Proverbs 6.20-23                                                                                                                                   Zumbro Lutheran Clergy

Psalm 119.9-16, 108-112                                                                                                                       Fifth Sunday of Easter A

1 Peter 2.2-10                                                                                                                                         Confirmation Sunday

John 14.1-14                                                                                                                                        April 24, 2005

 

“Y” Me, “Y” Not?

 

# 1    “Y” me? “Y” not me?  Why not you/me?                                            Pastor Gary Benson

 

Have you ever felt that you wouldn’t be chosen?  For the school play, the baseball team, the group of friends you really wanted to be surrounded by –isn’t it important to feel we are chosen? I remember at age four living in a foster home, wondering if I would ever be chosen for a real family.  

            Regardless of our age, it is universal: we want to be chosen, we want to be accepted, we want to be in relationship.  At Baptism, through water and the Word, God choose you and me.  I remember in my confirmation instruction Pastor Peters saying, “In Baptism it is not your parents, or your pastor, but it is God who is claiming/choosing you!”  Being chosen is not a feeling, it is more… it is a fact!

            As Lutherans we uplift the fact, “in baptism God claims us, forgives us, promises to be with us – indeed, God chooses us – we do not choose God.  Furthermore, as we are created in the image of God; we are meant/designed to choose God, to live for God.  So why me?  Why not me?

 

# 2    “Y” Jesus?                                                                                        Intern Pastor Josh Fite

 

            Why Jesus?  It’s a simple question, one that Christians and non-Christians alike have been asking for centuries; why would God, the almighty, the all-knowing become a man and die for sinners, people who have turned away from the gracious promises of this God?  I wish that I could stand here and tell you the answer that the Christian Church teaches.  But as important as this issue is, the Church has never upheld a definitive doctrine of the atonement.  Theologians throughout the ages have tried.  And they have come up with some great answers; I’m actually partial to the answer that St. Anselm developed almost a thousand years ago.  Anselm had an eighteen-step process to answer the question “Why Jesus?”  And what he has to say in those eighteen steps is phenomenal.  But I think that I can beat him by seventeen steps.  I have one answer: love.  Why Jesus?  Because God loves creation.  God loves you.  God loves you enough to break all of the rules that God is supposed to operate by—he became a creature and died.  He did it simply because you are too precious to him to let sin and death separate the two of you.  Why Jesus?  Why Christmas?  Why the cross? And why Easter?  Because God loves you.

 

 

#3    “Y” the Bible?                                                                           Pastor Carol Solovitz

 

            When we rescued him from a shelter 2 days after Christmas, we never expected that Gus would be such an expensive dog.   Though fully grown, at 11 months he still had a lot of puppy in him.  And puppies love to chew on things.  It is no secret that I have far more shoes than I need, but  I did not need Gus to “thin the herd” by eating 6 pairs in 3 months.  And not just any shoes... no, he likes the leather shoes. Eventually, he trained me to put my shoes away, and I thought our problem was over.

            Then Gus pulled a fast one.  I came home from church one day to find my Bible in pieces all over the living room.  It had been where I always kept it - on the floor next to my chair, where I read it in the mornings.  This was my favorite Bible, the one I use for Bible study and sermon preparation, and I had written notes and reflections in all 66 books.  None of that mattered to Gus.  All he cared about was its leather cover. There it was, in many more than 66 pieces, littering the floor.  My dog ate my Bible, and I cried.  “I love my dog,” I told my friends and family, “but I love my Bible more.”  It took me over 3 hours to reassemble it and awkwardly tape it back together.

            Why do I love this inanimate stack of thin paper, ink and partially devoured leather so much?  It is, after all, just a book, right?  In truth, no - it is more than a book.  This is a HOLY book - the Holy Bible - a book of confessions of faith in our God; a collection of eye-witness accounts of God’s active, creative, healing love; a history of God’s interactions with people and nations from Adam and Eve to all the descendants of Abraham and Sarah, through the first century followers of the crucified and resurrected Jesus Christ.

            Why read the Bible?  Why love the Bible?  Because it is not just an old, old story, but because it is a never-ending story of God without end and God’s forever love.  It is an always new story, and it is our story - alive and personal - for me and for you.

 

 

# 4    “Y” Pray?                                                                                              Pastor Wayne Vogt

 

As with every relationship -- whether with family members or friends -- we could not have a friendship (relationship) with them if we did not talk with them.  So it is with God.  Prayer is the means - the way - that we converse with God.  It is not about using fancy words, or poetic phrases; though this may happen the more one prays to God (as it did for the writer of the Psalms). 

But prayer is about concentrating the mind and assembling all the inner resources of our personality… and turning them outward to God.  And we do this using our everyday language as we would when respectfully talking with our closest friend.   

The Holy Spirit within us – received in Holy Baptism - helps us to pray… even at times “with sighs to deep for words.”    You could say that prayer is God’s spirit within us calling out to the same God that is outside of us – the God of all Creation.  The more we talk with Him… the closer we come to Him… and the more personal He becomes to us. 

The Apostle Paul says in short, “pray about everything to God, be anxious for nothing.  And you will know the peace of God.” (Philippians 4: 6-7)

  Jesus tells us that, “whatever you pray for… believe that you will receive.” (MT 21:22)  Because God loves us so much, He wants to hear our voice… He wants to celebrate our joys with us … He wants to help us through our struggles.  That is why we need to pray.

