[AI translation] I don't want to give a so-called confirmation speech, some solemn, beautiful sermon, which we expect on such a solemn occasion, in a solemn hour: but I would like to give you once again a simple, ordinary confirmation lesson, the kind we have had many times during the year. Who knows where each of you will go after today, whether we will meet again, what life awaits us, and whether the call of God will reach us where we are going? So before you scatter into the world, you who are sitting here together, let me share with you one last hour of Confirmation, and let me say once again what is most important, what is most necessary, and what is the only thing that is really necessary. That which you absolutely must know, that which you must never forget, even if you forget the whole Catechism and everything you have learned!I would now like to be the parable servant whom the Lord sends at supper time to tell the officials, as the Lord sends at supper time, "Come, for all things are now ready." (Lk 14,17b) The supper is ready. The table is set. The table is set. The host stands waiting for the guests to arrive. The wedding of the King's Son, the glorious wedding of the only begotten Son of the King in heaven, is about to begin.
In other words, salvation is ready! And to this salvation God calls! So, let us understand: the Lord is not calling us to some kind of pious, religious outlook on life, not to a godly way of thinking, not to a Christian worldview, but first and foremost, above all, to salvation. Not here on earth does the Lord prepare for his own a comfortable, soft life, a rich, abundant table, set with all earthly good things, but he prepares salvation, and he prepares his own for salvation already on this earth. What is salvation? It is eternal life, which is not this earthly and carnal life, it is only the occasion of its acquisition, the possibility of its finding. Salvation is that eternal happiness and glory which is not ended by death, but which only unfolds in its fullness after death. Salvation is that happy hope after the great death, without which all life before death - and therefore all life on earth - is a meaningless confusion, a whimsical game and a miserable adventure. Salvation is a life reconciled to God, the price of which is the life of Jesus Christ.
The second person of the God of the Trinity, Jesus Christ, had to descend from heaven to earth, take on human form, be humiliated as the last of the evil-doers, die an agonizing death on the cross, and shed his precious holy blood in order for salvation to be completed, for God to say, "Come, for all things are now finished."
You see, then, that the most precious treasure, the supreme good, the only necessary thing, is salvation. So much is it your most precious treasure, your future inheritance, that at your baptism the Lord made your parents and your god-parents promise to take care of it, to do everything in their power to bring you to receive it. It is to this salvation that you have been sealed by baptism.
Do you know that there are many of us in this congregation who have been praying for weeks that you may find this salvation? That's why we had all the preparation for confirmation, that's why we had the evangelisation last week, and that's why we have this solemn occasion. It is for your salvation, nothing else, nothing less, but for the eternal salvation of your body and soul. And everything is ready that is necessary for this salvation. The forgiveness of sins is ready, the grace of a holy God is ready, the victory over sin and death is ready, so salvation is ready for you too, your salvation is ready, it is finished. It was finished when your Savior spoke that word on Calvary!
If you had any doubt as to the certainty of your own salvation, let me remind you of what Jesus said to his disciples in his farewell discourse at his ascension: 'In my Father's house are many mansions; and if it were not so, I would have told you. I will go and prepare a place for you." (Jn 14,2) So you have a reservation, as it were, a place for you over there. Jesus went ahead to prepare it. He is holding your place, it is not a precarious thing, you have a place there, and you have a place there!
"All is ready!" I want you to understand that word now, "ready". So, it will not be ready afterwards, and who knows whether it will be ready in time, whether it will succeed, but it is ready! It is not half-finished, but completely finished! I understood this word when once it was very probable for me that my life on earth was over, and the only question I had was: what will happen now: salvation or damnation? One by one my sins were piling up and hiding the possibility of salvation from me. It had become very real to me, very doubtful, that I deserved damnation, and now I had little time to make amends for any of my failings or to do anything else for my salvation. It was awful to feel that I had neither time nor any opportunity to prepare or prepare for my salvation, or somehow to smooth the way for my salvation. It was then that I understood what it meant to have salvation ready for me: that Christ had taken upon Himself the sins and the burdens that would have brought me down to eternal damnation under a righteous judgment. He took all these things upon Himself when He died, and therefore I can be saved, in spite of what I am.
It is a joy unspeakable to realize that salvation is ready for me, that with much toil, suffering, blood and love, Someone has prepared salvation for me without me, but for me. In the same way, salvation has been prepared for you! You can neither spoil it nor improve it. Neither can you add to it: no matter how much merit, excellence or virtue you have, you cannot add a single particle to it. Nor can you take away from it: not even your sins, your wickedness, your many, many failings can take away from it, because it is always ready! It was made without you, but for you in Christ salvation is made ready!
