Surviving Confirmation
Revelation
7:9-17
The people who put together the lectionary set of readings for today
had no idea that this would be Confirmation Sunday at
Revelation 7 describes with startling accuracy the scene before us this morning: “One of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?”
That’s a good question for us today. “Who are these people sitting before us, robed in white, who have been set apart from all the rest of us, and where have they come from?”
Then comes the answer from Revelation: “These are they who have come out of the great ordeal.”
I’m sure John did not have confirmation in mind when he spoke of white-robed people who have survived The Great Ordeal. But the Word of God is living and active, and it works among us, stirring faith and hope in situations that its authors neither knew nor dreamed of. One of those new situations is the modern rite of confirmation or affirmation of faith. And let’s face it, confirmation has come to be, for many Christians, the very definition of The Great Ordeal.
Get a group of Christians together talking about their confirmation, as we did in adult education this morning, and the old war stories come out. Horror stories from the grizzled survivors. What did you have to do in confirmation? What kind of public pressure cooker did you have to perform under? What kind of grueling demands of classwork and memorization did you have to go through before you could put on the white robes?
Confirmation certainly was an ordeal for me. To be honest about it, it was one of the more miserable experiences of my early life. As I can prove by my confirmation picture, there were 103 in my confirmation class. At least 1/3 of the students were kids I never knew went to our church, and based on their behavior at school and in the community, I was stunned to discover they even knew what a church was. I don’t think any of us believed for one minute the vows they made on Confirmation Sunday. There was very little classroom discipline; kids were rude and disrespectful. Thank God times have changed and kids today are so much better behaved in class and more serious about their studies than they were in my day.
The fact is, I do not remember confirmation class being in any way interesting or inspiring, and I would not want to go through it again for anything.
Confirmation, or affirmation of baptism, somehow evolved into an ordeal, one that has most often served the function of a rite of passage into adulthood. If you know anything about rites of passage in other cultures you know they are intentionally designed to be brutal. No pain, no gain. When the going gets tough, the tough get going. A rite of passage is a test to see if you have what it takes to be become an adult.
I have some friends who were privileged to be the only people outside
the Masai tribe of
There was a time among some of the people of that region of
In my experience, Lutheran confirmation has been thought of as a rite
of passage. As a test to see whether or not you have what it takes to be a
member of the
Perhaps that would be acceptable if confirmation really worked as a rite of passage in our society. Now I realize that not everyone carries quite the scars from confirmation that I apparently do, and that some have found it worthwhile, perhaps some have even found it life-changing. But according to polls, surveys, and statistics, those are the exceptions, not the rules. The evidence is overwhelming that confirmation as we were practicing it, did not work. While the Masai prepare their young so well and so thoroughly that the vast majority pass through the ordeal of their rites of passage, we in the church cannot claim anything close to that kind of success.
The statistics have remained the same in the 40 years or so that research has been carried out. About 1/3 of those who make solemn promises on Confirmation Day have actually carried through on them by participating in the denomination in which they were confirmed. Another 8% have carried through by participating in a denomination other than that in which they were confirmed. Those figures include those who drift away from the church and return when they start families. That leaves more than half who have never gotten involved in any way in a church of any kind.
So, rather than serving as a sacred trust in which we pass on the faith to the next generation, confirmation has been a way of thinning the herd. The main question it has posed is, can you suck it up and get through this period of trial and pain, and become one of the few, the proud, the Lutheran.
The situation has been so counterproductive that I have heard confirmation described as an inoculation process. We inject young people with just enough weak or lifeless Christian religion so that they develop an immunity to it and never actually contract the real thing.
Yes, for many congregations over the past half century, confirmation’s main function has been as an escort service for helping our young people find the door of the church, never to return.
Confirmation Sunday has been a giant farewell party, the day where we say goodbye to many of our best and brightest and watch our numbers decline, though why a church would celebrate such a thing I cannot imagine.
The reality that I have been describing suggests that confirmation is indeed a Great Ordeal—a much more dangerous one than we imagine or admit. As I reflect on my life, I have accepted the call to be a follower of Christ, not because of my confirmation, but in spite of it.
So the basic question, the one that really matters, is how do you survive confirmation? How do you get through this Great Ordeal with your faith in Jesus Christ alive and vital and growing?
