Confirmation is Catechises!

"Hence from ancient times it has been called, in Greek, a “catechism”—that is, instruction for children. It contains what every Christian should know. Anyone who does not know it should not be numbered among Christians nor admitted to any sacrament, just as artisans who do not know the rules and practices of their craft are rejected and considered incompetent. For this reason young people should be thoroughly taught the parts of the catechism (that is, instruction for children) and diligently drilled in their practice." (Preface to the Large Catechism)

Often times I struggle with getting people to sensibly understand what is confirmation. Most people think confirmation is some kind of Graduation within the Church. This is often perpetuated by the idea that it takes place in the spring, so some have moved it to Reformation Sunday in the Fall. Others have helped foster this idea because they no longer connect it with first communion.

In the early church a catechumen was one learning the catechism. I think this is what most Pastors teach in confirmation class. The Early church would offer a celebration of moving someone from catechuman to member at the celebration of Jesus entering into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. This would allow the recent confirmand to attend the sacrament of the Altar celebrated on Maundy Thursday. They would then develop a new batch of catechumens on Easter Sunday as they would newly Baptize individuals, as they celebrate the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

But there is a good right and salutary movement within the church to allow for what some refer to as early Communion. This is the process of allowing a young individual to be admitted to the sacrament, because they have studied and memorized Luther's small catechism. They often times can recite the Catechism better than the elderly members in the congregation.

Yet, "Anyone who does not know it should not be numbered among Christians nor admitted to any sacrament, just as artisans who do not know the rules and practices of their craft are rejected and considered incompetent." So are the older members of our congregations incompetent in the Christian Faith and should be denied the Sacrament? Or is there more to understanding the Sacrament, than memorizing the Catechism?

"Young people should be thoroughly taught the parts of the catechism and diligently drilled in their practice." Means not just knowing the words on the page. It means understanding the depth and breadth of Lutheran Theology, which our elderly members of the congregation have spent a lifetime doing (hopefully). This means they should not just have a surface understanding, but know it and be able to defend this. 

If you are going to claim that a 4th, 5th, or 6th grader has that understanding, then why haven't you confirmed them. Why have you not allowed them to go through the rite of Confirmation? What more do you have to teach them? But often people want to connect confirmation to graduation or their Baptism, (as if Baptism was not done completely by God once for always). 

If Confirmation is someone pledge of what happened at Baptism, then I guess my Baptism wasn't fully good enough until I complete the process. If Confirmation is some rite of passage within the Church, then I guess it is just Graduation from children's church to actual church. If Confirmation is learning the catechism so I can be numbered among Christians and admitted to the Sacrament of the Altar, then I guess it might just be about catechises. Thank you. 

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