Saint James UCC of Hamburg, NY

Mark 1:14-20; Luke 5:1-11

Preached by Rev. Dr. Robert Matlack
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This morning in our Rite of Confirmation, six of our youth accepted God's call. They declared before us and before God that they will seek to live as Christians, loving and serving God, and being active members in the life of this church. They have declared their faith and chosen to accept God's call, a call which comes to each and every one of us as well. In accepting this call, they have each taken another step along their journey of faith - a journey that began when they were baptized, when their parents committed themselves to teach their child about God and to bring that child up in the life of the church. Now each of our confirmands has claimed the Christian faith as their own, and in so doing they are continuing on a journey of faith which will last through their lifetime and beyond.

Too often in the life of the church confirmation has been seen as a graduation, a time marking the end of active participation in the life of the church. But, if that is our attitude about what has happened here today, then this service of confirmation becomes a mockery, and flies in the face of what this process has been about.

For the past five months these young men and women have talked about and explored their faith with their mentors. The commitments of faith which they have expressed today say that they will be more fully involved in the life of the church, that they have chosen to follow this path, and that they are freely embracing, freely committing themselves to the Christian faith, and to this particular congregation. That commitment is a lifelong one, as our mentors have modeled for them. This has been a process of sharing their faith journeys in which both confirmand and mentor have learned and grown. The commitment of our confirmands to keep on growing in their faith will be lived out in the steps that they take through the years to come as they seek to keep growing in their faith - steps that begin with this one taken today.

What has happened here in our service this morning is a reminder of that first Pentecost, an event which we celebrated a few weeks ago. On that first Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out on all who gathered. Their lives were changed by that experience. Their confusion about what to do next, was replaced by a new sense of direction. Instead of being disheartened because Jesus was no longer there to lead them, they found hope. Barriers of language, discouragement, and feeling inadequate were overcome. Many people repented of their sins - declaring that they would turn away from and no longer follow the path of sin, instead they committed themselves to follow God.

As individuals and as a community they were transformed by this experience. That's precisely what each of us needs to be able to say today - that we have been transformed by our experience of faith, and that the process of change, of growing in our faith, will continue through the years ahead.

Today our confirmands are transformed by the new relationship they have committed themselves to with God. They have accepted God as their Creator, the one who gave them the gift of life. They have accepted Jesus Christ as their Redeemer, the one through whom we receive forgiveness and come to know God's love more fully. They have accepted the Holy Spirit as their Sustainer, the source of our strength, the one who enables us to go on, even when it seems like we cannot continue.

Our confirmands have claimed their faith as their own. They have chosen to accept God's call, to live as Christians, and to seek to love and serve God in all that they do. That's not always an easy task. Sometimes God calls us to go in directions that are not easy or comfortable, and that we'd rather not travel.

There's a wonderful story written by Theophane the Monk. He writes, "I had just one desire - to give myself completely to God. So I headed for the monastery. An old monk asked me, 'What is it you want?' I said, 'I just want to give myself to God.' I expected him to be gentle, fatherly, but he shouted at me, 'NOW!' Then he reached for a club and came after me. I turned and ran. He kept coming after me, brandishing his club and shouting. 'Now, Now!'

"That was years ago. He still follows me, wherever I go. Always that stick, always that 'NOW!'"

That's the kind of urgency that God calls us all to have in our lives. We can't be complacent about our faith. We can't put being faithful off for some other day, some better time. Each of us is called to try and live faithfully right NOW!

Both of our texts this morning describe Jesus calling His disciples to come and follow Him. At the time they were busy fishing and taking care of the family business. They had much to do, and I expect that Jesus' timing was not real convenient for them. They were probably tempted to put Him off, asking Him to wait for a better time, and perhaps they wanted an opportunity that promised greater rewards. But the call came to them to give up everything and follow Jesus, Now. That's precisely what they did, and precisely what our confirmands have committed themselves to today, just as most of us have made a similar commitment at some point in our lives.

Sometimes it's easy to follow God, and being faithful is a real joy, but there are other times when God calls us to travel some very difficult paths, when life is not easy, and being faithful demands that we do things that seem silly or foolish in the eyes of the world. The challenge for each of us, the call which we have accepted, is to follow God not only when it's easy, but also when it's the most difficult thing that we've ever had to do. This is the kind of commitment that transforms our lives, because it speaks of a powerful, special relationship with God. This is the kind of commitment that our confirmands have claimed for themselves today.

This step that they have taken today is also changing their relationship to this community. They have been a part of this church community, some of them for all of their lives, but up until now they have been considered children. With their confirmation today, they have become full adult members of this community of faith. They have all of the rights and privileges - as well as the responsibilities - of membership that you and I share. We are all charged with the task of working together to make this church more fully what God wants it to be, and we rejoice as these confirmands work together with us on this task.

Not only are these confirmands changed by this experience, but we as a community are changed as well. We have six new adult members in our community, and it is our responsibility to welcome them. They are full members of our church, members with ideas and visions for how we can live more faithfully. Some of their ideas will be naive, just as some of ours are, but other ideas of theirs will be very good, just as some of ours are. Each of them will bring their energy and enthusiasm to some position, some area of service within the life of our congregation. We need to listen to them, to really hear what they have to say to us, so that we can learn from them, encourage them, nurture them, as well as teach them, just as they will encourage, nurture and teach us. These new members have much to give to the life of this church, just as there is much that they can receive from us.

These young people have taken an important step today. With this step they have begun a lifelong journey of faith. We don't know where their journeys will lead them. What we do know is that they will be filled with both challenges and opportunities. Today we celebrate the fact that we are able to walk with them as they take the first steps on this life giving journey.

For we are bound together by a common faith - a faith in God who has Created us, Jesus Christ who has Redeemed us, and in the Holy Spirit who Sustains us. So come, let us gather around the table of the Lord, witnessing to and celebrating this gift of faith which we have all been blessed with.

Amen