WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.179 Good morning. 00:00:08.540 --> 00:00:12.460 Welcome to Church of the Advent, especially if you're new, joining us for the first time. 00:00:13.099 --> 00:00:15.060 This morning we're going to do something a little different. 00:00:15.220 --> 00:00:19.300 We're going to be talking about something that happens in the life of the church, something 00:00:19.300 --> 00:00:20.780 called confirmation. 00:00:21.839 --> 00:00:27.100 And the reason we're doing this is because beginning next May, we're going to have our 00:00:27.100 --> 00:00:34.179 first of what will become regular confirmation services in the life of Church of the Advent. 00:00:34.300 --> 00:00:38.380 So there'll be an opportunity for anyone who would like to be confirmed next May. 00:00:38.640 --> 00:00:43.200 And we want to talk about it now because in order to be confirmed, you have to take our 00:00:43.200 --> 00:00:46.920 Foundations class, which will be starting up again in January. 00:00:46.920 --> 00:00:50.620 And so we want to make sure that people know what it is so that they're prepared so that 00:00:50.620 --> 00:00:55.799 if this is something that you would like to take part in, you'll be able to do that when 00:00:55.799 --> 00:00:56.600 our bishop visits. 00:00:57.100 --> 00:00:58.440 And so we're going to talk about confirmation. 00:00:58.579 --> 00:01:01.480 And I recognize that some of you have been confirmed. 00:01:01.620 --> 00:01:03.460 So this is familiar territory for you. 00:01:04.560 --> 00:01:06.719 Others of you have no idea what I'm talking about. 00:01:07.500 --> 00:01:11.920 And maybe there are people here who are not Christians who are thinking of all the weeks. 00:01:13.019 --> 00:01:16.340 And this is not going to apply to me at all. 00:01:16.340 --> 00:01:18.340 But I hope to persuade you otherwise. 00:01:19.780 --> 00:01:23.879 Because talking about confirmation gives us an opportunity to clear up some of the popular 00:01:23.879 --> 00:01:26.900 misconceptions about the Christian faith. 00:01:27.099 --> 00:01:34.599 Ideas like Christianity is simply one of many religious belief systems that we can choose 00:01:34.599 --> 00:01:35.059 to adopt. 00:01:35.199 --> 00:01:38.619 Ideas like Christianity is essentially a kind of fire insurance. 00:01:39.579 --> 00:01:41.379 Or it's a list of do's and don'ts. 00:01:41.379 --> 00:01:47.839 And what I hope we'll see this morning is that Christianity is nothing less than an invitation 00:01:47.839 --> 00:01:55.420 that God extends to the world to become fully formed human beings. 00:01:55.420 --> 00:02:03.260 And if we understand what confirmation is and what it means, I hope that we'll understand 00:02:03.260 --> 00:02:06.939 a little bit more about that truth. 00:02:07.640 --> 00:02:10.680 That Christianity invites us to become fully formed human beings. 00:02:11.560 --> 00:02:13.599 So we're going to see three things about confirmation. 00:02:13.960 --> 00:02:15.060 We're going to see what it is. 00:02:15.159 --> 00:02:16.699 We're going to see what it means. 00:02:16.759 --> 00:02:18.900 And we're going to see why it matters. 00:02:18.900 --> 00:02:24.840 And in order to do that, we're going to be looking at 2 Peter 1, verses 3 to 11. 00:02:24.840 --> 00:02:27.520 And I hope the reasons for that will become clear. 00:02:27.700 --> 00:02:28.900 So let's pray and then we'll get started. 00:02:30.280 --> 00:02:31.980 Lord, we thank you for your word. 00:02:32.099 --> 00:02:36.900 And we thank you that we have this opportunity to gather together on this beautiful Sunday 00:02:36.900 --> 00:02:39.000 morning in this beautiful space. 00:02:39.000 --> 00:02:45.520 And I thank you that we can sit at your feet and that you will be the God who fulfills your 00:02:45.520 --> 00:02:49.680 promise to be in our midst and to speak to us through your word. 00:02:50.539 --> 00:02:53.680 And I pray that wherever we're coming from this morning, whatever might be distracting us 00:02:53.680 --> 00:03:01.319 or tugging at our minds, Lord, whatever may be causing stress or anxiety or despair, Lord, 00:03:01.360 --> 00:03:05.719 I pray that in some way your word would speak to all of us and tell us what we most need to 00:03:05.719 --> 00:03:06.659 hear from our Father. 00:03:06.659 --> 00:03:10.259 We pray this in your Son's holy name. 00:03:10.419 --> 00:03:10.620 Amen. 00:03:12.539 --> 00:03:18.099 So first of all, we want to look at confirmation and simply ask the question, what is confirmation? 00:03:19.139 --> 00:03:26.400 In the early church, when an adult came to faith in Jesus, that adult would then go through 00:03:26.400 --> 00:03:30.500 a three-year process of study and preparation. 00:03:30.680 --> 00:03:35.359 They would be given a sponsor and that sponsor would guide them through about a three-year process 00:03:35.360 --> 00:03:39.100 of preparing to be initiated into the church. 00:03:39.099 --> 00:03:43.919 And that was normally something that happened in secret because in the first few centuries 00:03:43.919 --> 00:03:47.719 of the Christian church, Christianity was illegal in the Roman Empire. 00:03:47.879 --> 00:03:49.819 So this is something that happened underground. 00:03:50.819 --> 00:03:55.439 And then after that three-year period, at the Easter vigil, which was held on Saturday night 00:03:55.439 --> 00:04:01.039 before Easter Sunday, new members would be formally welcomed into the church. 00:04:01.139 --> 00:04:03.699 They would be formally initiated into the church. 00:04:03.699 --> 00:04:06.619 And there were three parts to that initiation. 00:04:07.759 --> 00:04:12.539 You had a baptism, a confirmation, and then a Eucharist. 00:04:13.079 --> 00:04:18.579 And so first, these candidates would be baptized with water by priests and deacons. 