You can only do two things with this ready salvation: you can say yes or no. You can accept it with joy and gratitude, or you can reject it. So: you can accept it or reject it! And this is where this joyful, this happy, this great parable becomes so terrible, that it also speaks of people who have already received the invitation, who have learned that everything is ready, and yet they did not go, and we read: "they began to excuse themselves." Is it possible that someone does not want to have dinner and its happy atmosphere? Is there a man who does not need salvation, who does not care, who does not value his salvation above all else? Is there a man who, when God gives him the greatest good news of all: forgiveness of sins and eternal life, does not rejoice, does not get excited, and even turns away in a mood of complacency to look after other, more "important" things? Sadly, there are such people, not only in the parable, but certainly here among us!
Let us look at the parable. Why did the invited guests not go to the banquet? It was not that they were angry with the king, they excused themselves with wonderfully polite and cordial, and certainly well-bred smiles. Nor was it because they were ashamed to appear at such a distinguished banquet because of their shabby, useless lives; indeed, they were all hard-working men with serious occupations. It was simply because they had no heart for the dinner, were burdened with the invitation, and were glad to have some excuse to get out of it. And, brothers and sisters, I know that there are those among you who are here now only because they have to be, because it would be a great scandal if they were to get up now and honestly and sincerely declare that this whole celebration is a burden for them, and that they should be left alone. There are some of you who have not had Confirmation at heart all year, and today you are just happy to get it over with! And it is terrible to know that there may be people who are making a profession of faith and a vow, people who are coming to the Lord's table who are spiritually distant from the whole thing! To them too I proclaim that "all is ready"! To these also I say, "Come ye," for now all things are ready for your salvation! Salvation is offered to all by God, and it is not the Lord God, but only your own ingratitude that can keep you from it, Brother! "All things are ready" for you too! Now the question is, are you ready for Christ? I know that there are many here who, by God's grace, have accepted the salvation offered in Jesus, who have said "all things are ready" in the depths of their souls. But the Word says, "Yet there is room!"
So there are still empty places at Jesus' great spiritual table, the royal table of salvation and grace! Which of your seats is still empty, who is still waiting for the King? Have you already taken your place? Do you sense the urgency of this Word? In the parable, the host called his guests several times, so he reserved their place for a while. He waited for them to come one day, perhaps. Then, afterwards, he saw that it was all in vain, so he put others in their place. God's call comes and goes, but you never know when it will be the last. How long will He keep your place, when He will put someone else there, and then there will be no more room! In the parable, those who did not come at the appointed time were excluded from the wedding. I don't know when the reluctant ones will run out of time, but I do know this: that there is room for everyone right now. For now, "there is still room!"
There is one very comforting scene in this story, the one that many people get caught up in. According to Matthew's description, the one who did not have a wedding garment was thrown out by the host. To do this, we need to know that at old royal banquets, the invited guests did not appear in their own clothes, but there was a royal wardrobe where all the arrivals would take off their home rags and receive a dress as a gift from the king. One that was befitting the royal banquet, the king's high personage and the whole setting. It was not unfair, therefore, for the host to see someone there in his rags brought from outside and have him removed. We read that the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind were invited in by the servants. What a magnificent sight it must have been to see the ragged street beggars suddenly transformed into a princely bride in sumptuous attire!
It is always like that, and it can be like that now. He is worthy of salvation who comes to God like the most miserable beggar, with the tattered bits of his sins hanging from him. It is a miracle that the Lord will even admit him to His high presence. Don't be afraid to come here like this, because He is calling you to come, come boldly, He will provide you with a nice new dress! First He will undress you: the holy, pure and innocent Jesus Christ will take off your own filthy rags and put them on Himself. Then he will clothe you: he will give you the snow-white robe of his own purity, holiness and innocence. Do you see how everything is ready? Everything is really ready! Everything is ready, even the dress, the wedding dress! If there is anyone else among you who feels the most despicable because he has been dragging his feet all the way through Confirmation, up to this very moment; who feels that everyone else can go but him, let the Word now say to them, "Come, for everything is ready!" For you too, your salvation is quite ready, come, there is still room!
Brethren, who believe this, who know that your Saviour lives and waits with salvation ready: bear witness to this in His presence! Bear witness by singing a confession of faith now:
I know that my Saviour liveth,
I know that I am alive, His love is ready and waiting for me;
He beckons to me and crowns me
Promises after the earthly battle.
(Canto 421, verse 1)
Amen
Date: 26 May 1949 (Communion Thursday, Confirmation)