Palm Sunday, 2019
Confirmation Sunday @ St. John, Beecher
"He was faithful"
Philippians 2:5-11
Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Most of us are familiar with the fate of the city of Pompeii on the Bay of Naples in Italy; it was destroyed in A.D. 79. During recent years the ruins of that city have been excavated. There are numerous evidences that many tried to flee from the catastrophe. But one man did not. At the city gate was found the skeleton of a Roman guard. There he had remained, both hands clutched about his weapon, while the very ground on which he stood trembled and the fiery ashes were gradually burying him; after these many centuries, he was found at his post of duty.
Can you imagine...being so obedient; so faithful as to remain at your post, weapon at the ready even as the ashes surround, pile up, and engulf you. That impossible! Something has to give. This story can't be true. Yet as hard as this is to imagine...this is exactly the type of faithfulness that Scripture speaks of to you.
"Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life." (Revelation 2:10) Be faithful even to the point of death [THE POINT OF DEATH] and I will give you the crown of life.
It is with this text in mind that we ask twice of our Confirmands in the Rite of Confirmation to be this faithful. "Do you intend to live according to the Word of God, and in faith, word, and deed to remain true to God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, even to death? I do, by the grace of God. Do you intend to continue steadfast in this confession and Church and to suffer all, even death, rather than fall away from it? I do, by the grace of God."
That's impossible Pastor. We should get rid of that vow because nobody could keep it. Nobody is that faithful or obedient regardless of the stories you tell us about Pompeii. Sure there is. Name one!
"Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:5-11)
Jesus was obedient; faithful unto death. Even death on a cross. Crucifixion was usually intended to provide a death that was particularly slow, painful (hence the term excruciating, literally "out of crucifying"), gruesome, humiliating, and public. Jesus knew all of this would happen. And He remained faithful.
You and I...we don't remain faithful. The greatest and strongest of believers are not always faithful. The truth is that we fail often. We sin constantly. We are weak. We give in. We give up.
Christ didn't give up or give in. Christ humbled Himself in becoming part of His creation. God became man. And as a man Jesus wasn't overbearing. He didn't rub His Godhood in anyone's face. He didn't look down on the weak and poor and oppressed. He wasn't a snob or an elitist. No. He ate with sinners. He healed the broken. He gave freedom to the Captives. He sent the rich empty away as He filled the hungry. And for all the sinners of this world; all who are broken by the oppression of guilt; all who deserved God's eternal wrath...Jesus remained sinless, obedient; faithful to the cross. Jesus took all of our sin and guilt; He took God's wrath; He suffered hell on the cross for you...so that you would have life eternal with Him and all the saints in paradise.
Christ remains faithful even now and for all eternity. He remains faithful to the promise He made at your baptism...to give you faith, to never abandon you, to carry you home to heaven. He remains faithful in continuing to forgive your sins. He remains faithful in giving you the strength to overcome this sinful world. He remains faithful even when you and I are not. He remains faithful in giving us all that we need in this world and the next. He continues to give us His very body and blood.
Each week we come before God in this place as poor miserable sinners; beggars before a Just King. We come with bags that are empty...as we are poor and need of mercy. And each week God fills us and our bags with His Word and His body and blood. And we leave this place refreshed and restored. All this our Lord does faithfully...not because of how good we are...not because of anything we have done...but because God loves us.
"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." (Jeremiah 29:11) "Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will act." (Psalm 37:5)
In baptism God has given you faith...the faith that allows you to commit your way to the Lord and trust in Him. In baptism God's plan of salvation becomes ours and we are given the saving faith needed to have a future and hope. That future and hope is Jesus. That future and hope is salvation. That future and hope is paradise and it is ours right now in Christ. It is ours because Jesus was obedient; faithful unto death...and through Him so are we. Come to the altar. Receive Christ's body and blood for your forgiveness. Receive strength to overcome this world. Fill up your bag for the week. Through Jesus you may remain faithful and receive the crown of everlasting life. Amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. Amen.
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