Saint James UCC of Hamburg, NY

Luke 5:1-11; Mark 1:9-13

Preached by Rev. Robert Matlack
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This morning in our Rite of Confirmation, seven 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. If that is our attitude about what has happened here today, then this service of confirmation becomes a mockery, ignoring the commitments that have been made today, and flying in the face of what this whole process has been about.

For the past four months these young men and women have talked about and explored their faith with their mentors. These have been good relationships, with deep, rich conversations about their faith, conversations that have helped these young people to grow and deepen their faith commitments.

The commitments of faith which they have expressed today say that they will be more fully involved in the life of the church, that it is their choice to follow this path, and that they are freely embracing and committing themselves to the Christian faith, and to this particular congregation. That faith commitment is a lifelong one, as our mentors have modeled. 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 in some ways a reminder of Jesus' baptism. On that day there was a wonderful service in which Jesus was down in the Jordan river with John the Baptist, and then as he walked out of the water the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove. Everyone experienced God's presence that day. We too have had a wonderful service today. God's Spirit has been present in our midst, and I hope and pray that you have each experienced that presence.

Interestingly enough, after Jesus' baptism - and this is a big difference between what happened then and now - there was no big party for Him, instead God sent Him out into the wilderness where He fasted for 40 days and was tempted by the devil. Then maybe again that isn't so different. I suspect that most of our confirmands will have a special party, but then we're still sent out into the world to face the challenges and the temptations that abound as we seek to follow God's will. As our confirmands face what the world throws at them, it will be their faith that will sustain them.

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 a monk by the name of Theophane. 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. It's too easy to 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!

When Jesus called the first disciples to follow Him, 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 that same 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 or most 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 seven 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. 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 been blessed.

Amen.