After speaking with my father about his confirmation at the very same church where I will be confirmed, College Hill Moravian, I better understood what the whole process means to me. We are made members of the Body of Christ through receiving three sacraments – Baptism, Confirmation: which we receive only once, and the Holy Communion which represents Christ Himself each time we partake. Being confirmed completes and strengthens (‘confirms’) the spiritual “character” and belonging to Christ which we are given at baptism.
Jesus sends his Holy Spirit to us from God the Father to give us power and gifts (wisdom, knowledge, understanding, counsel, fortitude, piety – to parents and God, and a healthy fear of the Lord). We are given the ability to live as a disciple of Christ and can use daily the grace given by God in this sacrament. Confirmation ‘tattoos’ your soul with the mark of Christ our King, a distinguishing mark of dignity which you carry with you when our worldly life in the flesh ends and the new one with our Lord begins. Not that I would ever get a real tattoo because my dad has told me the bible warns us not to. Leviticus 19:28 says, “Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print or tattoo any marks upon you: I am the Lord.”
How we use these gifts will depend on our own unique and individual mannerisms. Spiritual formation informs, forms, and transformsus—whether child, youth, or adult—into a robust, vital, and life-giving Christian faith that is whole: the mind, the heart, and the hands.
Spiritual formation does the very same for the Christian community as it immerses people into the practices and way of life that identifies them as followers of Jesus. In our confirmation vows, we will promise never to leave the faith, that we would even suffer and die rather than reject the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. What we are essentially saying is “What happened back at my baptism, I still believe it! I am indeed a Christian! I am a child of God in Christ Jesus! I believe in Him! Through His death and resurrection, I will live with Him forever!”
The grace given to us in confirmation enables us to grow to Christian maturity “… so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3: 17-19). I look forward to making my commitment to my faith and church community.
Written by Zane Miller, Current Moravian Confirmand
“… so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3: 17-19
