May the
words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight,
O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. AMEN.
Let us
pray! Gracious Father, today we
celebrate four youth taking the step from children to adults in the eyes of the
church. They take upon themselves the
promises made for them by their parents, sponsors and the body of Jesus Christ
the Church when they were baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy
Spirit. Enable Adison, Kasey, Kate and
Simon to not only hear the Gospel this morning, but to be emboldened to choose
life and salvation offered by Your Son Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary for
all of mankind, including all of the saints gathered here at Emmanuel this
morning. AMEN.
“Which
side of the divide will you be on?” This
question seems innocuous enough, but this morning as we come to celebrate the
Confirmation of Adison, Kasey, Kate and Simon it is more important for us to
consider. From our Gospel this morning
we have heard the story of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man is not given a name, but the
poor man, Lazarus is clearly named and described. The rich man lacks for nothing, having all
the riches and prestige of not only his station, but his wealth that surrounds
him. He has maids and maidens, servants
to serve him cold beverages when needed, food that is perfectly prepared and
only the finest linens to lay his head and body on. Perfumes from far countries are an every day
occurrence to make him smell better and hide the stench of the area as well as
the people and person right outside of his doorway.
Lazarus
on the other hand laying right outside the rich mans mansion has sores that
cover his body, dogs that lick his wounds and feed on the sparse food that he
so desperately needs. His clothes are
tattered and barely cover his body and do not protect him not only from the
elements of the wind, sand and weather, but the sun that beats down on his brow
daily without respite. The odor that
rises from him is no better than a sewer since he can’t get to a bathroom,
which we take for granted.
Then
both the rich man and Lazarus die. Both
the rich man and Lazarus cease their earthly existence and as Luke says, “22 Now the poor man died and was carried away by the
angels to Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and
was buried.” This seems like a simple explanation, but
Luke goes further in his explanation of the two fates of the rich man and
Lazarus which begs the question I began with. “Which side of the divide will
you be on?”
You see
the divide between the rich man and Lazarus is not a valley, not a simple hill,
not a surmountable object that can be conquered. The difference in the two places is more
profound. It is the difference between Heaven
and Hell. Today this is the decision
which the confirmands take the responsibility upon themselves for as they
become adults in the eyes of the church.
When
they were baptized in the font of Holy Baptism in the name of the Father, Son
and Holy Spirit, God washed them clean of the stain of sin and set them free
from the bonds of sin, death and the devil.
But it was their parents, their sponsors and we the Body of Christ that
took the responsibility of their education in the Christian Faith in our hands. When we ‘welcomed them into the Family of
God’ we said their upbringing and modeling of faith was in our hands and we
were responsible for their faith development.
As a congregation we took the responsibility of offering Sunday School,
Vacation Bible School and Confirmation instruction. Our responsibility did not end with the
teaching, but continued with our modeling for them the responsibilities of
being a Christian. Putting our faith
first, not our vacations or relaxations, not our jobs, not sports, not school,
not our education, but our Savior Jesus Christ and His innocent death on
Calvary. This is, was is and should be
the message we remember daily and point to as now Adison, Kasey, Kate and Simon
are taking the responsibility upon their own shoulders.
Today,
Adison, Kasey, Kate and Simon stand before God and the congregation and Confess
the Christian Nicene Creed not just as children, but now as full adult members
of the body of Christ. Today they
confess the divinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit Who not only created us in
our mother’s womb, but redeemed us on the Cross of Calvary and sanctifies and
keeps us in the one true faith. For it
is the Holy Spirit given on the day of Pentecost that we celebrate today and
how the Holy Spirit now guides and directs them for the rest of their lives.
Now I return
to the question, Adison, Kasey, Kate and Simon “Which side of the divide will
you be on?” Will you be the rich man or
Lazarus? Will you now that you are
eternally responsible for your eternal destination, choose life and salvation
through Jesus Christ? Or will you choose
the path of this world that places more importance on money, possessions,
personal gain, acclamation, glory and medals that will pass away? Today is the day you become personally responsible
for the rest of your life.
This
decision of choices is one that cannot be easily dismissed. The best role model we have for us today is
not only the citizen soldiers and active duty military who serve and protect
our freedom, but also the men and women who put their life on the line daily
whether as police officers, emergency medical first responders, but also
firemen and women who insure our safety.
There is something that is taught in each of these organizations that we
need to understand today. In the
military they do not leave anyone behind.
In a recent movie, “Act of Valor” about the Navy Seals, while on
deployment one of the seals was killed in the line of duty. He left behind in his death his wife and
family all in order to offer us the freedoms we take for granted. All of the other seals mantra was to leave no
one behind. And they brought him home to
honor not only his sacrifice, but also his decision to preserve and protect our
freedoms.
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