Sermon Notes for May 7th
May 7, 2006
Confirmation Sunday
“By This We Will Know”
1 John 3:16-24
John 10:11-18
1. Well, today is Confirmation Sunday – a very important day in the life of our church. And it is also Communion Sunday. A big day for celebration and also a day for serious reflection. Which is what going to church is really all about – isn’t it – at least most of the time? For worship is about giving thanks to God and expressing joy for being alive. And at the same time, it is a place for learning, thinking, and for healing. It is also a place for relationships and for caring and being cared about.
Two weeks ago, our confirmation class visited Temple Israel in Minneapolis on a Friday night. And we discovered that worshipping there was more or less the same as it is here – except, of course, that a lot of it was in Hebrew! But, just like here, there was a time for serious reflection and prayers for healing, and there was also singing (some really great singing, if fact) and much celebration as well.
And we got to see a 13 year old young man come forward to be presented to the congregation at the time of his bar mitzvah. He didn’t actually read from the scripture or take part in the service that evening for, as our guide told us, in the Reformed Synagogue, this takes place on Saturday morning and is attended mainly by family and friends. Whereas, we were told, in the more orthodox conservative branches of Judaism, the young person reads from the Torah in front of the whole congregation (in Hebrew).
We also learned that (contrary to what many folks think) you don’t have to do anything to become a Bar Mitzvah or Bat Mitzvah (if you are a girl). It happens automatically when a boy is 13 and a girl is 12. And it is not supposed to be the end either, as some think, of Jewish religious education.
2. Actually, in the Jewish culture, Bar Mitzvah primarily means that one has “come of age” and is now expected to obey the commandments. That is, of course … the Ten Commandments and the Torah.
In fact, there doesn’t even need to be an elaborate ceremony surrounding this event. However, particularly in America, the Bar Mitzvah has lately become a really big deal. And this has only happened in the last 100 years.
In fact, in my old neighborhood in St. Paul, our neighbors were Jewish and when their son “came of age” they threw a really big party and even hired a rock and roll band to play outdoors. Wouldn’t that be something!
However, as one Jewish commentator laments, that today many Jewish parents regard the bar or bat mitzvah as the sole purpose of Jewish education, and treat it as a kind of Jewish hazing ritual which in effect means: “I had to go through it, so you have to go through it, but don’t worry, it will all be over soon and you’ll never have to think about this stuff again!” Unfortunately, I think that this all too often the way many people view Confirmation, too. Once you are confirmed, it is thought, then you know everything. Wouldn’t that be nice?!
3. Well, these were just a few of the many interesting things we learn every year on our annual confirmation retreat. It’s a lot of fun and I actually look forward to it every year. In fact, I sometimes think that maybe we should all have an adult trip to the cities. How many of you would like to visit Temple Israel?
So, while I am at it… let me also tell you about the service project on our retreat. On Saturday morning we all went to a place called Feed My Starving Children in Brooklyn Center. This is a non-profit organization started by a religiously motivated businessman in Minneapolis.
From its beginnings, Feed My Starving Children has worked to develop a food mixture that is be easy and safe to transport, and simple enough to make with only boiling water, and culturally acceptable worldwide.
With the input of scientists from major food companies in the Twin Cities area—including Cargill and General Mills—FMSC developed a formula consisting of:
1. Rice, the most widely accepted grain around the world.
2. Extruded soy nuggets, providing maximum protein at lowest cost.
3. Vitamins, minerals and a vegetarian chicken flavoring to give growing children the critical nutritional elements they need.
4. Dehydrated vegetables for flavor and nutrition.
4. This mixture is packaged in small pouches—each of which provides six highly nutritious meals— and this easy-to-prepare food blend has won rave reviews all over the world. While the formula was designed to save the lives of severely malnourished and starving children, the ingredients also improve the health, growth and physical well-being of children who are no longer in immediate danger of starvation.
