Title: This is faith

Jesus said, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." Christ is risen! Alleluia!

What better day than confirmation day, to hear about troubled Thomas needing to see in order to believe that Jesus has been raised from the dead. As a companion to this Gospel lesson, the epistle teaches us what it means to believe without seeing: "Though you have not seen [Jesus], you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls."

You confirmands will be asked to express that joy, in your confession of faith and profession to be faithful, just as the majority of you, their family and friends, along with our other St. John members in attendance, have also confessed your faith and professed to be faithful.

Here is where a pastor asks if you all know a popular definition of insanity. Insanity, it is said, is when you do the same thing, over and over, expecting the outcome to change.

Is this insane, that we ask eighth-graders to confess and profess? This is the eleventh time I have been in this spot, confirming youngsters in this congregation. Over the last ten years, while they were in high school, fewer than half of the confirmands at least occasionally attended church, and only about one-third of them attended on a regular basis.

Of the parents, it is practically as routine for them to become completely unfaithful after their kids are confirmed. One can count on a bunch of them to almost completely disappear as reliably as one can count on there being pizza in the parsonage on Friday night.

I used to smack this you upside the head with this, on a regular basis, but since nothing ever changed, I stopped. I only bring it up today because faith is the theme of the day. If faith does not breed faithfulness, is it fair to question if faith truly exists? If you families will only be found in church on special occasions, like today, at the big holy days, when your kids acolyte or sing—when it is an obligation for you to attend—you better believe that it is fair that you be on the hot seat. If you think you are fooling the Lord with your absent-minded living, I fear for your eternal souls.

So, confirmands, what’s it going to be? Robert Schulte, your verse is my favorite, John 3:17: "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." You believe that, right, Robert? Congregation, is this not a bedrock fact of your faith? Robert, are you going to show your Lord, your congregation, and your family, that you hold on with your eternal life this good news that your heavenly Father never condemns you, but saves you through the life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ? Congregation, do you love Jesus Christ for being your Savior, that He did the heavy lifting so that you can rest in His crucified arms?

Robert, God bless you to be a man of faith. I have watched you all your school years. I like what I see. Shine Jesus Christ in your home, in your community, and in your church.

Don’t listen to me, folks, listen to your Lord Jesus, in Josh Terrasi’s verse, John 15:13-14, where Jesus says, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command." See Josh, and all gathered here, being a Christian is not only worshiping the Lord, it is living your faith. Faith comes from love, so love is what you will show to your fellow man when you love Jesus Christ.

Josh, when I was your age, I wasn’t good at loving my fellow man. You and I both came into this world completely focused on ourselves. I pray that, what you have seen in me, especially this last month, has been a faithful model of what your verse says, that you also will grow to be a man who reaches out to his fellow man. Right now, you are on the receiving end most of the time. But, look where you are. You have a sister who needs you to be a loving man of God. The Lord Jesus bless you to be a loving man of God.

Look at our community, friends. Jesus must really love us with the trials that He gives and allows us to endure, which are our opportunities to show His love. Are you showing the love of Christ, which is supposed to be living in you? Do your words reflect it? How about your actions? The Lord Jesus bless all of you to be loving men and women of God.

There’s not a person, who has reached the teenaged years, who hasn’t experienced at least some of the trials of life, which takes me to a favorite verse which was chosen by Haylee Terrasi. It’s John 16:33. Jesus says, "I have told you these things, so that you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

Haylee, it’s no secret that your life has seen one trouble after another, this spring—none of it of your making, but all of it for you to endure, and in which your Lord Jesus desires you to grow in His exhortation, "But take heart! I have overcome the world."

Where else, my friends in Christ, shall I send Haylee? What has been your answer, in your troubles? When your answer has been to indulge yourselves to make yourselves feel better, spending money on yourselves, drinking till you can’t remember, gratifying your every desire of the flesh, have these things lasted? Nope. And, they never will. You always want to spend more money, get more drunk, and give your flesh more gratification.

Haylee, your Lord Jesus knows your troubles, for He has gone through them, Himself. He conquered all of your troubles through His death and resurrection, and now He has a gift for you, for your time of trouble: "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace." Haylee, peace be with you. Peace be with you.

Speaking of peace, I shall not cease, as we proceed to Jenny Weiss. Jenny, your verse is John 14:27, where your Lord says, "Peace I leave you; my peace I give you. I do not give as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."

Jenny, do you know what it means to be confident? If you do, you are worlds ahead of where I was, at your age. I had so little confidence that I couldn’t even ask a girl to the prom whom I knew would say yes. But, something wonderful happened. I grew up.

Jenny, talk to your dad and mom about growing up. Ask them to tell you stories about how they grew in confidence. Look at the lives of the older members of our church. See how Jesus fulfills His promise to provide peace through His Means of Grace, which grow in you the faith to fulfill His order that your heart not be troubled and you need not be afraid.

