“BAPTIZED INTO CHRIST”
Confirmation
May 31, 2015
Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church
Glenshaw, Pennsylvania
TEXT:
How can we who died to sin still live in? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him by Baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
Romans 6:2-4 (ESV)
You don’t have to be very observant at all to notice that today is a very special day--not only for Kaden, Isaac, Abbey, and their families, but for all of us. Confirmation is special, but it’s not really about what is happening today. Today is special for the three of you because of something that happened in your lives quite a while ago. I don’t expect you to remember it. I’m talking about the day when the Holy Spirit claimed each of you as a child of God in Jesus Christ through the Sacrament of Holy Baptism. Using only simple words and the simple act of washing with simple water God made you new--created you all over again in the image of His Son, your Savior Jesus Christ. What is happening today is that you are publicly saying “Amen” to that miracle that God worked in you so many years ago. Today is a special day for the rest of us too--because we rejoice with you and also because as we see and hear you make your confession of faith today, we recall our own Baptism and the many opportunities that we have had and continue to have to join you in telling others that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Lord.
In Baptism the three of you and all of us have been united with Christ--made one with Him--brought into fellowship with Him and with all who bear His name. It is this unity with Christ and His Church that is celebrated in the rite of confirmation. Without this unity with Christ we would be left to fend for ourselves under the judgment of God. In Baptism God gives saving faith in Jesus Christ; in confirmation the person who has received this saving faith is given the opportunity (just one opportunity among many) to publicly confess this saving faith. It possible for Kaden, Isaac, Abbey, and the rest of us to do this only because we are united with the Christ who has overcome all obstacles for us in His life and death and in His resurrection has given us the courage and the strength to confess Him. As this morning we celebrate with Kaden, Isaac, and Abbey, we will look at the meaning of our being united with Christ in His death and resurrection.
So what does it mean that we are one with our Savior in His death? One thing that it means is that we are dead as far as guilt is concerned. A person who is convicted of a crime is usually sentenced to serve time. But if that person dies before the time is served, the matter is over with. They don’t incarcerate corpses. It is essentially no different with us in our spiritual condition. We are all guilty of sin and the Word of God clearly teaches that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Like a convicted criminal, we have been sentenced by God’s Law to an eternity separated from God and His grace. But our guilt before God was done away with and our sentence of condemnation was made moot when we were united with Christ in His death through Holy Baptism. As far as our guilt before God is concerned, it’s not an issue any longer, because we are dead to the guilt of sin through the death of the Savior who died for our sins.
But there is another side to this as well--a side that, unfortunately, we don’t seem to be so excited about. The rhetorical question of Paul with which this text begins is food for thought for everyone who is a believer in Christ and claims forgiveness in His name. The apostle asks: “How can we who died to sin still live in it?” We are contradicting ourselves if we take an attitude that says: “Since I’m forgiven anyway, it doesn’t much matter how I live.” When we start thinking like that, we have to seriously ask ourselves whether we really are dead to sin. You see, the death of Jesus on the cross put to death for us not only the guilt of sin, but also the power that sin had over us. Every time that we deliberately sin, we are in fact denying the power of Jesus’ death in our lives; we are acting as if everything that He did for us means absolutely nothing and doesn’t really change anything. That’s why we live in a constant state of repentance, daily confessing our sins and asking God’s forgiveness in the name and for the sake of the Christ who suffered and died to make atonement for our sins.
In Baptism we have been united with our Savior not only in His death but also in His resurrection. What this means is that our Baptism calls us not just to be dead, but to be dead to sin for the purpose of being made alive in Christ. Our text says: “We were buried therefore with Him by Baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” In Baptism the Holy Spirit has raised us out of the death of sin to live the New Life in Christ. He has given us a reason to live this New Life in spite of the many things that we see and hear in this world that would lead us to believe that it’s all futile. No matter how many temptations may surround us and no matter how many times we may have tried and failed to resist those temptations, we have no reason to lose heart and we have every reason to have hope--because the One with whom we are united in Baptism is the One who rose from the dead and has promised us a share in His resurrection.
There is power in the resurrection of Jesus. We are given here more than just a reason for living the New Life in Christ; we are also given the power to do this, together with the confidence of knowing that even though we continue to fail, God accepts our sincere efforts as if they were perfect for the sake of His perfect Son. It is this power, Kaden, Isaac, and Abbey, that makes it possible for you to stand here today and tell the whole world what you believe about Jesus and about what He has done for you. And it is this power that will make it possible for you to live up to the solemn promises that you are about to make to your Lord and Savior before His altar in the presence of His people. This can be a frightening thing for all of us, but only if we try to rely on our own strength. The strength of the risen Christ will always see us through and accomplish great things in us and through us and, if necessary, in spite of us.
Kaden, Isaac, and Abbey, today is a big day for you. Enjoy it. But don’t forget what it’s all about. Today we celebrate your Baptism as we see and hear what it has done for you and how it has affected your lives. We also remember our own Baptism into Christ, giving thanks for the forgiveness of sins and the New Life in Christ that are ours as free gifts of His grace. My prayer for the three of you and for all of us is that we will use the power of Jesus’ death and resurrection as daily we “fight the good fight of the faith” (1 Timothy 6:12) in the world, forsaking everything that would sidetrack us and seizing every opportunity to share the Gospel of Christ, “always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks [us] to give a reason for the hope that is in” us, “do[ing] it with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15). This is not by any means an easy thing to do, especially in today’s world, but it is possible--even certain--because it is God Himself who does it in us and through us in the power of our slain and risen Savior.
Amen.
May the King of Ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, make you wise for salvation through His Word, revealing Himself to you as Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier, that you may grow in grace and knowledge, equipped to serve Him in all things. He who calls you is faithful, and He will do it. Amen.