00:04:18.579 --> 00:04:22.079 And then they would be confirmed by the bishop. 00:04:22.199 --> 00:04:27.579 The bishop would confirm the genuineness of their baptism and their faith, would anoint them 00:04:27.579 --> 00:04:32.419 with oil, and then would lay hands on them and pray that they would be filled with the 00:04:32.419 --> 00:04:33.039 Holy Spirit. 00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:38.879 And then they would all gather together and share in their first Eucharistic meal. 00:04:39.740 --> 00:04:44.680 And then as Christianity grew and spread, more and more entire families were converted. 00:04:44.680 --> 00:04:50.459 And in those cases, the entire family would be baptized, even the infants in the home, 00:04:50.500 --> 00:04:51.300 if there were any. 00:04:52.079 --> 00:04:55.840 And so gradually as Christianity grew and spread, and there were more and more churches, 00:04:56.699 --> 00:05:00.800 confirmation and baptism began to grow apart, and they became separate rites. 00:05:01.040 --> 00:05:04.399 So they were originally part of the same thing, and they became separate. 00:05:05.460 --> 00:05:11.160 And so baptism would happen when somebody came to faith or when believers had children. 00:05:11.160 --> 00:05:17.920 And then when the bishop would come to town, when the bishop would visit, they would confirm 00:05:17.920 --> 00:05:20.080 all the adults who had been baptized. 00:05:20.840 --> 00:05:26.160 And then they would also confirm all of the people who had been baptized as infants, and 00:05:26.160 --> 00:05:29.660 then had come to profess saving faith as they grew older. 00:05:31.040 --> 00:05:36.320 And so they became two separate rites, but the essence of confirmation remained the same. 00:05:36.600 --> 00:05:38.280 And the essence is essentially this. 00:05:38.279 --> 00:05:41.959 It's the bishop who we consider to be the head pastor. 00:05:43.099 --> 00:05:43.479 Right? 00:05:43.539 --> 00:05:47.659 So even though I'm the rector, the head pastor of our church is actually Bishop Steve Breedlove. 00:05:47.779 --> 00:05:50.399 So he's our chief pastor under Jesus Christ. 00:05:51.099 --> 00:05:58.079 And so the bishop confirms the genuineness of the faith and the genuineness of the baptism 00:05:58.079 --> 00:06:01.239 for all people who have come to faith and been baptized. 00:06:01.899 --> 00:06:06.739 And then he anoints them with oil, and then he lays his hands on them, and he prays that 00:06:06.740 --> 00:06:07.819 they would be filled with the Spirit. 00:06:08.699 --> 00:06:12.100 Now, we believe that when somebody comes to faith, they receive the Spirit. 00:06:12.180 --> 00:06:13.259 We'll talk about that in a minute. 00:06:14.100 --> 00:06:17.759 So all the bishop does is pray for an increase. 00:06:18.840 --> 00:06:19.079 Right? 00:06:19.120 --> 00:06:23.439 There are times when Paul talks about believers who already have the Spirit, and he talks about 00:06:23.439 --> 00:06:29.120 them being filled with the Spirit, overtaken by the Spirit, so that it's overflowing and 00:06:29.120 --> 00:06:30.360 empowering them for ministry. 00:06:30.480 --> 00:06:31.800 That's what the bishop does. 00:06:31.800 --> 00:06:34.660 So that's essentially what confirmation is. 00:06:34.819 --> 00:06:41.900 It's a time when the bishop visits and performs this rite for anyone desiring to be confirmed, 00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:43.120 which will happen next May. 00:06:43.560 --> 00:06:47.939 So if that's what it is, I want to ask a little bit about what it means. 00:06:49.600 --> 00:06:55.080 Some traditions treat confirmation as a kind of graduation ceremony. 00:06:56.120 --> 00:06:56.360 Right? 00:06:56.420 --> 00:06:57.500 So you're baptized as a baby. 00:06:57.620 --> 00:06:57.920 You grow up. 00:06:57.920 --> 00:07:01.280 You go through your confirmation classes around middle school, and then you get confirmed. 00:07:01.439 --> 00:07:02.580 It makes your parents happy. 00:07:02.699 --> 00:07:03.620 Maybe there's a party. 00:07:04.020 --> 00:07:06.080 And then from that point on, you stop going to church. 00:07:07.160 --> 00:07:08.600 Because it's like, I got confirmed. 00:07:08.740 --> 00:07:09.180 I'm done. 00:07:09.660 --> 00:07:09.980 Right? 00:07:11.120 --> 00:07:12.300 That's utterly wrong. 00:07:13.220 --> 00:07:15.920 And it completely misunderstands the point of confirmation. 00:07:17.540 --> 00:07:19.500 Confirmation is a one-time thing. 00:07:19.500 --> 00:07:27.680 But the decision to be confirmed means that you're committing yourself to a life of maturity 00:07:27.680 --> 00:07:32.100 and service and love in Christ's name. 00:07:33.079 --> 00:07:36.959 In many ways, your confirmation is like your ordination service. 00:07:38.040 --> 00:07:38.160 Right? 00:07:38.199 --> 00:07:42.160 It would be weird if we prepared somebody for ordination and then ordained them, and then 00:07:42.160 --> 00:07:43.100 they stopped going to church. 00:07:43.800 --> 00:07:45.019 That's probably not a good sign. 00:07:45.319 --> 00:07:45.500 Right? 00:07:45.879 --> 00:07:47.060 Well, same with confirmation. 00:07:48.240 --> 00:07:48.459 Right? 00:07:48.459 --> 00:07:54.560 And so when we look at what confirmation really means, if baptism marks the beginning of the 00:07:54.560 --> 00:08:02.699 Christian life, then confirmation is about the maturity and the mission that define the 00:08:02.699 --> 00:08:04.899 Christian life for the rest of your life. 00:08:05.459 --> 00:08:13.819 So if baptism is about the beginning, confirmation is about the ongoing process of maturing for 00:08:13.819 --> 00:08:16.419 the sake of the mission that God has for you in the world. 00:08:16.420 --> 00:08:23.520 And that's why we're looking at 2 Peter chapter 1, because this is one of the best places to 00:08:23.520 --> 00:08:27.020 go to understand what Christian maturity is. 00:08:27.500 --> 00:08:29.920 And it'll help us understand the meaning of confirmation. 