Upon Our Sons and Daughters
And they were all gathered in one place -one hundred and twenty of the apostles, with the twelve disciples and the women who followed Jesus. They followed closely because when Jesus returned to heaven, he told them to wait! Wait! Because I am sending the Holy Spirit. And God always keeps God’s word!
Today is a blessed day in the church universal and here at West Grove United Methodist Church. We celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit as well as the profession of faith of our seven young people who come for Confirmation today. We celebrate! For all of us are invited to claim our faith as we continue to walk in faith. Confirmation is NOT graduation. Confirmation is a celebrated signpost on a lifelong journey that began for many years ago and will continue throughout each of our lives.
So, it is with our confirmands. Do you recall your own journeys of faith? While each of our stories a little different, each emphasis a bit unique, one of the common threads is the presence of others in our stories. Parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles, siblings and neighbors. Those who showed us the way, introduced us to our faith and have walked with us
When I was a little girl, I remember being placed on my father’s shoulders. I would beg him to allow me to be carried high up on his shoulders. I loved the view from up there and I hung on tightly to his neck. I could dunk the basketball, I could reach the ceiling, and I was sure that I could see forever. On my Daddy’s shoulders, I could do infinitely more than my five-year self could do on her own.
Our confirmands stand on the shoulders on those gathered here, those who could not be here, and those who have gone before them. We as a community of faith can do much more than we could ever do apart. When we stand up and claim our faith, we stand on the shoulders of giants!
As we see where the Holy Spirit rests on our sons and daughters, we stand up recognizing, claiming, and using the gifts we have discovered that God has given to each of them. In addition to the spiritual gifts’ assessments we offered here, our confirmands also had a confirmation retreat at Gretna Glen. There, they had the opportunity with other United Methodists confirmands from across our Conference to learn more about their faith and explore their gifts and talents.
These gifts come from the Holy Spirit and are specifically for us! The Spirit bestows these unique gifts. As congregation, we have spoken this year about the giftings of Holy Spirit for each of us. Too often we have thought of the Pentecost dove as a sweet animal descending calmly and resting upon the shoulders of the baptized. Instead, if we observe nature, we find the doves are not quite so calm or peaceful. Instead, doves have a target, an intention. They focus on food or a branch and with super speed, we find them descending with purpose.
The Holy Spirit poured out upon you and others is significant! On the first day of Pentecost, it was the whole community gathered. It was young and it was old. It was folks from all over the known world and people of various knowledge of faith. Each and every one of them was gifted and sent out to the work of spreading the good news and pointing towards God. When Peter received the Spirit and was made new, he didn’t suddenly have all the answers! He didn’t hide away either and He didn’t sit in a quiet corner thinking about it! He stood up and told it like it was – God’s Spirit is poured out. And God’s way, God’s will, the very kingdom of God will come in glory.
This confirmation class is filled with the Spirit of God. Do you know that in this class we have swimmers, baseball players, dancers of all genres from hip-hip to pointe and lyrical, field hockey players, musicians, gamers? Already this class has served in the church as acolytes, liturgists, sound booth technicians, VBS helpers and Sunday School helpers, have sung with PraiseWorks, assisted in the office, and done missions. Gifts of compassion, administration, humor, prophecy, advocacy, organization, curiosity, and insight rest among this group. This is a confirmation class gifted by the Holy Spirit as well as congregation!
So, confirmands and congregation, as you receive the blessing of the Holy Spirit on this Pentecost, know that you have been chosen, you have been selected, God sends God’s Spirit to you. Not willy-nilly, not lightly with light breeze of the summer, but with the purpose of a dove. God sends the Holy Spirit to equip you for all of much that will yet come before – the challenges of school and the joys of friendship, the trials and tribulations as well as the blessings. You have been gifted for such a time this.
We are given gifts, not just for ourselves, but for the community. So, I urge you, confirmands and families, church family, stand up for God. We go public with our faith. Peter quotes the passage from the prophet Joel in the Pentecost story. “Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.”
And we dream dreams together about a future with hope, God’s kingdom on earth, Pentecost is an invitation to dream. For when a community of faith quits dreaming dreams, it has little to offer either its members or the wider world.
Like any good dream, these dreams involve adopting a new perspective on what’s possible, rousing our creativity to free us from conventional expectations. They help us see that maybe what we thought was outlandish actually lies within reach. Maybe I can find freedom from what binds me. Maybe there can be justice. Maybe I can make a difference. Maybe God is here with me, even if my current struggles never go away.
The Christian faith has its roster of exceptional dreamers, who, like Jesus, who insisted that God could make possible the things that other people couldn’t see. Those who are well known throughout the world, and those here today that we know best. But dreams need not always be dramatic, and the prophetic task of describing how a new, God-given possibility is coming to life is not restricted to a few, but to the whole community.
So, today, we together stand with you as you claim your faith. Stand up to live it out. The Holy Spirit urges you on. Stand up as a child of God. The Holy Spirit bestows upon you gifts. Stand up to use your gifts and dream about God’s future. May the Holy Spirit be Abundant upon our sons and daughters and may we hear their wisdom and new life!
This is the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, thanks be to God, Amen.
Old Testament Lesson: Psalm 104:24-34
O LORD, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.
Yonder is the sea, great and wide, creeping things innumerable are there,
living things both small and great.
There go the ships, and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it.
These all look to you to give them their food in due season;
when you give to them, they gather it up;
when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.
When you hide your face, they are dismayed;
when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.
When you send forth your spirit, they are created;
and you renew the face of the ground.
May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in his works—
who looks on the earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains and they smoke.
I will sing to the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the LORD.
New Testament Lesson: Acts 2:1-21
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”
But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
‘In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist. The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day. Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’
Meditations For Your Week
Sunday, June 9 ~ Saturday, June 15
Sunday: “‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.’ – Acts 2:17 NRSV Pray for our newly inducted confirmands; that the spirit of God would give them new visions and a new prophetic word to serve God’s people. Be in prayer for guidance about how you can help our children and youth grow and mature in their faith.
Monday: Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? -1 Corinthians 3:16 NIV Go into this day knowing that the Spirit of God is inside you. Share the joy & happiness you feel and help others to find it in themselves. Written by Matthew Rinehimer
Tuesday: “In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.” Acts 2: 17. With the spirit of discernment, prayerfully consider where have you experienced God’s Spirt poured out through visions and dreams, visions and prophecies.
Wednesday: “Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Acts 2:21. Pray for all people to come to call on the name of the Lord.
Thursday: “So let no one despise him. Help him on the way in peace, that he may return to me, for I am expecting him to be with the brothers.” -1 Corinthians 16:11 As you go into this day remember the Lord, and his strength, will always be with you. Share strength and guidance with others. Written by Alisabeth Guepet
Friday: “May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works” Psalm 104: 31. In this day, ask God to show you God’s glory. Wait on the Lord as you watch for God to fulfill God’s word.
Saturday: “I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being” Psalm 104: 33. Some of us sing with our voices. Some of us sing with our smiles. Let all of us sing with our lives, praising God.