SUNDAY, MAY 21, 2023 | SEVENTH SUNDAY OF EASTER OR ASCENSION SUNDAY - 7A - Confirmation

Acts:

Jesus leaves them in the flesh - however, stays with them through the Holy Spirit

It is not their job to know or guess of the periods or stages…do what you are inspired to do

1 Peter

An exhortation - it’s not all supposed to be rosy - you are sharing Christ’s sufferings. We need to be watchful.

John:

Jesus prays for his disciples before he is betrayed by Judas - not quite about Ascension, following a similar spirit perhaps - when he was betrayed, his influence and presence was taken away.

Good morning,

Today’s Sunday is interesting - our regular church calendar says Ascension of the Lord and our communal calendar says “Confirmation Sunday.” Different and yet somewhat related.

First, the church calendar - today we remember that Jesus is no longer amongst us in the flesh, for he was taken up to be with God the father. He is set to return, but in the mean time his presence and influence continues, chiefly through the power of the Holy Spirit....and us! We are now the fleshy extension of God’s reign, God’s feet to walk, hands to lift, lips to speak, ears to listen, hearts to care, etc. 1 Peter says that suffering may come and we will blessed in it as we will share in Jesus’ sufferings and we have to remain vigilant for the devil prowls around.

And then John that is…well, somewhat related - Jesus prays for his disciples, before he is taken from them in betrayal, his influence and presence departs from them when he has to deal with all the nasty and painful stuff of Easter.

An now, confirmation! Today, Nick and Logan will profess their faith through the class faith statement we crafted together as a conclusion of our time together (it went really fast!) providing you with some highlights, or as they would say in Slovakia, “pikošky.” We’ve talked about all manner of things - Bible in its many parts, blessings, but also problems, spent some time on prophets and the wisdom literature, zoomed in on Ruth and Jonah, Luke and Acts, covered Luther and the Reformation, had an educational worship service, considered the church, our vocaation, and Luther’s Freedom of A Christian, and finally addressed Being a neighbor to EVERYONE. All that in 8 months! A Confirmation Crash Course (CCC) if you will.

And here is the kicker, neither Ascension, nor Confirmation are end all be all events - Jesus ascends, but that is not the end of his influence and so it is with confirmation. Today, Nick and Logan, you are being confirmed, but my wish and prayer is that it may be merely a stepping stone in your journey with God. Whatever habits and cultural components you may have absorbed here at St. Stephen over the years - a lot of it may not remain relevant to you forever as you go out into the world, whatever beliefs and tenets of faith you have been taught, explicitly and implicitly - you may find you need to modify them or change them altogether as you encounter faiths of others, and so on…Just like it is with all of us - nobody should expect you affirm your baptism and profess your faith once and then that’s it, never change a thing. I sincerely hope you will question, explore, and be real with yourself and God. God can handle it, it’s us that struggle with it sometimes! Faith is.. an ambition and a declaration of hope. That what is around us is not all there is - greed, exclusion, wars, love that hurts, endless proving yourselves, betrayals, toxic politics, oppressive systems...

We proclaim there is more than that, we hope and believe there is more than that. Will you join on this journey? That is all that we ask.

Just like I believe that Jesus calls on his followers before the Ascension for them to be witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. He knows well that they will struggle, fail, try again, struggle some more…as imperfect human beings, we cannot fully contain what is perfect. And that is why we need each other, because together we can do a little more and witness to the love and glory of God. Let us try…together! Amen.