Goodness gracious, Lord -
it's been a busy few weeks!
With Holy Week and Easter,
and 50th Anniversary celebrations
and weddings and end of term projects
and final exams.
And now here come graduations
and Mother's Day and summer jobs...
and life feels a little crazy and scattered.
But here - right here - in the middle of all
this crazy, busy stuff,
we have ... today.
Confirmation Sunday.
When young adults,
many of whom we have watched grow
from toddlerhood to now -
when these fine young men and women
affirm their faith in you
and we, by the power of
your Spirit at work within us,
confirm them as fully fledged disciples of Jesus.
And we do this together,
in the midst of the community,
in the center of worship.
So...
wlll you help us to take a deep breath,
to lean into your grace,
and to do that well this morning?
We are thankful every day
for the gift of this body,
your church.
And we are thankful every day
for the gift of generations
all around us - for senior citizens,
and middle-agers,
for married couples,
and single people,
for tiny babies
and tall college students,
and most especially today,
we are so very grateful
for junior high students,
who are sometimes wacky and
always wonderful, and
who startle us with their sudden
grace and wisdom as they stand
in these threshold years between
childhood and adulthood.
May their tender hearts and brave spirits
call forth from all of us
a sense of renewed commitment
to what we know to be truth and grace and light.
As they declare their faith,
may we re-proclaim our own.
As they are touched and prayed for,
may we sense your touch and the
prayers of our brothers and sisters.
As they are given salt and light,
may we renew our own call
to season the world around us
and shine forth with the love of Jesus.
We bring to you this morning, as we do every week,
our gifts of love and sacrifice.
We've dropped some of those gifts in the
offering plates that have made their
way up and down these pews.
But the greatest of the gifts we have
from you are the young people who will
stand in front of us
and in front of you this day.
We give them back to you
with gratitude
and with hope,
with full hearts
and with empty hands.
And we trust you to continue the
good work you have begun
in them
and in us.
In the name of Jesus we pray,
Amen.
