In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
On March 27, 1988 – 37 years ago – I was confirmed in my Baptismal faith at Zion Lutheran Church in Walburg, Texas. Right outside the sanctuary doors of that church was a mighty, massive live oak tree. Today, right outside the sanctuary doors of Zion Lutheran Church of Mission Valley stand four mighty, massive live oak trees. They were here before you were born, probably before your parents were born, possibly even before your grandparents were born. I don’t know how old they are, really, but I know this: those trees, both the one at my home church in Walburg, and those outside this church in Mission Valley, those trees are living and strong. They continue to grow and produce acorns each year. I hope you are able to take a lesson from a large, growing tree. No matter how “big” – that is, how grown-up you might be – growing continues. And that growth finds its roots in Holy Scripture.
Challenge coins are kind of a thing in the military and
among first responders, and they’ve come into the civilian world as well. While
the coins can have several meanings and uses, they are a way of both
remembering challenges they have faced as well as providing encouragement for
challenging times ahead. I have this one that was given to me fifteen years ago
by a Navy Seabee who was in Iraq. He gave it to me when he got back as a gift
for remembering him in our prayers and for encouraging his parents while he was
deployed. My son-in-law is a fireman in Ohio – he gave me one from his fire
department. My son gave me this one. All three are dear to me as I remember the
challenges they have faced.
In the bottom of your gift bag is a challenge coin. Go ahead
and take it out and look it for a moment.
The first and most obvious thing that you see is a large oak
tree. A couple years ago, we had a logo designed for this church, for our
newsletters and other things, and we selected an oak tree as the center of the
logo. This coin is similar to our logo, but there is a difference: on our
church logo, at the base of the roots is a cross, designed to symbolize that
our congregation is grounded in Christ Jesus and His Word for us. While the
coin lacks that specific element, the tree will – I hope – remind you both of
this congregation and to yourself remain grounded in that Word of God, as you
learned it in our classes.
I said challenge coins are, in part, to help you remember.
On the front is stamped Psalm 18:2. The coin has the beginning words of the
Psalm, “The Lord is my rock and my fortress,” but the rest of the Psalm remind you that the
Lord is also, “my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield,
and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” Confirmation is not a
new infusion of a blessing of God, a “booster shot” of the Holy Spirit, if you
will. I want you to remember that everything you need was given you in your
Baptism – the forgiveness of sins, life as a child of God, and the promise of
eternal salvation in the resurrection of all flesh. Even as you are grounded in
God’s Word and in Christ Jesus Himself, like that mighty oak tree, He is also
your protector and defender against satan, the world, and even your old sinful
flesh. I want you to remember you are a baptized child of God.
I also said challenge coins are, in part, there to provide a
physical, tangible sense of encouragement when facing new challenges. On the
back of the coin i31:8s Deuteronomy 31:8. “The Lord himself
goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake
you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” That is a good verse to
keep in your mind or, literally, in your pocket, as you continue to go through
life as a baptized child of God. He doesn’t send you out into the world on your
own, armed with nothing but a blessing. He promises His presence to go with you
for the sake of Christ Jesus, who literally charged into the gates of hell to
declare His eternal victory over satan. Notice, Moses doesn’t say that your
baptized life will be an easy one, that there will be neither challenge nor
difficulty. God’s promise is that He will be with you, never leaving nor
forsaking you, and that because of that, you do not need to fear what is
ahead. As you see that promise of God on
this coin, I hope it encourages you to turn again and again to the Bible where
the greatest encouragement of all resides: God’s Word for you, His beloved.
There is one other thing I want you to recall when you see
this coin, whether it is in your pocket or backpack or on a shelf in your room.
Most coins are legal tender. These challenge coins aren’t of course, but most
coins – even pennies – can be used for buying, selling and trading. When you
see this coin with its tree, I want you to remember that Judas was paid with
thirty silver coins to betray Jesus. Thirty coins…that was about the price of a
slave, in those days. That is fitting. The book of Isaiah prophetically
describes Jesus as the Suffering Servant who takes our place on the cross.
There, on the cross, Jesus made the redemption price for
you. Remember, “to redeem” is “to buy back.” Jesus bought you, not with gold
and silver coins, but with His innocent suffering and death, that you might be
His own, and live under Him in His kingdom.
When you see this coin, remember Christ’s death for you and
live in the encouraging promise that, as a baptized child of God, you are now
and always redeemed by God’s grace through faith in Christ Jesus. If and when
you grow weary, tempted by satan, the world, and even your own old Adam and
Eve, return here, to the Lord’s Table, where Jesus give you His Body and Blood
for the forgiveness of sins and the strengthening of your faith in Him as your
Savior. Be among other Christians, the body of Christ, to care for each other
and support each other in this journey of life and faith, under the cross,
armed with the blessings of Jesus.
I said this last Sunday evening, in our last confirmation
class, but I need to say it again: today is not the end, a “graduation” from
confirmation class. Remember the non-diploma diploma? It’s not an end; it’s a
beginning – the beginning for your participation as full communicant members of
this congregation. In your Baptism, all of the blessings of Almighty God were
made yours: your sins were forgiven; you were made a child of God; He gave you
the promise of eternal life. But, because we also take seriously the Lord’s
mandate in I Corinthians 11 that we should not eat and drink of the Lord’s
Supper until we understand what it is that we are receiving, we took this time
to study the Scriptures – condensed into the Small Catechism. While our
confirmation class is complete, your Christian growth – that great word,
“Sanctification,” remember? – is an ongoing process.
Now, a note for your parents, your moms and dads, and
baptismal sponsors: when your child was baptized, you pledged that you would
rear him or her in the faith, bring him or her to the Lord’s House where he or
she would be taught the Word of God, and that you would support your son or
daughter as they grow in faith and knowledge of their Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ. Your job is not done today. You continue to model faithful living by
being in the Lord’s House with your child. Your son, your daughter needs you to
bring them to the Lord’s altar, and your son and your daughter needs you at his
or her side at the Table. Please do not become sanctified ghosts, here today,
gone next Sunday, only to be seen a few times a year. You be in the Lord’s
house. Bring your children to the Lord’s house. Here’s a secret: if you’re
tired, or if they tell you they are tired, or it’s boring and they don’t want
to go to church one Sunday, get ‘em up, anyway and come to the Lord’s House.
Jesus will be here. You don’t want to miss Him.
Your Triune God – Father, Son, Holy Spirit – remains active
in you. Not only has He created you, He provides for you in abundant ways. Not
only has He died for you, He continues to forgive you and pray for you. Not
only has He begun the work of faith in you, He continues to strengthen you.
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