00:08:30.560 --> 00:08:35.899 Because people is, Peter is writing to people who are already Christians, and they've already 00:08:35.899 --> 00:08:36.519 been baptized. 00:08:37.180 --> 00:08:43.480 And he says down in verse 10, therefore, brothers or brothers and sisters, be all the more diligent 00:08:43.480 --> 00:08:45.500 to confirm your calling and election. 00:08:46.639 --> 00:08:50.220 Now, he's not specifically talking about the right of confirmation. 00:08:51.019 --> 00:08:55.060 But even though he's not talking about that specifically, the meaning is exactly the same. 00:08:56.279 --> 00:09:01.940 So he's saying, number one, if you're a Christian, if you've been baptized, recognize what you've 00:09:01.940 --> 00:09:02.480 been given. 00:09:02.480 --> 00:09:11.580 In verse 3, he says, his divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness. 00:09:12.720 --> 00:09:18.800 So anyone who comes to Jesus and asks, right, if you're here this morning, you're not a Christian, 00:09:19.060 --> 00:09:22.300 but you've been thinking about it for a while, and you feel like you want to give your life 00:09:22.299 --> 00:09:29.459 to Christ, all you have to do is to close your eyes and to pray, Jesus, I want to put my faith 00:09:29.459 --> 00:09:30.279 and my trust in you. 00:09:30.379 --> 00:09:32.019 I want to ask you to forgive my sin. 00:09:32.359 --> 00:09:34.939 I want to become a part of you and a part of your community. 00:09:35.339 --> 00:09:37.159 And I want to build my life on you. 00:09:38.099 --> 00:09:41.240 And if you say that to Jesus in that moment, you become a Christian. 00:09:41.240 --> 00:09:48.759 And God gives you everything in that moment that you need to build a life of godliness. 00:09:48.759 --> 00:09:49.200 Right? 00:09:49.879 --> 00:09:53.539 So in that moment, you receive the forgiveness and the grace of the gospel. 00:09:54.819 --> 00:09:55.299 Right? 00:09:55.340 --> 00:09:57.600 That covers all of your sin, past, present, and future. 00:09:58.039 --> 00:10:01.759 In that moment, you receive the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit. 00:10:01.879 --> 00:10:03.399 God puts his spirit in you. 00:10:04.419 --> 00:10:13.399 In that moment, you then recognize that God has given us the life-shaping power of his word. 00:10:13.399 --> 00:10:22.179 And then ideally, from that moment on, you begin to benefit from the support and the encouragement 00:10:22.179 --> 00:10:23.240 of a church community. 00:10:24.259 --> 00:10:24.319 Right? 00:10:24.379 --> 00:10:28.319 So Peter says, from the moment that you come to faith, God gives you everything you need, 00:10:28.620 --> 00:10:29.720 all the raw material. 00:10:30.980 --> 00:10:35.939 But then the real point of this chapter is Peter says, you need to recognize why God gave 00:10:35.939 --> 00:10:36.539 you all of that. 00:10:37.659 --> 00:10:39.279 Like, why all of these resources? 00:10:39.519 --> 00:10:40.480 Why all of the promises? 00:10:40.699 --> 00:10:42.000 Why the power of the Holy Spirit? 00:10:42.000 --> 00:10:42.139 Why the power of the Holy Spirit? 00:10:43.340 --> 00:10:50.460 And he says in verse 5, for this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith. 00:10:51.120 --> 00:10:53.539 Now, that doesn't mean that your faith is missing anything. 00:10:53.980 --> 00:10:56.480 The word supplement can also be translated furnish. 00:10:57.360 --> 00:10:57.580 Right? 00:10:57.639 --> 00:10:58.559 So you have this faith. 00:10:58.659 --> 00:10:59.519 Now furnish it. 00:10:59.860 --> 00:11:00.620 Fill it out. 00:11:00.980 --> 00:11:05.360 Take the potential that you've been given and actualize it. 00:11:05.980 --> 00:11:07.320 That's what he's talking about. 00:11:07.320 --> 00:11:14.180 God gave you all of this raw material so that you can build a new life with it, so that you 00:11:14.180 --> 00:11:18.980 can become a new person with it, so that you can become God's agent in the world. 00:11:18.980 --> 00:11:23.340 So then that begs the question, how does this happen? 00:11:23.460 --> 00:11:26.639 What does Christian maturity actually look like? 00:11:27.200 --> 00:11:35.340 And Peter gives us this whole list of characteristics of the mature believer here in chapter 1, and 00:11:35.340 --> 00:11:40.139 he lists things like virtue and knowledge and self-control and steadfastness and so on. 00:11:40.139 --> 00:11:43.039 Now, this list is not exhaustive. 00:11:43.740 --> 00:11:50.539 It's a fairly standard list of virtues, and it's not really meant to be followed in any particular order. 00:11:50.840 --> 00:11:52.620 So some people make a big deal out of the order. 00:11:52.799 --> 00:11:56.860 I'm not convinced that we need to pay much attention to the order of these virtues. 00:11:57.179 --> 00:11:59.919 But it does show us a few things about Christian maturity. 00:12:00.519 --> 00:12:02.319 I just want to draw out three really quickly. 00:12:02.500 --> 00:12:04.200 So what is Christian maturity? 00:12:04.200 --> 00:12:12.259 Well, number one, this list shows us that Christian maturity means overcoming sinful desires. 00:12:14.020 --> 00:12:15.960 Overcoming sinful desires. 00:12:16.560 --> 00:12:22.160 I was talking to somebody a couple of weeks ago, and she's about a year into addiction recovery. 00:12:22.740 --> 00:12:28.240 And she was just talking about how much had changed in her thinking over this last year 00:12:28.240 --> 00:12:30.900 of being in a 12-step program and trying to overcome addiction. 00:12:30.899 --> 00:12:36.340 And she said, you know, the more I learn about addiction, the more I'm convinced that everybody 00:12:36.340 --> 00:12:38.439 has an addiction of one kind or another. 00:12:39.819 --> 00:12:41.100 Everybody's addicted to something. 