Dr. David D. Young
May 14, 2006 – Confirmation Sunday
I Corinthians 1: 4-9
John 13: 1-17
“The Call to Commitment”

Just a few short years ago – or more than double the age of you confirmands (your choice) – I stood up in the First Congregational church of my hometown on my day of Confirmation. The funny thing is – I don’t remember hardly any of the words that were spoken. But I do remember it was a very special and exciting day – and I was very nervous.

And as I look over the faces of these nineteen young people who will be joining the church in just a few minutes – I can’t tell if they are feeling joy or anxiety – or both. But I want to say on behalf of your families and the entire church family that you did a marvelous job with your statements of faith and we are very proud of you on this day.

What I do remember from my day of Confirmation is more of a feeling – than the words that were spoken. The feeling of affirmation from the congregation and a feeling of love. A love that I still feel when I think back to my home congregation. So wherever your life takes you – I hope you’ll soak in this feeling today and let that stay with you for your entire lifetime. I didn’t know on my day of Confirmation that I would later respond to the call of God in my life and enter the Christian ministry. But on this your Sunday of Confirmation we are listening for God’s call to commitment.

Sometimes we have to quiet ourselves from the many distractions and noises of our lives – if we are to hear God’s call. I know how busy and distracted young people can become – there are so many choices and activities to be involved in. But you know, the same is true for your parents and the rest of the people here this morning.

Part of modern life is being busy. However, busyness is nothing new. This year in Confirmation Class you studied the Bible and I want to remind us all – that when the call of God came,

Moses was busy with his flock at Horeb. Gideon was busy threshing wheat. Saul was busy searching for his father’s lost animals. Elisha was busy plowing. Peter was busy fishing. James and John were busy mending nets. Matthew was busy collecting taxes. Mary and Elizabeth were busy with homemaking. Jesus was busy in his father’s carpenter shop.

The point is they all eventually opened themselves up to listen to God’s call. Three simple clues to the call are contained in our Corinthian text for this morning. The first is found in verse 4,

“I give thanks to God always for you because of the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus.”

And that grace, I’m convinced goes all the way back to covenant - a covenant is an agreement or promise between two parties. But unlike a contract – where if one party breaks their end of the arrangement the other party is no longer obligated to hold up the other end.

A covenant means that even when one party fails – the other still upholds their promise. In covenant with God then, during those times when we do not live up to our promises to God we are not abandoned, but God keeps on loving us still. And that’s what grace is all about.

I hope the class will remember that grace is God’s goodness given freely to us. And so this covenant you are about to enter into carries with it the wonderful gift of grace – not to let you off the hook – but recognizing that none of us are perfect. As Mark Twain put it,

“Heaven goes by grace. If it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in.”

This integral link between covenant and grace tells us that God’s love is greater than our love – and that’s good news.

A covenant is a time to affirm God’s love and confirm our promises. Hear it in verse 5,

“In every way you were enriched in him that is Jesus Christ with all speech and all knowledge – even as the testimony to Christ was confirmed among you.”

Your Christian covenant is to confirm your faith in Christ.

A Store Manager heard his clerk tell a customer, “No, Ma’am, we haven’t had any for a while, and I doubt we’ll be getting any soon.” Horrified, the manager came running over to the customer and said, “Of course we’ll have some soon. We placed an order last week.” Then the manager drew the clerk aside. “Never,” he snarled, “never, never, never say we’re out of anything – say we’ve got it on order and it’s coming. Now, what was it she wanted?” “Rain,” said the clerk.

Your promises today are not because someone else has told you to make them – and those which you have no intention of keeping. No, it is out of your own integrity that each of you comes to this decision.

Now, does that mean you have all the answers? Of course not, none of us do. But it does mean you are officially attaching yourself to Christ – seeking his guidance and way in your life.

This decision is not just for you today. Today is an opportunity for each one of us here to re-confirm our relationship to Christ and Christ’s body – which is the church. And so as one of your ministers I too need to hear these words of the 17th century mystic, Angelus Silegious,

“However well of Christ you talk and preach, unless He lives within, He is beyond your reach.”

Well, covenant and confirming lead to our third clue – Communion. Keep in mind that Communion has at least two aspects to it. First is what we think of as the Lord’s Supper – where we share the bread and the cup – which we will do shortly. The other is what we mean by a communion of fellowship. You see, to be a member of First Congregational Church is to be a part of this Communion or fellowship of faith.

Paul expressed it this way in the final verse of our text,

“God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

We are called into fellowship, Communion and community with one another. I hear people tell me they can be a Christian without belonging to a church – and that may be. But to be an isolated Christian without involvement in any community of faith – is to ignore the crucial call to commitment in fellowship. To be an isolated Christian is a contradiction in terms. For Paul tells us we have been called into the fellowship of Christ. Communion is to be in union with one another in Christ.

Let’s turn for just a moment to our other scripture which by the way comes just before Jesus shares Communion with his friends. It’s the story of Jesus washing the disciples feet – there in the upper room. And after he had done so, he said to them,

“Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.”

Foot washing is a symbol of service. The call to commitment is a call to serve one another in Communion and community. Author, James Baldwin, shares this powerful insight,

“The moment we cease to hold each other; the sea engulfs us, and the light goes out.”

Or as the amazing German pastor, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, puts it,

“Jesus Christ exists as community.”

And that’s what we affirm and experience in Communion. The coming together of us in community with God through and as the body of Christ.

Covenant!
          Confirm!
                   Communion!

These are the three clues of the call to commitment on this special Sunday. And to the nineteen of you I say – if you remember nothing else today – I hope you will remember your covenant.

Your promises are very important today – and no matter where you go or what you do God’s grace will be freely given to you. For today you confirm your faith in Christ – and He will guide and lead you. And in Communion you will know his presence and share in community with fellow believers – as together we serve even as Christ served. We are called to commitment this day.

And so may God bless to this years Confirmation Class and to all of us – the grace and promise of: covenant, confirming our faith in Christ, and Communion – the sharing in the joy and service of community. Amen!