"Set an Example: A Confirmation Sermon"
1 Timothy 4:12
Rev. Everett L. Miller
When I was sixteen I used money from my summer job at the grain elevators in Enid to go to Ruth’s Christian Bookstore in the Oakwood Mall to buy my first very own Bible. And one of the first verses that I highlighted was 1 Timothy 4:12—“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity.” That was a very important bit of encouragement for a sixteen year old who had just made a profession of faith. It is also a wonderful bit of encouragement for the two thirteen year olds who are making their profession of faith today. And it is still very important to me at the age of twenty-nine because although our confirmands may think that I am old as dirt, in the vocation I have chosen, I feel that sometimes I am looked down on because I am young (relatively speaking). I would imagine, though, that we could replace the word “young” with a lot of other adjectives and this verse would still make sense. Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are “older,” because you are “different in some other way,” "because you can't afford expensive clothes," just go about your business of being a faithful example for others.
But today we are going to talk specifically about young people, and I think if we were all honest with ourselves we would admit that at least from time to time we make the mistake of looking down on people simply because they are young. "Oh, that’s just what teenagers are like. That’s just a typical teenage point of view." We may assume the only subjects they care about are clothes, sports, video games, and the opposite sex. "Someday they’ll grow up," we say. We are sometimes too hard on them (and sometimes too easy on them). But the truth of the matter is that it is often difficult to be a teenager and it is just as often difficult to raise a teenager. And I don’t know if you have thought about this at all but it can also be difficult to be a church family to teenagers, trying to keep them interested in their spirituality, trying to relate to them when we live in a different world than they do.
Being young in 2007 is not the same as it was for many of you who grew up in different eras, not even in this little town. I was thirteen in 1991 and it may not seem that long ago to us but think about this: I had never heard of the Internet and only millionaires had wireless phones. The world of the teenager is much different now than it was even for me. It is probably more difficult to be young these days even though life may seem easier with the Internet, satellite TV, video games, etc.
Often both parents work. All that Internet, TV, and video games comes with all kinds of images of sex, and much worse than that—violence. Girls are pressured to be dangerously thin and willing to do whatever will get a boy to like them. Boys are pressured to be tough, maybe even violent, and taught to treat girls as conquests. You have to wear certain clothes or play a certain sport. You’re pressured to drink and smoke and try drugs at younger ages. Reality television teaches you to succeed no matter who you have to deceive or hurt. I would venture to say that never has it been as important and at the same time as difficult to be a teenager who cares about faith and lives a life of faithfulness. Also, it has probably never been as difficult for a teenager to enjoy spending time with their family and to actually enjoy participating in the life of a faith community.
There are so many obstacles standing between today’s teenagers and having a living, strong faith in Jesus Christ. For the most part it is our very own American culture that erects the biggest wall between a young person’s heart and God. When I was in seminary I took a class in youth ministry in which we did a great deal of research into the motives behind much of our modern American way of life. This is what we found in a huge number of sources: The companies that make TV shows, clothes and music for young people want to separate teenagers from their families, from their church families, and from their local community. They want teenagers to only hang out with kids their own age and they want them to all want to look alike and act alike. They want thirteen year olds in Newkirk to be just like thirteen year olds in New York and Seattle and Des Moines, Iowa and Naples, Florida. They want our confirmands to be just like everybody else because if they can get all the thirteen year olds to want to be just like each other then they can sell them what they need to achieve that and they make tons of money. Who cares if the teenageers lose any sense of uniqueness? Who cares if they start to think of their parents and family as simply getting in the way? Who cares if they don’t have any sort of faith and hope? The companies don’t care. But God cares. And those of us in this congregation better care.
Today our confirmands are professing their faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and in doing that they are telling everyone here that they are Christians. In days past that may not have been that big of a deal, but these days for a young person to say that, mean it, and to live it out is an extraordinarily counter-cultural thing to do. When we become professing Christians, if we take it seriously, we often find that we are at odds with our own culture. We find that we have to fight the temptation to buy more and more stuff, because now that we are Christians we know that our value lies with God not in how much fun junk we can accumulate. We find that now that we are Christians we can’t put up with racism or sexism because we now know that we are all created in God’s image and loved equally by God. We find that now that we are Christians that it does matter how we treat the people that nobody else seems to like because we now know that Jesus came to the poor, the weak, and the outcast and sends us to those same people. We find that now that we are Christians we cannot give into the idea that what we really need to do with our lives is to make a bunch of money and get famous because we now know that God calls us to a ministry of some sort. And we find that now that we are Christians we cannot allow ourselves to give into our culture that says that Sunday is just like any other day, because we now know that Christ was resurrected on Sunday and it is a day of worship, of devotion, and rest and that is all.
