A Confirmation Sermon: Our Strength is in the Lord :: 1 Corinthians 16:13

The word for our meditation comes from Curtis Gilmore’s confirmation verse: 1 Corinthians 16:13, which reads ... Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strengthened.  

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, and especially you Curtis, you need to know the world wants us to look the other way. The world wants us to stand by idly and silently, much like Adam did in the Garden. The world wants us to abandon our confession or conform it to something that makes the world feel better. The world wants us to redefine the Gospel, not that there is another. 

When we refuse to do these things, the world will speak louder ... shouting if they think it’s necessary. The world will denounce you for your confession; it will try to divide and conquer you. The world will argue that there is a better way to worship. 

So hear again the word of the Lord from 1 Corinthians 16:13 ... Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strengthened. 

1.

As the congregation should know by now ... seeing how today we will celebrate the fourth rite of confirmation since I came to Trinity three years ago ... I let our confirmands choose the verse they think is most meaningful to them; then I preach on their text. After spending close to four months studying our confession with him, I’m sure I couldn’t have chosen a better one. 

Curtis, this is a great text! It’s law and Gospel! It’s what we all need to hear: Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strengthened. Some of you might hear only the Law in this verse ... four imperatives ... but I will tell you, there’s some wonderful Gospel here, too. 

In case you’ve forgotten: the law in the simplest terms is “a word God uses to tell us what to do and what not to do” ... you know, how to live our lives and order our days. The Law most often comes in the form of an imperative, which is a demanding word ... but a very revealing word, too. It keeps us on the straight and narrow as a curb. And it shows us our sin and our need for a savior as a mirror. And it illuminates God’s desire for our lives as a guide. So you see, the Law is good and true ... but let’s be honest with each other: None of us keep the law.

The Gospel, on the other hand, also is good and true. But most importantly, it proclaims “what God has done for you, what he continues to do for you, and what he will do for you.” The Gospel makes no demands of you. In other words, the Gospel is entirely for you. Most notably, as Paul’s letter to the Corinthians tells us not long before our verse of the day, the Gospel is, first and foremost, that our Lord Jesus lived for you, died for you, rested in the tomb for you, and rose again for you (1 Cor 15:1-5). But that isn’t all that the Gospel is. 

The Gospel ... which comes from a Greek word that literally means good news ... reminds you of all kinds of promises God has made to you ... promises that he can’t and won’t change ... promises that he can’t and won’t break ... promises of life and salvation, the promise of the forgiveness of sins that he delivers to you through his means of grace. The Gospel proclaims our justification, and ultimately, leads us to our sanctification ... the final fulfillment of God’s promise to make you holy because he is holy (Lv 19:2). Talk about Good News! 

That’s where today’s passage is leading us.

2.

Before we get there, you should know the context surrounding this verse of the day that calls us to be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strengthened. 

First and foremost, Paul is summarizing everything he had been teaching through the first 15 chapters, which is a big Gospel sandwich. Contextually he is reminding us to open our eyes and ears so that we can recognize when, where, and how the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ is being proclaimed. The proclamation of this Gospel of Christ is the central message to the church (1:23). When we stop hearing it, we are apt to forget it ... to forget why we need this Gospel. It comes to us most precisely in the Divine Service ... God’s service of the Word and Sacrament that is folly to so many people (1:24). 

First Corinthians is practically a sermon on the Divine Service. The Christians at Corinth had forgotten this truth, just like the church on earth still does. The Corinthians had some significant theological problems, just like Christ’s bride still does. They started melding religions. Those problems developed in a large part because of the world around them ... just ours today. 

You see, there were at least twelve pagan temples in the city. The most famous was the temple to Aphrodite, the goddess of love. There were also significant temples dedicated to Apollo, a god of oracles and healing. Does this sound familiar? It should. The world around us worships sex and healing just as profoundly today. It is luring and tempting and deceiving. But they won’t heal you. Only God will … through the Gospel. This is the truth we proclaim.