A single pouch of food—which provides meals for six children—costs $.90 to produce, and 94 percent of all contributions to Feed My Staving Children go directly toward the cost of the food program.
Our confirmation class spent two hours packaging up this food. Along with two other groups we boxed 11,000 meals.
These meals are sold and shipped to relief agencies around the world like the United Methodist Committee on Relief. You can see a picture of our young people out on the bulletin board in the narthex which was taken at Feed My Starving Children.
5. So, how many of you remember being confirmed? What was that like?
I asked someone recently, and she said, mostly she was worried about how she would look up in front of the all the people.
That’s pretty normal, I think. In fact, I hope that you don’t think that, just because you are being confirmed today, all kinds of bells are going to go off and loud noises will be heard in heaven. (Actually, that comes later! – I’m just kidding!)
No, we must realize that it’s not necessarily going to be some kind of a big spiritual event right here and now. Why? - Because God doesn’t always work that way. More than likely, you may find out that God will sort of sneak up on you when your not expecting it. Like in the famous story of Elijah the Prophet:
11 The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by."
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"What a great line! All this happens and God says, “What are you doing here?” It’s almost funny in a way isn’t it? Do you suppose God has a sense of humor?
So, if Confirmation feels a little awkward and strange don’t be worried – it’s normal. And yet, what I can tell you is that if you choose to continue to follow the religious path in life … you should be prepared to be surprised. In fact, you should be prepared for the unexpected. For God is a surprising God! Really Suprising!
It may not happen today … it may not happen for many years. But, if you are faithful, it will happen. That is God’s promise to you. For whether we realize it or not, God is always at work in our lives. God never gives up because God cares about us! That is the message of Jesus and of the Gospels.
6. For instance, let’s consider the great John Wesley for moment. He was certainly a super religious guy. His father was a minister. His mother was very religious, too. And when he was young he nearly died when their house caught fire and burned to the ground. Because of that event he believed that he was destined for something big in his life. So, he practiced his religious faith night and day. In fact, when he was in college, he and his brother would get up early in the morning to pray and read the Bible. They were so disciplined about their daily life of prayer and study that they were made of fun of by other students and they became known as "The Holy Club" or "Methodists" because of the methodical way in which they carried out their Christian faith. And that is actually how our denomination got its name.
But, in spite of all his efforts, it was not all that easy for Wesley … for no matter how hard he prayed or how hard he studied he never seemed to get the feeling that he was doing enough or doing the right thing. He was very frustrated and confused. Nowadays, we might say he was really “uptight.”
But, he kept going and eventually, he became a minister and went to America as a missionary. But, even there he didn’t do so well and eventually he went back to England. It was a very hard time for him. He felt, really, as if he was a total failure. You get the picture?
And then it happened, in year 1738 John Wesley had a profound spiritual experience. "I felt," he wrote, "my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins." This experience transformed Wesley, and inspired him to become one of the greatest preachers of all time. At this time, Wesley was actually 35 years old. Imagine that! All that time God was at work in his life and he didn’t even know it! And after that, he wasn’t so uptight because he finally realized that it wasn’t what he was doing that mattered so much as what God was doing through him!
7. So, what about being a Methodist today? Recently, I was reading a little book called Being a Methodist in the Bible Belt – a theological guide for youth, parents, and other confused Methodists.
The author says that one day he was riding in his car and there was a big sign in front of a church which said, “Revival Tonight at 7 PM” After that, it said, “17 Saved Last Week.”
He said, that while keeping score of what God is doing is one way of declaring and celebrating God’s power, he realized one thing:
This was not a Methodist Church!
Why? Well, it is not because Methodists don’t care about salvation – but rather because we do care about it so much that just having a billboard like that does not really represent what salvation really means to us.
This is because John Wesley taught that coming to faith in God is not the goal of our religious journey. “Don’t get me wrong,” he writes. It is important and necessary. But it is not the goal.
