Friday, June 3, 2011

confirmation sermon


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Easter 5A – Sunday May 22 – Confirmation– “Welcome”
1 Peter 2:2-10 (Living stones), John 14:1-14

Welcome! Welcome to the confirmation students who have come this whole way. Welcome to their families and friends who have come to see them step up and affirm their covenant of baptism. And Welcome to the rest of you. Maybe you didn’t realize what we were doing today – and that’s okay – in fact that’s wonderful. You are not here by accident – not at all. God desires this building to be full when we pray for these young people. Too often we forget that these kinds of moments – the baptisms, the confirmations, even the weddings and the funerals – are not just for the people who are doing them – but they are part of the life and breath of the whole church.

That’s what I’ll be speaking about today – the life and strength of the whole church. You see, kids – this day is “all about you” but it’s not all about you. You’ve done some work, hung in there in your Christian education – but you’ll be making your promises ‘by the grace of God.’
My understanding of the process of Confirmation education is that you students ‘try on’ the promises to see how they fit. We invite you to practice worship, fellowship, study, service and justice. We’ve asked you think about those things, how you will experience them in your life. Some of you fought that pretty hard, some of you found a wonderful insight.

Bless your hearts – we’ve asked you to try and try on the promises of baptism – and – you weren’t perfect. Here’s the big reveal – nobody is – I’m not perfect, they are not perfect, no one on earth does it perfectly as God desires.

That’s why, this day, this event isn’t about you at all – it’s about our beautiful God, our loving God. A God who takes even people, imperfect people like you and me – and offers us a place in his house. Yep, even folks who have messed up occasionally – who have frustrated the pastors in class, who have absolutely sat in stone silence in class and only answered us with jokes –

• folks who aren’t totally sure what we believe, (Do I believe this enough to be here?)
• folks who wonder if we’re good enough, (Not as good as – that!)
• folks who are pretty sure if someone knew their deepest hearts –

Well – God does know – and God does care – how we live, what we do, that we fix our eyes on him, our lives on his power to change us – even then, when we are weak God does not discard.
God believes you are one of the living stones.

The author of our second lesson – the lesson from the First letter of Peter – speaks of living stones. Living stones are useful stones, are stones that have strength and beauty for a building. The author invites, yes, invites each of us to “Come to Jesus Christ,” and submit ourselves to be built into a temple. Come and be used. Interesting, isn’t it, that we are make for a purpose – for use.

Christ is the cornerstone – the place where it all begins and ends – but we are the bricks, the stones, the substance of this Temple, spiritual house. All of us, each one of us, confirmation student or parent or regular worshiper or musician or stranger who wandered in today – each one of has a purpose.

Yes, each of us is supposed to be here because together, and only together do we make the great Temple of praise. Here we find out what we are supposed to be doing – what all this was about, kids – is that you are the living stones of the Temple of Jesus Christ. You are the living stones. The role of the living temple – is to tell - is to praise – is to exclaim the Great Work, to point out the joy of the Real Story of Jesus. That happens here in this hour, but because we are a spiritual house – we take our mission with us wherever we go – we are commissioned to be the house of the LORD everywhere, every day, every encounter.

What happens when a brick isn’t there? There will be a gap, an absence, a missing support. Something will not be right. Now, tomorrow, you might say – I don’t matter here – it does not matter if I come to church or not – it does not matter if I keep my promises to this project, this person, to church, to God. Now only God can really answer that.

But the scripture here and in the Gospel makes a promise about promises – Our God promises that mercy and hope and honor will come to those who keep their promise. “once you were not a people – now you are God’s people. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

That’s what this is all about today – WE are called to be God’s Living stones, his Temple, his priesthood, his nation, his voice, because we have all received mercy, not because we finished some years of education, not because we’ve done the right thing, not because we were born a Lutheran or American or anything.

The mercy is that We have been introduced to Jesus and through him know the Father. Come to him, a living stone – and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
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