Ephesians 6:10-18 * Confirmation 2008 *
Pastor Leyrer
Dear Friends in Christ, but especially dear 2008 Confirmation Class:
If you combine the stirring hymn we just sang and the section of Scripture I just read you might think this is the opening service for some newly formed Christian military club rather than a confirmation. There is a reason for this.
It’s quite appropriate to consider these kinds of thoughts on your confirmation day, because with your confirmation you are entering a new and important phase of your lives. Soon you will be making a vow to God that you will remain faithful to Him even if that faithfulness would cost you your life. Never in your young lives have you been asked to make such an important promise.
Because of this, you have lots of support today. Just about everybody in this church is here specifically for you. Friends, relatives, parents, and congregation members all are and will be praying for you. Today there are lots of smiling faces.
But if Paul’s words are true, not everyone is happy about this. Paul speaks of spiritual enemies who, with this new and important step in your life, will be trying all the harder to derail you as young Christians. Their goal is to keep you from putting into practice the things you’ve learned throughout your years of Bible study and catechism. They would like to convince you that matters of faith and devotion are not really all that important.
But here’s the good news. They can be beaten. With Jesus at your side you have the power and the weapons to win. And that is what the Apostle Paul and your pastors want to remind you on this most important day. So, in the words of the hymn we sang just a moment ago, our encouragement to you is this:
ONWARD, CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS
1. Remember whose camp you are
in
2. Respect the enemy
3. Use the powerful weapons at
your disposal
1. REMEMBER WHOSE CAMP YOU ARE IN
Soldiers are identified by their uniforms. They tell us what side a person is on.
In a sense, the white robes you wear today are a kind of uniform. They identify you as soldiers of the cross. They tell us that you are in the camp of Jesus Christ. He enlisted you on the day of your baptism, and He continues to be your leader and guide.
You know what it took to bring you into this camp. It took the blood, sweat and tears of Jesus. It took a successful battle campaign waged for 33 years against the temptations of Satan, during which time Jesus never sinned and perfectly obeyed every command of God in our place and as our substitute. You’ll remember that in catechism we referred to that as the “active obedience of Christ.”
And you’ll remember that was followed by the “passive obedience of Christ.” “The wages of sin is death” the Bible tells us, so there on a dusty, lonely hill outside of Jerusalem Jesus hung on a cross and died. Not for His sins, of course, because He didn’t have any. But for ours. He died in our place and as our substitute. Then, as proof that everything He did in our place was sufficient and acceptable, He rose from the dead.
Picture the risen Jesus in your mind. He bears the battle scars. They are visible in His hands, His feet, His side. They are the marks of conquest. What they mean is this: No more can our sins condemn us to hell, because they have been taken away. No more is death to be feared, because it is now the gate to eternal life in heaven. No more can the devil or anyone else give us our marching orders, because the crucified and risen Lord Jesus Christ is our commander-in-chief who leads us onward as Christian soldiers.
By the grace of God you are in the camp of Jesus Christ. You will never find anyone who loves you more or cares for you more or who wants what is best for you more. You will never find anyone else who has gone to the lengths He has gone to in order to make you His own so He can bless you now and be with you forever. He will lead you through the ups and downs of life like the faithful, dependable Good Shepherd He is, and He will never leave you or forsake you.
And on this day you have the privilege of making a promise that shouldn’t at all be hard to keep – the promise to stay faithful to the One who loves you with an everlasting love.
But notice that I said this is a promise that shouldn’t be hard to keep. And it won’t be hard to keep as we keep Jesus and all He’s done for us in mind. But there are those forces out there which will try their hardest to lead you away from the promise you will soon make. And they are dangerous. In fact, they can be deadly. So the second thing the Apostle Paul wants you to know is:
2. RESPECT THE ENEMY
Who are the enemies that will try to attack your faith and lead you away from God? In our studies we talked about the Holy Trinity, and how God is three persons yet one God. You’ll recall we also talked about the “unholy trinity,” meaning the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh. It is this unholy trinity that we must always be on our guard against.
