“Let Us Ever Walk with Jesus – Jesus Walks with Us”
Easter 3 B
Confirmation
1 John 1:1-10
May 4, 2003
“Let Us Ever Walk with Jesus – Jesus Walks with Us”
Introduction: Dear Julie, Corey, Shawn, Eric, Dustin, Cindy, Heidi, and Jason, parents, sponsors, friends, and members of the Family of God here at the River Church
Welcome! Welcome to this special day here at Immanuel. It is, as you know, Confirmation Sunday. It is a day that we have longed for and we have anticipated its arrival. I have looked forward to today, and I know that you young men and women and your parents have as well. You have attended confirmation class for two years, some of you have been taught the faith at our Day School. All of you have been taught about Jesus, your Savior, at home by your parents. On this special day, you will be confirming the faith proclaimed to you on the day when you were baptized. It is the same faith that you received from God on that Holy Day. From the time you were baptized until today, Jesus has been walking with you, leading you, protecting you and teaching you about Himself. He has taught you to walk with Him, to trust in him, following Him by faith to give you life and Salvation in His name. Your prayer, placed upon your lips by the Holy Spirit, is “Let Us Ever Walk with Jesus” because you know He always walks with you.
In our Gospel today, St. Luke describes the events of the first Easter Sunday. The Lord Jesus appears to His disciples and gives them peace and joy to replace their fear and sorrow. Jesus teaches His disciples -- again, explaining to them the significance of His life, death and resurrection. He is the fulfillment of the ancient promise proclaimed by the Old Testament prophets. He is Lord and Savior. As Jesus teaches, He enables His disciples to understand, opening them up to understand and believe God’s Word and to believe in Him. He does this not only to save them but also to prepare them for life in this world and to prepare them for the mission He has given to them. In affect, He was confirming His disciples in faith, leading them to walk with Him as He had walked with them.
Thus confirmed the disciples embarked on the journey of faith and life. In our Epistle lesson the disciple John wrote, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life…that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.”
This is the message that we to have been given and now entrust to you. Jesus, who walked with the disciples walks with you. Jesus, who died for His disciples died for you. Because of Him, only Him, you have been forgiven for every sin that you have ever committed and that you will commit in the future. Because of Him you have eternal life. Fix your eyes on Jesus. He walks with you, walk with Him.
As you prepare to walk with Jesus through this confirmation of your faith and into life, you have all selected Bible verses that are important, and have special meaning for you. How appropriate these verses are. In them you proclaim the good news of Jesus to all of us. Eric, your confirmation verse says, “In You, O lord, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness.” And Corey, the verse that you have chosen says, “God is our refuge and strength; A very present help in trouble.” As we walk with Jesus we find refuge from the storms of life, and help when we are troubled. Jesus is like the safe harbor for ship escaping the perfect storms of life. Where ever you go in life there will be storms and you will find trouble. When you find yourself in raging waters, when there seems like there is nowhere else to turn, fix your eyes on Jesus, He walks with you, walk with Him.
When you do, you will find rest for your soul. Jason, you chose these words of God, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside still waters; He restores my Soul; He leads me in the paths pf righteousness for His Name sake.” All this he does for you as you go through the valley of the shadow of death. We are in the valley now as we walk through this life. But finding refuge in Jesus our Savior we have a puzzling peace. Though the world rages around us we can sit down to a picnic lunch and act like nothing is happening. We are able to do this when our eyes are fixed on Jesus, He walks with you, walk with Him.
“I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” Julie, you chose these words, and how appropriate they are. The world is filled with darkness and dark things. With out a light we find ourselves bumping into walls and falling down the stairs. We find ourselves in danger. Jesus is our light. When He is in our lives we can see clearly the obstacles that face us. Jesus calls us out of darkness. And because of one dark Friday when He died on the cross, He has given us the light of life…the forgiveness of our sins. Fix you eyes on Jesus. He walks with you, walk with Him.
Jesus sent His disciples on a mission to the world. As His disciples today you have the same mission. Cindy, you chose these words of our Lord Jesus, “And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. As Jesus tells the disciples that He will always be with them, it is as he sends them into the world saying, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” Jesus walks with us and we walk with Him on this earth for a purpose. It is to share the love of God in Christ Jesus to the people of the world. We get to share the wonderful treasure that we have, God’s love, God’s forgiveness and God’s eternal life given to us. We see His love most clearly when we fix our eyes on Jesus, and what he has done for us. Jesus walks with you, walk with Him.
Sometimes life and living are overwhelming. Some days we don’t know how we will make it, or how to go on. Some days we may not even want to. When those times come we can remember the word of God that Heidi chose, “For with God nothing will be impossible”. These words were first spoken by an angel of God to the Virgin Mary. Mary was told that she would give birth to the Son of God. Imagine the enormous impossibilities that she felt. Impossibilities of faith, “how can this be” and impossibilities of life, “what will I do and how will I do it.” But the angel tells here that nothing is impossible with God. Indeed it is so, even for our lives. When we feel that we can’t possibly go on, when we can’t be forgiven because we feel our sins are too great, when we just can’t live and love as God wants us to, when we feel the impossibilities of making it through the day, we can and we do, when we fix our eyes on Jesus. Jesus walks with you, walk with Him.
You will know troubles in your life, suffering, and tribulation. We need not fear what the Devil will bring us. Shawn’s verse reminds us of this in the Word’s of our Lord from the book of Revelation, “Be thou faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.” Jesus is with us and because He is with us we will stand the test of faith and receive our crown. I personally look forward to seeing you, Shawn, on that day. I can picture you now, looking to you r Lord Jesus and then to the rest of us with your subtle understated smile, all the while, thinking, “look the crown of life, looks pretty good doesn’t it?” I fixed my eyes on Jesus, He walked with me, I walked with Him.
The crown of life awaits us all, all of us who believe in Him and look forward to His coming again. As we wait He continues to confirm us in the precious gift of faith that we have been given. As He does He sustains us in this life, leading us to believe in Him, trust in Him and follow Him. That is why it is so important to come back to this place we call church, to confirm once more that we have forgiveness of sins and eternal life for the sake of Jesus and in His name. It is important to remember that wherever we go, wherever we find ourselves in life Jesus is there with us, walking with us all the way . Therefore, let us too ever walk with Jesus; faithful Lord abide with me; Savior lead I follow thee! Amen.