Luke 1:3-4 – “it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things
(κατηχήθης)
you have been taught.”
This year our family will have a first! Our first high school graduation. Yes, at the end of May our oldest daughter Olivia will be graduating. Emily and I are very proud of her and many of you have been instrumental in being Sunday School teachers, VBS teachers and friends in general to her. Our family is very thankful to the congregation. It’s not easy being a pastor’s kid.
This time of year is also the time when Confirmations take place. It’s a very celebratory time of year. I remember my confirmation vividly. One of the unfortunate connections between confirmation and graduation is that too often confirmation is seen as a graduation. Just like when you finish High School or college you are done. Who of us after graduation remembers or continues to delve into the depths of Algebra or Calculus after our we earn our degrees?
Confirmation was never meant to be a graduation. Of course, we are proud of our children for making the bold confession before God and everyone at church at their confirmation. Just as we are proud of them for their work as students in school. However, confirmation is not a graduation.
Confirmation is a church tradition. It wasn’t always the way it is now. In fact, there was very little pomp and circumstance when it came to when a child was equipped and prepared to receive the body and blood of Jesus. The parents instructed the child at home in God’s word and Luther’s Small Catechism and then the pastor would examine the child as to their confession of faith.
The pastor would ask things like “What are the 10 Commandments?” “What is the Creed?” “What Bible passages teach us about Baptism?”
Now notice I didn’t say they fully grasped the topic. Instruction in God’s word is not about understanding how everything works. We don’t know how the bread and wine can also be the body and blood of Jesus. God doesn’t explain Holy Communion as a formula to “get.” It is a matter of faith in the words of Christ.
Jesus himself even engaged in questioning. He would ask even his disciples,
“Who do you say that I am?” He would also ask, “What are the commandments?”
“What did the prophets say?”
Jesus questioned people all the time and yet his questions always pointed the person back to the word of God. Jesus asks the student he engages to echo the scriptures. Jesus desires people to echo back what God has already spoken. This shows knowledge of the scriptures but also it is asking the student to trust Him and his father.
The word “echo” is a Greek word and in fact that’s where we get the term “catechism” which is “cat-echo-ism”. In Greek “catechism” means an echoing back lesson. So, we have Luther’s Small Catechism, which means an instruction book on echoing back what God has taught us.
This is why I have Luke 1:4 as the title for this article. The big word is pronounced “catechesis” (cat-eh-key-sis). Luke is telling Theophilus (this name means “one loved by God.”) at the beginning of his book to remember what he has been taught but also to keep studying it so he may have certainty of salvation.
Christianity is an echoing back to God what he has said about us. Verses like, “He was crucified for our sins and raised for our justification.” Romans 4:25. Our justification means God says we are forgiven. When we confess our faith, we are only echoing what God has said about us. I am forgiven. Christianity isn’t our opinion. Christianity isn’t a feeling. Christianity is speaking what God has told us.
Confirmation is the beginning of a life where the student realizes they are a lifelong student of echoing God’s word. There is no end to the lessons. There is no graduation from God’s word. There is the joy of hearing what God says about us even when our conscience might convict us. That we are all “Theophilus”, one loved by God! Even if the world would try and teach us to echo its voice or to think according to its word, God’s word is greater. God’s judgement of your sins in Christ Jesus is final.
So, as we enter the graduation season, revisit your confirmation vows. Revisit the promise that God gave you at your baptism. Do you remember your catechism lessons that we expect our children to know? Look at your life and where you put your study time in. Remember what it is that God says about you, “I am with you always.” Only don’t graduate from hearing his promises. “Faith comes by hearing the word of Christ. How can they hear if no one preaches…” Romans 10:17. How can you believe and echo back if you have not first opened your ears and hearts to His word? Do we ever graduate from the faith?
See you Sunday!
In Christ,
Pastor Ottmers