Here is a message shared with our confirmation Class on Pentecost Sunday, 2008. The words can be applied to Christians in various stages of their faith journeys.
Today is an important day. Up until this point in your life, someone has been taking you to Church. Your parents literally carried you here when you were very young, enticed you to participate, and in some cases dragged you kicking and screaming to be here. Your parents were doing their job to give you a moral and spiritual foundation. So, in Sunday School, VBS and Youth Fellowship, you learned important stories from the Bible, you acted in skits and plays, you discussed moral issues, you prayed together, and you did mission and service for the Lord.
Today, you are making a stand for yourself.
Today, we as a church community recognize that you are now professing your faith. You are confirming the Spirit’s call on each of your lives. In this service, we are going to symbolize that starting out by having you read a scripture verse that means something to you, and take a plunge in the waters of the Spirit of God. You were baptized with just a little water when you were a child. On that day, your parents made a pledge to get you to this point, where you can stand on your own, walk of your own free will into the deep waters of the Spirit and take the plunge.
It is a wonderful symbol, spiritually speaking, of diving deeply into the adventure of life. You are just starting out on a great spiritual journey that will last the rest of your life. We cannot live it for you. You will have to make the mistakes yourself, find out God’s surprises yourself, and make profound leaps of faith all by yourself.
This year, we tried to give you a few things to pack with you on the journey, things that will come in handy later on. We read many of the important passages from the Bible, because years from now, if you are ever confused, perhaps frightened, the scriptures will give you a way back to the path when you can’t find it on your own. The Bible is God’s guidebook for your life.
We introduced you to the life of prayer because years from now, when you have to stay focused on what is positive and you have people around you that are sick or in trouble that need your spiritual strength, you will know how to tap into the great force of hope and healing through prayers in Jesus Name. Prayer changes things. The family that prays together stays together!
We got you involved with the idea of service as a lifestyle, because years from now you are going to understand that giving back keeps you human, and it is the Jesus way, and service keeps you grounded in Him. Helping people shows them God’s grace in action. Do acts of kindness.
We involved you in leading worship, because years from now we want you to be at home in the church and we hope you will be in a service of the Lord’s Day every Sunday, participating in His plan, and that worshipping God will be a key part of your lifestyle, and your family’s lifestyle. Going to church may help others more than it helps you, but it will help you, and more importantly, you will showing that you are putting God first in your life.
Lastly, we studied the founders of our denomination, for the Spirit led them mightily. We showed the value of our church and its history, because years from now, you will come to appreciate the fact that, as Christians who learn to love each other, we are the face of Christ for each other, and one of the most profound spiritual experiences you will ever have will be the rich experience of a loving community that really knows you and stays with you unconditionally.
The Reformed Christian tradition, centered on God’s amazing Word, is strong and it has a lot of spiritual nutrient that you will come to appreciate as you get older. And you will need it. Possibly you will be able to complete this adventure with nothing but one great experience after another, but it is not likely. It is likely that somewhere on your journey you are going to have to stand for something that is the right thing to do and others around you will be pressuring you not to do it. You will have to have the courage of your convictions.
It is likely that somewhere on your journey you will be deeply disappointed that something you really wanted or someone you really loved suddenly disappeared. You will have find hope in the midst of discouragement and doubt. It is likely that somewhere on your journey, you will not have enough material resources to do something that is very important and you will have to step out boldly in faith that things will work out anyhow without any evidence that they will. Where God guides, God will provide!
I hope that you will continue the pursuit of God’s truth in His Word. Strive to live out the central teaching of Jesus, the Golden Rule: ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you’, and remember that understanding other people is a key to getting along in the world. As you go along the journey, enrich your mind by reading the Bible, and don’t be afraid to read the works of great thinkers in philosophy and theology.. As Benjamin Franklin once wrote: “You will only be as profound and as interesting as what you have read and studied seriously.”
Living for Jesus takes focus and discipline. Learn to focus your God given abilities.
There was once a young boy that was very smart, but he didn’t seem engaged in school. His mother took him to see a great Professor to see if he could inspire him to study. The Professor and the boy were talking about science because the boy was very gifted in science. The Professor said, “Tell me, what is the difference between a light and a laser? Do they emit the same energy?”
“Yes”, said the boy, “the energy is the same. The difference is that with a light bulb the energy is going in all directions at once. With a laser it is concentrated along a single beam.”
“Exactly”, said the Professor, “and that is how it gets its piercing power. And so it is with our concentration. We have to bring it to focus.”
So draw upon the great thinkers of the past and draw upon the best part of the Biblical tradition. What has it taught us? That the way of Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life, for all who believe in Him. That the positive forces of hope, grace, love, forgiveness, and compassion will ultimately triumph over the negative forces of despair, indifference, resentment, and hate. Open yourself to the positive spiritual energy of God’s universe, and let God’s Holy Spirit flow through your soul, and be a blessing to others! The negative forces will not win. We must reorient ourselves daily to the Good, and focus our energies for God’s purpose and mission.
Yes, the promise of the Spirit is that, in spite of yourself, you can bless other people. You can release the power of love and goodness and beauty. St. Paul, once said, “While we were still the worst of men, sinners all, God loved us.” And at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what kind of skills we started out with, what kind of physique, what kind of mental abilities. What will matter the most is how much love you have released, how much compassion, understanding, grace, forgiveness, hope and peace. What will matter the most is how much blessing you have given to others. And blessing, my friends, is eternal.
So be positive, stay positive. Worship Christ, live in Christ, and share Christ. And may you live to eat the orchards you plant, may you inhabit the houses you build, may you live to see the blessing you release live through the next generations. God be with you, each and every one, in every way, everyday! Amen and Amen!
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