When we are Christians, younger or older, because of our faith in Jesus Christ we have to stand up to the destructive parts of our own culture. And Paul’s words to Timothy speak to this fact. Although Paul knew nothing of MTV, Myspace, XBOX 360, or I-phones, his advice to Timothy rings true with young people (and all of us) today. He begins, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young.” Youth and the energy and creativity that come with it are gifts. But on the other side of this, you can’t use your youth as an excuse either. As of today our confirmands are full members of this congregation, which means that they now have as much responsibility and the same vote as a member who is 40 or 60 or 80 years old.
Paul’s words could also be addressed to the rest of us—Don’t look down our confirmands because they are young. Just don’t do it. They can do just as much wonderful work for God’s kingdom as anyone else in this room or anyone else in the worldwide church. They are beginning the journey of faith and that is holy business. We cannot look at them and think they are just silly teenagers and what could they know. God just might work through these young people to inspire the rest of us to have a more vital and joyous faith. God just might choose to challenge the rest of us through their examples.
Paul tells Timothy that instead of letting other people look down on him because he is young, he should actually set an example for everyone else by how he lives his life. “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity.” People should be able to listen to Timothy speak and know that he believes in Jesus Christ. Can people listen to us talking and know that we have faith and peace and joy from God? People should be able to watch Timothy live his life and know that he is a disciple of Jesus. What do our lifestyles tell about us? Are we generous? Do we refrain from judging others? Do we worship and study and pray? Then Paul tells Timothy that people should be able to see him loving other people and God. People should look at the way he interacts with other people and know that there is something different about him, that he is more loving than he would be if he wasn’t a Christian. Paul tells Timothy that his faith should shine through in all that he does. And finally, Paul tells Timothy to stay pure—meaning sexual purity. Don’t give into that temptation, Paul tells Timothy.
We should all strive to live into this level of faith and character, but on this Confirmation Sunday I especially challenge our confirmands to consider this form of lifestyle which they are putting on today. May everyone at school listen to you speak and know that you believe in Jesus Christ. May everyone watch your lifestyle and know that you believe in Jesus Christ. May everyone see how you love other people, especially those who are rejected by others, and know that you believe in Jesus Christ. May everyone be able to tell that although your faith may be new to you that you are serious about your faith in Jesus Christ and that it makes a difference in your life and gives you joy and hope. And may everyone be able to tell by how you show respect for the opposite sex and by how you respect your own body and the bodies of others that you believe in Jesus Christ.
Let me say this just to our confirmands (although it goes for all of us): both of you are made in the image of God. I know that you don’t really know exactly what that means. That’s okay because none of us really knows exactly what that means. But it means at least these things—you are beautiful inside and out, you are loved by God more than you can ever imagine, you have the capacity for wonderful imagination and creativity, and you have the urge to love other people. You are not just future adults. You are God’s beloved children right now at the age of 13. And that is who you are supposed to be—a 13 year old boy and a 13 year old girl. You are two 13 year old disciples of Jesus Christ. You are not just called to do something great someday. You are called to do great things now.
Don’t just be consumers. Change the world by embodying Christ’s love. Change the world by being peacemakers. Change the world by helping others to come to relationship with God. Change the world. Going to church on Sundays will not cut it by itself. Confirmation is not a graduation or an ending. Confirmation is just the very beginning of your journey of faith. Sunday School and worship attendance is extremely important, however. When you are confirmed, you promise that you will be an active part of this congregation. If you decide in a year or two that you are too busy or too cool to come to church any more you will have broken that promise and as long as I’m here, I will call you on that because we as disciples of Jesus Christ are to be people who keep our promises to God and to each other.
Set an example for the rest of us in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity. Set an example for the rest of us by inviting people to come to Sunday school and worship with you. Set an example for the rest of us by having new and creative ideas for worship and ministry and acting upon them. Set an example for the rest of us by falling in love with God through falling in love with the Scriptures. Set an example for the rest of us by rejecting racism and sexism, by living in a manner that reminds all of us that we belong to God.
