In just a few moments a bunch of our congregation’s teenagers are going to be promising themselves to Jesus Christ. Some of these teens were promised to Christ by their parents when they were baptized while very young. These teens will be “confirming” those baptismal vows now that they have reached the age of responsibility, and be making those promises afresh for themselves. Two of our teens have never been baptized; dedicated to Christ, perhaps, promised in their parents’ hearts, perhaps. They will be baptized here among us this morning.

Both groups of teens will be asked the same questions, making the same promises, the same commitments…

The first question is this: “Who is your lord and savior?” Raised up in a free and democratic society a question asking, “Who is your lord?” is a foreign one. We Americans have been taught that we are our own people, we belong to ourselves, subject to no lord or master or king. And so this very first question gets to the very heart of who we think we are, and who we are choosing to be. It is a question about subjection. To answer this question we must believe that we do not belong to ourselves; that we are not our own; that we do indeed have a lord, a master, a king to whom we owe our loyalty and obedience. Answering that this same one is our savior means we believe we owe this lord and master and king our loyalty and obedience because he has saved us when we could not save ourselves.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 states: “You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price.” And Romans 14:7-9 continues the thought: “For we don’t live for ourselves or die for ourselves. If we live, it’s to honor the Lord. And if we die, it’s to honor the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. Christ died and rose again for this very purpose – to be Lord both of the living and the dead.

When we become Christians, the Holy Spirit comes to live in us. Therefore, we no longer own ourselves. Christ’s death freed us from sin but also obligates us to His service. If you live in a building owned by someone else, you try not to violate the building’s rules. Because we belong to God, as our Lord and Savior we commit our lives to fulfill His standards and purposes for our lives.

Who is your lord and savior?

…

Our teens, having committed themselves to Jesus Christ – their Lord and Savior, the second question we’ll be asking is this: “Do you trust Him?”

I think of that as a question of intention: Because each and every one of us has all manner of sad & upsetting and thrilling & joyful experiences happening across our lives. And it can take great faith – great trust – in the midst of these varied situations and happenings to be confident that the Lord God has love for us in them all; that His plan and purpose will be achieved through them all; and that His plan and purpose is to love us, and through these experiences to form us into the likeness of Christ Himself.

2 Timothy 1:9 tells us, “For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was His plan from before the beginning of time – to show us His grace through Christ Jesus.” You and can wholeheartedly follow and obey Him as our Lord and Savior because we trust – through all our troubles and trials, that – His plans and purposes for me are loving and good.

Jesus Christ: Do you trust Him?

…

If we do, the next question we’re asked is: “Do you intend to be His disciple, obey His Word, and show His love?” If the first question was one of subjection and the second a question of intention, this third question is surely one of commitment to transformation. This question assumes that no matter how good or how moral my life, that my Lord and Savior – Jesus Christ – is calling me to change.

“But change to be like what, to be like who? Do I try to act like the pastor, or do I pick out my Sunday School Teacher or one of the Elders to emulate?” Perhaps. But ultimately the One we’re called to be like is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. So by answering this question we are committing ourselves to get to know our Lord and Savior: To read the Bible and get to know about Him; to read the Bible and get to recognize His voice; to talk to Him in prayer and to listen for His response through His Word or through our circumstances or through the words and counsel of others.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 encourages us: “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip His people to do every good work.” So we’ll read the Bible and pray and shape our lives according to what we read and hear…

The last question: “Will you be a faithful member of Christ’s Church, giving of yourself in every way? And will you seek out the fellowship of other Christians wherever you may be?” It’s a question about belonging: We’ve committed that we’re no longer our own and that we now belong to Christ. We believe He has good plans for us, even when bad things happen! And we have committed ourselves to work with Him – as we get to know Him better and better through His Spirit and His Word – to become more like Him, as He’s shown Himself to us in Christ. But not everyone around us is like this. Not many at all have been called out of society to be so focused and committed to Christ.

And so the Lord has established for Himself a community of people made up of those who have been called out and set apart, just like us. This new community is called “The Church”. It has many names. (“First Presbyterian” is just one of the names.) And its made up of folks of every color and every nationality; its people speak every language and live at all ranges of the economic and intellectual spectrums. But it is one body, this Church. It is one community – no matter our variety or differences. United around our one, common faith and trust in our one, common Lord and Savior; all of us committed, together to be His disciples, obey His Word, and show His love…

As Ephesians 2:19-21 states: “So now you are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens long with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. Together, we are His house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus Himself. We are carefully joined together in Him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. Through Him you are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by His Spirit.”

The Church is our new family; we’re a part of a new community, the household of God, the Body of Christ.