[AI translation] When we, as parents, godparents, adults in the church, surround the young army that is gathering for the first time around the Lord's table for the confirmation celebration, our hearts are full of all kinds of good wishes, blessings, prayers. We would all like to say something good, something good, something lasting, something that these confirmands of ours can use in life. Well, that is how I would like to preach the Word now. I have already told them a great many things in the course of the preparation that we have made over the last few months, and now, just before the Confirmation profession and profession of vows, I would like to tell you a sad story, a cautionary tale: the case of Demas. Let us try to hear the word of God through him.There is a short report about this man, that's all: "For Demas has forsaken me, clinging to this present world..." You can almost feel in the lines the sadness that gripped Paul's heart when he told Timothy about this incident. Especially when we know that the apostle, at the time of writing this letter, is in prison, a prisoner of the murderous emperor Nero, awaiting execution. And just when he needed him most, when he was counting most on the loyalty and encouraging love of a friend and brother, this Demas has failed him. Just when the cause of Christ was in danger, when the perseverance of all believers was needed, this man deserted, left the following of Christ. And it was Demas! The same Demas who, years before, had happily come to know Jesus, had set out with heart and soul on the path of Christian faithfulness - perhaps just as you are doing now. He was eager to help Paul spread the gospel of Christ, to whom, as a trusted co-worker, the apostle could have entrusted the cause of the gospel, who could have continued the apostle's work after the apostle's death. And it was this very Demas who left him! He abandoned the apostle and the Church at the most critical moment. He went to Thessalonica. His departure had a devastating effect on the whole Christian church. Perhaps in dismay, they passed the news among themselves in whispers: did you hear? The demon has become a traitor! The demon has left us!
It is always shocking and sad when a member of Christ's church behaves like Demas. There is nothing sadder than when someone who has started on the path of following Christ changes his mind and suddenly turns off that path, leaves the community of believers, abandons the church, turns his back on Christ! I know that you do not want to do that, in fact! You are about to pledge yourselves to remain faithful followers of Jesus all your lives, but precisely in order that you may take this pledge of allegiance seriously, let me tell you that if any of you were to become a Demoniac, you would do more harm to the cause of Christ than did the Emperor Nero, who had the Apostle Paul executed. It is more damaging to the cause of Christ if a soul who has set out, if a man who has pledged his allegiance, should afterwards turn his back on Christ and His church than if he had never set out. For such a Demoniac bears witness to the world that, having tried life with Christ, he has found that he is better off without Him! No man compromises Christianity so much as he who will be unfaithful to it! Because such a man justifies the world's opinion that following Jesus is not worthwhile, it's not worth anything...
But why did Demas leave, what was the reason for his abandonment of Paul? Here is what the apostle says: "Clinging to this present world". What is it, then, that we must not love this world in which we live? Must the believer be a man who despises the world, a man who avoids the world? No! That is not the point! Of course we must love the world, we must! For God so loved this world that He gave His only begotten Son for it... And Jesus loved this world very, very much! He rejoiced in the lilies of the field, the birds singing, the little children playing. He could appreciate the earthly goods, for which his enemies mocked him as a "glutton and a drunkard", and tears sparkled in his eyes when he spoke of the beautiful Jerusalem that would be left standing. And every believer in Christ does well to love this world, that is, to love his family, to love his country, to work conscientiously, to study diligently, to cultivate science, to love sport, to love nature, because this world - the present world, as our Word says - is the world in which we live, turn, work, rest, play, and enjoy ourselves daily. Though every believer wants this world so much that he would excel above the rest as a good worker, a famous artist, a great scientist, a great sportsman, a tourist, a patriot... That's not the problem! In fact, it is the duty of every believer in Christ! That was not the case with Demas! In fact, I believe that it was not even a question of his liking for the world's filthiness, ugliness and ugliness. I think it unlikely that he would have left Paul by the way of the prodigal son, that is, that he would have been led down to the pig trough by the lure of drink, debauchery, fornication. No! It is not that! It is not only when one deserts Jesus that he becomes a debauched and vile man. It is very likely that after his departure for Thessalonica, he took up some new occupation as a very respectable citizen... Yet Paul writes of him: he had failed.
It is not, then, the attachment to the present world that is the problem. What is the problem? It is clinging to this present world in such a way as to abandon the cause of Jesus for it. So when you are overcome by the world, by the things, the cares, the beauty, the ugliness of this world - instead of Christ! When your heart is taken over by this present world! When it fills your life, when it dictates your thoughts, when this world becomes your chief treasure. For thou shalt have this world, but thou shalt never be of this world! Let the highest sport or art be yours, but never be that! Thou shalt always be Christ's! For that is the way to keep your life in balance! Love this world and go into the problems of this world, but as a redeemed child of Christ; love as a follower of Christ, go into everything as a lover of Christ, help solve all the problems of this world as best you can! Always as a follower, disciple and co-worker of Christ! Have fun, go on excursions, play sports, study, work, do whatever you have to do, but always do it with your heart still in Christ!
The problem with the demoniac was that his heart was being taken over by the world and suddenly he was gone... Surely his farewell to the apostle was not by standing before the apostle and saying to him: Farewell Paul, I am going, for I love this world more than Jesus! It is not the same way. Demas must have expressed his regret that he had to go to Thessalonica on urgent business. He had received a letter, he could not delay any longer, Paul had to admit that, he was really sorry, but... Of course Paul saw it, he saw Demas, he saw that his heart was turned away from the Lord. You can't force him to stay, you can't force him to go! If someone is more important than Jesus, he will leave sooner or later!
Those who did not come to the last evangelisation were certainly absent for very honourable reasons. For example, I invited by name the forty boys and girls who were confirmed last year, and three of them came. If we were to ask the others why they didn't come, not one of them would say, "Please leave me alone, I love the world more than Jesus," but each one would say that he had something urgent to do, and that everyone must admit that he was busy because... Of course I can see it, I can see into his soul. It's only been a year and already the things of the world have become more important to him than Jesus! So begins the journey of the Demonic. And also, I don't have time to read the Bible now, I can't take communion now because I haven't prepared for it, I'm tired of praying now, I have more important and urgent things to do than the cause of Jesus. And you don't even realize you're already on the road to the Demonic. He is already on his way to fail Jesus!
Brothers and sisters! Let me tell you that coming to Jesus is not so difficult as faithfully sticking by him all the way. The current of this world is terribly strong: it is bound to separate you from the Lord, and it will carry you away, as surely as an untied boat in the current of a river, if you do not cling to Jesus much more than to the world!
What became of Demas after that? We do not know. There were two traditions about him in the old world. One is that he became Paul's most bitter enemy. He became Judas. There is such a thing. Even among those who were confirmed at one time or another in a Reformed church. Disloyalty easily turns to hatred. This is what can happen when one is more attached to the present world than to Jesus. Another tradition says that Demas did return later. This is also possible. After all, when Demas went to Thessalonica, someone else went there too: Jesus! He said that the Good Shepherd would go after the lost sheep. Jesus quietly puts His hand on the shoulder of the one who has forsaken Him for the love of the world and says to him: "Come back, you demoniac, for you are Mine, your place is here in the church, at My table, in My service, under My protection!
My dear brothers and sisters, young and old! Do not abandon Jesus, you cannot get away from Him! If not before, yet at the Last Judgment you must all return to Him. Let me sum up all that I wanted to say to you in this Confirmation celebration in this Word of Jesus: 'Abide in me and I in you. As the vine cannot bear fruit of itself, but abides in the vine, so neither do you, but abide in me. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love." (John 15:4-9)
Amen.
Date: 31 May 1959, Confirmation afternoon.