00:12:41.779 --> 00:12:47.600 Now, she's not a Christian, but I would say that that's fairly close to what the Bible says 00:12:47.600 --> 00:12:48.840 about the human condition. 00:12:51.039 --> 00:12:57.319 Verse 4 says that the world is essentially being destroyed by sinful desire. 00:12:57.320 --> 00:13:02.260 And, you know, we hear the word sinful desire, and we think, like, desiring bad things. 00:13:02.379 --> 00:13:04.060 You know, we think of, like, porn, things like that. 00:13:04.180 --> 00:13:05.140 That's not what it's talking about. 00:13:05.200 --> 00:13:09.860 The word is epithumia, which essentially means an over-desire. 00:13:11.040 --> 00:13:11.200 Right? 00:13:11.260 --> 00:13:13.120 So a sinful desire is actually an over-desire. 00:13:13.280 --> 00:13:16.500 It's any desire that has become too strong. 00:13:16.640 --> 00:13:20.800 It becomes so strong that it begins to enslave us and to wreck our lives. 00:13:20.799 --> 00:13:25.979 And if you're anything like me, the biggest struggles that you deal with are not over-desiring 00:13:25.979 --> 00:13:26.699 bad things. 00:13:26.799 --> 00:13:28.059 You know those are bad. 00:13:28.519 --> 00:13:30.419 It's over-desiring good things. 00:13:30.579 --> 00:13:36.079 It's things that we should desire that we just desire too much and out of order. 00:13:37.199 --> 00:13:37.379 Right? 00:13:37.439 --> 00:13:42.319 So the Bible says our most fundamental problem is that we love the wrong things in the wrong 00:13:42.319 --> 00:13:42.639 order. 00:13:42.639 --> 00:13:53.199 I spend too much time on my phone because I would rather be numb than be present with 00:13:53.199 --> 00:13:53.720 my family. 00:13:54.879 --> 00:13:59.879 I mean, if I just am honest, I don't have the emotional energy to engage, and so I would 00:13:59.879 --> 00:14:00.919 rather check out. 00:14:01.279 --> 00:14:08.879 I love feeling like I can escape more than I love grabbing those few minutes to be present 00:14:08.879 --> 00:14:09.480 with my kids. 00:14:10.960 --> 00:14:11.159 Right? 00:14:11.159 --> 00:14:14.159 That's a desire that is out of order. 00:14:14.279 --> 00:14:15.039 It's out of whack. 00:14:15.740 --> 00:14:15.860 Right? 00:14:16.139 --> 00:14:22.799 We work too much because we love our jobs more than we love our health or our kids. 00:14:24.699 --> 00:14:31.819 We compromise our values because we love success more than we love integrity. 00:14:33.879 --> 00:14:38.339 You know, if you think about the things that you do in your life that you regret or feel ashamed 00:14:38.340 --> 00:14:43.360 of, you're always going to find an over-desire underneath those choices. 00:14:43.360 --> 00:14:44.160 Right? 00:14:44.399 --> 00:14:52.780 We ignore people in need because we love convenience more than other human beings. 00:14:52.779 --> 00:15:03.839 You know, we give ourselves completely to someone for a night who then very predictably blows 00:15:03.839 --> 00:15:10.740 us off and stops returning our texts because we love feeling wanted, even for a little while, 00:15:10.819 --> 00:15:13.620 more than we love having self-respect. 00:15:13.620 --> 00:15:24.200 We hook up with somebody and then ghost on them because we love physical gratification more 00:15:24.200 --> 00:15:26.240 than we love treating other people with dignity. 00:15:27.299 --> 00:15:27.440 Right? 00:15:27.440 --> 00:15:29.400 So, look at the choices in your life. 00:15:29.500 --> 00:15:34.140 You will find underneath them over-desires. 00:15:34.900 --> 00:15:39.780 And whatever you think the worst problem in the world is, you know, racism, climate change, 00:15:40.120 --> 00:15:45.360 poverty, all of those issues exist because of over-desire. 00:15:47.300 --> 00:15:47.500 Right? 00:15:47.500 --> 00:15:52.000 But somewhere underneath, there were people that loved the wrong things in the wrong order. 00:15:53.279 --> 00:15:57.120 And ultimately, the Bible says all of this is rooted in the fact, and this is Romans chapter 00:15:57.120 --> 00:16:01.679 1, it's all rooted in the fact that we love the created things of the world more than the 00:16:01.679 --> 00:16:02.019 Creator. 00:16:02.220 --> 00:16:07.159 If you get that out of order, all of your other loves are going to be out of order. 00:16:07.259 --> 00:16:08.460 They're going to be disordered. 00:16:08.559 --> 00:16:11.200 They're going to be epithumia, desires. 00:16:11.200 --> 00:16:16.660 And so, Christian maturity is all about reordering our loves. 00:16:16.759 --> 00:16:22.500 It's all about learning how to love God above all else and then having everything fall into 00:16:22.500 --> 00:16:23.640 place under Him. 00:16:24.680 --> 00:16:25.940 So, that's the first thing we see. 00:16:27.400 --> 00:16:31.160 Christian maturity is about overcoming sinful desires, reordering our loves. 00:16:32.280 --> 00:16:37.960 The next thing that we see when we look at this virtue list is that Christian maturity 00:16:37.960 --> 00:16:42.620 requires intellectual and emotional maturity. 00:16:43.720 --> 00:16:48.060 You cannot be mature as a Christian if you're not intellectually mature and if you're not 00:16:48.060 --> 00:16:48.920 emotionally mature. 00:16:49.019 --> 00:16:51.400 And I need to clarify what I mean by that. 00:16:52.360 --> 00:16:59.240 Every characteristic that Peter gives us requires one or both of these kinds of maturity. 00:17:00.639 --> 00:17:04.440 Intellectual maturity, I don't mean you have to be super smart, get straight A's, you know, 00:17:04.480 --> 00:17:05.059 all of that stuff. 00:17:05.100 --> 00:17:05.900 That's not what I mean. 00:17:06.279 --> 00:17:06.900 Here's what I mean. 00:17:06.900 --> 00:17:14.320 For a long time now, most Christians in our culture have been more or less biblically and 00:17:14.320 --> 00:17:15.780 theologically illiterate. 