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Confirmation Sunday
John 17
May 4, 2008
Tara, Preston, Tyler, Kenny, I have four
words for you. “I’m praying for you.” Four words of grace and comfort
and peace and hope. I’m praying for you. Think about the last time
someone said those words to you. Remember how they brightened even the
darkest of days, gave peace amidst the turmoil, filled you with the
knowledge that you were not facing the future alone but someone would be
with you in payer ever step of the way.
I’m praying for you. In our
bulletin and newsletter we have a list of those to remember in prayer. I
have heard time and time again how much it means to those on the list, how
they could feel the strength and power of your prayers and what a
difference it made to them in their struggle to know you were praying for
them, remembering them and asking God’s presence with them and for them.
I’m praying for you. It is
one of the greatest gifts and the greatest responsibilities God give to
God’s people. God commands us to pray and in doing so invites us to be in
dialog with God, to tell God our deepest desires and our darkest secrets,
to join with God in creating what will be.
And God has promised to listen
to our prayers. Thank about it- the Lord and Creator of all that is gives
God’s ear and attention to petty little sinners like us. What an awesome
gift! And with the awesomeness of the gift comes the great
responsibility- to be good stewards of this gift, not to trivialize it by
praying for a good parking space or getting an “A” on a test, but to use
it to bring the burdens of your heart and of the world’s heart before the
throne of God.
I’m praying for you. That’s
what Jesus promises in our Gospel lesson today. On the night in which he
was betrayed, after Judas had left to hand him over to the Romans, Jesus
prays what has come to be known as his high priestly prayer in chapter 17
of John.
First he prays for himself
that through what he is about to do that God would be glorified. Then he
prays for his disciples, not that they would be saved from what is to
come, but that in the midst of what is to come they would cling all the
more to their faith.
And then he prays for you and
me, “those given to him” (the disciples who are with him) but also us
(that’s you and me, we have come to believe in Jesus through the telling
of his story starting with the first disciples right up to those who have
told the story to us), that “they may all be one.” Jesus, as he faces
death, prays for you and he prays that we might be one.
Be one? I mean, take a look
at the person seated next to you. Do you think Jesus really wants you to
be an exact copy of that person- to think and act just like that person
next to you? Imagine- 100 Prestons walking around Carbondale or 100 Taras
walking around Topeka. Is that what Jesus prays for? Cookie cutter
disciples, all looking and acting the same?
Nowhere are our differences
and oneness more apparent than in Confirmation. You all come from
different backgrounds-some of you were baptized here at Our Savior’s,
others in another church. Some of you are wild childs, others are even
wilder childs. Some of you speak your mind and tell your pastor she is
having a bad hair day, and others are little more reserved. Your gifts
and abilities and loves and hates differ.
Long ago Jesus prayed for
those differences and continues to pray for them today. Jesus prays that
the blessed differences between us that at times we celebrate and at other
times drive us crazy don’t divide us. So he prays that we be united,
gathering us up in his arms in his dying breath, pulling us to his heart
so that we too take the final step with him in that last beat.
Today on this Confirmation
Sunday, we stand before a cross. The One who died there, spoke words of
love to those first witnesses gathered around his cross so many years ago,
words he speaks today to all who gather before it, words he will speak
tomorrow to all those who will gather still.
Today you stand as one before us and claim
your baptism and its gifts and responsibilities for yourselves. Today you
speak with one voice, saying yes to your church and to your faith and to
your God. Today you are one, just as Jesus prayed that you might be one,
and it is a day both heaven and earth celebrates.
I have chosen a Bible verse for each of
you. They come from various books of the Bible, focus on different parts
of our life together, but they all reflect the great love and respect God
and we, who have been privileged enough to have been used by God in your
Christian instruction, have for you.
Tyler- 1 John 4:7-8 “Beloved, let us love
one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God
and knows God.” Tyler, you are a wonderfully gifted young man- funny,
athletic, smart. But what makes you you is your kindness. In a world
that tells you to be tough, you have the strength and the courage to care
for others.
Preston- Galatians 5:1 “For freedom Christ
has set you free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a
yoke of slavery.” Preston, I celebrate your creativity. It is always a
risky thing to be creative because it can be something new, something
different and too often people what to enslave creativity into their idea
of what it should be. So my prayer for you is that God continues to
nurture that gift, using it to challenge and inspire people.
Kenny- Matthew 5:16 “Let your light shine
before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your
Father in heaven.” Kenny, in so many ways you shine with love and
compassion with which God has filled your heart. Through you, God
touches and warms God’s people, whether they are two or 82. As you enjoy
and take delight in people, you remind them that God enjoys them and takes
delight in them too. Don’t you ever hide that light under a bushel!
Tara- Psalm 118:24 “This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice
and be glad in it.” Tara, you are so laid back and able to go with the
flow, it is a gift that makes you open to receiving the day that the Lord
has made, with all of its blessings and all of its joy. May you find
strength and wisdom in your gift, and use it to help others, to “chill
out,” to take a break, to pause and ponder the day God has given them so
that they may rejoice and be glad in it.
I’m praying for you. Today we
pray together the prayers of the people, praying for peace and unity and
direction. As you pray, listen to the voice of your parents, your mentors,
your family, your friends, your pastor, and as you listen to the very
people who can exasperate you and exhilarate you, you will hear from their
lips the voice of the Lord, speaking words of love and care, praying “for
you,” you Tara, you Kenny, you Preston, you Tyler, you who are called, you
who are chosen to be a part of this one big family of God. Thanks be to
God. Amen.
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