m sure you also remember the date of your children’s births and what things were like in the hospital.

Another day we almost always remember is our Confirmation day. We may not recall its spot on the calendar, but in one way or another you recall the worship service, or the pastors, or the promises you made. Maybe you remember the party at your house afterwards or the relatives who attended. Today is one of those days you‘ll remember for the rest of your life!

Before we proceed any further let’s make sure we know what Confirmation is all about. For the past couple of years you have been studying the truths of God’s Word from Luther’s Small Catechism, and before that most of you were learning and growing in God’s Word as you studied both the Old and New Testaments in Sunday school, in our Lutheran elementary school or in our public school Bible history class. Now that you’ve studied the basic teachings of God’s Word and you’ve learned all about the Lord’s Supper, you’re ready to receive Holy Communion for the first time. Your Confirmation is the day when you tell the congregation you believe the same things they do since you have studied the Scriptures. Today the congregation knows you’re prepared to receive the Lord’s Supper in a worthy manner. Confirmation is also a wonderful opportunity the members of our church have been given to pray for you.

Since you’ve reached this important spiritual milestone in your young lives, I’d like to direct your attention to what Jesus says midway through his Sermon on the Mount. In the latter part of Matthew chapter 6, our Lord addresses the problem of worry and how we shouldn’t worry about the clothes we wear or the food we eat. Unbelievers chase after things like these, but our heavenly Father knows we need them. Instead of worrying about the things of this world, Jesus says we are to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

God’s kingdom is simply Christ’s gracious rule in our hearts through his precious gospel. His righteousness is the righteousness of Christ that covers us so God doesn’t see our sin and guilt anymore, but instead he sees the holiness of his Son, Jesus. As Christians who have been brought to faith by the Holy Spirit in our baptisms and who’ve been strengthened in our faith as we’ve studied God’s Word, we already have Christ ruling in our hearts and we are already covered in our Savior’s robes of righteousness that he earned for all with his sufferings and death on the cross. But we are to “go on seeking” God’s kingdom. We should want nothing more highly than for our Savior to always have first place in our hearts and our lives. And our Savior’s righteousness that saves us should always be the greatest treasure of our hearts.

What Jesus is talking about here are priorities. When he has first place in our lives, we know he will also provide us with all the material blessings we need in life such as our food and our clothes. As the apostle Paul wrote to the Romans: “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” Romans 8:32.

Priorities. My prayer is that when you leave here today, you will keep your priorities straight. And even though you’re no longer in catechism class, I pray you will continue to seek first God’s kingdom and Christ’s righteousness.

Now why would I be concerned about such a thing and why would I talk to you about your priorities in life on your Confirmation day? Well, I’ll tell you why. When a pastor looks back on Confirmation class pictures from the past, whether its from 1980 or 1985 or 2001 or whenever, a certain sadness fills his heart. That’s because so many of the young people who have been confirmed don’t take their Confirmation promises seriously. There have always been some through the years who only came to Sunday worship services because they had to in order to write their sermon outlines for class. They only came to Sunday school because their parents made them. There always seems to be some in every Confirmation class that we never see again in church after they’re confirmed. The only time they ever received the Lord’s Supper was on their Confirmation day. And there always seem to be those who, when they get out from under their parents’ roof and they live life on their own, they live as if they’ve never heard of the Ten Commandments before, and they act as if they never knew what it meant to be a Christian.

I hope and pray that if I look at your Confirmation class picture a year from now, or five years from now or ten years from now, I hope I won’t be able to say about any of you: “I wonder whatever happened to so-and-so? You know, after he was confirmed, after she was confirmed, we never saw them again.” I hope and pray you will take to heart our Savior’s words: seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

The world we live in is dangerous, especially for a child of God. There are temptations and dangers everywhere—in the lusts of our sinful flesh, in the pride of our human reason, as well as in the apathy and indifference of the world around us. In order to get through this sinful world you need the strength only God can give through his Word and sacrament. That’s why you read your devotions and Bible at home and come to worship and listen to the Scripture lessons and pay attention to the sermons and attend the Bible classes and receive Holy Communion. Through these means of grace God nourishes our faith and keeps us close to him. Through his gospel in Word and sacrament our faithful Lord keeps us faithful to him.

Priorities? No matter how old we are and no matter how long it’s been since we were confirmed, Jesus tells us where our priorities should be: seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. In his name. Amen.