NUCC

May 27, 2007

Pentecost/Confirmation

Genesis 11:1-9

Acts 2:1-21

            A few weeks ago we had our final confirmation interviews.  Each of you confirmands sat down with me and talked about your experiences in our confirmation program during the past year.  I asked each one of you what stood out for you in our program ----- what you liked the most or remembered best.  Each of you, I believe, replied that the most memorable part of the program was our Urban Immersion Experience in Milwaukee at the end of March ----- when we visited various houses of worship, worked at a homeless shelter, and ate at a “soup kitchen” and an African restaurant.

            When I asked each of you what stood out for you most during our two days in the big city, almost all of you replied that our Friday night worship experience at Mt. Sinai Church of God in Christ was the most memorable part of the trip.  You were drawn into their worship by their enthusiasm, friendliness, and even the noise and the steady, loud beat of the drums.  You heard some very “spirited voices” that night, even though we told you that compared to some of our other visits in that African American Pentecostal church it was rather tame.

            Just a week ago I was sweating down in Honduras.  It was actually warm down there!  In the evening Karen and I attended an evangelistic rally held in the parking lot and soccer field of the church served by our friend Pastor Saul Madrid.  They also had a loud band and Pastor Saul preached with a very spirited voice, punctuating the hot, humid air with his hands and his words.  Even though we didn’t understand most of his words we knew he was full of spirit.

            Spirited speech.  Spirited acts.  God’s Holy Spirit.  That is what this Pentecost and Confirmation Day is all about.  You heard the five of us read about that wonderful day in Jerusalem when God’s Holy Spirit filled the disciples and they spoke so that everyone could understand them.  They became filled with enthusiasm.  We date the beginnings of the Christian church from this day.

            People were drawn to these spirited men and women.  They saw something there.  They knew that God was “still speaking” to them.  That was a long time ago, but today we still believe that God is “still speaking” to us.  We’ve taken those words as a kind of slogan for our national United Church of Christ.  We remember one of the first pastors in our United Church of Christ, a man named John Robinson, who was pastor to the Pilgrims.  He told the Pilgrims that God had more to tell them through his holy word.

            We have taken the meaning of John Robinson’s words and put them into a slogan:  “Never place a period where God has placed a comma.”   A banner with those words hung above our door way until it got all faded.  Today I am going to give each of you a little read pin in the shape of a comma.  I hope you will wear that pin to remind yourself that God is still speaking to you and that even though you have ended your time of intensive confirmation instruction you have not ended your growth as a Christian.  This is not a day for periods.  This is a day for commas.  You are not putting a period after this day, but simply a comma.  Just as you continue a sentence after the comma, I pray that you will continue your Christian life after this comma we call the Rite of Confirmation.

            In our discussions about Confirmation each of you told me you had learned a lot of things.  You were grateful for the opportunity to expand your knowledge of the Bible by reading through the whole book of Luke with your mentor.  You told me that even though you had learned things in Sunday school, somehow this year helped you to make more sense out of your church experience.

            One thing you told me, however, caught my attention.  You told me you learned information.  You acquired more facts about our Christian faith.  You don’t feel so ignorant any more.  But you want more than facts and information.  You want to get closer to God.  You want to feel God’s spirit.  You want to make your relationship with God more personal.

            So do I.  So do most of the people sitting here in this church today.  Each of us wants to get closer to God and know that God is “still speaking” to us.  As far as I’m concerned there is no “one way” to do that.  For me personally noisy worship doesn’t do it.  I’m more the “still small voice” of God kind of person.  But you know I love music.  Being married to a lady named Karen Mohr means that I have to love music.  And if it swings, so much the better.

            As you continue to grow in your faith and become more mature in various ways, I encourage you to find your own way.  I encourage you to keep listening for God’s spirited voice ----- whether it is loud or soft, forceful or gentle, distinct or muted.  Keep listening.  Keep praying.  Keep growing.  Keep open to God’s Holy Spirit and God’s wonderful presence.

            There will be days when you wonder.  And there will be days when you know God is “still speaking.”  Both days are going to help you grow.  Amen.