Matthew 28:16–20

Trinity Sunday / Confirmation

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Karli, Jeremiah; it seems like we have come a long way since our lives first began. But if we think back to that beginning, we are reminded of just how important it is that we start out on the right foot. Getting the right beginning is very important as to how the rest of our lives are going to turn out. It is like the popular board game called "Life." Close to the beginning of the game every player has to choose if he is going to go into debt to go to college, or skip that and just go straight into the game with a lot of money. It you go to college, you start the game with a large debt, but later on you have more opportunities to earn more money as you go through the rest of the game of Life. But if you choose not to go to college, you start out ahead, but later on don't have as much opportunity to earn money later on.

That is somewhat like our life in the real world. The way we begin it will have major consequences for us later on. But what is life all about anyway? For some today it is about earning money and getting a lot of things. For others, life is a search for pleasure or for entertainment. To define humanity in mere mundane terms is to reduce the worth of human beings; it is to reduce your own value as persons.

No, human life is much greater. It transcends mere earthly things or pleasures. The purpose and value of human life is being in communion with God. We were created for fellowship and communion with God. That is the meaning of being created in God's image. We exist not for this world, but for God. Nothing that is has greater worth or value than you. For our value is derived from God himself.

Jeremiah and Karli, you began your life right. You began by being baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. From infancy, you have lived in communion with God through Jesus Christ his Son who gave his life for you and purchased you with his own precious blood. Now today, you are taking another step in your life. You are about to begin your life in the church as adults. It is a new beginning of sorts. When you were baptized as infants someone else spoke on your behalf and confessed for you the faith that the Holy Spirit had created in you. But now, as adults, you will again confess the faith of your baptism, but this time you will do the talking. Today you can confess your faith in your own words. It is appropriate that today is Trinity Sunday, because today you will confess your faith in the Triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

What is this faith that the Holy Spirit worked in you at your baptism? It is faith in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. What does this mean? It means that you believe that God made you in his image. He made you for himself. He made you to be in fellowship with him, just as the Father and Son and Holy Spirit are in fellowship with each other, he made you, Karli and you Jeremiah to share in this union and fellowship and love. Yes, God is love. And on account of this love for you he made a world for you to live in. He made everything that exists... for you. He made the earth to be your house, and he made the trees and flowers and hills and mountains the animals the sun, moon and stars to be the furniture and to fill your pantry. He defends you against all danger and guards and protects you from all evil. And all this he does purely out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in you. For all this it is your duty to thank and praise, to serve and obey him. For you are his children. The name "child of God" is your identity; it is what you are and who you are.

However, as you have learned, the human race has spurned God's love and rejected his grace. By the sin of one man, Adam, all of us became sinners and were separated from God. Because of original sin our natural inclination is to turn from God in disobedience and do what we want. We have the desire to become our own gods and obey the lusts of our flesh and our own desires and self-interests. Man reduces his life to mere material things and evaluates himself in terms of what he has. We see our value as being tied to our money or possessions, our iPods, Nintendos, or the house we live in or the designer clothes we wear or the music we listen to. Often we measure ourselves against others by comparing our intelligence or graces in school or if we are "cool" and in the "in" group of friends. We think the purpose of life is to enjoy and we substitute pleasure and enjoyment for God in our lives.

But, by having rejected God's love we deserve to be annihilated and wiped out of existence. We deserve punishment and wrath from God. For no unholy person can abide in the presence of a holy God. No unholy person shall abide in his presence. All evil and sin shall be wiped out completely by his holiness. But that is not the way God wants it.

God in his love continues to woo us to him. For that reason he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. And in your baptism you were given faith in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, was born of the Virgin Mary, who suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. By his suffering and death he redeemed you. With his very blood he purchased you for God and won you back from all sins, from death and from the power of the devil. By his death he has earned life for you.

And by his resurrection on the third day he has given you the assurance of resurrection and eternal life. He ascended into heaven and sits on the throne at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. By his death and resurrection he became our Lord and made us his own so that today as he sits on the throne, we live under him in his kingdom and serve him in everlasting righteousness, innocence and blessedness. So that on that last day when he comes to judge all men, you shall have no fear of judgment or wrath, but have the everlasting joy of eternal salvation and perpetual communion with God who has loved you since the beginning, even as he has risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity.

And now, Jeremiah and Karli, because of your own reason or strength you cannot believe in Jesus Christ or come to him, in order that you might believe, he has sent his Holy Spirit who has called you by the gospel, enlightened you with his gifts. In your Baptism this Holy Spirit called you and gathered you into his holy Christian church, the communion of saints. He has made you part of the one, true holy and universal or "catholic" church and keeps you with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. In this Christian church he daily and richly forgives all your sins and in the Lord's Supper he sanctifies and keeps you in the true faith. And he promises that on the Last Day he will raise you up from the dead and give you eternal life.

Karli and Jeremiah, these past several years you have studied the Holy Scriptures where God tells us all these great things he has done for you. As I have meet with you to study God's Word, I have come to know you. I have seen your faith at work in you and have heard you confess your faith over and over in words. Your insights into God's love are profound and from both your answers to questions and the questions you yourselves have raised I am struck by your insight into the mysteries of God's grace. I have great confidence in you and I have grown to love you both. I look forward to being your shepherd in Christ for a long time to come; and having the privilege of pouring out on you God's grace and forgiveness through His Word and Sacrament. My door is open to you for the confession and the absolution or your sins. It is my heartfelt prayer that you will continue your life by constantly feeding on the green pastures of God's Word and drinking the fresh, cool waters of his love and grace.

Today marks a beginning for you. As you began your life in Christ through Baptism, now you begin your adult life in Christ by confirming your Baptismal faith. This is another beginning. You are starting off right, but how you continue your life is in your hands. Don't throw away the heritage you have been given. Remember who you are; children of God. This makes you of greater worth and value than all things created. Live as God's children; walk as children of the light; this is your calling; it is the highest calling of all; called to be a child of God; the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Amen.