Now, Jenny, I’m not afraid of a thing, but when I was your age, I was afraid of everything. Jesus has been true to His Word, for me. He has been true to your folks, and to all who believe in Him, even though they do not see Him. He will always be faithful to you.

Jesus will always be faithful to all of you, who trust in His promises. He left you with many commands to fulfill, for He is your God and He knows what is right and beneficial. Another vital one comes in Derrick Piotter’s verse, which is Hebrews 13:5: "Be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’"

Derrick, I can’t think of any time when you have been left or forsaken but, don’t worry, you’re young yet. As you consider your congregation, you will find many who have been. You will find many who have been content, and who have not been content. My goodness, but you live in a world which is never content! Buy this! Improve that! Get rid of the old, even if it’s not old, and get on with the new! Get more, more, and even more of this more!

Contentment is a gift of your Lord Jesus; to look at your family and be pleased; to look at your friends, and be satisfied; to look in the mirror, to consider your talents, to check out how tall and good-looking you are; to get on to high school and life, and the jobs you will do, and to be content with the life you will have.

When you are content, you will enjoy the peace about which I’ve been talking. But, if you are not content, you might jump from job to job, and even from home or family or any of the other fundamental things of life. It all begins with your trust in Jesus. Whatever comes and goes in your life, He will never come and go. He will always strengthen your faith, so that you can hold up under whatever might trouble you; so that you can be content.

Are you folks content? Are you trusting your Lord Jesus? If you try to find contentment in worldly pleasure, your aching, pining heart will continue to ache and pine. When you trust in Jesus, your contentment will make you a world-beater—you truly will enjoy this world and the life which Jesus gives.

How is it you got in the blessed spot, a child of God? We proceed to Jamie Schulte’s verse, which tells us. It’s First Corinthians 6:11: "You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."

Jamie, you are special. All of us, who belong to Jesus Christ, are special. You and we have been washed—there’s your baptism, Jamie. You have been sanctified—that means that Jesus has set you apart from this world to belong to Him. And, you have been justified—that is, you stand before the throne of God declared not guilty of your sins.

Oh, and you have sins, Jamie. Shall I speak of them? No, I shall not, for Jesus would never speak of your sins. For you, Jamie, and for all of you who have been washed and sanctified and justified, Jesus will never speak of your sins, because He bore them in His flesh so that they can never come back to bite you.

Isn’t that wonderful, Jamie? Live in peace and contentment, because of Jesus’ gift to you. This gift is called the Gospel—the Good News—and this is the topic of Dylan Gembarski’s verse, Romans 1:17: "For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’"

Well, shazam, Dylan, this is what today’s theme is all about: faith. You, having also been washed and sanctified and justified, live by faith in a Savior whom you have never seen.

Dylan, I wish we could have enjoyed your presence all three years in the big room, but just this one year has shown me everything I need to see in you. The Lord has made you a bright young man with a winning personality. I also see in you a living faith in Jesus. You are showing me that His Word is truth.

You are righteous in Christ, Dylan. You all, who live by faith in Jesus, are righteous in Him. From first to last—meaning, faith is all there is, in this pilgrimage—you cling to Jesus for His gifts of grace: His forgiveness, life, and salvation.

Finally, we come to a fitting final verse, the one belonging to Connor Kowaleski. It’s fitting because it also speaks of faith, and it is fitting because it speaks of making it all the way through life with this faith. It’s Second Timothy 4:7: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." Connor, the Lord bless you that those words be yours when you get up to Big Grandma’s age.

What is it to fight the good fight? Connor, it’s everything that you have heard, in this sermon. It’s trusting in every promise of Jesus. It’s being faithful in worshiping Him. It’s showing your love by how you treat your fellow man. It’s living in peace, content with the gifts Jesus gives you. It’s basking in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, from this day until the day you die.

Connor, the Lord has blessed you, tremendously. You already are ahead of the fight because of the faithfulness of your dad and mom, your sister, and your whole family. You’re in the race. You have the Holy Spirit running with you, so that you may keep the faith and will rejoice with Jesus, forever, in Paradise.

I said that we reached the end, but that wasn’t quite right. Among the nifty confirmation banners, there is one hanging from the balcony, which belongs to classmate Nathan Smaglinski, who already has been confirmed in his Catholic church.

Nathan’s verse is a dandy one on which to finally end: "Nothing is impossible with God." That’s it, congregation and confirmands. God can do everything—everything good which He has fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

How do you know that nothing is impossible for Him? You know, because you know and believe in the Easter Gospel, the Good News which you love to proclaim through faith in His name: Christ is risen! Alleluia! Amen.