6-04-2006

Celebrating the freeing, supportive presence of God. So your experience of God may become your experience of life. It is wonderful what God can do!

“Striking a Balance”

June 4, 2006

What is Confirmation and what is its significance? Confirmation is that time of life when we recognize both the reasoning capabilities and the faith development of our early teenagers. As parents and adults, we have nurtured them and disciplined them in the faith of Jesus Christ for the larger part of 12 or 13 years, and now it is time for them to accept personal responsibility for their faith.

If they were baptized as an infant, their parents made a promise to God to bring them up in the knowledge and love of God through regular study, encouragement, prayer, camp and Sunday School attendance, and the regular and faithful worship of God.

Confirmation is that time when young Christians accept the baptismal vows made by their parents when they were as yet unable, and when their faith becomes truly their own. Confirmation recognizes both the mental and spiritual ability of young Christians to accept the benefits and responsibilities of church membership. Confirmation first confirms their faith, and then offers them membership.

As full Professing Members, young Christians have the right to run for any church office and to vote on each and every issue. The only exception is that of the Board of Trustees where the state requires any Trustee members having legal responsibility to be at least 18 years of age.

As confirmed and professing members, there is a regular responsibility for the ongoing ministries of the church to its people and its community, as well as its building. Faithful attendance and regular giving are an important part of membership as in any other group, society, or service club.

The Confirmation Class today will take the same vows of faith and vows of membership that each of us, as members, have taken. They include these four areas of promise – prayer, presence, gifts, and service. Let’s look at them one by one.

We promise our prayers. In other words, we promise to be in conversation with God and not to ignore him for significant periods of time. We promise to give some of our attention to the growth of our spirituality through these conversations with God and with others.

We promise our presence. Our Scripture makes a very big emphasis on the point of each of us being a part of the body of Christ. If one part is missing, then the body becomes handicapped. Our Scripture also emphasizes that faith not exercised within the context of the body of Christ is a faith other than genuine Christianity.

We promise our gifts. In the same way we take care of those we love and offer them gifts or tokens to show our love, we vow to take care of those whom God loves and calls on us to love also. Our financial gifts are used to care for this congregation, its extended family, our community, and those in need well beyond our walls.

We promise our service. God gives each of us individual talents and abilities and fully expects us to use them. They are most often used to earn a living. But we could easily be accused of being selfish or self-centered if that is all we ever do with our talents. Jesus taught that God expects us to serve others, and particularly those who cannot serve themselves. He goes on to emphasize that as we serve others, we are actually serving God himself—so of course we give our vow to serve.

The regular practice of Prayer, Presence, Gifts and Service loves God back for all of God’s love to us. Scripture is also adamant about striking a proper balance between our physical and spiritual needs. Jesus often sought refuge away from the crowds for personal rest and prayer. The writer of Ecclesiastes encourages us to eat and drink and enjoy life for as long as we live.

Clearly, United Methodists do not believe in fanaticism or extremism; rather we, like our Scripture, promote the best of balances in our lives. But just as in dieting, exercise, and ample sleep, we must make special efforts and special commitments; the same is true of our spiritual life and spiritual preparations. In order to have a healthy spiritual life we must also consciously make special efforts in order to maintain a healthy spirituality. We commit to that on this special day.