8. According to our Methodists beliefs, “Our main Christian doctrines are repentance, faith, and holiness.” The first is, as Wesley himself wrote: the porch of religion. The next is the door, and the third is religion itself. That is what Wesley actually said.
In other words, salvation is like a house. To get into the house, you have to first get on the porch (which is repentance) and then you have to go through the door (faith) and then once you are inside the house itself – your relationship to God – is holiness or, in today’s language – Wholeness – spiritual wholeness. Does that make sense? Isn’t that what we want – Spiritual Wholeness? To be connected to God?
Unfortunately, a lot of people think that getting on the porch is as good as it gets. In other words, you get saved and that’s it.
But there is more. For Methodists believe that once you have faith (once you go through the door) God does something more … God gives you the power through the Holy Spirit to live out that faith.
That’s why Methodists are always doing things. Methodists are involved in education and teaching and in health care … and even politics (God forbid! – just kidding!) and community issues and helping people in need close by and far away. Because Methodists believe that it is important to live out our life in service to others. That is what discipleship means.
And this can be truly exciting because God is leading us to be involved with others which is what Jesus meant when he called on us to love God and our neighbor and ourselves.
In fact, I sometimes think a lot of people are already inside the house and don’t know it … or don’t believe it because they are confused by a lot of religious language that is going around. Isn’t that true. Most of us, I think, are already inside the house – can you believe that?
9. And, so let us hear again the message of our scripture reading for today from 1st John – Chapter 3. Let me read it this time from The Message by Eugene Peterson (the same Bible which we just passed out to all our confirmands):
16This is how we've come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. 17If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God's love? It disappears. And you made it disappear.
So, I ask you. “Isn’t that what the Bible all about? Isn’t that what Jesus trying to say to us? What could be clearer than that?
Let’s read it again:
7If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God's love? It disappears. And you made it disappear.
Good stuff, huh? Pretty clear, huh? Let’s read a little further:
18My dear children, let's not just talk about love; let's practice real love. 19This is the only way we'll know we're living truly, living in God's reality. 20It's also the way to shut down debilitating self-criticism, even when there is something to it. For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves.
10. Let’s face it – we sometimes can get all wrapped up in finding fault with ourselves and other people, too. Isn’t that right? We can get all worried about ourselves and things so much so that we fail to see what is going on right in front of us. And what John is saying is that when that happens what we really need to do is just trust God and keep on going (just like John Wesley did).
It’s kind of like the famous motto of the Al Franken character on Saturday Night Live. What was his name? That’s right -- Stuart Smalley. Does everyone know that motto?
Well, can you picture for a moment Stuart Smalley in front of his mirror getting ready to do his TV show and he says:
I'm going to do a terrific show today! And I'm gonna help people! Because I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and, doggonit, people like me!
That’s pretty much the same thing as what Jesus was saying in the Gospels. And the same thing in the 1st letter of John.
Let’s hear the rest of it, again:
This is God's command: to believe in his personally named Son, Jesus Christ. He told us to love each other, in line with the original command. 24And so, as we keep his commands, we live deeply and surely in him, and he lives in us. And this is how we experience his deep and abiding presence in us: by the Spirit he gave us.
11. In closing, I would like to once again hold up the words in the Celtic Confession of Faith which Laramie read this morning. Perhaps we might all consider taking it home and reading it again.
What’s that line in there … the language is so interesting … “I fasten close to me this day.”
“I fasten close to me this day … that same Jesus.”
That’s what it is all about. Finding God and staying close. So, in a way, confirmation is just the beginning if learning how to stay close to God in our lives.
And, so, this morning, our young people invite you to participate with them today in the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper as we all come forward “to fasten close to us … that same Jesus.”
And with that in mind, let us prepare now for the Communion as we sing Hymn # 2126 in the Black Hymnal – Which invites us “To taste and see the grace eternal. Taste and see that God is good.”
