Confirmation Sermon

THOMAS’ CONFIRMATION John 20:19-31 Easter 2A May 1, 2011
There are two main parts to a confirmation service. The first one is a confession of faith. The second is a prayer for the Holy Spirit. These two things are the heart of the confirmation and what we are gathered here today to do. A lot of other little things come along with it: wearing the white robes, this year creating and wearing the red stoles, the certificates, the dinners with special guests, the two years of study of the Bible, and of course, most memorable of all, memorizing the five chief parts of Luther’s small catechism. Confirmation is a tradition and a rite of passage. But at its heart are these two simple things: a statement of faith and a prayer for the Holy Spirit.
This year our confirmation coincides with the Sunday after Easter when we read the account of what happened so long ago in Jerusalem on the Sunday after Easter - centering on that most phlegmatic of disciples: Thomas. There are some parallels between what happened to Thomas then and what is happening to these young confirmands now.
First of all, Thomas was a disciple, which comes from the Latin word for student. Thomas was a disciple of Jesus learning from the master what was right and wrong, what was good and bad, and what the Bible says. Most of his disciples were there when Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount and explained what the word of God really taught in contrast to some of the human traditions of the day. All the disciples listened as Jesus explained to James and John the kind of servant life they were to lead after they had asked for places of honor and privilege in the kingdom. They were all there at the Last Supper when Jesus washed the feet of the disciples, teaching by example more than by words that night.
For three years Thomas listened to Jesus. He walked with him; he watched him; he studied him. Our young confirmands have spent two years coming to a class each Wednesday, reading the Bible, thinking about what the Word of God says, and growing in faith. Of course, we must remember they have been learning about Jesus from the day they were baptized. Their parents and grandparents have been teaching them by word and, even more importantly, by deed what faithful Christian living is. Sunday School teachers and Bible school experiences have helped them grow. But in preparation for confirmation, there are two years of Wednesday classes where their pastor hopes they have learned more of what the Bible says.
But for Thomas those three years were leading up to the day when Jesus would come to Thomas and say, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas replied, “My Lord and my God!” This was Thomas’ personal statement of faith. It was his personal testimony in just five words, but they were the most important five words he ever spoke. “My Lord, and my God.”
I’ll bet some of the confirmands today are wishing their personal statement of faith could have been only five words long. At the annual confirmation banquet they were asked to put in their own words what they believed, who helped form their faith, and how they saw their future as a confirmed Christian. I told them five words wouldn’t cut it. We wanted more, and we got some beautiful testimonies to God’s work in their lives. But Thomas spoke just five words on the Sunday after Easter, and they were enough that day.
The words of Thomas make me think of the promise of Romans 10:9 which says, “if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved….For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Here is the promise behind what is happening today. These confirmands are asked to confess with their lips what they believe in their hearts. Today they do it by reciting the ancient and venerable words of the Apostles’ Creed along with other believers in Christ. At their confirmation dinner they were asked for a faith statement that put it into their own words. Both of these are important: giving your own personal testimony and joining the church of all times and all places in the words of the creed.
During his time on this earth, Jesus repeatedly challenged people to make a faith statement. In John 9 Jesus gave sight to a man who had been born blind. And then in John 9:35 Jesus asked him: “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” The man who once was physically blind still did not see clearly who Jesus is, so he asked “And who is he, sir?” Jesus said, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.” To which the man replied, “Lord, I believe!” And then John adds, “he worshipped him.”
In John 11 Jesus came to Bethany to console Mary and Martha over the death of their brother, Lazarus. In John 11:25 Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me though they die yet shall they live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” And then Martha said, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”
In Matthew 16 Jesus asked his disciples about the opinions people had about himself. The disciples reported that some thought he was really John the Baptist – that’s really confusing. Others thought he was a great prophet like Elijah or Jeremiah. Then Jesus asked for their own faith statement by asking: “but who do you say that I am?” On that occasion Peter came forward and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
So you see how important it is that people make a faith statement. As Romans 10 says, it is the way to justification and salvation. But it is also the way to witness to those who have not yet come to believe. At the end of our gospel reading for today, John says that the whole reason he has written this 21 chapter faith statement about Jesus is to encourage others to believe and to say that they believe, whether it be in the five words of Thomas or the 21 chapters of John. Here is what John said, “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.”
Now, let us take a moment to talk about what believing in Jesus means. Thomas said, “my Lord and my God,” and with that word “Lord” he was indicating that Jesus was an active, lively part of his life. One of the important points I want to make today is that believing in Jesus is not just an intellectual assent to a doctrine that Jesus is divine. Neither is a faith statement just words that are written to be spoken once and then filed away somewhere never to be seen again. Believing in Jesus is walking with Jesus, continually listening to Jesus, coming to the table of Jesus, and living for Jesus. It is a lively, ongoing relationship.
Sadly, there are many people who do not understand this. They think if they just say the right words once or twice, that’s all there is to it. That is not what Jesus is looking for.
Let me use a sports analogy. Suppose there is a person who says that they are a Minnesota Twins baseball fan, despite their poor performance this spring. “I love the Twins,” the person says, “I am all for the Twins.” But then it comes out that this person never watches a game or listens on the radio. They don’t even know how bad the Twins record is this spring. And when someone asks what they think of Joe Mauer, they say, “now let’s see, is he the catcher or the first base man? Is he the one from Canada or from St. Paul.” Pretty soon someone is going to ask, “are you really a Twins fan if you don’t follow any games, you don’t know anyone on the roster, and you don’t ever talk about them?” To be the fan of any team, the Twins, the Yankees, or the Northern Freeze is to follow the team and get involved. It’s not necessarily to know all the ins and outs of everything and be able to spout statistics, but it is to be following the team through the season.
That is a humble example from sports. But it points to what I mean to say. Making a statement of faith involves more than a few words that travel through the air and disappear. It is saying something about what is real in life and what is important day after day after day.
When Thomas said, “My Lord and my God” it meant that his faith was restored and that he was going to continue to live for Jesus. He was going to keep on learning from Jesus as a disciple and speaking up for Jesus as an apostle. He was going to get to know the team that surrounded Jesus even better and not be AWOL when Jesus showed up, as he was on Easter Sunday eveing. His faith statement was not the end, but a new beginning of an even more lively and active relationship with Jesus and with the rest of his followers.
So when we get to the confirmation ritual, I will be asking these confirmands if they intend to continue in the covenant God made with them in baptism. And all of us who are not getting confirmed today, are invited to renew that covenant in our own hearts.
As Jesus said to Thomas, “Do not doubt but believe.” And as Jesus said to every disciple he called, “Follow me.” AMEN.