"Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do what I tell you? Every one who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep, and laid the foundation upon rock; and when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house, and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But he who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation; against which the stream broke, and immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great." Luke 6:46–49
(RSV) Today, I spent some time pointing out to one of my older grandchildren that Confirmation is not like graduation. This is not a new conversation about Confirmation. It does seem like graduation. There are robes, families gather, pictures are taken, special instruction has ended, and gifts are given. The comparison to graduation is understandable. Understandable, but wrong in pretty much every point.
Our life in Christ is never completed while we are in this world. Jesus leads us each day to a deeper relationship if we are willing to go where He leads. In this deeper relationship, we find the strength of spirit to contend with all the challenges we will face in this life.
Think on your own life to this hour. How many joys and sorrows have you known? Has the night seemed unending as you stared into the darkness, and prayers could not come? Watching a western sky as the sun descended has a sunset blessed you unlike any before or since? Have you simply stared at the night sky and marveled that in all that vast expanse of stars, galaxies, and unknown wonders, that God is even mindful of you?
We have not been created and given the Spirit of God to drift through this world as an aimless leaf on a fall breeze. God has given us hearts and minds that can thrill at an infant's first cry and grieve as a final breath slips past the lips of a dear friend.
One span of years is not the beginning of enough to grasp all that our Lord has done. He calls us to root our lives deeply in Him so we can bear it all. We can receive the joys that lie beyond words and bear the pains that apart from Jesus would crush us.
No, nothing is finished on Confirmation Sunday. The white robes return to the closet, but the path that follows Jesus has only begun. No, nothing is finished until we see Jesus face to face in the Kingdom.