Today is a joyous day in heaven and on earth. Two young people will declare their faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Two young people will take on more responsibility in this community of faith. Two young people who were baptized as young children are taking the faith of their parents and of this congregation and making it their own. Two young people are beginning the journey of walking the way with Jesus. And to our confirmands: as you walk this way with the rest of us, “Don’t let [any of us] look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity.”
But today we are going to talk specifically about young people, and I think if we were all honest with ourselves we would admit that at least from time to time we make the mistake of looking down on people simply because they are young. "Oh, that’s just what teenagers are like. That’s just a typical teenage point of view." We may assume the only subjects they care about are clothes, sports, video games, and the opposite sex. "Someday they’ll grow up," we say. We are sometimes too hard on them (and sometimes too easy on them). But the truth of the matter is that it is often difficult to be a teenager and it is just as often difficult to raise a teenager. And I don’t know if you have thought about this at all but it can also be difficult to be a church family to teenagers, trying to keep them interested in their spirituality, trying to relate to them when we live in a different world than they do.
Being young in 2007 is not the same as it was for many of you who grew up in different eras, not even in this little town. I was thirteen in 1991 and it may not seem that long ago to us but think about this: I had never heard of the Internet and only millionaires had wireless phones. The world of the teenager is much different now than it was even for me. It is probably more difficult to be young these days even though life may seem easier with the Internet, satellite TV, video games, etc.
Often both parents work. All that Internet, TV, and video games comes with all kinds of images of sex, and much worse than that—violence. Girls are pressured to be dangerously thin and willing to do whatever will get a boy to like them. Boys are pressured to be tough, maybe even violent, and taught to treat girls as conquests. You have to wear certain clothes or play a certain sport. You’re pressured to drink and smoke and try drugs at younger ages. Reality television teaches you to succeed no matter who you have to deceive or hurt. I would venture to say that never has it been as important and at the same time as difficult to be a teenager who cares about faith and lives a life of faithfulness. Also, it has probably never been as difficult for a teenager to enjoy spending time with their family and to actually enjoy participating in the life of a faith community.
There are so many obstacles standing between today’s teenagers and having a living, strong faith in Jesus Christ. For the most part it is our very own American culture that erects the biggest wall between a young person’s heart and God. When I was in seminary I took a class in youth ministry in which we did a great deal of research into the motives behind much of our modern American way of life. This is what we found in a huge number of sources: The companies that make TV shows, clothes and music for young people want to separate teenagers from their families, from their church families, and from their local community. They want teenagers to only hang out with kids their own age and they want them to all want to look alike and act alike. They want thirteen year olds in Newkirk to be just like thirteen year olds in New York and Seattle and Des Moines, Iowa and Naples, Florida. They want our confirmands to be just like everybody else because if they can get all the thirteen year olds to want to be just like each other then they can sell them what they need to achieve that and they make tons of money. Who cares if the teenageers lose any sense of uniqueness? Who cares if they start to think of their parents and family as simply getting in the way? Who cares if they don’t have any sort of faith and hope? The companies don’t care. But God cares. And those of us in this congregation better care.
Today our confirmands are professing their faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and in doing that they are telling everyone here that they are Christians. In days past that may not have been that big of a deal, but these days for a young person to say that, mean it, and to live it out is an extraordinarily counter-cultural thing to do. When we become professing Christians, if we take it seriously, we often find that we are at odds with our own culture. We find that we have to fight the temptation to buy more and more stuff, because now that we are Christians we know that our value lies with God not in how much fun junk we can accumulate. We find that now that we are Christians we can’t put up with racism or sexism because we now know that we are all created in God’s image and loved equally by God. We find that now that we are Christians that it does matter how we treat the people that nobody else seems to like because we now know that Jesus came to the poor, the weak, and the outcast and sends us to those same people. We find that now that we are Christians we cannot give into the idea that what we really need to do with our lives is to make a bunch of money and get famous because we now know that God calls us to a ministry of some sort. And we find that now that we are Christians we cannot allow ourselves to give into our culture that says that Sunday is just like any other day, because we now know that Christ was resurrected on Sunday and it is a day of worship, of devotion, and rest and that is all.