00:17:16.660 --> 00:17:20.019 I mean, you can look at the studies, you can look at the statistics, but it's true. 00:17:20.820 --> 00:17:25.840 Most Christians in our culture for a long time now have been biblically and theologically 00:17:25.840 --> 00:17:26.940 illiterate. 00:17:27.420 --> 00:17:32.380 And part of the reason comes from the fact that in the last century, as there was an increasing 00:17:32.380 --> 00:17:40.640 divide, perceived divide, between intellectual progressives and fundamentalists, among more 00:17:40.640 --> 00:17:44.160 conservative Christians, there was an increasing anti-intellectual bias. 00:17:45.580 --> 00:17:45.760 Right? 00:17:45.759 --> 00:17:53.819 Also, there was an enormous focus on conversion, but not a lot of emphasis on catechesis and 00:17:53.819 --> 00:17:55.599 formation and Christian education. 00:17:55.759 --> 00:18:03.140 And so as a result, we have multiple generations of Christians who have essentially never really 00:18:03.140 --> 00:18:06.359 experienced meaningful education or catechesis. 00:18:06.359 --> 00:18:12.579 And so there's a great impoverishment when it comes to people's understanding of how to read 00:18:12.579 --> 00:18:18.419 the Bible and how to understand and root ourselves in the theological traditions that have shaped 00:18:18.419 --> 00:18:19.419 us over the centuries. 00:18:19.420 --> 00:18:24.380 And so that has cleared the way for all kinds of things, right? 00:18:24.440 --> 00:18:32.080 That biblical illiteracy and ignorance about church history cleared the way for many evangelicals 00:18:32.080 --> 00:18:34.440 to be co-opted by the political right. 00:18:36.120 --> 00:18:42.800 It also cleared the way for many progressives to feel the freedom to begin to completely redefine 00:18:42.800 --> 00:18:48.600 and revise the Christian faith, to make it align with whatever cultural preferences hold sway 00:18:48.599 --> 00:18:49.719 in the moment. 00:18:51.219 --> 00:18:55.759 Great example of that is the recent Evolving Faith Conference that just happened in Denver. 00:18:55.859 --> 00:19:00.579 It's just one iteration of the same tendency that we've seen again and again and again. 00:19:01.899 --> 00:19:06.519 And what we need to recognize is that mature Christians are people who are deeply rooted in 00:19:06.519 --> 00:19:06.859 Scripture. 00:19:07.240 --> 00:19:09.699 They don't just defend the Bible, but they know how to read it. 00:19:11.019 --> 00:19:17.299 And they're deeply rooted in theology, and they're deeply rooted in history and in the traditions of the 00:19:17.299 --> 00:19:24.279 church so that on the one hand, a mature Christian is not going to be taken in by any political party 00:19:24.279 --> 00:19:32.119 ever because they can understand and articulate how the gospel critiques both sides of the aisle. 00:19:34.200 --> 00:19:39.720 Also, mature Christians are going to be people who are never going to be so arrogant as to 00:19:39.720 --> 00:19:48.019 redefine Christianity because they understand that the purpose of the gospel is to conform the world to 00:19:48.019 --> 00:19:51.360 Christ, not to conform Christ to the world. 00:19:52.740 --> 00:19:56.799 And so, we need mature Christians who are intellectually mature. 00:19:57.839 --> 00:20:02.460 But we also need emotionally mature Christians. 00:20:02.460 --> 00:20:07.559 And this is maybe arguably a bigger problem in the church. 00:20:08.380 --> 00:20:11.360 Now, when I say emotional maturity, what do I mean by that? 00:20:12.420 --> 00:20:14.319 Here's what I mean by emotional maturity. 00:20:15.600 --> 00:20:20.319 Being able to take responsibility for your life rather than blaming everything on other people 00:20:20.319 --> 00:20:23.400 or other systems or other institutions. 00:20:24.600 --> 00:20:30.440 Being willing to accept that you cannot hold other people responsible for your emotional well-being. 00:20:30.440 --> 00:20:32.860 Accepting that. 00:20:34.440 --> 00:20:44.519 Being able to feel all of your feelings and to express them without being overwhelmed or driven by them. 00:20:45.740 --> 00:20:49.700 Not just the good feelings, but the hard feelings. 00:20:50.240 --> 00:20:51.460 Knowing how to grieve. 00:20:51.980 --> 00:20:52.740 Knowing how to lament. 00:20:53.980 --> 00:20:55.100 Knowing how to be lonely. 00:20:56.180 --> 00:20:57.500 Knowing how to feel despair. 00:20:58.320 --> 00:20:59.460 Knowing how to feel anger. 00:20:59.460 --> 00:21:03.600 You know, people with anger problems are not people that have too much anger. 00:21:03.720 --> 00:21:06.200 They're typically people who are terrified of their anger. 00:21:06.559 --> 00:21:09.680 They're typically people who grew up in homes where anger was hidden. 00:21:09.940 --> 00:21:11.920 And if you were angry, you were penalized. 00:21:12.880 --> 00:21:17.299 And so, they learned that anger was something to be afraid of and to deny and to stuff down. 00:21:18.259 --> 00:21:20.600 And so, they have no idea how to identify when they're getting angry. 00:21:20.680 --> 00:21:26.440 And they have no idea how to even recognize it until it overwhelms them and it comes out in all kinds of harmful ways. 00:21:26.440 --> 00:21:35.980 So, anger management therapy is really about learning how to identify and express your anger long before it gets to that critical point. 00:21:37.880 --> 00:21:38.000 Right? 00:21:38.080 --> 00:21:40.799 So, being able to do all of that is a part of emotional maturity. 00:21:40.799 --> 00:21:48.879 Another thing about emotional maturity is it means that you have self-control over your more base drives like hunger and lust. 00:21:50.720 --> 00:21:54.139 You don't ever make decisions that are entirely driven by those things. 00:21:54.460 --> 00:21:57.339 That's one of the things that separates human beings from animals. 