Confirmation Sunday

June 22, 2025

Genesis 15:1-6, 17-19

Undivided Attention— On God’s Promise & God’s Covenant!

1After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision:

“Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”

2But Abram said, “O Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

4Then the word of the LORD came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir.” 5He took him outside and said, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”

6Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

17When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. 18On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates— 19the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites,

20Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.” (NIV1984)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ— especially you, Isaac:

A week ago yesterday I was standing in the parking lot talking to Isaac as he was waiting for his Mom and Dad. They were getting ready to go someplace. He asked me what I had on my agenda for the day. I said, “Sermon #3.” When I saw the puzzled look on his face, I told him that I needed to memorize my third last sermon before I retired. I followed that by saying that it works out pretty well since the next day was Trinity Sunday. Isaac being Isaac quickly asked, “What are you going to do next week for Sermon #2?” I chuckled and said, “I’m still working on that.” He said, “Why don’t you use the portion of Scripture where it talks about the animals that were cut in half and the fire passed between the two halves?” I chuckled and said I would think about it. As I thought about his suggestion I decided that it would work quite well! Ergo our sermon text for today!

As we continue our sermon series entitled Undivided Attention and as we gather together to celebrate Confirmation Sunday let’s study this portion of Scripture under the theme: Undivided Attention— On God’s Promises & God’s Covenant!

The events recorded in the two chapters just before our text prepare us for why God once again speaks to Abram. In Genesis chapter thirteen we hear that Abram and Lot separated because both men had so many flocks and herds that their herdsmen began quarreling with each other about whose herds were going to graze where. Abram generously offered Lot the first choice of land. Lot chose the fertile plain of the Jordan. Outwardly, it seemed as though Abram lost out on the opportunity for even greater prosperity that this fertile land provided. In Genesis chapter fourteen we read about how Lot and all of his possessions had been taken as prisoners of war. When Abram learned about this he gathered all his men and rescued Lot along with everyone else who had been captured. You may recall that this is when Abram gave a tenth of all the plunder to Melchizedek who was both the King of Salem and the “Priest of God Most High” (Genesis 14:18).

All of that serves as the background of the opening verse of our text. We read, “After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: ‘Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.’”

“Do not be afraid,” God said to Abram. What was causing Abram to be afraid? Was he afraid that the Lord would not provide him with what he needed in life? No. The Lord had already proven that He would provide Abram with far more than just the basic necessities of life! Was Abram afraid that the Lord would not protect Abram’s physical life? No. Abram’s victory over the four kings who had captured Lot gave him ample proof of the Lord’s protection. So what was Abram afraid of? Before we hear Abram himself answer that question and before Abram even had a chance to voice his fears, the Lord encourages Abram to give his undivided attention to God’s promises!

So what did the Lord promise Abram? The Lord made two promises to Abram. The first promise is found in the words the Lord spoke to Abram, “I am your shield, your very great reward.” It doesn’t come out as clearly in the English as it does in the Hebrew, but the emphasis in God’s promise is on the words, “I am.” The “LORD,” the great “I AM” promised that He is Abram’s “shield.” He is the One who promised to defend Abram and protect Abram in the future just as well as He has defended and protected Abram in the past. The “LORD,” the great “I AM” promises Abram that He is Abram’s “great reward.” Even though Abram “had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold” (Genesis 13:2) the Lord promises Abram that all of his worldly wealth is a pittance when compared to the eternal riches the Lord God had promised to give him!

“Do not be afraid…I am your shield, your very great reward.” That is the promise that the “LORD,” the great “I AM” gives to you Isaac, as well as to all of us. Whether we’re 14 or 44 or 84 there are many things in this world that can overwhelm us with fear. The fear of getting good grades can become the fear of getting a good job. The fear of not being popular can become the fear of not being successful. The fear that there aren’t enough hours in the day to do all the things that need to get done can become the fear of not knowing what to do with all the “free time” we have after we retire.

Then there are the deeper and darker fears that can haunt us day and night. There is the fear of being held accountable for all the sins that we have committed. There is the fear that the way we are living our life is not only disappointing to our parents and the people we love, but it is even more disappointing to our God.

That’s why the “LORD,” the great “I AM” says to you Isaac and to all of us, “Do not be afraid. I am your shield, your very great reward.” When we turn to the Lord our God with undivided attention, our fears are conquered by God’s promise to be our “shield” and our “very great reward.”

The second promise that God gave to Abram directly impacted what was causing Abram’s heart to be afraid. Look at verses two to six of our text. We read, “But Abram said, ‘O Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?’ And Abram said, ‘You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.’ Then the word of the LORD came to him: ‘This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir.’ He took him outside and said, ‘Look up at the heavens and count the stars— if indeed you can count them.’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’”

The ”LORD,” the Great “I AM” had already promised Abram that He would make him “a great nation…and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:1-3). Ten years had gone by since the Lord had made that promise and Abram and his wife Sarai still did not have any children! From the perspective of Abram and Sarai time was running out! Soon they would both be too old to have a child! This reality filled Abram’s heart with fear. So what did the “LORD,” the great “I AM” do? He took Abram outside and reinforced His promise with an object lesson. He said to Abram, “’Look up at the heavens and count the stars— if indeed you can count them.’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.” Did God’s object lesson work? It most certainly did! This is where we hear those words that so beautifully capture the essence of how we are saved, “Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.”