When the Apostle Paul talks about how our struggle is not against flesh and blood, he’s referring to the devil. As you stated correctly in the examination service, the devil is a fallen angel who has been condemned to an eternity in hell. Misery loves company, and Satan wants nothing more than to make you as miserable as he is. So he wants you in his camp.
He’s pretty good at the art of temptation; in fact he’s had thousands of years of experience. And today, more than ever, with the promises you are about to take, you will become a target for him. I say this not to scare you, but to prepare you.
Let me give you just one example of his most successful tricks. Especially with young people like yourselves, he tries to make things which are very, very bad appear to be very, very good – or at least fun, or exciting. And sometimes he tempts us to believe that our Christianity is really an obstacle in the way of having a good time. So he tries to convince us that we shouldn’t take our faith as seriously as some people (like pastors or parents) think we should. He’ll try to convince us that real fun is just a sin or two away – and besides that, after it’s all over you can ask for forgiveness and everything will be back to normal between you and God.
Let me tell you a true story from my confirmation class days on how effective he can be at this. I know I’ve told this story before, but it’s okay to hear it again. I went to Lutheran school and confirmation class with two buddies, Joe and Ricky. Good kids. Parents wanted what was best for them. Went to church, etc. After grade school we went to different high schools, so I kind of lost track of them.
The next thing I heard about Joe and Ricky was at the end of either their first or second year of high school. What I heard is that they went to a party. There was alcohol involved. They got drunk, and then decided to do something wild. So they either borrowed or stole a car and went for a ride. The ride stopped when Joe slammed the car into a telephone pole. He died that night. Ricky lived. He’s gone now too, but he walked with a limp for the rest of his life. Not to mention the memory of what happened.
Good kids. Went to Lutheran school. Went to church. Went to catechism class. Got confirmed. Wore the white robes and sat in the front of the church just like you’re doing today. This is all true. But that night Satan convinced them that real fun could only come by abandoning what they had been taught all those years. They gave in. And their lives were changed forever.
All of which is to underscore this point: Respect the enemy. He is crafty and experienced. You are young, and he will lay before you any number of temptations. Don’t give in to him. Remember whose camp you’re in. And – this is Paul’s last point –
3. REMEMBER THE WEAPONS AT YOUR DISPOSAL
The enemy may be strong.
But Christ is stronger. And with
Him at your side and utilizing the weapons He provide us with, you have the
power to resist the devil and his temptations.
“Stand firm, then,
with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of
righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes
from the gospel of peace. In addition to
this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the
flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the
helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with
all kinds of prayers and requests.”
What Paul is saying is that when you stay close to the Word of God and when you remain regular in your life of prayer, you’ll be alright. You will face trials and temptations in life, and no doubt you already have. You will have ups and downs, like everybody does. But through hearing and pondering the Word and taking the sacrament of Lord’s Supper and actively conversing with God in prayer, you will remain spiritually strong.
That’s why you memorized dozens of passages and the chief parts of the catechism these last couple of years. Why memorize? So Bible truths in your heart and can be recalled even when you don’t have a Bible or catechism present. Why did you pick out a special verse for your confirmation? So you have a solid, strong weapon in your heart with which you can beat off the temptations and fears that come into every life.
In his famous hymn, “A Mighty Fortress is Our God,” Martin
Luther writes: “This world’s prince may still, scowl fierce as he will, he can harm us
none. He’s judged, the deed is
done. One little word can fell him.”
What’s the one little word that can turn the devil away? I’m not exactly sure what Luther had in mind, but I think we can safely say it’s any Word of God. A mighty fortress is our God, and each Bible passage is a brick in the wall. So I urge you eighteen young people to use the arsenal at your disposal. Stay close to the Word. Remember Jesus and His love for you. Trust in all the promises He makes to you. And you will be able to stand firm throughout the battles of life.
Let’s bring our thoughts to a close. Allow me to remind you one final time of the word pictures the Apostle Paul calls to mind in our text. And allow me to remind you one final time about the importance of this day.
Then, in the full knowledge of whose camp you’re in… with a healthy respect for the enemies of the cross… and with the confident assurance that you have the weapons of victory at your disposal in His Word… take your vows today. Remember who you are and whose you are – and boldly and confidently go onward into your future as Christian soldiers. Amen.