“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”  II Timothy 4:7

This coming Sunday four of our young members will publicly affirm their faith in Jesus – Lizzy Dudzik, Zack Griese, Josh Morris and Sam Sayas.    I hope you’ll offer prayers of gratitude to God for this event – and for these young Christians.  I hope you will extend them warm greetings this weekend as you are able.  

I recall my confirmation in April 1973, in the spring of my 8^th grade year.  1973 was quite a year in our country and world – but I suppose every one of them are, especially looking back upon them years later.   Richard Nixon began the year as our nation’s President – but it was a rough year for him.    CBS Corporation sold the New York Yankees to a group of investors led by a guy named George Steinbrenner for $10 million dollars – yup the whole team for $10 million – about the annual salary of a decent 2^nd baseman these days!  I guess you’d say George had a good year in 1973!   The UCLA Bruins had another good year, winning their 7^th consecutive NCAA Basketball Championship, and a horse named Secretariat won the Triple Crown rather handily.   

The World Trade Center in New York City and the Sears Tower in Chicago both officially opened – the fates of the two buildings of course were not quite the same.   The Vietnam War was winding down but at least three civil wars in other parts of the world were erupting.  And one of the all-time “feel good songs”, Tony Orlando’s “Tie a Yellow Ribbon”, was the #1 selling song in the land.

Well, what in the world does this have to do with confirmation?

Perhaps nothing, other than to suggest that in the midst of a world swirling with happy events and sad ones – memorable and faded events the end of which could not be foreseen. Did I mention the American League adopted the “designated hitter” rule that year … I’ll leave it to you to determine if that was baseball’s finest hour or the beginning of its downfall. But no matter, I and eight other 14 year olds (two of whose names I’ve completely forgotten, even though our confirmation picture is sitting over my left shoulder in my office) made our public confession of faith in the Lord Jesus.  This much I can say with certainty - I would have NEVER predicted the moment this nervous young man knelt at the altar of St. Matthews Lutheran Church in St. Paul, Minnesota and had hands laid on his head by Pastor Jerry Bangert, that one day I’d be the pastor laying my hands on young heads to confer God’s blessing upon them.   

The world turns as they say; the events of this world have their moment in the sun, and then they fade; but the word of the Lord stands forever.   The intention of a service of Affirmation of Baptism, it seems to me, is so that someday, when and no matter under what circumstances, a confirmand closes their eyes in death, they can say like the Apostle Paul that as they finished the race they kept the faith.    There is not much more the Lord requires of us.  I shall with delight and humility this Sunday convey God’s grace upon our confirmands, and that is why I ask you to join me in praying for them - that no matter what they and the historians remember about the year 2021, they will remember that they confessed Jesus as their Lord and forgiver, and pledged to fight the good fight of the faith for ... but primarily with Him.     

Because of a cross,

Pastor Ken Nelson