St. Luke’s Evangelical Lutheran Church – Watertown, WI
Pastor Mark Gartner
Sermon for Confirmation – May 7^th, 2006

Dear children bought with the precious blood Christ,

Do you know how to survive an avalanche? If you don’t ski, you have not most likely ever had a reason to know the answers to this question. So let me tell you a few key points on how to survive an avalanche. As the avalanche starts you should start swimming to stay on the surface and head for one side. You will want to try to make your way to the top of the snow pile just as you feel the snow beginning to slow. You want to concentrate on keeping the snow out of your mouth and nose if you end up under the surface. Try and make a space in front of your face if you end up under the snow. This is much easier to do while the snow is still moving. Once you are under the snow try to conserve your air. While it's tempting to start shouting for help, this may not be the best idea because snow has great sound-insulating qualities. One of the most important things is to carry a rescue beacon, which can signal others of your location. Without the aid of a beacon (and one for each searcher), you have very little chance of being found in time if you are completely covered.

It is obviously very important for a person who skies in areas where there might be avalanches to know some of these things on how to survive an avalanche. Today as we gather in God’s house we want to recognize that each of us needs to know some survival secrets. No, not for an avalanche or any other kind of earthly disaster, but to remain spiritually safe from the attacks of the Devil, the World and our Sinful Flesh. The "Terrible Three" will be attacking our faith for the rest of our years on this earth. So maybe I will ask you another question. Do you know how to survive the attacks of the "Terrible Three"? Our theme for today will point out what God’s Word has to say on this very important topic. We will use the theme:

Let me tell you a little secret -- a secret that most Pastors feel about the time he confirms his young people, who have become so close to his heart. The secret has to do with this type of question: "How many of you will survive?" No, your pastor is not thinking about escaping an avalanche. What he wonders is: How many of you will survive the attacks of Satan — the subtle temptations of this world — the sinful nature that lives in each of your hearts?

Does this seem kind of strange? Why should a pastor be afraid that some of you might not survive? Isn’t this overreacting just a little bit? The reason is because pastors have seen Satan rob his flock before and he has seen people whose faith has not survived. But as you sit here today you are not thinking about failure, you are thinking about conquering. And that is what we will want to concentrate on this morning. How can you survive and conquer? God has placed much before you for your enjoyment and to his glory. But it is yours only on the basis of knowing right from wrong, and knowing what God’s Will is for your lives. To enjoy life and to succeed, you must know God’s key to life, Seek first his Kingdom" and then the good things of life will come to you in proper order.

With a whole lifetime before you, it is natural that you dream of great things, beautiful things, and good things. It is natural that you should be filled with courage, strength and endurance. It is natural that you should look forward to life with hope and pleasure. Do you know that the prayer of every Christian individual here today is for success in your life? Not worldly success, but spiritual success. Every person here wants to see you forever in heaven.

To have real success in a world that isn’t concerned as to what happens to you, you have to know the secrets of survival. These things you know well, for we’ve studied them together. May they become more precious and useful each day of your life! Bind them to your heart, and keep this passage from God’s Word ever before you: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil."

For a successful life, and that means a godly life, you’ll have to have a standard to live by. Solomon said: "In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall make your paths straight." God will do this if we take his Ten Commandments and check every word, action, and thought against them. These Commandments that you have learned are God’s guide for your Christian living, but also to point out how miserably we have failed to follow God's command.

These Commandments are from God. All the wisdom of the ages has not been able to add or subtract from them or to improve them. Guided by them, you’ll understand, of course, that you cannot depend on your own strength or wisdom to keep them; instead you’ll find that you must have Jesus constantly by your side. He will show you how to walk pleasing to God. He will show you how they can mold you into a child of God that will be a joy to God and man. Guided by these indestructible Laws, God will help you keep your body and mind clean, for your thoughts and actions will be for the purpose of pleasing God. They will help make you honorable, and men will respect you, for it will be Christ who directs your paths. They will cause you to obey all the laws of this land. They will make you respect your home, your country, and your church, which are the basis of human as well as spiritual happiness, because as Solomon said, you are not "Do not be wise in your own eyes."

On the other hand, if you do not keep God’s Commandments, you’ll never survive because you’ll be a despiser of God—a law breaker—a lost soul. The blast of God’s wrath on sin will hurl you into an eternity to dwell forever with liars, blasphemers, adulterers, murderers, and thieves. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not unto your own understanding." Dear friends: Serve Christ from your youth to death. You’ll be more than a person; you will be a dearly loved child of God.

