Second Sunday after Pentecost - 2 June 2013 - Confirmation

(This is the text of my sermon for Confirmation Sunday. 6 young women from our congregation were confirmed in a packed church with the temperature of about 27º C (or 81º F.)

Solomon prayed “...so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name...”

Jesus said "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith."

• Our focus today is on insiders and outsiders, the included and the excluded. Someone once said about who is in and who is out: “When you get to heaven, don't stare!” Remember, our God is full of surprises. We have two very good illustrations of this from the Scripture.
• Solomon prays in the Temple in Jerusalem for those who are not of the people of Israel – the foreigners, the Gentiles, the Goyim, the outsiders who could not pray in the Temple, but only in the Court of the Gentiles. Solomon asks that God hear their prayers even as God hears the prayers of the people of Israel. Behind this prayer is the understanding, found throughout the Hebrew Scripture, that all nations will come to know the God of Israel and will worship God on God's holy mountain. The prophets constantly speak of this and it can be found in Jesus' own teaching, since he stands in the powerful stream of the prophets of the Hebrew people.
• Luke writes in the same vein in his Gospel. Jesus is approached by some Jewish elders on behalf of a Roman centurion, an officer of the Roman army occupying Judea. The centurion's servant is ill and in need of healing. Despite his office as one of the occupying force and his foreign birth, the elders go to bat for him, saying “... he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us." This is no ordinary Roman Gentile; he is just and honourable, one of those foreigners the Jewish people called “God-fearers”, who honoured the Jewish traditions and teaching and worshipped the God of Israel without fully converting to Judaism.
• Jesus agrees to come and heal this slave. Another group of friends intercept Jesus and all those with him, carrying the words of the centurion that no visit is necessary, only say the word and the healing will be done. The centurion explains that he understands authority and orders – just what you'd expect from a professional soldier.
• The difference here is what Jesus has authority over. The centurion knows of orders and obedience; it's his business. He appears to be a realist as well, knowing who and what he can and cannot give orders to. He has some understanding and acceptance of who's really in charge. He humbly trusts Jesus to heal his servant by just desiring to. Nothing more needed – no ritual, no instrumentality or props - “But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed.” It might remind us of the story of creation from the Book of Genesis: “Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good...” In effect, the centurion is saying: If you say so, it's good enough for me.
• And Jesus is astounded at his faith. He doesn't just believe, he acts on his believing. In the past, he has acted as a just “God-fearer”, showing his reverence through his support for the Jewish community. Now his faith and reverence leads him to an experience of the power of God. Jesus said "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith."
• Insiders and outsiders – a common experience. We've all known it, on the first day at a new school, at a new job, at a new place to live, as we set foot in a new country with a new language and a new culture.
• The insider/outsider experience continues to this day. There are people here who are insiders and people here who are and might always be outsiders.
• For you six confirmands, Confirmation has many meanings – renewal of faith, adult membership and responsibilities, bestowing of the Spirit by the laying on of hands, admission to full membership in the church – in other words, becoming an insider, as it were, at St. John's. As of today, you are insiders. Some of you have been on the verge all your lives, while others have been brought closer over time.
• Understand now, just as the Church is larger than these four blessed walls, full church membership goes beyond St. John's, the Eastern Synod, and even the whole Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada.
• What makes a person an insider in the Church of Jesus Christ? Hearing the Word and acting upon it every day. “Who are my sisters and my brothers?” This is the question asked by Jesus in Mark 3:35. He then says “Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” This is what it really means to be an insider. This is what it really means to be a confirmed Christian! This is also something you will reconfirm every day – by how you act out your faith in grace, by your prayers, by your worship, and by your service to one another and all in the name of Jesus Christ.
• This is a big day and we look to you for example – not so much as scripture scholars and experts in the Lutheran Confessions, and not so much as perfect examples to us of Church-going youth. We look to you for example of what it means to be a 'true insider', of what it means to be a sister (or brother) of Jesus Christ – namely 'Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.’ Girls, help us build up our faith.
• So we welcome you to adult membership in your congregation. We all want you to be insiders, but not insiders looking in at all the other insiders, but insiders reaching out and showing us all how to reach out, working for a time and place where there will be no outsiders.