Let us sing …
Confirmation Sunday
“By This We Will Know”
1 John 3:16-24
John 10:11-18
1. Well, today is Confirmation Sunday – a very important day in the life of our church. And it is also Communion Sunday. A big day for celebration and also a day for serious reflection. Which is what going to church is really all about – isn’t it – at least most of the time? For worship is about giving thanks to God and expressing joy for being alive. And at the same time, it is a place for learning, thinking, and for healing. It is also a place for relationships and for caring and being cared about.
Two weeks ago, our confirmation class visited Temple Israel in Minneapolis on a Friday night. And we discovered that worshipping there was more or less the same as it is here – except, of course, that a lot of it was in Hebrew! But, just like here, there was a time for serious reflection and prayers for healing, and there was also singing (some really great singing, if fact) and much celebration as well.
And we got to see a 13 year old young man come forward to be presented to the congregation at the time of his bar mitzvah. He didn’t actually read from the scripture or take part in the service that evening for, as our guide told us, in the Reformed Synagogue, this takes place on Saturday morning and is attended mainly by family and friends. Whereas, we were told, in the more orthodox conservative branches of Judaism, the young person reads from the Torah in front of the whole congregation (in Hebrew).
We also learned that (contrary to what many folks think) you don’t have to do anything to become a Bar Mitzvah or Bat Mitzvah (if you are a girl). It happens automatically when a boy is 13 and a girl is 12. And it is not supposed to be the end either, as some think, of Jewish religious education.
2. Actually, in the Jewish culture, Bar Mitzvah primarily means that one has “come of age” and is now expected to obey the commandments. That is, of course … the Ten Commandments and the Torah.
In fact, there doesn’t even need to be an elaborate ceremony surrounding this event. However, particularly in America, the Bar Mitzvah has lately become a really big deal. And this has only happened in the last 100 years.
In fact, in my old neighborhood in St. Paul, our neighbors were Jewish and when their son “came of age” they threw a really big party and even hired a rock and roll band to play outdoors. Wouldn’t that be something!
However, as one Jewish commentator laments, that today many Jewish parents regard the bar or bat mitzvah as the sole purpose of Jewish education, and treat it as a kind of Jewish hazing ritual which in effect means: “I had to go through it, so you have to go through it, but don’t worry, it will all be over soon and you’ll never have to think about this stuff again!” Unfortunately, I think that this all too often the way many people view Confirmation, too. Once you are confirmed, it is thought, then you know everything. Wouldn’t that be nice?!
3. Well, these were just a few of the many interesting things we learn every year on our annual confirmation retreat. It’s a lot of fun and I actually look forward to it every year. In fact, I sometimes think that maybe we should all have an adult trip to the cities. How many of you would like to visit Temple Israel?
So, while I am at it… let me also tell you about the service project on our retreat. On Saturday morning we all went to a place called Feed My Starving Children in Brooklyn Center. This is a non-profit organization started by a religiously motivated businessman in Minneapolis.
From its beginnings, Feed My Starving Children has worked to develop a food mixture that is be easy and safe to transport, and simple enough to make with only boiling water, and culturally acceptable worldwide.
With the input of scientists from major food companies in the Twin Cities area—including Cargill and General Mills—FMSC developed a formula consisting of:
1. Rice, the most widely accepted grain around the world.
2. Extruded soy nuggets, providing maximum protein at lowest cost.
3. Vitamins, minerals and a vegetarian chicken flavoring to give growing children the critical nutritional elements they need.
4. Dehydrated vegetables for flavor and nutrition.
4. This mixture is packaged in small pouches—each of which provides six highly nutritious meals— and this easy-to-prepare food blend has won rave reviews all over the world. While the formula was designed to save the lives of severely malnourished and starving children, the ingredients also improve the health, growth and physical well-being of children who are no longer in immediate danger of starvation.
