Sermon Sampler: October 30, 2005

See, the spiritual buzz [you confirmands] get today isn’t a forever thing. I remember my own confirmation fourteen years ago – I felt wonderfully close to God…for about a week before and after Confirmation Sunday. But it doesn’t take long before sin pokes all kinds of holes in our balloons, my friends, and pretty soon we see through our religious feelings – even at their very best (and yours are very good, indeed), they’re still just feelings. And we see through our religious promises, too – even at their best (and yours today will be very good, indeed), they’re still made by broken people like you and me. We sin, and don’t keep the promises we make to God or to one another. You’ll fall short of your confirmation promises, just like your parents and sponsors fell short of the promises they made when you were baptized. No matter how good and faithful we are, even our best intentions fall on their faces sometimes.

But as much as we talk about “your” promises and the promises “you will make” today, the truth is that today isn’t really about any of that at all. Sure, those are important parts of what will happen today, but the heart of confirmation is the promise God has made to you – the one promise in all the world that you can count on with your whole heart. God has promised you that you are his, and that he has set you free from your sins. He set you free the very moment you were baptized, when that water poured over your head and all of a sudden you were sharing in Jesus’ death and burial. He set you free so that, no matter how well or how poorly you do keeping your confirmation promises, you can be sure that God will keep his baptism promise to you – you are his, his Son has set you free, and whoever the Son sets free will be free indeed!

As good as today is – and no matter how rough some of the days to come may be – you’ve got God’s solid promise that the best is yet to come. God’s free gift to you is so much better than you can possibly imagine, and it’s the surest thing in the world, thanks to Jesus Christ. You are God’s children, brothers and sisters with our Lord Jesus and with all of us here around you. And God will not let anything come between him and his children. Just you wait and see.

Read more of this sermon (or any other one) at my Sermon Archive...