1 John 4.1-11

Easter 6/Confirmation Sunday

Hymns:452, 367, 392, 332, 504, 531, 599

The rite of ‘confirmation,’ is not a religious ceremony that the church is required to do because the Bible tells us to do it (like the Sacrament of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper). The rite of confirmation came about as a way of determining when a child was ready to receive the Lord’s Supper. The Sacrament of Bap-tism brings a child into the family of believers and makes that child a Christian. Because of the Word of God connected with water, Baptism washes away sins and gives faith to an infant so that a sinful child, conceived and born of sinful parents, be-comes a saved child of God. The Apostle Paul puts it this way (Titus 3.5-7), (God) saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but...saved us through the washing of rebirth...by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us...through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs...of eternal life. The rite of confirmation is not the rite of passage by which a child becomes a Christian and therefore a member of the Christian Church. Becoming a Christ-ian takes place when a child is baptized...when an infant is giv-en the gift of faith whose sins are washed away.

But at what point is a child ready to participate in the other/ second sacrament that God commands to observe, the Lord’s Supper? Participation in the Lord’s Supper requires that a person have a mature faith...a faith that understands what the Bible says about the Lord’s Supper. It tells us that we "eat bread and drink wine." It tells us that the bread and wine is also the body and blood of Jesus when we eat and drink it. The Bible tells us that we are to examine ourselves, that is, realize that we are sinners in need of the forgiveness of sins and out of love for Jesus want to live a life that is not controlled by sin. The rite of Confirmation establishes that a child has been taught these truths and has a mature faith that understands these things and is prepared to receive the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. But this period of instruction is not over (for Alex or for any Christian). THE RITE OF CONFIRMATION: AN ONGOING EXAMINATION OF THE TRUTH.
 

The Internet has become an indispensable resource of informa-tion. I Googled the letter ‘A’ and in .08 seconds there were 31,700,000,000 results...just for the letter ‘A!’ Then I Googled the letter ‘Z’ and in .08 seconds I got 2,130,000,000 results just for the letter ‘Z!’ What a resource of information. I must add that not all the information is always accurate but it’s out there for you to evaluate.

Now let’s say that you want information about why people die or what the word ‘sin’ means or about life after death or who is God...what is God like...what does he think about us...what does he expect from us...what can we expect from him...what is the primary resource you would turn to for that information? Not Google; the Bible. The Internet is obligated to tell you that there are thousands of different names that refer to God and that there are hundreds if not thousands of different religions that teach different ideas about God and death and heaven and hell and sin and on and on. Confusion reigns! Yet it is essential to where we will spend eternity that we get it right...the right God, the right belief we have of God and what he will do for us.

Here we have the words of Jesus’ disciple John warning us 2000 years before the Internet was invented (v 1). There are all kinds of ideas about religion and God and salvation and how to get to heaven and avoid when you die. A recent Barna research poll indicates that over 60% of people who claim to be Christian don’t believe that the devil actually exists. That means that they don’t believe what the Bible says about Satan and about the Garden of Eden and how sin came into the world and, perhaps, even about what God did about sin now that it is in the world. John is warning us, 2000 years ago, that we need to get it right when it comes to God and sin and heaven and hell because there are all kinds of wrong ideas about these important truths. There is a difference between truth and error, what is true and what is false. And we need to get it right!

Here is John’s specific benchmark for being able to differentiate truth from error (v 2-3,6c). The truth, the only truth about God and all the questions connected with God about heaven and hell and how to live our life here on earth and why we die and what’s going to happen after we die and about baptism and the Lord’s Supper and forgiveness and salvation...it’s all to be learned in Jesus, the Son of God who came into this world as a flesh and blood human being. Anyone who denies this is ‘antiChrist,’ that is, against Jesus as the world’s only Savior from sin and through whom we can know the truth about sin and death and heaven and hell.

John is more specific about Jesus when he writes (v 9,10). The only reason we know that God loves us is because the Bible tells us that he does. But this is not just an empty statement; it has power and substance. God loves us and showed that love by sending Jesus to be the one who would pay for our sins and make things right with God by dying on a cross and coming back to life again.

And this, Alex, is the sum and substance of everything you have been taught throughout your life. This is what you learned from your Christian parents and Christian teachers at Calvary and here at Atonement in Sunday School and VBS classes and in the hundreds of sermons you’ve listened to. Every teaching of the Bible is connected to this truth about Jesus in some way...your baptism and the Lord’s Supper, the forgiveness of your sins, what will happen to you and your family and fellow Christians when we all die, how we will be together again in heaven and, in the mean time, how you want to live your life on earth.

Satan will use the world in an effort to undermine your faith, Alex...and all of us. He will try to convince you that the Bible is not an important book, that it’s not necessary to keep your faith strong...not possible to say ‘no’ to sin all the time. The devil will try to use friends whom you haven’t even met yet to get you to forget Jesus’ love and what he did to save you. Alex, the rite of Confirmation does not mean you have finished with the Bible. It means that you will continue to examine the truth God’s Word and make choices in your life that keep you in God’s truth until the day that you will join all believers in heaven. And the truth of God's Word, the "power of God" (Romans 1.16) will both empower you to resist the evil influence of the world that seeks to harm and destroy your relationship faith in Jesus, and preserve the faith which you today confessed. Continue to examine and test everything in life over against the truth of God's Word and you will be able to retain the joy and happiness and strength and power of being a child of God all the days of your life.