00:21:57.899 --> 00:22:04.399 You know, animals are entirely driven by drives like hunger and the desire for sexual reproduction. 00:22:04.619 --> 00:22:04.680 Right? 00:22:04.680 --> 00:22:07.620 And so, all the decisions are kind of driven by that. 00:22:07.700 --> 00:22:15.820 Human beings have this whole additional brain on top of the animal brain that makes it possible for us to delay certain kinds of gratification. 00:22:15.820 --> 00:22:17.940 To pursue higher order goods. 00:22:18.360 --> 00:22:18.519 Right? 00:22:18.600 --> 00:22:19.840 Over lower order goods. 00:22:20.620 --> 00:22:24.519 And emotional maturity means being able to use that brain. 00:22:25.740 --> 00:22:29.960 Emotional maturity means being able to tolerate ambiguity in other people. 00:22:29.960 --> 00:22:30.360 Right? 00:22:31.579 --> 00:22:41.400 It means being able to understand that a good person who is genuinely your friend and genuinely loves you will also sometimes hurt you and let you down. 00:22:42.420 --> 00:22:44.519 And that doesn't mean that they're an evil person. 00:22:44.840 --> 00:22:46.900 It simply means that they're a person person. 00:22:47.579 --> 00:22:49.180 It simply means that they're a human being. 00:22:49.740 --> 00:22:52.500 And that it's okay for people to hurt you and let you down. 00:22:52.600 --> 00:22:55.420 They're still good people and they still love you and they're still your friend. 00:22:55.420 --> 00:23:01.580 Emotional maturity means being able to understand that reality in relationships. 00:23:01.740 --> 00:23:05.380 Emotional maturity means being able to forgive well. 00:23:06.460 --> 00:23:08.259 Not minimizing the hurt. 00:23:09.240 --> 00:23:12.080 Not shortcutting the grief over the pain that was caused. 00:23:12.740 --> 00:23:16.240 But also not harboring resentment and holding grudges. 00:23:17.140 --> 00:23:18.240 That's emotional maturity. 00:23:19.200 --> 00:23:22.000 Emotional maturity means knowing how to have healthy intimacy. 00:23:22.000 --> 00:23:26.440 Not losing yourself in another person so that you don't know who you are anymore. 00:23:27.559 --> 00:23:29.539 But not walling off other people. 00:23:30.599 --> 00:23:34.460 Knowing how to have that healthy exchange of hearts and souls. 00:23:35.920 --> 00:23:42.279 Emotional maturity means being able to receive criticism without becoming overly defensive. 00:23:43.740 --> 00:23:48.779 It means that you can walk away from that conversation and sift out what you need to hear. 00:23:49.819 --> 00:23:51.460 And then let go of the rest. 00:23:52.000 --> 00:23:52.440 Right? 00:23:53.579 --> 00:23:56.019 So it means knowing how to apologize when you need to apologize. 00:23:56.279 --> 00:23:59.559 But equally importantly, not apologizing when you don't need to apologize. 00:24:01.619 --> 00:24:06.220 Emotional maturity means the ability to take care of yourself. 00:24:06.960 --> 00:24:08.759 And to set healthy boundaries. 00:24:09.559 --> 00:24:11.740 Knowing how far to let people in. 00:24:12.720 --> 00:24:15.660 Knowing that some people should be let in further than other people. 00:24:16.480 --> 00:24:19.200 Knowing that some things you need to sacrificially say yes to. 00:24:19.200 --> 00:24:21.539 And other things you need to actually say no to. 00:24:22.000 --> 00:24:25.660 Understanding that Jesus wasn't actually selfless. 00:24:26.660 --> 00:24:28.759 Jesus had a strong sense of self. 00:24:29.920 --> 00:24:32.059 Jesus had a strong sense of boundary. 00:24:33.220 --> 00:24:37.720 There's a huge difference between being selfless and being self-sacrificing. 00:24:38.440 --> 00:24:40.559 And emotional maturity understands the difference. 00:24:41.559 --> 00:24:41.660 Right? 00:24:41.700 --> 00:24:44.140 So all of this constitutes emotional maturity. 00:24:44.140 --> 00:24:46.120 But here's the thing about emotional maturity. 00:24:46.320 --> 00:24:47.660 It is not automatic. 00:24:47.820 --> 00:24:50.220 When you give your life to Christ, you're given the raw material. 00:24:50.400 --> 00:24:51.340 But you're still you. 00:24:53.380 --> 00:24:54.440 I'm still me. 00:24:55.759 --> 00:24:56.880 And here's the thing. 00:24:58.240 --> 00:25:03.300 It can only be developed with a lot of time. 00:25:03.700 --> 00:25:05.560 And a lot of hard work. 00:25:05.559 --> 00:25:07.559 And a lot of suffering. 00:25:10.039 --> 00:25:14.099 It is the kind of thing that is only found on the far side of suffering. 00:25:15.419 --> 00:25:16.759 A lot of suffering. 00:25:18.319 --> 00:25:18.440 Right? 00:25:18.559 --> 00:25:21.779 It's emotional maturity is the kind of thing that is called out in you. 00:25:21.779 --> 00:25:26.599 When you confront a situation and it's brutal and awful and it overwhelms you. 00:25:26.899 --> 00:25:28.399 And you're like, I cannot deal with this. 00:25:28.460 --> 00:25:31.440 And then you rise to the occasion, you've become a little more mature. 00:25:31.440 --> 00:25:37.340 The problem is our culture is so averse to suffering. 00:25:39.340 --> 00:25:43.019 And so focused on protecting people from negative feelings. 00:25:43.660 --> 00:25:46.740 And insulating people from contradictory opinions. 00:25:47.559 --> 00:25:53.840 That our culture is much more likely to infantilize than to promote emotional maturity. 00:25:54.759 --> 00:25:56.360 The church has to be different. 00:25:56.840 --> 00:25:59.140 I don't know many other institutions that are. 00:25:59.140 --> 00:26:04.360 The church has to be a place where we are cultivating emotional maturity. 00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:10.820 Where we are doing the hard work of growing into emotionally mature disciples. 00:26:11.380 --> 00:26:12.080 And here's the thing. 00:26:12.360 --> 00:26:14.480 That means when things get hard in your life. 00:26:15.840 --> 00:26:18.780 That means when you get hurt or offended. 