One confirmand’s response to the essay question:  What can I do to stay close to God?    “Prayer is a big one.  I love to talk to God in my own way at my own time.  No matter what I pray about – good or bad – I always feel so much better than I did before.  Nothing else gives me that same feeling.”

We can all learn from this person’s testimony of the need for prayer.

 

 

# 5    “Y” the Sacraments?                                                                        Intern Pastor Josh Fite

 

            Why the sacraments?  Why do we look with such joy at that font when a family gathers around it as we welcome a new sister or brother into god’s family and our community of faith?  Why do we look forward, week after week, to the time when we are called up to the altar to receive the Lord’s Supper?  Does anyone here really enjoy the taste of a communion wafer or the wine we use?  Probably not.  But like Martin Luther says, “Baptism is not water only, but water used together with god’s Word and by his command,” and “Holy Communion is the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ given with bread wine, instituted by Christ himself.”  Jesus Christ wanted you to have these gifts.  He has commanded us to baptize the nations.  He has said, “Do this in remembrance of me.”  And Jesus wants you to know and trust in his promises of forgiveness, freedom, and life.  He knows that those are big promises.  That’s why he gave the sacraments; so that in the water of baptism and in the bread and wine of His supper, those big promises he makes to you will have something to hold onto.

 

 

#6    “Y” Lutheran?                                                                          Pastor Carol Solovitz

 

            There are hundreds - maybe thousands - of religious beliefs in the world.  So why do we choose to believe the way we do and teach it to each generation?  Why do we call ourselves Lutheran?  Why do we make our confirmation students memorize this book, the Small Catechism?

            I cannot answer “Why Lutheran?” for many of you.  I can answer for myself, that in my adolescent curiosity and quest for truth, I visited the churches of every friend who would invite me.  Then I would compare their faith to the Presbyterian Church where I grew up and to the Pentecostal churches of my grandparents.  For me, the Lutheran faith was a good fit.  It interpreted the Bible in a way that made sense to me.  When I decided to join the Lutheran Church, I had my first encounter with Luther’s Small Catechism, and it was all so straight-forward, so clear, so logical yet so faithful that I knew it was more than a good fit.  It was a call to ministry.

            Some of you are Lutheran because it is the only church you and your family have ever known.  Some are Lutheran because your parents made you come to confirmation, some because a friend invited you.  Many are here because some people promised God that they would teach you the Lord’s Prayer, the Creed and the Ten Commandments, bring you to the services of God’s house, place in your hands the Holy Scriptures, and provide for your instruction in the Christian faith.  These same people have prayed for you since you were born and baptized.  The promises and prayers continue today. 

            Why Lutheran?  Martin Luther never wanted the reformed Church to bear his name.  He only wanted to point to Jesus and pure Christian teachings.  He gave the Small Catechism to parents so that they could teach the real, biblical faith to their children and fill the world with Christians.

            Confirmation Class of 2005, you are here because you have spent at least 3 years studying the Bible, the Catechism and Jesus from a Lutheran understanding.  May you be empowered to love and serve in Jesus’ name, inspired by a 16th Century priest named Martin Luther.

 

 

#7    “Y” Serve?                                                                                               Pastor Wayne Vogt

 

Why does it feel so good to give to some cause or to serve someone or some group?  Because, as it is with prayer, so it is with serving; it is the Spirit of God within us… reaching out to the God beyond us.

Service work is voluntary… and yet it is necessary.  It is a necessary part of a relationship that binds the one doing the serving, in mutual fellowship, with the one being served.

As far as our relationship with the Lord is concerned, “Serving” speaks of a voluntary commitment to the Lord.  But it covers much more than ritual or worship.  It covers everything about life.  In no sense are the service of God and the service to humanity separated.  They are synonymous.

Jesus, our greatest example of servanthood… has demonstrated with his act of washing the disciples’ feet that humble service is fitting for anyone being in relationship with God. ( John 13: 12ff)   And he further reminds us that being his disciple involves following and serving.  They can’t be separated.  “Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant will also be.” (John 12:26)

The Bible sees daily labor, voluntary service, and religious worship all as integrated activity done out of love for the other.   Such service involves the worshipful, contemplative side of life as well as our daily activity within the world we are a part of.  And it is all done voluntarily.  This concept covers the whole of life… and is all a part of serving God.       

Whatever you do, work at it with all of your heart as if serving the Lord.

 

 

# 8    “Y” now?                                                                                               Pastor Gary Benson

 

Why now?  Because the “why” questions will never end.  Questions regarding God, life, faith, future, purpose and meaning will never end, the truth is such questions and concerns often accelerate as we become older.  So why now?  Because TODAY - this day - the Lord desires to be seen and heard through our voice, life and witness.  Why?  Because darkness (sin, evil, death) continues to cloud and overshadow the lives and hearts of God’s creation and world. 

Now, today, because you are a baptized, claimed, loved, and forgiven ambassador for Jesus Christ; your  life witness (regardless of age)  can push back the darkness – in your home, your work, your school, this community, the world.  Why?  Because God is with you, within you, for you; and God is with me.  Why now?  In order that today our lives might fulfill the words of scripture, “So let your light shine before others in order that they may see your good works and glorify the father who is in heaven!!”  Now together………. let us walk together in God’s marvelous light!