Did the Lord fulfill His promise to Abram? He absolutely did! You, Isaac, are proof that the “LORD,” the great “I AM” has indeed fulfilled this promise to father Abram! The fact that you have the faith of Abram living in your heart means that you are a descendant of Abram! (See Romans 9:6-9) The same holds true for everyone who has the faith of Abram living in their heart. We are living breathing proof that the Lord our God always keeps His promises!

The fact that you, Isaac, along with all of your brothers and sisters in Christ are living breathing proof that the Lord does indeed fulfill His promises is a source of tremendous confidence for you. There may be times that like Abram you grow impatient with God. There may be times that like Abram your timeline and God’s timeline do not match up. There may be times that like Abram your heart is filled with fear. When that happens to you— and note that I said when and not if— go outside at night and try to count the stars. The impossibility of counting all the stars in the heavens assures you of the impossibility that even one of God’s promises to you will fail.

Our undivided attention on God’s promises fits together perfectly with our undivided attention on God’s covenant. Look at the second half of our text. We’re told, “When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, ‘To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates— the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”

This is the portion of Scripture that Isaac was referring to. In the days of father Abram, one of the most powerful ways to establish a covenant between two people was known as the Babylonian blood covenant— something with which Abram would have been very familiar since he had been living in the Babylonian culture for many years. In the Babylonian blood covenant a number of sacrificial animals were killed and cut in half. Each half of each animal was laid on the ground facing each other— forming a sort of corridor. To seal the covenant, the two parties would solemnly walk together between the slain animals— as equals.

The ”LORD,” the great “I AM” took that Babylonian blood covenant and elevated it in a way that Abram could not have anticipated but in a way that dramatically revealed what the Lord was promising to do for Abram and all of Abram’s descendants. “A smoking firepot with a blazing torch”— which symbolized the presence of the Lord God— appeared all alone as it moved down the corridor between the sacrificial animals. This revealed to Abram that while the covenant was established between two parties they were not equal parties. The Lord was the One establishing a covenant with Abram. That covenant centered on giving to Abram’s descendants — and remember that at this time Abram had no children— the Lord was going to give to Abram’s descendants what we commonly refer to as the Promised Land.

“On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram.” Those words fit in beautifully with the fact that in just a few moments Isaac will speak his Confirmation vow. On February 13, 2011, the “LORD,” the great “I AM” entered into a covenant relationship with you, Isaac. Through the Sacrament of Holy Baptism the Lord washed away all of your sins, created the gift of saving faith in your heart and adopted you to be His own dearly beloved child. A central part of the covenant that the Lord established with you on the day of your baptism was the promise of one day bringing you into the Promised Land of His heavenly Kingdom.

While the covenant that God established with you at the time of your Baptism was something that He did for you, you are here in His house today to both reaffirm the baptismal covenant that God established with you and to pledge your faithfulness to that covenant relationship. The promises that you will make here in God’s house today are promises that you will not only need to hold near and dear to your heart for the rest of your life, but they are also promises that you need to consciously and openly live for the rest of your life.

Will this be easy? No it will not. Just ask any Christian who has stood before the altar of the Lord and made the same promises you are about to make. While you will not have to deal with the Hittites or the Jebusites or the Canaanites, the three spiritual enemies that you learned about in Confirmation class— the devil, the world and your own sinful flesh— will do everything they can to get you to break your Confirmation vow. That’s why it will be extremely important for you to remember another covenant that the “LORD,” the great “I AM” has established with you.

The “Rite” of Confirmation conveys on you the “right” to partake of the “New Covenant” that your Lord established with His Church in the Upper Room so many years ago. It is the Sacrament of Holy Communion. My encouragement to you is that you see the Sacrament of Holy Communion for what it is. It is your Lord’s visible tangible assurance to you that through faith in what He has done for you, your sins are forgiven. See it as one way that your Lord strengthens and nourishes the gift of saving faith that He has created in your heart. Don’t neglect to receive His holy Supper. Don’t lose sight of what your Lord gives to you and does for you every time you approach His altar to receive His true Body and His true Blood.

Before I close I would like to remind everyone that the Scriptural truths that apply to Isaac also apply to you. When you were baptized with water in the Name of the Triune God, the “LORD,” the great “I AM” established a covenant relationship with you. If you have stood before His altar and spoken your Confirmation vow, then today is a very good time to examine how well you have been living the promises you made. If you are a confirmed child of God and if you have the privilege of receiving His holy Supper embrace that blessed opportunity to strengthen the faith that lives in your heart so that you are better equipped to openly live your faith in your life.

My prayer this morning is that as we gather together here in God’s house to celebrate this important step in Isaac’s relationship with the Lord, that we will all take this opportunity to review our own relationship with the Lord, repent where necessary and rejoice in both the promises and the covenant that the “LORD,” the great “I AM” has established with us.

To God be the glory!

Amen