The Answer Isn’t Always D - A Sermon for Confirmation Sunday June 18 2023
GOSPEL: Matthew 9:35—10:8
The holy gospel according to Matthew.
Glory to you, O Lord.
The mission of Jesus’ followers is to continue the mission of Jesus himself. Here, he instructs his first disciples as to how they might proclaim the gospel through their words and deeds.
35Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. 36When (Jesus) saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; 38therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.”
10:1Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. 2These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.
5These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “(…) 7As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment.
The gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.
It is a special privilege for me to serve as your pastor,
particularly with regards to Confirmation ministry.
Today, three young Christians will confirm their faith.
As much as today is their day,
I declare that it is Confirmation Sunday
for everyone gathered.
May we all remember our baptisms today,
and may we all join these young people
in affirming God’s good work
in and through baptism.
It used to be the norm that confirmands
would have to pass a test,
formally or informally.
They might be grilled by the pastor or the council;
many of you remember
memorizing Luther’s Small Catechism
in preparation for your own confirmation.
Well, we don’t have tests any more.
We focus less on memorizing
and more on articulating faithfulness -
which we will hear shortly.
We did, however, hold quiz shows,
almost every week.
If you ask any of the confirmands
what they learned in confirmation,
they’ll tell you, without hesitation…
“The answer is always D”
Sometimes questions are true and false,
but, often - not always - but often,
the answer was D - all of the above.
There’s one other question
that these confirmands will know well,
because I ask them regularly if they know
how many gospels there are.
Is it a - 2,
b - 3,
c - 4,
or d - 5.
They know the the answer is always D,
they know the right answer - 5!
There are 5 gospels:
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and you.
You are a gospel.
A gospel is a story of God’s good news,
and I like trick questions,
so yeah,
there are 5 gospels because you:
- each and every one of you -
are a story of God’s good news.
Stories are meant to be shared.
I encourage you to think about your own gospel,
your own story
of God’s good news in your life,
and share that story.
My friends,
you are being sent out
like lambs in the midst of wolves.
The world has changed so much in 2000 years,
and yet it seems to not have changed at all.
So many people in our world are harassed and helpless,
and so many are like sheep without a shepherd
(Or maybe like sheep without a good shepherd.)
There are so many options out there:
who to follow,
who to emulate,
who holds truth;
especially in this age of online connection.
Dear Church,
You are the modern day apostles.
You are sent by the Holy Spirit
into the world with purpose.
This faith we are confirming today,
it is a gift from God,
it is Christ’s faith in us,
and at the same time,
it is yours.
God gives you faith for a purpose.
In real life, the answer isn’t always D.
We can’t always choose all of the above.
Sometimes in life it seems like
we look at our options,
and there is no correct answer.
Sometimes in life,
we look at our options,
and there are 4 or more correct answers.
So here’s the correct answer:
It’s not D -
It’s B - for baptism.
I was thinking about some of the difficult times
that we have endured in recent years,
times when I wasn’t sure what to do next,
or when the world wasn’t sure what to do next.
This thought came to me each time,
and I choose to believe that’s God’s Spirit
and not me.
The answer was always - live my baptism.
Back in March of 2020,
meeting with my former congregational council online
with the brand-new threat of COVID-19;
do we close,
do we move online,
how do we serve,
what do we do?
Live our baptism.
When reports and videos are made public;
videos of violence against people of colour,
reports of unmarked graves found
at residential schools,
reports of clergy abuse,
reports of drug crises…
What do we do?
Live our baptism.
When Donald Trump was elected into office,
now what do we do?
Live our baptism.
When Russia invaded Ukraine,
Live our baptism.
Sometimes we just don’t know what to do.
Sometimes we just don’t know the right answer.
The answer is not always D.
But the answer is found in our baptism.
This is what you say yes to today.
Confirmation is yes to baptism,
affirmation of baptism.
So here’s what baptism is all about:
Baptism is about relationship,
connection,
grace from and with God.
Baptism rejects sin,
rejects evil,
stands against all the forces that defy God.
Baptism is about living our faithfulness,
in the church,
in society,
in our homes.
Baptism is about selfless service to others.
Baptism is about striving
for justice and peace in all the earth.
Baptism is about being sent by the Holy Spirit
to be God’s hands and feet.
Baptism is about God’s ever-faithful presence in our lives.
Baptism is about pointing to Jesus,
who is always the answer.
Dear Confirmands, dear Church,
Sometimes we just don’t know the right answer.
Sometimes there are too many right answers.
Sometimes it seems like
we’re only presented with wrong answers.
The answer isn’t always D.
The answer is always live your baptism.