A single pouch of food—which provides meals for six children—costs $.90 to produce, and 94 percent of all contributions to Feed My Staving Children go directly toward the cost of the food program.
Our confirmation class spent two hours packaging up this food. Along with two other groups we boxed 11,000 meals.
These meals are sold and shipped to relief agencies around the world like the United Methodist Committee on Relief. You can see a picture of our young people out on the bulletin board in the narthex which was taken at Feed My Starving Children.
5. So, how many of you remember being confirmed? What was that like?
I asked someone recently, and she said, mostly she was worried about how she would look up in front of the all the people.
That’s pretty normal, I think. In fact, I hope that you don’t think that, just because you are being confirmed today, all kinds of bells are going to go off and loud noises will be heard in heaven. (Actually, that comes later! – I’m just kidding!)
No, we must realize that it’s not necessarily going to be some kind of a big spiritual event right here and now. Why? - Because God doesn’t always work that way. More than likely, you may find out that God will sort of sneak up on you when your not expecting it. Like in the famous story of Elijah the Prophet:
11 The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by."
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"What a great line! All this happens and God says, “What are you doing here?” It’s almost funny in a way isn’t it? Do you suppose God has a sense of humor?
So, if Confirmation feels a little awkward and strange don’t be worried – it’s normal. And yet, what I can tell you is that if you choose to continue to follow the religious path in life … you should be prepared to be surprised. In fact, you should be prepared for the unexpected. For God is a surprising God! Really Suprising!
It may not happen today … it may not happen for many years. But, if you are faithful, it will happen. That is God’s promise to you. For whether we realize it or not, God is always at work in our lives. God never gives up because God cares about us! That is the message of Jesus and of the Gospels.
6. For instance, let’s consider the great John Wesley for moment. He was certainly a super religious guy. His father was a minister. His mother was very religious, too. And when he was young he nearly died when their house caught fire and burned to the ground. Because of that event he believed that he was destined for something big in his life. So, he practiced his religious faith night and day. In fact, when he was in college, he and his brother would get up early in the morning to pray and read the Bible. They were so disciplined about their daily life of prayer and study that they were made of fun of by other students and they became known as "The Holy Club" or "Methodists" because of the methodical way in which they carried out their Christian faith. And that is actually how our denomination got its name.
But, in spite of all his efforts, it was not all that easy for Wesley … for no matter how hard he prayed or how hard he studied he never seemed to get the feeling that he was doing enough or doing the right thing. He was very frustrated and confused. Nowadays, we might say he was really “uptight.”
But, he kept going and eventually, he became a minister and went to America as a missionary. But, even there he didn’t do so well and eventually he went back to England. It was a very hard time for him. He felt, really, as if he was a total failure. You get the picture?
And then it happened, in year 1738 John Wesley had a profound spiritual experience. "I felt," he wrote, "my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins." This experience transformed Wesley, and inspired him to become one of the greatest preachers of all time. At this time, Wesley was actually 35 years old. Imagine that! All that time God was at work in his life and he didn’t even know it! And after that, he wasn’t so uptight because he finally realized that it wasn’t what he was doing that mattered so much as what God was doing through him!
7. So, what about being a Methodist today? Recently, I was reading a little book called Being a Methodist in the Bible Belt – a theological guide for youth, parents, and other confused Methodists.
The author says that one day he was riding in his car and there was a big sign in front of a church which said, “Revival Tonight at 7 PM” After that, it said, “17 Saved Last Week.”
He said, that while keeping score of what God is doing is one way of declaring and celebrating God’s power, he realized one thing:
This was not a Methodist Church!
Why? Well, it is not because Methodists don’t care about salvation – but rather because we do care about it so much that just having a billboard like that does not really represent what salvation really means to us.
This is because John Wesley taught that coming to faith in God is not the goal of our religious journey. “Don’t get me wrong,” he writes. It is important and necessary. But it is not the goal.
