Matthew 13: 1-9

The Parable of the Sower

¹That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. ²Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. ³Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. ⁴As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. ⁶But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. ⁷Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. ⁸Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop--a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. ⁹He who has ears, let him hear."  

Brothers and sisters in Christ, good morning! Oh, this is a happy day! This is a day of celebration. This is a day when we are celebrating new Christians. Young people are confirming their faith in Jesus Christ. That's a wonderful thing.

You know, you become a Christian the day you invite the Lord into your heart. But this is the day, for these young people, when we are proclaiming this publicly and celebrating the rebirth of each of them into the Lord Jesus Christ.

Oh, young people, what a wonderful thing that is! Each and every one of you prayed the invitation prayer, and Jesus always says, "Yes, I'll come into your heart." That means, in the words of Christianity, that you are saved. If anybody ever asks you if you are saved, you can say, "Praise God, yes! I've invited Jesus to be my Lord and Savior."

And he's your friend forever. And you're going to heaven, for sure, and that's a beautiful thing. We're all celebrating that today.

You know, we've had a lot of good times in our confirmation class. I've enjoyed them with you. Do you remember going to Avery Fisher Hall, and hearing that great sermon and hearing all that wonderful music there? Do you remember going to the Riverside Church, and seeing that huge tower? Going into the church, up the elevator, and climbing out the window and seeing the view of the Hudson River from the roof of the Riverside Church? (Really it was a porch – we weren't really on the roof, parents.) We saw the view of New York. We stood inside Riverside Church and saw all that stained glass and the magnificent organ. Do you remember the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, the largest Gothic cathedral in the world? We stood in that awesome silence and saw the beautiful pictures of the Lord in the stained glass windows. It was a wonderful time, and I enjoyed it with you.

Do you remember the movie about the Lord Jesus, about how much good He did and about the sadness of His death and the glory of His rising? What a blessing to see that! And what a blessing to hear you talk to me about your insights about God! It was wonderful! When you went out to the grounds around the church and brought in little creations of God and talked about the wonder of His love and His artistry and His beauty, I enjoyed that with you. What a wonderful thing!

Most important of all, you've invited Him into your hearts, and we're celebrating that with you today.

Dear friends, I invite you to remember the earliest days of your faith. The hymns of early America call this the soul in its earliest love. Never forget your earliest love for God. What was it like for you? Who introduced you to the Lord? Do you remember? Do you remember those precious days? Oh, this is a good time to remember them, dear friends. When the storms of life assail you, remember the days of your soul in its earliest love.

I learned something very important from this confirmation class, and I'd like to tell you about it. I confess to you that when I was a younger pastor I had an agenda for confirmation classes. My agenda was to cram every fact I could possibly cram into their heads and teach them every fact I could possibly teach them in the time available about the Bible and about the church. Those are important. You can see they've learned a lot, and that's good.

I learned something from one of these children this time around. We were standing in the Riverside Church, up in the front by the altar, surrounded by all that beauty and the magnificent pipe organ, and the tour guide said, "Our time is up. It's time to go. I wish we could stay, but we can't."

And one of the confirmation students came up to me, and he said, "Do you think we could come back some day?" And I thought to myself, "That's it!" My hope and my aim is not to just teach you a lot of facts. My hope and my aim is to share with you my love for God, my enthusiasm for God, and my enthusiasm for the things of God, in the hope that you will discover your own love and fascination and enthusiasm for God. That is my goal.

I hope you will go back to the Riverside Church. I hope that every church you pass fascinates you. I hope every celebration of the Lord's love strikes a chord of joy in your heart. That is my hope and my prayer for you and for every person here – that your love and your fascination for the things of God may be rekindled.

I have a prayer for you today, confirmation class and each and every one of you. My prayer for you is simply this: Never let go of the Jesus you know. Never let go of the Jesus you know. My dear children, children of God, as you go forth from this place, a lot of things will assail you. A lot of things will try to pull you away from your faith. But never let go of the Jesus you know.

Jesus talked about it in the Gospel. He compared our faith to seeds on the ground that birds try to steal away and that the sun tries to burn up and that thorns try to choke. You'll find experiences like that in your life. But never let go of the Jesus you know, because when you invite Him into your heart, Jesus says, "I will be with you forever. I will help you through the hard times. I will help you through your doubts and your griefs and all the difficult things that assail you."

My prayer for you is that you would never let go of the Jesus you know. Let your faith, begun so well today, last your whole life through. For you are embraced with the love of God, a love that is with you always. He loves you, and I do, too. God bless you. Amen.