3.

First, Paul tells us to be watchful, vigilant, attentive, alert. Figuratively, this imperative is used with religious alertness. That is to say, don’t be careless or indifferent to your religious life. Don’t stop coming to church. Confirmation isn’t a graduation from catechesis; it is just the beginning. Here, we grow by being attentive to not only your own personal devotions, but to those of your family. Be alert to the needs of your family, and lead them. 

Far too many people ignore this imperative. They think the Divine Service is enough. They give up on Bible study and teaching the faith to their children. Finally, they leave the church and the Christian faith. When they stop receiving the Gospel they become discouraged. They then abandon their vocations as fathers and mothers. 

So Paul reminds you, stand firm on your confirmation. Let us follow the pattern of sound words we have heard from God’s Word (2 Tim 1:13) and continue to rediscover what our spiritual forebears ... such as Luther ... knew. Catechesis keeps us in the pure Word of God until we can return to the Divine Service, where Christ absolves us of our sin, preaches His Gospel, and feeds us His body and blood for our forgiveness, eternal life, and salvation. 

4.

As we continue proclaiming this Gospel in word and sacrament, God enables us to grow ever confident that we can indeed stand firm in the faith he gave us. Like Paul, I would rather die than to give up receiving the truth of the Gospel (9:15-18). 

This is why we preach Christ crucified not only through word but through baptism and the Lord’s supper. These two means of grace, in particular, constantly remind us that the Gospel is ours ... that we have the victory of new life in Christ ... that through the waters of baptism, we have died to sin and Christ now lives in us and that he has united himself with us in his death and resurrection, enabling us to open our eyes and ears to see and hear the Gospel in the Lord’s Supper, too. In this meal ... a feast of forgiveness that never ends ... our Lord Jesus gives himself wholly in bread and wine to sustain and nurture the faith he gave us. 

You can stand firm knowing this confession is true. God’s sacraments are pure Gospel. Don’t take your eyes off these gifts of heaven. Seek these means of grace as often as you can: They give you life and salvation ... and ultimately the courage to be the man of God you confess. 

Amazingly, as we heard a couple weeks ago some people have watered down their belief in this new life that God imparts upon us through his means of grace. Amazingly, they have given up not only this doctrine but the idea that delivers to you the forgiveness of sins in them. 

Instead, take confidence in God’s word and confession that we embrace. 

THOUGH WE ARE WEAK, CHRIST STRENGTHENS US THROUGH WORD AND SACRAMENT TO BE WATCHFUL AND STRONG IN HIS FAITH THAT SAVES

5.

And that brings us finally back to the Gospel in 1 Corinthians 16:13. 

Paul certainly gives us a lot of encouragement. But I want you especially to hear his final imperative in today’s verse. Be strengthened. You need to know this one doesn’t rely on you ... It is a divine passive, pure Gospel. It is what God does for you. He is the one who called you to awaken to the truth. He is the one who enlightened you to stand firm in your new confession. He is the one who gives you the leadership as the head of your house. 

And most importantly, He is the one who will strengthen you. It is his imperative that he does this for you lest you become weak in faith. He has promised to do this for you. And he can’t change his promise to you. He will deliver this through word and sacraments. So seek them often and he will strengthen you.

Our Lord Jesus came to us in the flesh for this reason, to give us this victory in these ways. He has lived for us without sin, doing what we couldn’t do otherwise; he makes us strong. He has died for sin, paying the full price for them; he alone had the strength to do that. He has risen from the grave, and he has promised to raise you too. More than that he has returned to the Father, where he has prepared a place for you. And it it from the right hand of God that he comes continually to strengthen you. Our appointed epistle reading couldn’t say it better …

In every way, [he is enriching] you in all speech and all knowledge ... even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you ... so that you are not lacking in any gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless. ... God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his son, Jesus Christ our Lord (1 Cor 1:5-9). 

Until that day: be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strengthened. The Lord is on your side ... in Jesus’ name.