During church this week, we had the rite of confirmation, in which three 9th graders were confirmed in the faith, following several years of religious instruction (also known as “catechesis”). During the rite, the confirmands were required to deliver oral essays about their own personally-selected confirmation verses.
I was curious about what they would say, because when I was confirmed some 60 years ago (!), someone else chose my verse for me, and I was not required to write or deliver an essay on what the verse meant to me. All I had to memorize for my confirmation were four affirmations: “I do, I do, I do, I will.” Also, my verse was in a Bible version that is no longer used today. (No, it wasn’t in Greek, but in a version closer to Old English than today’s modern translations.)
So, when I listened to those young people’s essays, I began to think about my own verse, and wondered what I might say about it if I had to write my own essay. So here goes . . .
To begin with, what was my verse? John 1:12, which reads as follows: “But as many as receiued him, to them gaue hee power to become the sonnes of God, euen to them that beleeue on his Name:” No, wait, that is the original 1611 King James Version; my version was a little newer than that. I learned it according to the Revised Standard Version of 1952. That rendition reads:
“But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God;”
At first, when I received my verse, I was a little disappointed. Although I didn’t know much of the Bible, I had hoped for a more famous verse like John 3:16, or Psalm 100 (the first passage I had memorized in Sunday School), or Genesis 1:1, or the verse about Daniel being thrown in the lions’ den. Or maybe the verse about David slaying Goliath, or the behemoth of Job 40. At first, my verse seemed, in the words of this generation, “meh.”
1. But, as time has gone by, and I have mostly matured, at least in the faith, I have come to appreciate my verse more. For one thing, after becoming a pastor, I often led Sunday worship, which began with a liturgy that included my verse at the start, right after our confession of sins, when I would proclaim the absolution to the congregation: “To those who believe in Jesus Christ he gives the power to become the children of God. . .” I thought that was cool, because it meant my verse was more important than I had previously thought.
2. The second reason I grew to like my verse, was the thought that I was now considered to be one of God’s children. And the only requirement to become that, was to believe in Jesus Christ. I knew I believed (and still believe) in him, and therefore I am included with Christ in all the benefits which belong to him: salvation, eternal life (John 3:15-16), a place in heaven which he has gone to prepare for me personally (John 14:2-3), an inheritance in glory (Ephesians 1:18), and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit now as a guarantee of what is to come (Ephesians 1:14). As a child of God, I am at peace no matter what happens in this life, for I know what the future holds.
3. For the third reason I appreciate John 1:12, we need to do with it what we should do with all scriptures: consider it in the context in which it was given. That means to look at the verses before and after it in John’s Gospel. When we read John 1:9-11, we read:
9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.
In these verses, we read that though Jesus is the light of the world, when he came into the world, the world – and even his own people – did not know him and rejected him. The contrast with verse 12 is thus set up: there are those who reject Christ (verses 9-11), and those who receive him (verse 12). The unbelievers remain in darkness (verse 5 – “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not understood/overcome it”), but the believers receive the blessing of becoming children of God. This means not all people are God’s children, they are all God’s creations, but to become his children requires faith in Christ.
When we read the verse after verse 12, we learn that as God’s children, we:
13 were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
This verse tells us that our adoption is not empowered by our desire or our efforts, but strictly by the will and power of God. What is required of us is faith, which itself comes from God (Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”) This tells me that my place in God’s plan is not up to my doing, to my doubts or stumbles, or my present emotions, but up to God’s will and purpose, which is unshakeable. This gives me peace in all circumstances, and security in times of testing.
So, all in all, my verse – John 1:12 – is not too shabby. I don’t know why my pastor gave it to me, but after all these years of study and life experience, I am glad he did. I can still read and appreciate the more exciting verses of the Bible, but this verse is mine, and I am grateful it is!
Now, may the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine on you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.
Read: John 1:1- 18; Romans 8:38-39; Ephesians 2:8-10.
P.S. Karen’s confirmation verse was John 3:16!