2 Corinthians 3:2-3

Confirmation Sunday – Third Sunday of Easter

April 26, 2009

2 Corinthians 3:2-3 (New International Version)

²You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. ³You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

They grow up fast, don’t they? It doesn’t seem all that long ago you when brought your children to be baptized. Then there was the first day of school. Now they’re being confirmed. The next years will race by and all of a sudden it will be high school graduation, then off to college or work. When we get to those steps a person often needs a letter of recommendation for a scholarship or for a position. In today’s text St. Paul refers to letters of recommendation. Letter writing is becoming an unknown art. Text messaging is more familiar today. So we will build on that imagery as we speak to our confirmands. We encourage you:

SEND A HEART MESSAGE TO THE WORLD

I. Written by the Spirit

II. Read by everybody

The message on your heart that we ask you to send is one written by the Holy Spirit. Such a letter is valuable. The Apostle Paul had founded the congregation in Corinth on his second missionary journey, but then he had moved on to other cities. After his departure others came to Corinth who were false teachers but they carried letters of recommendation that urged the believers to accept them. What they were really trying to do was to disturb the people’s bond with Paul.

In response Paul did not produce competing letters. He had a relationship with the people. He had something better than letters and that was the members themselves. He had been instrumental in sharing the gospel and was a spiritual father to many of them. They were his letters of recommendation.

How had those letters been written? Paul and his coworkers had preached in Corinth for a year and a half. Their message was blessed with acceptance and the congregation grew. That result came because God the Holy Spirit was working through the gospel which they preached. He wrote a letter on their hearts.

The message Paul and his associates proclaimed was the same one we hear. In this festival portion of the church year which is now approaching its end, we were reminded that Jesus was born miraculously of the Virgin Mary; true God and true man in one being. He lived a perfect life, suffered and died to pay for the sins of the world and rose in victory on Easter. The first letter which Paul wrote to the congregation at Corinth contains the great resurrection chapter of the Bible which establishes the truth of that history-changing event with all the witnesses of the living Jesus, asserts the defeat of death, and tells of the certainty Easter provides that we will rise and live eternally. The joyous message of Christ’s victory for us converted many Corinthians from the false worship for which their city was known. The congregation was highly gifted to serve the Savior.

The effect on the members showed the legitimacy of Paul’s ministry. He was happy to share reports of them with others; much like a proud parent or grandparent is ready with pictures of their family. Writing a letter of recommendation strengthens a bond as the writer reviews the subject and the person appreciates knowing how the writer felt about them. Paul’s thoughts of the Corinthians increased his feelings for them. Yet the focus of his joy was always Jesus. He is the one who made the difference to the Corinthians. He deserved the glory.

All Christians are letters written by the Spirit, but today we think especially of you who are being confirmed. Wednesday night you reviewed key truths of God’s Word during your public examination. You recognize your sins from the Ten Commandments. The Creed tells how God made you and provides for you, how Jesus redeemed you from sin and how the Spirit brought you to faith, a living faith that produces fruits of faith shared with the rest of the Holy Christian Church. Your faith receives strength from continuing contact with God’s Word and by using the sacraments: remembering your baptism and how you became God’s child; rejoicing in forgiveness through Holy Communion which you may now receive. You use the Keys to comfort the penitent and to warn impenitent sinners. You have the privilege of taking your needs and concerns to God in prayer. Your vows state a summary of your faith and declare loyalty to your Savior. You state you are willing to endure whatever the Lord’s enemies throw at you and that you will remain faithful by God’s help all your life. There is exciting news in this letter written on your heart by the Spirit. It reflects the result of training in your home by your parents and grandparents and at church by your pastors and teachers. We rejoice with you and in you and in the work performed by the Spirit as He wrote the message on your heart. We pray it is engraved there in bold letters that will never fade.

II.

That letter is then read by everybody. The Corinthian congregation made a public statement in their community. Conversion to the Christian faith brought changes. In his first letter Paul reminded them of their past. “Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were.” Their city had a reputation for a wild and sinful lifestyle. The members had grown up in that environment and were influenced by it. God called them out of those sinful ways to faith. They turned from it. Note the past tense: that’s what they were.

A change had occurred. After that list of sins Paul had pointed out, “But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” They were washed: that refers to their baptism which forgave all their sins. They were sanctified or called out of the unbelieving world to be holy. They were justified or declared righteous in God’s sight through Jesus, whose holiness is ours by faith.

Now the Apostle urged them to reflect the change in status. Turn away from sinful ways. Live in thankful love for being rescued from slavery to sin. Seek to glorify God in your behavior with ways of holiness. The change was not just a slight variation in name only. It revolutionized their whole approach to life.

The world sees and notes the difference. Among all the idol centers in Corinth, the Christian congregation was different and stood out from the society around it. Others watched them. The change of heart that is conversion is inside and invisible, but it shows in your life. That heart message is read by everybody. You have the responsibility to send the right message, a positive one. That’s why we need constant motivation and power from the gospel.

Paul was concerned about the Corinthians and whether they were following through. It was evident when he stopped at Troas. Opportunities for work were present there but he didn’t attend to them because he was meeting Titus, a coworker who was bringing a report from Corinth. Titus was delayed in coming but Paul still couldn’t concentrate on other work. When he received a favorable report, he would tell the world.

Like Paul’s first readers, we are read by everybody. A text message is private, or so we think, yet everything we send or receive seems to be still out there and can be recovered. Today is definitely not private. You are taking a public stand for the Lord. You want the world to know you believe in Jesus as your Savior. You have invited all sorts of friends and family members to witness this day. Wednesday night we took a picture of the class, which will make it into the newspaper. People react to what they witness you doing. That’s not new with today. You have been reminded of the fact as you come to school on the bus or when we host or travel to athletic competitions that you represent the Lord. We do not live in a large town. People know who you are and make judgments, not just about you, but about your Lord, from what they observe in you.

So we want our message to be a positive one. That’s a big responsibility, and maybe a more challenging task than memorizing the parts of the catechism. No, it doesn’t get easier just because you are confirmed. Challenges come our way. At the end of this letter Paul wrote, “Aim for perfection.” I can tell you from personal experience that you are going to fall far short of that target. The Corinthians did, and that’s why Paul was writing to them. Should we give up if we know we are going to fail? Just throw in the towel; don’t even try, we might conclude. That’s where what you learned is important. When you sin, repent. Admit the wrong and come to your Savior for forgiveness. He does not cast you out. He forgives your sins freely and fully. Remember your baptism and how God planted faith in your heart. He put His stamp on you and said, “You are my child; you are holy in my sight.” His Spirit dwells in you. Use His power to fight sin. Receive Holy Communion. In that sacrament God gets up close and personal. He gives you the very body and blood of Jesus. Look at it. Taste it. Jesus declares, “I died for you.” Rejoicing in that forgiveness, you want to live for Him. His Word, which you are well-acquainted with, directs and empowers a new life of praise and thanks to God. Never stray from that Word; never feel you have outgrown it, that your Christian training is over and done. You will forever need to be in God’s Word so you can send heart messages to be read by everybody.

Today is an awesome day. Remember it always. You didn’t get here alone. Give thanks to those who taught you, especially your parents. Thank God whose Spirit brought you to faith. Respond to His goodness by living the difference. Honor and serve the Lord as your vows state: that you will remain steadfast to His teaching and endure all, even death rather than fall away from it and that you will conform all your life to His Word, remaining true to God as long as you live. This is your heart message to the world, and it will take longer than tapping for a few moments on your cell phone. It will consume your life. May the Lord grant you the power to make it happen!