Did you know that right now there is an event occurring of such significance that will have global effects—it will impact the world.
We might think of things like NASA’s Artemis program, in which a spacecraft without a crew on board is orbiting the moon. We might think of how world leaders are putting into action their climate goals following COP 27—the recent United Nations 27th Conference of Parties that met in Egypt. Or the summoning of NATO leaders following a missile landing in Poland, heightening tensions between Russia and the rest of the world. Perhaps it is the potential of restored trade relations between China and Australia, and broader relationships with the west, after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.
These are all significant events with global impact—but what I’m thinking of is much closer to home. It is happening in South Australia this morning. In fact, it is happening right now, right here.
The confirmation of Eddie, Claire, Levi, Nathan, Isaac, Leo and Luke.
Why is this an event that will impact the world? Because of what Jesus says: “You are the light of the world.”
Confirmation class, your confirmation today has worldwide implications. Today isn’t just about finishing a course, so that you get to try some wine from the altar (even though that was mentioned with some excitement by a few of you at different times this last week!) Jesus says: “You are the light of the world.”
How is this so? The second reading, from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Colossians tells us: “The Father in Heaven has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his saints in the kingdom of light.
You haven’t qualified yourselves because you’ve finished a confirmation course. We needed our Father in heaven to qualify us—for in our natural state we were all once under the power of Satan. We were captive to our sinful selves, in which our natural inclination is to reject God and his word, rather than to fear love and trust him above everything else. Separation from God is of human doing, and is why death is a part of human experience. God’s word tells us that the wages of sin is death. Not good! Not one person is able to pass the entry exam into God’s kingdom. We can’t measure up to God’s perfect standards. We can’t keep his commands, and by nature willingly disobey them. We needed a rescue mission, someone to come and bust us out of this prison—a prison unlike any on earth; one that no human could escape from with mere human strength.
It is God himself who has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. He did this when he sent Jesus to be the light of the world (John 8) for people to see clearly the way to their Father in heaven. It would not be by their striving to keep the law or being good, because only Jesus is good enough. It is in him that we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Because, although he was perfectly blameless and innocent, Jesus’ took the punishment for us. He paid the wages of our sin with his own suffering and death on the Cross. When we look to the Cross we see how much God loves all people and the lengths he went to that they might share in his blessings forever. By his death Jesus killed death. By dying and rising again Jesus dances on the grave. His death locked up the devil and the kingdom of darkness. His death emptied the law of its power to condemn us. His death has brought life to the world. His death frees us. His precious blood is the ransom price to free us from hell’s prison.
[Eddie, Claire, Levi, Nathan, Isaac, Leo and Luke] the death of his own Son Jesus is how your Father in Heaven has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his saints in the kingdom of light. It was not our decision and doing. He took responsibility to give you a place in his kingdom. The Old Testament reading from Deuteronomy puts it this way: God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. It was because the Lord loved you, and kept his promise.
There is nothing more for you to do to become more worthy to God—your worth is in the precious blood of Christ. You are not any more or less loved by God because of your performance, because Jesus’ performance has made you pleasing to your Father in heaven. He just loves you without limits, conditions or fine print. His love for you is total, unwavering commitment. He loves you so much he gave his own Son to die for you. You are pleasing and acceptable to God simply through faith in Christ and his perfect righteousness. That righteousness of his is your own, for you were clothed in it at your baptism—it is a suit of impenetrable armour against every attack and condemnation of the Evil One.
Even the faith you are confessing today is God’s own working, since he planted the first seeds of it at your baptism. And it is your baptism which brings us back to why your Confirmation is an event with such significance for the world—for you were baptised into Christ, the Light of the world.
You are the light of the world by virtue of his own light. It is as though we are the lens on a torch and Jesus is the globe, shining through. Jesus is the light. You shine his light. The reading from Colossians shows how as Christians that is to happen:
- living a life worthy of the Lord,
- bearing fruit in every good work,
- growing in the knowledge of God,
- having great endurance and patience in in your Christian life,
- giving joyful thanks to the Father in heaven.
We need light to be able to see in the darkness, otherwise we stumble and fall. We turn on a light so that we can see, but light is also for the benefit of others, that they may also find their way. A person wouldn’t light a lamp only to cover up the light and still be in the darkness, but instead put it on a stand so that it gives light to the whole house.
Dear confirmation class, you bear the light of Jesus for the benefit of the world. By your life of following Jesus and trying to please him, doing good works in his name, growing in the knowledge of God, living out your faith endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to your Father in heaven, others see something very different about your life. They see that you belong to Jesus.
You see, you don’t know how the faith God works in you will impact the world. Sharing the hope that you have—that there is a God in control who we will one day see in heaven—and even simply praying, and going to church, are in themselves a profound witness. Those who notice may be people with great public standing even without you realising it—people having an influence in government, or legal system, or media—and your outlook might change their outlook. The light of Jesus your friends see in you now, could impact them later in the future as adults, so that Christian values of grace, forgiveness, integrity, fairness, humility and compassion become embedded in their work interstate and overseas. So don’t underestimate what Jesus can do through you, even just by being here today.
That’s why today is not a finishing point, just the beginning of the next stage in your lifelong journey of faith. And so in the rite of confirmation there is also a commissioning: “Newly confirmed members of St Paul’s congregation Glenelg: The Holy Spirit has prepared you to assume greater responsibility in the life and work of the church. Serve your Lord faithfully, as he calls you to work for him.”
You will need the support and encouragement of others to live as Christ’s people in today’s world. Parents and sponsors, your kids need you to help them keep the lamp lit. The reading from Colossians says: “…since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives….” (verse 9).
Lamps in Jesus’ day were simple clay vessels that were filled with oil, soaking a wick that was immersed. The lamp would need to be regularly topped up with oil to keep burning brightly. So too your children need regular filling with the Holy Spirit. In Colossians Paul speaks of the need to be strengthened with all power according to God’s glorious might, so that you may have great endurance and patience in the life of faith. So, parents and sponsors, keep remembering the promises you made for your child at baptism: pray for them, bring them to the services in God’s house, set them a good example, and continue to provide for their instruction in the faith. As they regularly hear the preaching of the word and receive the body and blood of their Lord, God himself goes to work through these means of his grace, to strengthen and nurture our faith, keeping us plugged in to the source of all light; Jesus.
And members and friends of the congregation, you also have a responsibility. Do not put your lamp under a bowl. Keep encouraging these young people and their families. Keep praying for them. Keep being a good example to them, that the light of Christ God has given to them and to us might fill the whole house, so that the light from this little city on a hill would shine through the windows and doors to those who pass by.
For the world needs the light of Christ today as much as ever. A world that is desperate for worth and identity, meaning and purpose, real hope and peace, and lasting love; the love that we have ourselves first received in Christ. That is why, Eddie, Claire, Levi, Nathan, Isaac, Leo and Luke—and members of St Paul’s—God has gathered you into his communion of saints. So let your light shine before others, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Amen.
