Called and Redeemed :: Isaiah 43:1 :: Confirmation Letter
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Dear Constance,
What an exciting day this is! I know you’ve really been looking forward to this for eight months. I certainly have been. Whether you realize it or not ... today is one of the most important days of your life. And as I’ve already told you, it’s a day I hope you’ll always remember. It’s one that should be right alongside 1) your baptism, and 2) your marriage to Zachary.
As the rest of the congregation may recall, I started what I hope is a tradition here to help you remember this day: Because it’s Confirmation Day, instead of a sermon that you only hear, I’ve prepared a sermon that you can keep and read in the form of a letter written especially for you. Of course, we’ll let everybody else hear most of it, because today you’re becoming one with them, and none of us can ever hear the proclamation of the Gospel too often. But there are a few paragraphs in this letter written just for you personally. I won’t read those portions aloud. Later, as you’re reading this yourself, you’ll know what I mean.
What you’re doing reflects a wonderful relationship that God has established with you. He has brought you here. He who formed you has chosen you. He has made you one of his very own beloved children. He expresses it this way in Isaiah 43:1, your confirmation verse: Fear not because I redeemed you; I called you by name; You are mine.
These are beautiful words of comfort and assurance that are always good to hear ... not only today but throughout our lives.
1. God speaks a better word to you, for you, through you. He called and redeemed you.
Constance, your confirmation verse is only part of Isaiah 43:1. And it comes from a section of the Bible that might have more Gospel than any other. At its core, the Gospel, you should know, is a promise, a promise of redemption. God has reconciled himself to you (2 Cor 5:18), just as he promised here. In this section of Isaiah, he unveils his plan on how he will do this.
It begins: And now, thus says Yahweh. It’s important to note this. God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, is speaking to us here ... not just the prophet Isaiah. God himself has a better word for you, a word of promise, the Gospel. There are many philosophies, ideas, and different ways to live and love life. But those all revolve around the Law. Instead today, God gives us the Gospel. So in response, like Joshua, we declare together: [As for] me and my house, we will serve Yahweh (Jos 24:15). So when I hear, Thus says Yahweh, I know I need to listen. Life then becomes focused on the true God.
Then Isaiah continues: Thus says Yahweh, the one creating you, O Jacob, and the one forming you, O Israel. That’s Hebrew poetry for you: Say something ... and then say it again. Repeat it ... and give it a little twist to make another simple point. Thus says Yahweh, I created you; I formed you. This is good news. He’s describing a closer relationship. God isn’t just a God who creates you and releases you to live alone, on your own terms, in your own way. He isn’t a God who abandons you to fend for yourself. He is The God who creates and interacts with you. He creates and forms you. He calls and transforms you. He washes you. He makes you new. He gives you life, and breath, and being. He alone is able to explain the past (41:22), tell the future (42:9), and do things in the present that are radically new for you (43:18-19). That’s to say, He didn’t just bring about some great cosmic force that ultimately produced you before saying ... see ya later; here’s some law; good luck with the rest of your life. Instead, ever since your conception, while you were still in the womb, he’s been involved in your life. He called you and formed you.
2. So he now says: Fear not. ... Or literally, stop being afraid.
That’s a good thing. As he told all the patriarchs and prophets and people like you and me: Fear not, I am your shield (Gen 15:1). Fear not, I am with you and will bless you (Gen 26:24). Fear not, I will strengthen you, (and) help you (Isa 41:10). ... Fear not, I bring you good news of great joy (Lk 2:10) ... Fear not, your king is coming (Jn 12:15). This is all good news.
There is certainly much to fear in this world and in our lives. This world and our lives are filled with sin. That’s why the world turns away from the church. Too many see their sin and know the wages of sin is death (Rm 6:23), that is ... the complete separation from God forever (Lk 16:19-31), but don’t hear the Gospel. That is something great to fear. And here, we aren’t talking merely about the so-called big sins: you know, like denying your faith, murdering someone, committing adultery, stealing. No, we are talking about the so-called little sins too: you know, pride, ungratefulness, heartlessness, failure to forgive, failure to seek reconciliation. All these sins lead to death. That is something to fear.
But as the world leads you into fear ... to fear your shortcomings, to fear your future, to fear death, remember the Gospel God is speaking to you today: Fear not, I redeemed you. The world will whisper in your ear, urging you to question if God really said that (Gen 3:1). But dear sister in Christ, remember your confession here today. Remember what your Lord Jesus Christ said and did. You know the answers. On his account there is nothing to fear.
3. He really did say that ...
He is the one who created the heavens and the earth, the sea and the sky, the animals and the man in six days (Gen 1:1-2:1; Jn 1:3). He is the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us (Jn 1:14). He is the one who lived life without sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5:21). The Word of God not only spoke, he is still speaking his Gospel. He not only came in the flesh to call us, he still is in the flesh (Jn 20:27, Acts 1:10). More than that, he is still speaking through the scriptures (1 Pt 1:12).
God really does say that your baptism creates and sustains faith in him, delivers the forgiveness of sins to us, and unites us in the death and resurrection of Christ (John 3:5, Acts 23:38, Gal 3:26-27, 1 Cor 12:13). He really did say that the purpose of the Lord’s supper is to deliver to you the forgiveness of your sins (Mt 26:28). He really did say that this meal celebrates that though you as a sinner once were dead, you are now alive (Lk 15:24). He really did say that in the breaking of the bread all the disciples recognize the Lord in their midst (Lk 24:31).
Brothers and sisters in Christ, God really did say all these things so that you will believe in Jesus Christ, the son of the living God, and that by believing you will have life in his name (Jn 20:31, Lk 2:11, 1 Jn 5:13). This is why we are here today, to be reminded of the Gospel, while joining in the celebration of the confirmation we all know is certain and true! Behold, your Lord Jesus Christ has redeemed you, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won you from sin, death, and the power of the devil, not with gold or silver, but with his holy, precious blood, and his innocent suffering and death, so that you will be his own, and live with him in his kingdom (Small Catechism).
3. This is sure and certain because he has called you by name.
By the power of his resurrection from the dead, he has given you new life ... eternal life ... a life that begins now. He has marked you as one of the redeemed. He has sealed you with the promise that the resurrection (Rom 6:3-6). You are his! You once not only walked in darkness, you were darkness (Eph 5:8). But in baptism, Christ has not only shined the light on your life, he has made you light in the Lord (Eph 5:9). Nothing can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:31-39). What a great privilege it is to know that we are redeemed through the precious blood of Jesus and to confess this truth that the Gospel is for everyone.
This is one of the goals we had through all of those catechism classes. Proclaim this Gospel to those around you, and those closest to you. Proclaim it to your new husband, Zachary. We all need to be reminded of it. And if you are blessed with children in the years to come, proclaim to them. Yahweh’s salvific goal is to restore you and your family ... and all of creation.
He does this most effectively through his means of grace ... His Word and His sacraments ... that he prepared for you. So receive them whenever you can. The means of grace rightfully occupy a key place in Lutheran theology. With the Scriptures, our church confesses the means of grace to be the way by which the Holy Spirit of God both offers and confers to the individual all the blessings procured by Christ through his life, death, and resurrection. And some day soon we will realize the full reality of that as he takes us to himself in heaven. In this, we have a sure and certain hope on account of Jesus. You are a child of God now and forever ... in his name.