00:26:19.860 --> 00:26:22.400 There are a lot of people here with very different opinions. 00:26:23.160 --> 00:26:24.759 About lots of things. 00:26:25.400 --> 00:26:26.340 When you look around you. 00:26:26.339 --> 00:26:29.980 There are people from every stripe in this room. 00:26:30.259 --> 00:26:31.599 Especially when it comes to politics. 00:26:32.839 --> 00:26:34.059 But when things get hard. 00:26:34.139 --> 00:26:35.139 Or when you get hurt or offended. 00:26:35.240 --> 00:26:37.980 Or when somebody says something that you strongly disagree with. 00:26:38.139 --> 00:26:40.220 Or your issues get exposed. 00:26:40.859 --> 00:26:42.720 What this means is you don't run away. 00:26:44.059 --> 00:26:46.439 It means you don't cut and run and go to some other community. 00:26:46.439 --> 00:26:47.399 Where nobody knows you. 00:26:47.439 --> 00:26:48.740 And you can be safely anonymous. 00:26:49.879 --> 00:26:51.159 It means you face it. 00:26:51.379 --> 00:26:52.720 It means you hang in there. 00:26:52.720 --> 00:26:56.620 And it means you thank God because the only way you're going to grow is if you suffer. 00:26:57.279 --> 00:27:00.700 And so thank God I have to face this horrible situation. 00:27:01.839 --> 00:27:03.259 God loves me so much. 00:27:04.000 --> 00:27:05.500 He loves me so much. 00:27:06.160 --> 00:27:07.860 That he has put me into this situation. 00:27:08.420 --> 00:27:11.100 So that I can become more the kind of person he's calling me to be. 00:27:11.920 --> 00:27:13.500 That's a weird way to think about suffering. 00:27:14.519 --> 00:27:18.120 But I think it makes a little more sense of the suffering of Jesus that we see. 00:27:18.539 --> 00:27:19.740 If it was necessary for him. 00:27:19.819 --> 00:27:21.200 Maybe it's necessary for us. 00:27:21.200 --> 00:27:28.299 We're not called to be disciples who remain infants. 00:27:29.360 --> 00:27:29.779 Right? 00:27:29.860 --> 00:27:31.299 We're called to be childlike. 00:27:32.180 --> 00:27:33.039 Not childish. 00:27:34.299 --> 00:27:37.720 And you can't be a spiritual giant if you're an emotional infant. 00:27:38.299 --> 00:27:40.120 So that's emotional maturity. 00:27:40.360 --> 00:27:41.140 So we need both. 00:27:41.259 --> 00:27:42.180 We need intellectual maturity. 00:27:42.279 --> 00:27:43.600 We also need emotional maturity. 00:27:44.400 --> 00:27:48.759 And then the third thing that we see about Christian maturity is that it expresses itself in love. 00:27:48.759 --> 00:27:52.379 That the ultimate end of Christian maturity is love. 00:27:53.180 --> 00:27:54.200 Love for God. 00:27:54.619 --> 00:27:55.440 Love for other people. 00:27:55.559 --> 00:27:59.140 And specifically the word doesn't connote love for other Christians. 00:27:59.859 --> 00:28:03.740 But the ultimate end of this list of virtues is agape love. 00:28:03.859 --> 00:28:04.839 It's love for everybody. 00:28:05.180 --> 00:28:06.220 It's love for our enemies. 00:28:06.460 --> 00:28:08.000 It's love for people who disagree with us. 00:28:08.059 --> 00:28:11.779 It's love for people who believe all kinds of things different from us. 00:28:11.779 --> 00:28:13.480 That's the ultimate end of Christian maturity. 00:28:13.700 --> 00:28:16.539 If that's not the fruit being produced in your life, you're on the wrong road. 00:28:18.099 --> 00:28:18.200 Right? 00:28:18.299 --> 00:28:21.180 Verse 7 shows us that all of this culminates in love. 00:28:22.740 --> 00:28:27.740 And so Christian maturity is this lifelong process of reordering our desires, 00:28:28.279 --> 00:28:31.759 of developing spiritual and intellectual and emotional maturity, 00:28:31.759 --> 00:28:38.279 and of learning to love God and other people fully and unconditionally. 00:28:39.379 --> 00:28:44.220 So when we talk about becoming fully formed human beings, that's what we mean. 00:28:44.619 --> 00:28:44.740 Right? 00:28:44.779 --> 00:28:47.259 That's what a fully formed human being looks like. 00:28:49.319 --> 00:28:51.019 So that's what confirmation is. 00:28:51.140 --> 00:28:57.140 That's why, that's a bit about what it means in terms of maturing for mission. 00:28:57.140 --> 00:29:02.400 I just want to say a couple of things here at the end about why confirmation matters. 00:29:03.360 --> 00:29:07.300 Because confirmation, unlike baptism and the Eucharist, 00:29:07.400 --> 00:29:11.740 confirmation is not something that Jesus explicitly commands his church to do. 00:29:11.860 --> 00:29:15.240 We see it happening since the very first days of the early church. 00:29:15.340 --> 00:29:17.820 And so it's an extremely important tradition. 00:29:18.100 --> 00:29:22.860 And it was a rite that emerged out of the early church leaders' reading of Scripture 00:29:22.860 --> 00:29:26.259 and how conversion happened and how people were welcomed into the church. 00:29:26.259 --> 00:29:28.240 And so it has a biblical foundation. 00:29:28.460 --> 00:29:35.079 But unlike the Eucharist, unlike baptism, it's not explicitly commanded by Jesus, 00:29:35.180 --> 00:29:37.119 what we would call a dominical sacrament. 00:29:37.539 --> 00:29:39.000 So why would we do confirmation? 00:29:40.059 --> 00:29:43.019 And I want to give you a couple of things to think about with this. 00:29:43.460 --> 00:29:46.640 Number one, I think it's very important for our church in particular 00:29:46.640 --> 00:29:50.640 because it reaffirms the importance of Christian community. 00:29:52.259 --> 00:29:54.799 It reaffirms the importance of Christian community. 00:29:54.799 --> 00:30:01.759 You know, in the postmodern West, we have a highly individualistic approach to faith. 00:30:02.180 --> 00:30:03.859 And you see this in a lot of churches. 00:30:04.859 --> 00:30:11.639 You know, faith is about me deciding in a vacuum that based on the information, 00:30:11.819 --> 00:30:15.240 I'm going to choose to adopt this Christian belief system. 