8. According to our Methodists beliefs, “Our main Christian doctrines are repentance, faith, and holiness.” The first is, as Wesley himself wrote: the porch of religion. The next is the door, and the third is religion itself. That is what Wesley actually said.
In other words, salvation is like a house. To get into the house, you have to first get on the porch (which is repentance) and then you have to go through the door (faith) and then once you are inside the house itself – your relationship to God – is holiness or, in today’s language – Wholeness – spiritual wholeness. Does that make sense? Isn’t that what we want – Spiritual Wholeness? To be connected to God?
Unfortunately, a lot of people think that getting on the porch is as good as it gets. In other words, you get saved and that’s it.
But there is more. For Methodists believe that once you have faith (once you go through the door) God does something more … God gives you the power through the Holy Spirit to live out that faith.
That’s why Methodists are always doing things. Methodists are involved in education and teaching and in health care … and even politics (God forbid! – just kidding!) and community issues and helping people in need close by and far away. Because Methodists believe that it is important to live out our life in service to others. That is what discipleship means.
And this can be truly exciting because God is leading us to be involved with others which is what Jesus meant when he called on us to love God and our neighbor and ourselves.
In fact, I sometimes think a lot of people are already inside the house and don’t know it … or don’t believe it because they are confused by a lot of religious language that is going around. Isn’t that true. Most of us, I think, are already inside the house – can you believe that?
9. And, so let us hear again the message of our scripture reading for today from 1st John – Chapter 3. Let me read it this time from The Message by Eugene Peterson (the same Bible which we just passed out to all our confirmands):
16This is how we've come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. 17If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God's love? It disappears. And you made it disappear.
So, I ask you. “Isn’t that what the Bible all about? Isn’t that what Jesus trying to say to us? What could be clearer than that?
Let’s read it again:
7If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God's love? It disappears. And you made it disappear.
Good stuff, huh? Pretty clear, huh? Let’s read a little further:
18My dear children, let's not just talk about love; let's practice real love. 19This is the only way we'll know we're living truly, living in God's reality. 20It's also the way to shut down debilitating self-criticism, even when there is something to it. For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves.
10. Let’s face it – we sometimes can get all wrapped up in finding fault with ourselves and other people, too. Isn’t that right? We can get all worried about ourselves and things so much so that we fail to see what is going on right in front of us. And what John is saying is that when that happens what we really need to do is just trust God and keep on going (just like John Wesley did).
It’s kind of like the famous motto of the Al Franken character on Saturday Night Live. What was his name? That’s right -- Stuart Smalley. Does everyone know that motto?
Well, can you picture for a moment Stuart Smalley in front of his mirror getting ready to do his TV show and he says:
I'm going to do a terrific show today! And I'm gonna help people! Because I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and, doggonit, people like me!
That’s pretty much the same thing as what Jesus was saying in the Gospels. And the same thing in the 1st letter of John.
Let’s hear the rest of it, again:
This is God's command: to believe in his personally named Son, Jesus Christ. He told us to love each other, in line with the original command. 24And so, as we keep his commands, we live deeply and surely in him, and he lives in us. And this is how we experience his deep and abiding presence in us: by the Spirit he gave us.
11. In closing, I would like to once again hold up the words in the Celtic Confession of Faith which Laramie read this morning. Perhaps we might all consider taking it home and reading it again.
What’s that line in there … the language is so interesting … “I fasten close to me this day.”
“I fasten close to me this day … that same Jesus.”
That’s what it is all about. Finding God and staying close. So, in a way, confirmation is just the beginning if learning how to stay close to God in our lives.
And, so, this morning, our young people invite you to participate with them today in the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper as we all come forward “to fasten close to us … that same Jesus.”
And with that in mind, let us prepare now for the Communion as we sing Hymn # 2126 in the Black Hymnal – Which invites us “To taste and see the grace eternal. Taste and see that God is good.”
Let us sing …
posted by Anonymous at 10:10 AM
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