It is not as simple as it looks, but there are ways it can be done. It has required an entire revamping of the way confirmation is done. Some of the best tools for surviving confirmation can be found in today’s scripture readings.
In Revelation, when the elder of the church asks, “Who are these, robed in white?”the answer comes right back at him: “You are the one that knows.” These people robed in white are known by the congregation, and that has helped them get through the great ordeal.
The vows of affirmation that these young people will take today are difficult; far more difficult than they may seem at first. They are so difficult that I don’t think any person on earth can keep them by themselves. If we put confirmands out on an island and say, “Hey, it’s your vow, now keep it,” there’s almost no way it can happen.
All of us need help in keeping our vows of discipleship to God. The cold fact is that in most cases, nothing that happens in confirmation or at church will have any effect on the faith of young people who have to tend to their faith without any support. That is why the questions we assign for discussion at home with family are the most important part of confirmation instruction. The church cannot do religion for young people; it can only help parents pass on the faith.
So the first key to surviving confirmation is not something you do; it’s something your family, your friends, and your congregation do. I’m asking you to be there for them in their faith. Parents and family, model your faith for them. To all in the congregation, get to know them, care for them, pray for them. Make sure they feel welcome and valued in this church.
The other three keys are your responsibility, but they are also things for each of us to do, because the ordeal of affirming faith is never over. The first key is priority.
Listen to the reason given for how these people robed in white managed to survive their great ordeal: “For this reason, they are before the throne of God and worship him day and night within his temple.”
Before God night and day. This doesn’t mean get on your knees 24/7; it is a vivid image that speaks of priority. Most of us have good intentions. I don’t doubt that many of those who fail the ordeal truly intend to keep the promises they make before God. The problem is, it’s not as easy as it looks. Schoolwork, jobs, sports, concerns about the future, friends, social life, sleep on Sunday mornings—all these things and more become so important to us that they crowd faith life into the background.
It happens not only to confirmands but to many confirmed adults in the church. It is much easier for young people to lose their sense of priorities when they see adults doing the same, when they see adults coming to church when it’s convenience, participating minimally, grudgingly giving only the leftovers. Nevertheless, giving God priority in your life is your responsibility.
To get through the ordeal, first keep focused on God. Keep God at the center of your life. Know that it won’t just happen; it takes work to do that.
The second key is relationship. The people in our Gospel reading today could not figure out who Jesus was. Why? They didn’t know him. “My sheep hear my voice,” said Jesus. “I know them, and they follow me.”
The fact is, we must know God in order to follow God. God began the process of relationship in your baptism, claiming you as a child. But again, relationship does not just happen. If you do not commit time and effort to a relationship, it goes nowhere. Affirmation of baptism is a time where you publicly commit to the relationship. That’s why your final exam took the shape that it did..
You were asked to answer the question, “Who do you say Jesus is?” Because, like the people in our Gospel story, if you do not know who Jesus is, you cannot build much of a relationship there. Without answering that question, the rest of confirmation is a waste of time.
You were asked to take a test on the basic things we understand about God and the church. This was not to demonstrate how intelligent you are, or to see how much information we can cram into your head; it was to show that you are committed enough to the relationship to make an effort to learn as much as you can about this God who desires relationship with you. You didn’t learn it all in confirmation. It was just a start, and you can never know all there is to know about God.
And you were asked to make plans to carry out your commitment to this relationship, and to put these plans on paper for others to read and help hold you accountable.
The third key to surviving confirmation is trust. Look at the promises made in both Revelation and John. “Your robes have been washed and made spotless in the blood of the Lamb—your sins are forgiven.” “You will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike you, nor any scorching heat. For Christ will guide you to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from your eye.”
“I give you eternal life and you will never perish. No one will ever snatch you out of my hand.”
You’re not the only one making promises today. For every promise you make, God is making a thousand. Those promises are being offered to you. Trust them.
Teaching this class has been anything but an ordeal for me—it has been a privilege. I hope we have not made your years of confirmation more of an ordeal than necessary. But more than that, I hope you have been given what you need to survive the Great Ordeal.
Make God a priority in your life.
Commit to knowing God as fully as possible.
Trust in God’s promises so that you may flourish, and enjoy the miracle of life as God intended, and the peace of God that passes all understanding