tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9048575444859487507.post6564269118662324682..comments2023-09-12T10:10:57.773-04:00Comments on thinking-out-loud: What t'ado about ConfirmationRev. Rick Stuckwischhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10664716292792101540noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9048575444859487507.post-65651660365729135422007-08-24T00:11:00.000-04:002007-08-24T00:11:00.000-04:00One last thought before hitting the hay:I HATE the...One last thought before hitting the hay:<BR/><BR/>I HATE the promises!<BR/><BR/>Luther's rite of ordination and of marriage are remarkably devoid of them. Instead there is prayer and trust in the promises of God. I have always thought that even with "by the grace of God" attached to the confirmation promises they shift the attention to exactly where it doesn't belong. I'd have done the rite differently with the stress on the prayer for strengthening and the laying on hands/anointing. So, while I do think the children are capable of such promises, I do not think over all that retaining this laundry list of promises was a good thing. My $.02 on the topic. ;)William Weedonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01383850332591975790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9048575444859487507.post-25275259774810664732007-08-23T23:45:00.000-04:002007-08-23T23:45:00.000-04:00Of course, Brother Weedon, you are correct that ch...Of course, Brother Weedon, you are correct that children must be willing to forsake even father and mother in deference to Christ. I preached that very thing this past Sunday, because of our Lord's Word concerning the divisions He brings within households and families.<BR/><BR/>However, is it not the exceptional circumstance when a Christian child is confessing the faith at odds with his father and mother? I know it happens, but I don't believe that is the norm among eighth-grade confirmands, and even less so among younger children.<BR/><BR/>It simply strikes me as an oath that ought not to be required of a young child, whose life is not his or her own to do with as he or she would please. Allegiance and faithfulness to Christ means and requires, rather, in almost every circumstance, honoring father and mother. And most children are supported and assisted by God to remain faithful especially by the care and catechesis of their parents.<BR/><BR/>In my own experience, what I have found is that older confirmands, those who are already adults, are making these oaths and commitments with a whole different level of understanding than a young child is even capable of having. While I don't believe that difference in maturity ought to be a factor in preparedness to receive the gifts, I do think it is a pertinent factor in swearing such a promise.<BR/><BR/>When it comes right down to it, what is the necessity of making such an oath? If it is simply the commitment that every Christian necessarily has, for the sake of Christ, then why turn it into such a singular, once-in-a-lifetime occasion? But if there is going to be such a point in the course of one's life, then I believe that such an oath is better and more appropriately made at the time of adult maturity, rather than the onset of adolescence and puberty.<BR/><BR/>It seems to me that my point is not so different than the sense of the early church, by which they (regrettably) put off Holy Baptism until after the wild oats of youth had been sown. That was misguided for a number of reasons, but the sensibility was not necessarily so far removed from the realities of life in this world. What I am suggesting pertains, not to the Holy Sacraments of our Lord Jesus Christ, which are gifts to be received in faith and with thanksgiving, but to a human invention that has taken on a life and a significance of its own.<BR/><BR/>Consider that the historic order of Baptism-Confirmation-Communion did not originate with anything like the rite of confirmation we have received and know as Lutherans. It was simply the anointing with oil that was done following the Baptism with water. So, along with my uneasiness about having little children make such an explicit oath on their own lives, I am perhaps even more leery of tying the reception of the Lord's Supper to such a promise. In truth, receiving the Body and Blood of Christ does tie one to His death. The early martyrs had a keen sense of that; I'm thinking especially of Ignatius and Polycarp, for example. But it is one thing to receive that significance, and another thing to lay hold of it for oneself. That strikes me as similar to those who went looking to be martyred, handing themselves over (and then, as often as not, caving in at the moment of crisis), rather than simply letting things come as they would and proceeding quietly in faith. Does that make more sense, perhaps?<BR/><BR/>Thanks for your comments, my dear friend and brother. Your insights and perspective are always valued.Rev. Rick Stuckwischhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10664716292792101540noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9048575444859487507.post-60728728229090936412007-08-23T23:07:00.000-04:002007-08-23T23:07:00.000-04:00Dear Pastor Stuckwisch,I confess that I appreciate...Dear Pastor Stuckwisch,<BR/><BR/>I confess that I appreciate much of what you have written, but I do not agree with the notion that children are too young to make such promises living under their parents. This is where our Lord's words come in about him who loves father or mother more than me... I would have (and will have) no compunction asking the death questions to little ones. We remember how in some of the accounts of the early martyrs parents pleaded with their children to spare them this shame and agony and the children refused in order to honor their Jesus, even with their blood. Even when they are "under their parents" children still give their first allegiance to our Lord, no?William Weedonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01383850332591975790noreply@blogger.com