Sixth Sunday of Easter (2026)

James 1:22-27

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ, what a blessed day! Not only does our nation celebrate Mother’s day today, but it is also with great joy that these Confirmands come forward to make the good confession of faith to join us as full Brothers and Sisters in Christ and partake of the blessed Sacrament at the rail. What better day is there than Mother’s day for the children who were born again through Holy Baptism into the Household of faith, to affirm the vows that were made on the day when they were born again as children of God.

God and the Church

The Bible describes it as husband and wife.

God had created marriage in the garden so that man and woman might not be alone in this world, but being united in this bond, might find a helpmate in this world. Now there is much that can be said about it, and that would be a whole sermon by itself, well that would probably make one really long sermon. But it is important for us as Christians to hold marriage in high regard for God uses it to teach us about His relationship between himself and His people. Even

The Large Catechism refers to the church as mother.

It says there, “In the first place, [The Holy Spirit] has a unique commnity in the world, which is the mother that begets and bears every Christian through the Word of God, which the Holy Spirit reveals and proclaims, through which he illuminates and inflames hearts so that they graps and accept it, cling to it, and persevere in it.”

We are the children of God, born of water and the word, and that makes the Church our Mother. It is the place where we come to hear the voice of our heavenly Father through the Word, to learn of what Christ who became our brother in the flesh did for our sake, and the Spirit works through the Word to bring us together as a family and heirs of heaven. What happens here is that we as the children of God learn to trust and cry out to our father in every need. Now this

This is the invisible church.

It is the church that is found all around the world, and is found wherever the Gospel is purely preached and the Sacrament rightly administered. That doesn’t seem grand or spectacular, but those are the marks of the church and they are important. While it is so simple, it is is easy to lose sight of it, and that’s why we want make to sure we know what God. So we are

The Family of God

Despite our differences, we’re siblings.

I mean it when I call you my brothers and sisters in Christ, some of you are older than me, and others are much younger, but we are all God’s children. Who have been adopted and born into God’s family not by our works, not by our decisions, but by the Water and the Word, that washing of regeneration that saved you and me. Because of that washing

We share a common name.

The name of the Holy and Righteous Triune God was placed upon on us in Baptism. What’s in a name? Well it lets you know what family you belong to in this world, who your father and mother are. The most important name you bear is the one that God gave you on the day that you were baptized. For there God called you His own child, and brought you into His family. Now

Do we argue?

Oh boy! Do we! People look at that and they wonder why? I don’t know why do children argue? Why do they fight? Well sin is the cause ultimately, and we as the children of God are not yet purified from sin, and we will sin against each other especially within the household of faith, but that is why it is important to remember the name we have been given that unites us. Because if we lose that name, we lose our family. That’s why we fight so passionately. It’s because when people spread lies about who our Father is, and what Christ our brother has done for us, and what the Spirit has spoken by the prophets, it harms the children of God, and brings shame to our Mother, the church. We are driven back to our foundation.

United in Belief

What unites us is the Bible.

The Bible is what brings us together from so many different backgrounds, because truth isn’t relative or subjective, opinions are subjective. The world laments, and they say see this is how religion divides people. In a fashion it does, because truth separates us from lies. Make no mistake that the truth unites. Think of the countless Christians and the various backgrounds and how they have stood before the altar of God and made this good confession, the truth didn’t divide us. We are united in the Word, and we share in the faith of James, John, Peter, Paul, David, Abraham, Moses, and Adam and Eve, the mother of us all. Why the word?

The Word is what saves you.

God works through the Word to accomplish your salvation. We talked about this on Wednesday, without the word what do you have in the Sacrament? Bread and wine? Why? What about Baptism, what is the water without the Word? Just splashing a bit of water on a kids head. When the Word is added, there is salvation. For it was the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us that He might accomplish your salvation. That’s why

If we forsake the Word, we perish.

That’s why we are warned, that if a person does not receive the Sacrament at least 4x a year, it is to be feared they are not Christian. Because It isn’t your works, it isn’t your intelligence, it isn’t your feelings that save you. It isn’t even your repentance, because what good is being sorry for your sins mean if no one paid the debt you owed to God? You can be deeply sorry, but if there was no Savior, what good would that do? None at all! Even if there is a savior, what good is it, if you don’t show up where He has promised to give salvation? So we come together around the Word, and that’s why today we celebrate

Confirmation, Not Graduation

You don’t graduate from family.

You have just moved beyond milk to solid food to be able to partake of the Body and Blood of Christ in, with, and under the Bread and Wine. For your faith has been examined, and you are able to receive the Sacrament safely, you confess, and acknowledge what Christ has given, and are united in Word and Faith with us here. Now

What happens if you move?

There are other churches who share in this confession too, and you are united with them as well. For you aren’t just confessing the faith of St. Matthew Lutheran Church in White Lake, we have congregations all around the nation, and we are in fellowship with Congregations all around the World. Because you will

You will find you need family.

That’s why it’s good that it’s mother’s day. For we are born into this Faith by Water and the Word. You will want to know where your family gathers, where you can be with your brothers and sisters, where you can come and find rest for your soul, and like a child come and sit in your mother’s lap, as you hear the voice of your father once again.

What if you fall?

Satan seeks to destroy this family.

Make no mistake, he works diligently to lead us astray and lure us away and into all manner of sin, shame, and vice. He wants that guilt, that shame, that iniquity to reach such a point, that you don’t dare approach, especially if you have insulted, mocked, or insulted your family, and wasted everything they gave you, and Satan says there’s no way they would want you back now. He will convince you that you first have to make yourself worthy, before you can come back home.

Remember the prodigal son.

To be prodigal, doesn’t mean he was lost, or wandering, it means he wasted everything his father had given him, not just his monetary inheritance, but all the advice, all the teachings, everything that a father entrusts to his child, and that son was no longer unworthy to be called son. So he planned to return as a slave, but do you remember what happened? The Father saw him a long way off, and ran to him.

God called you His own dear child.

On the day that He baptized you, He gave you His name, and He has not forgotten that, that’s the power of the Word, and the promise that God has given. Don’t spurn or reject that promise, and don’t let Satan convince you to stay away. It might be tough, and your siblings might remark on how are smelling a little ripe right now, but don’t let the remarks of a few keep you from family, who will rejoice that this child who was dead is alive.

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ, it is good to see you gather here together as we not only celebrate Mother’s Day, but rejoice that two of our brothers and our sister in Christ have grown in the faith and are prepared to receive the Sacrament for their salvation. Let us hear their good confession, and give thanks that they now can enjoy the full fruits of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ our Lord. Let us continue to keep them in our prayers, that they may led Godly lives all their days. In Jesus name. Amen.