Sept 23 Confirmation notes

PUMC Sept 23 2007 Rory Swenson

Confirmation is always a great day and I have enjoyed getting to know the three of you a little more.Actually my favorite part of the whole confirmation journey
is the opportunity to get a sense of who you are
and hear your thoughts..

We got together on Wednesday evening for most of the school year last year..

And as always .there is a lot that we didn’t get covered.. You are not Bible experts

and really you still have a lot to learn about John Wesley and the United Methodist church and you have a lot of spiritual growing to do..

But thats ok
because thats just how it is, for all of us.
So we need you to be in Sunday classes and youth group.and mission trips and Bible studies and worship....from now

That means two things; I am going to use this a time to give another confirmation lesson to the class
and secondly, I use this a s time to remind you that confirmation is not an ending but a beginning.
I want you to know that this is not anything like graduation:
you are not graduating from your Christian education
you are not graduating from a class
you are not graduating
from the training program of the church

This is a beginning,
so instead of graduation,I want you to think more like matriculation.


Now... do you know what a matriculation ceremony is?
Matriculation is the admission ceremony

Its when you sign in to a school ..such as a college..
You enroll.
(We just went to one of those ceremonies for my daughter Sara)

matriculation

maybe that’s what this is: that means the confirmation program
was more like an application process with the admissions interviews and
you have now met some admission requirements with grace

Now
you are going to actually start the next level of learning
now
you are going to be officially in the membership program
now you are going to start
Formally
at the school of faith as a disciple of Jesus Christ
I like that.

.you are saying that now I will be a student in this discipline

not a graduation but a matriculation
not an ending but a beginning

As you start your formal admission
into the membership life of the church

I want to give you a couple of confirmation presents..

That’s what I have here over on the side.
And I’ve got a little story or a lesson to go with each one so let get to the presents


First of all

I got you a basket with a Bible in it.

and here’s the story that goes with the basket

This story goes way back to the days of the first monks
who lived in the deserts around Egypt.


One day there was a young man who came to an old hermit in the desert
and he wanted to know
....."How can I become holy and happy

but to do it quickly"

the old man said
Its easy, just go to one of those caves over there
and take your scriptures with you. Read them day and night and you will find what you are looking for.

So off he went...And he did what he was told to do then in three days he came back to the old Master
"How it going?"

The young man said its going terrible
he said he was bored
and his mind kept wandering

and he didn’t remember anything that he read

and not only that but he didn’t understand.

The old man just smiled


he said Don’t worry,You are doing fine. Go back and keep reading
every hour of the day but I want you to add something more;

get a basket and fil lit up with sand

and set it outside the front of your cave

then go down to the well
and get a bucket of fresh water

and pour it over the sand
do that twice a day

once in the morning and then again in the evening

then come back and see me in 7 days

to tell me how your doing.

So off the man went and again he did what he was told to do
and one week later he came back

Hows it going now?
the old man wanted to know

oh
Its still terrible

I fall asleep and my mind is still wandering

and I still don’t really understand it



ok now what about the sand?

and the young man said

“oh that...

well I pour the water in

just as you told me,

some of it leaks out of the basket

and some of it pools up at the top for a little while
and then it soaks into the sand”

Good said the old hermit

you are doing just fine

Now go back
and keep doing the same thing
and come back every week and tell me hows it going

again the man went off

and every week he came back ..had the same report

Nothing was happening at all.

One day though he came back and said
that something had changed

all the sand was gone fromthe basket.

“Good” said the old hermit


what do you mean good?
the young man said

I'm just as unholy as I was before and now im just poring water into a clean basket.

Yes , said the old man

(he had this twinkle in his eye)

and
don’t you see the same thing is happening to you..?

But you don’t see it..

You are the basket and the word of God is the water that you have been pouring over the sand.


That is the sand of your sins.or your needs
and your obstacles,your ignorance,your weakness, your prrde
your doubts and fears,
that is the sand
of your unhappiness
andyou impatience
or your selfishness


But the basket does not know
which drop of water washed away which grain of sand

but still
the sand just cant resist the water

in the same way you will not rmember

or even know
which word of God
washed away
which sin or trouble or barrier in your life

but everything that needs to change

will be changed.

As you let the word of God come into and over your life
again and again.

Your soul can’t stand up against the washing water of the Living word
as you let it soak into your life.

Some day , however

you will know what its like to be a clean basket
empty and more open
ready to carry
life or bread
or something that another person needs
you life will become a service and a gift to others.

So that why I gave youa basket and a Bible... let the word soak into you







and then ;second present; I got you a uniform... or a team jersey


here the story
Tom Long ..who teaches preaching
at one of our seminaries

talks about his step son

his step son
was a star cross country runner in high school

and for him cross country

was this whole way of life
they had doctrines or beliefs
so to speak
ideas about nutrition and exercise and aerobics

he believed
that you should fuel up on carbs the night before a race

and he believed in how important it was
to have a cool down period after a race

they had all these disciplines and rules

they encouraged each other
and pushed each other to do more

they learned a few techniques
to improve this or that..


he and the other runners
would get together
a lot of times before the sun was up

and they would runa few miles.

He ate a special diet
he would not drink any sugary pop

he went to bed early the night before a meet


he learned all this from his teammates
and from his coach
and he made it his own
He committed to it. Personally..

Now get this: Its the point I want to make

they had a high school year book .... like every other high school
and in that yearbook

there is a team picture that shows him being on the team.

But as Thomas Long puts it.
That picture merely shows that he was on the team

but did that make him a cross country runner?

Getting up at 5:30 AM to run seven miles with his team-mates is what made him a runner


doing those those other things that were talked about
thats what made him a runner

that is the same for Christianity


We are talking about a way of life

we have a set of practices
we have some beliefs and you do these things with other Christians

that what Christianity is all about

its not just being listed in the book
as a somebody on the team

its not just being in the picture
or even the confirmation picture
its showing up
getting up
to do the run in the race eof faith
doign the discipline

doing the work
loving
serving
praying..
Giving

Encouraging each other
being accountable
being coach able
Being here for worship and fellowship
getting on the mission team
Trusting
making peace
forgiving
doing good
stretching your spiritual muscles

following the spiritual diet of Gods word
its waking the walk..

So I gave you some kind of sports jersey to remind you
that you are called

to put un on this chrsitian life
and practice it..do it.

but it more than jsut the jersy

show up
for practice , run wit the team..
Don’t just be in the picture

with your white confirmation robe
even if it the confirmation Sunday picture

that is not what makes you into a Christian. And a member of the church

Its saying
yes to it
and making it your own
as part of the discipleship team

so those are the presents

matriculation presents
as you get admitted as a professing member
into the next step of your Christian jounrey

I hope you keep these things around as reminders
to let he Bible soak into your life
and to run the race.of faith. Do the actions
...............................................................
The Tom Long story is from Testimony p, 36, by Thomas G. Long Publisher Jossey-Bass

Megan McKenna, Keepers of the Story p. 101. was my source for those story from the Desert monastic traditions