Confirmation Sunday
First Peter 5: 8-11

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text for today in from 1st Peter, chapters 4 & 5, particularly these words: “Be sober-minded, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever.” This is our text.

 

In the name of our Blessed Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, dear Christian friends, and particularly you the confirmation class of 2008. After a long study you finally made it. But why did you do it? What is confirmation all about? I know you know because we talked about it in class – but maybe there are some family and friends here today who don’t know – or maybe have just forgotten.

 

First of all – confirmation does not save you! It was the Apostle Peter who wrote, “Baptism doth now save you!” When you were Baptized, God called you by name and put his name on you. In the waters of Baptism, your sins were washed away and you received forgiveness. In Baptism, God claimed you as his own dear Child! In Baptism, God created in you saving faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

Today, you confirm what God did in your Baptism. Today you publicly give witness to the faith that God gave you in your Baptism. Today, you publicly proclaim, “I Believe”.
Today, that is going to be pretty easy to do. Your family and your friends are all here with you today to rejoice with you and celebrate with you. You have prepared for this day, and for this profession of faith. Today is the easy part! Tomorrow, the hard part starts, when you go back to school and for your parents, when they go back to work.

Peter talked about how tough life can be as a Christian. He said, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. You know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” You have three enemies in this world who are going to make life very difficult for anyone who professes that Jesus Christ is Lord.

The first one is the Devil. Do not forget about him – He is very real. Peter in our text described him in a way we can all understand. Peter said, “He prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” Walt Disney and Animal Planet have made us very much aware of how strong and mighty the King of Beasts can be. The lion uses all the talents that he has to trap and to kill the victim that becomes his supper. Peter says the Devil is like that – “A roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” The Devil promises fun and excitement – but the devil is a liar, and his gifts turn out to be deception, pain, suffering, and finally eternal death. No good will ever come from following the devil.

The second enemy you have to face is the Sinful World around you. The sinful world comes in disguise – it looks like a good friend, a trusted co-worker, a great opportunity, a good time, a chance to become part of the “in crowd”. The sinful world wants you to join in their sin. The sinful world wants you to renounce Jesus as your Savior, and become your own savior, making you own way in life, living for money, fame, and pleasure – anything but looking to Christ as your Lord and Savior, or trusting in God above all things.

But the hardest enemy you have to deal with is your own sinful nature. It was W. C. Fields who said, “You can’t cheat an honest man.” You see, it is the pride, the arrogance, the lust, the hatred, the prejudices, the evil that is within each of us, our sinful nature, that the devil and the world works with to lead us astray. Why can we not save ourselves? The Bible says, “We are all, spiritually blind, spiritually dead, and enemies of God.” That’s why Luther said in that explanation of the 3rd article, “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in my Lord Jesus Christ or come to him.” Religious “self-help” books are a contradiction in terms. We cannot save ourselves. That is our sinful nature.

So, when Peter warns in the text that we are to be sober-minded and watchful, what does he mean? How can we stand up to that Roaring Lion who wants to devour us? Certainly not on our power, that’s for sure. The only way we win this battle against the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh is through the grace of God. Luther went on to say in that explanation of the 3rd article, “But, the Holy Spirit, calls me by the Gospel, enlightens me with his gifts, sanctifies and keeps me in the one true faith, even as he calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth and keeps it in the one true faith.”

We cannot win the battle against sin alone, but God can get us through. Peter said in the text, “and the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever.”

Only in God’s power will you be strong, and firm, and steadfast, as you stand against the Devil, the World, and that sinful flesh. And, how does God work in your life? He works through the means of Grace, Word and Sacrament! In Baptism he claimed you as his own dear Child. In Holy Communion, he gives you his Body and his Blood, for the forgiveness of sins. And in the Scripture he shows you his love – a love so great that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him, will not perish, but will have everlasting life.”

The only way to be “sober-minded and watchful, the only way to be ready and prepared for that roaring lion” as Peter says in our text, is to live each day in God’s grace. Each day, we remember that we are a baptized child of God. Each day we read and study God’s Word – both law and gospel. And we regularly and faithfully come to Holy Communion where Christ gives us his body and blood for the forgiveness of our sins and strength to live our lives as the people of God. God’s grace alone will get us through.

Today is confirmation day. Today you profess that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior. By God’s grace, may this faith which you profess today, be and abide with you always, even unto eternal life. Remember the words of Peter, “The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion for ever and ever.” Amen!

And may the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.