00:30:15.759 --> 00:30:19.099 And then it's really about my one-on-one relationship with Jesus. 00:30:19.099 --> 00:30:25.039 And more and more, there's this sense that I might actually find that better apart from a church community, 00:30:25.179 --> 00:30:29.299 that the kind of purest form of relationship is just between me and Jesus. 00:30:29.299 --> 00:30:38.740 I just, we need to understand how fundamentally incompatible that is with the way the early church thought about the faith. 00:30:39.399 --> 00:30:44.419 In the early church, for centuries, conversion involved both the individual, 00:30:45.579 --> 00:30:51.779 I decide to put my faith in Jesus, but it also involved the community every bit as much. 00:30:51.779 --> 00:30:56.799 You know, it was the community's job to say, we affirm that your faith is genuine. 00:30:57.000 --> 00:31:02.259 We affirm that what you're claiming to believe is actually Christianity and not something else. 00:31:03.399 --> 00:31:10.240 And we affirm the genuineness of your faith, and we decide to welcome you into our community. 00:31:11.039 --> 00:31:13.619 And there were two roles, right? 00:31:13.619 --> 00:31:15.559 The role of the individual and the role of the community. 00:31:15.559 --> 00:31:22.559 And the Christian community played a vital role not only in initiating people, 00:31:22.819 --> 00:31:25.659 but they passed on the core teachings of the faith. 00:31:26.240 --> 00:31:31.399 And they supported new converts as they began to adopt an entirely new way of life 00:31:31.399 --> 00:31:35.359 in a world that was largely hostile toward them and their beliefs. 00:31:36.019 --> 00:31:41.059 So simply put, when you get confirmed, you're essentially saying to your church community, 00:31:41.359 --> 00:31:43.879 I've realized I can't do this alone. 00:31:43.880 --> 00:31:51.060 I need a community supporting me to live the life of faith that Jesus has called me to live. 00:31:52.600 --> 00:31:56.360 And this is partly why we're talking about this on All Saints Sunday. 00:31:57.340 --> 00:32:01.740 You know, because being confirmed is a way for you to identify with the church. 00:32:02.360 --> 00:32:05.340 Not just the church universal, but the church that you're a part of, right? 00:32:05.380 --> 00:32:07.360 Church of the Advent, the Anglican Church, right? 00:32:07.520 --> 00:32:10.800 You're identifying yourself with a public body, 00:32:10.900 --> 00:32:13.760 a community that's going to support you and uphold you in your faith. 00:32:14.120 --> 00:32:17.300 So it's an opportunity to publicly confess your faith in Jesus. 00:32:18.460 --> 00:32:22.380 It's an opportunity to publicly commit yourself or recommit yourself 00:32:22.380 --> 00:32:26.060 to the baptismal promises that you made 00:32:26.060 --> 00:32:29.880 or the baptismal promises that were made on your behalf. 00:32:29.980 --> 00:32:32.200 So in a little while, Caitlin and Chase are going to come up, 00:32:32.200 --> 00:32:33.780 and we're going to baptize Mara. 00:32:33.779 --> 00:32:45.660 And they're going to baptize Mara, and they're going to make promises. 00:32:47.279 --> 00:32:52.980 But the hope is that one day anybody who's baptized can affirm those promises for themselves. 00:32:54.259 --> 00:32:54.700 Right? 00:32:54.700 --> 00:33:01.319 And then also it's an opportunity to be publicly commissioned for a spirit-filled life of love and service. 00:33:01.819 --> 00:33:04.900 So it reaffirms the importance of Christian community in our lives. 00:33:05.200 --> 00:33:07.680 And number two, the last thing I'll say about it, 00:33:08.680 --> 00:33:12.799 it reaffirms our commitment to maturity and mission in the Christian life. 00:33:14.180 --> 00:33:16.580 You know, this isn't just about growth for our own sake. 00:33:16.579 --> 00:33:21.619 It's about becoming people who love and serve others in God's name. 00:33:22.819 --> 00:33:26.039 It's about becoming the kind of people not only that God desires to see, 00:33:26.379 --> 00:33:28.720 but it's about becoming the kind of people that the world needs. 00:33:30.079 --> 00:33:36.019 And we want Advent to be a place where we take seriously the call to grow in our faith 00:33:36.019 --> 00:33:40.619 so that we will overflow with love for God and His world. 00:33:40.619 --> 00:33:46.359 And, you know, this is what we see made most clear in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, 00:33:46.939 --> 00:33:53.639 who in every way became like us so that one day we might become like Him. 00:33:54.699 --> 00:33:55.459 Let's pray. 00:33:57.559 --> 00:33:58.759 Lord, we thank You. 00:33:59.099 --> 00:34:05.239 We thank You that even as we talk about our role in maturity and growing, 00:34:05.419 --> 00:34:10.599 that ultimately this is something that is dependent upon You working in us, 00:34:10.619 --> 00:34:17.039 we pray for You to kindle the Holy Spirit in us, in our hearts. 00:34:17.239 --> 00:34:19.639 We pray that these are things that we would long for. 00:34:21.299 --> 00:34:27.279 Lord, I know how much I desire to love, and I know how hard it is. 00:34:28.279 --> 00:34:32.279 And, Lord, I pray that You would, through a movement of the Holy Spirit, 00:34:32.440 --> 00:34:36.539 kindle in us a desire to grow so that we might become better lovers 00:34:36.539 --> 00:34:42.099 of You and of those whom You've created who bear Your image in the world. 00:34:43.079 --> 00:34:46.940 Lord, we pray this not only for our good and the good of our community, 00:34:47.039 --> 00:34:48.539 but also for Your glory, Lord, 00:34:48.579 --> 00:34:52.159 that You might be glorified in the way that You can transform human beings 00:34:52.159 --> 00:34:53.420 to be more like You. 00:34:53.619 --> 00:34:54.980 We pray this in Your Son's holy name. 00:34:54.980 --> 00:34:55.340 Amen.