In order to survive the confusions and contradictions of the world and possess peace of mind and heart, you’ll have to know in what, and in whom, you believe. You’ll have to have convictions. For that purpose we have studied together the parts of the Catechism. It can be said that a man without a solid foundation for his faith is like a ship without a rudder. He has no goal. He will be at the mercy of the winds of unbelief and the storms of doubt, and will finally end on the rocks as a lost soul.

Unless you trust in God and lean not on your own wisdom you’ll be like the people of this world we seek after only worldly wisdom and knowledge. Occasionally you may run into some individual, teacher or professor who will ridicule your faith and your God. Do not be swayed by these types of people, for he does not know as much about God as you do. Most men recognize that only a fool would stand before a class to teach history or math unless he had studied the subject. Yet there are some who seek to pass themselves off as authorities on whether or not there is a God, without ever having studied or actually having read the Bible. But if you trust in the wisdom of the Lord, and not of men, you’ll have convictions that will stand to eternity. You can sit back and know that the Lord of the Bible is the true God.

To survive, you must have sound convictions concerning Jesus Christ. The world in its foolish reasonings is proven in error every day, and yet will tell you that many things about Christ are unreasonable. Can you solve every mathematical problem, or reason out the laws of nature? Is not every man’s day filled with mistakes made by our sinful mind? With such a sinful mind how can a person dare to say God, Christ, and Salvation are unreasonable? "Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not unto your own understanding." Trust Jesus who created you and all that exists. Trust in him to strengthen you against Satan and his powerful temptings. Trust Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Trust him as the "Way, the Truth and the Life." What is more, surrender your whole life to him. Do what he wants you to do. Go where he wants you to go. You’ll be the happiest person in the whole world, for it will be you who will be happy and joyful in the Lord. Trust in Jesus is the solid rock upon which to stand. To pluck you out of the hand of Christ, someone would have to break the very arm of God.

To survive, you must continue to study God’s Word. People who do not study God’s Word will die. Their minds die. Their bodies die. More than anything else, their souls die. Jesus knew the need of studying his Word. For the past two years we have used God’s Word for our Confirmation instruction. We learned how we need to lean on God. We learned from God’s Word how anxious God is to have us consult him about all things, to ask his guidance, to beg for forgiveness for sinning against him. We learned how anxious he is to have us seek his protection from temptation and Satan. Yes, we learned how Jesus died to set us free from our sin by giving his life on the cross. We learned how God is concerned for the souls of all people. To survive we need to continue our studying of God’s Word.

To survive, you must never forget that you are an heir in God’s family and will one day receive the inheritance of heaven. To forget this means to lose an inheritance that nothing in the world can replace. In baptism God gave you something of valuable that nothing in this life can replace it. In baptism God took you, an orphan, and made you a legal heir and child of his. He took you, and washed you clean of the stain of sin and its guilt. He gave you a Kingdom which no one can take from you, because Christ bought it for you with his own blood on the Cross. What is more, when you were made a child of God in baptism, you received a name written in Heaven. It will be there for you so long as you "trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not unto your own understanding." All this is yours for keeps if you let Christ dwell in your heart, and walk with Him.

Finally, in order to survive, you must have fellowship with Christ and your fellow-believers. That is one of the reasons we studied the "Lord’s Supper." It is a privilege to come to the Lord’s Table. As you partake of the true body and blood of your Lord, remember that it is the same body and blood with which he paid for your sins. It is a joy and a comfort to know that at his Table he gives you forgiveness for all our sins and strengthens your faith to live for him each and every day. If ever you have doubts about God loving you, and about his willingness to forgive your sins and shortcomings, meeting the Lord in the Lord’s Supper is as personal and as real as real can be. Our doubts and worries will be removed. In coming to him with repentance in your heart and humbleness of faith, you are assured by the Lord, who never lies, that he comes to you.

You can survive, and you will survive, if you never forget what you have learned these many months of studying the great Gospel truths and promises of God. If you walk with Jesus, He will walk with you. If you obey Him, you will be blessed, and the whole world will be blessed because of you. May none of us who sit here today forget these wise words of Solomon: "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil."

Today is a wonderful day for all of us to confess our guilt and sin before the merciful Savior. Today, as we see God’s young people confessing their faith, it is a fitting day for us to look back and recognize that these words apply to each of us here today. We started out this sermon by talking about survival, The secrets of eternal survival are: Know God’s Will – Trust God’s Will and Live God’s Will. The words of our sermon text state this very clearly. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes: fear the Lord and depart from evil." In the knowledge you have gained through months of studying the Word of God, you have the sure and certain "Secrets of Survival." Use them well and you’ll walk safely and joyfully with Christ through the dangers of a doomed and dying world. Amen