When we are Christians, younger or older, because of our faith in Jesus Christ we have to stand up to the destructive parts of our own culture. And Paul’s words to Timothy speak to this fact. Although Paul knew nothing of MTV, Myspace, XBOX 360, or I-phones, his advice to Timothy rings true with young people (and all of us) today. He begins, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young.” Youth and the energy and creativity that come with it are gifts. But on the other side of this, you can’t use your youth as an excuse either. As of today our confirmands are full members of this congregation, which means that they now have as much responsibility and the same vote as a member who is 40 or 60 or 80 years old.
Paul’s words could also be addressed to the rest of us—Don’t look down our confirmands because they are young. Just don’t do it. They can do just as much wonderful work for God’s kingdom as anyone else in this room or anyone else in the worldwide church. They are beginning the journey of faith and that is holy business. We cannot look at them and think they are just silly teenagers and what could they know. God just might work through these young people to inspire the rest of us to have a more vital and joyous faith. God just might choose to challenge the rest of us through their examples.
Paul tells Timothy that instead of letting other people look down on him because he is young, he should actually set an example for everyone else by how he lives his life. “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity.” People should be able to listen to Timothy speak and know that he believes in Jesus Christ. Can people listen to us talking and know that we have faith and peace and joy from God? People should be able to watch Timothy live his life and know that he is a disciple of Jesus. What do our lifestyles tell about us? Are we generous? Do we refrain from judging others? Do we worship and study and pray? Then Paul tells Timothy that people should be able to see him loving other people and God. People should look at the way he interacts with other people and know that there is something different about him, that he is more loving than he would be if he wasn’t a Christian. Paul tells Timothy that his faith should shine through in all that he does. And finally, Paul tells Timothy to stay pure—meaning sexual purity. Don’t give into that temptation, Paul tells Timothy.
We should all strive to live into this level of faith and character, but on this Confirmation Sunday I especially challenge our confirmands to consider this form of lifestyle which they are putting on today. May everyone at school listen to you speak and know that you believe in Jesus Christ. May everyone watch your lifestyle and know that you believe in Jesus Christ. May everyone see how you love other people, especially those who are rejected by others, and know that you believe in Jesus Christ. May everyone be able to tell that although your faith may be new to you that you are serious about your faith in Jesus Christ and that it makes a difference in your life and gives you joy and hope. And may everyone be able to tell by how you show respect for the opposite sex and by how you respect your own body and the bodies of others that you believe in Jesus Christ.
Let me say this just to our confirmands (although it goes for all of us): both of you are made in the image of God. I know that you don’t really know exactly what that means. That’s okay because none of us really knows exactly what that means. But it means at least these things—you are beautiful inside and out, you are loved by God more than you can ever imagine, you have the capacity for wonderful imagination and creativity, and you have the urge to love other people. You are not just future adults. You are God’s beloved children right now at the age of 13. And that is who you are supposed to be—a 13 year old boy and a 13 year old girl. You are two 13 year old disciples of Jesus Christ. You are not just called to do something great someday. You are called to do great things now.
Don’t just be consumers. Change the world by embodying Christ’s love. Change the world by being peacemakers. Change the world by helping others to come to relationship with God. Change the world. Going to church on Sundays will not cut it by itself. Confirmation is not a graduation or an ending. Confirmation is just the very beginning of your journey of faith. Sunday School and worship attendance is extremely important, however. When you are confirmed, you promise that you will be an active part of this congregation. If you decide in a year or two that you are too busy or too cool to come to church any more you will have broken that promise and as long as I’m here, I will call you on that because we as disciples of Jesus Christ are to be people who keep our promises to God and to each other.
Set an example for the rest of us in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity. Set an example for the rest of us by inviting people to come to Sunday school and worship with you. Set an example for the rest of us by having new and creative ideas for worship and ministry and acting upon them. Set an example for the rest of us by falling in love with God through falling in love with the Scriptures. Set an example for the rest of us by rejecting racism and sexism, by living in a manner that reminds all of us that we belong to God.
Today is a joyous day in heaven and on earth. Two young people will declare their faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Two young people will take on more responsibility in this community of faith. Two young people who were baptized as young children are taking the faith of their parents and of this congregation and making it their own. Two young people are beginning the journey of walking the way with Jesus. And to our confirmands: as you walk this way with the rest of us, “Don’t let [any of us] look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity.”
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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