Happy Pentecost, everyone!
Hallmark doesn't make a card for this important Christian holy day, and that's a crying shame if you ask me. I love Pentecost. It's the celebration of the Holy Spirit of God, and it marks the day when twelve scared and utterly confused followers of Jesus suddenly came alive and began to proclaim the incarnate love and everlasting life and joy they found through the person of Jesus. It is, in essence, the birthday of Christianity.
For my folks at little Faith Lutheran in Philadelphia it's also the day when we celebrate the rite of Confirmation--the ritual in which young teens, now schooled in the Bible and the doctrines of the Church, affirm the promises made at their infant baptisms and profess themselves to be adult members of the Christian community.
And for a lot of them it will mean "graduation from church."
Sometimes I just scratch my head and wonder why I try to teach something as mysterious and multi-layered as the Christian faith to kids who would rather be beaten with a club than sit through a weekly lesson in theology. But it's a tradition, and year after year we go through it.
To be honest, I don't really remember much about my own Confirmation except that my fellow confirmands somehow got out of order in our line-up at the communion rail. Our pastor got confused, and I had to whisper to him frantically that he had forgotten to lay hands on me and say the prayer for the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Once I had been prayed over, a church council member presented me with a small New Testament and a box of offering envelopes. I guess that made me an adult in the faith.
So I wonder about the kids I'll confirm this year. Do their parents--many of whom have shown no inclination for religious observance themselves--have them make their Confirmation just because it's "the right thing to do?" Is this more superstition than true religion?
Being confirmed certainly won't ward off evil. Those spirit-filled Christians on that first Pentecost found that out soon enough. All of them faced jail time, and all but one of the twelve died violent deaths for proclaiming faith in Jesus Christ.
What will happen when I lay hands on the heads of these young people and pray for the outpouring of God's spirit? I doubt that the church will be filled with the sound of a rushing wind. No tongues of fire will appear over their heads. They will not begin to preach in strange languages. They might just say, "Thanks, Pastor. I'll see you at my wedding!" as they head for the nearest exit.
But maybe not. I mean, even those first Christians, the ones who lived and ate and prayed with Jesus, the ones who saw Jesus resurrected, still didn't get it at first. Spiritual faith takes time to develop. I can't give my students that faith. I can only give them information. But, as Luther teaches, the Holy Spirit calls us through the gospel. And the Spirit's work--every day, according to Luther--forgives our sins, enlightens us with gifts, calls us into togetherness, and makes us holy. We aren't even aware of it. The older I get, the more I suspect that spirituality has less to do with knowledge or experience and more to do with time and practice.
If the rest of us can create an environment within the church which is loving and open enough, maybe these young people will stick around long enough to get the hang of this Christian thing. So I'll keep believing, and I'll keep teaching, and I'll keep hoping that somehow something will register in the minds of these youths that will make a difference in their lives some time down the road. Who knows..?
As for me, the sacred stories, the rituals, the songs, just get more beautiful the older I get. The Holy Spirit is more real to me now than in my youth, and she keeps whispering new ideas in my ears. I can't wait to find out what she has in store for me in the future.
Thanks for reading, my friends. Amen. Come, Holy Spirit.
Hallmark doesn't make a card for this important Christian holy day, and that's a crying shame if you ask me. I love Pentecost. It's the celebration of the Holy Spirit of God, and it marks the day when twelve scared and utterly confused followers of Jesus suddenly came alive and began to proclaim the incarnate love and everlasting life and joy they found through the person of Jesus. It is, in essence, the birthday of Christianity.
For my folks at little Faith Lutheran in Philadelphia it's also the day when we celebrate the rite of Confirmation--the ritual in which young teens, now schooled in the Bible and the doctrines of the Church, affirm the promises made at their infant baptisms and profess themselves to be adult members of the Christian community.
And for a lot of them it will mean "graduation from church."
Sometimes I just scratch my head and wonder why I try to teach something as mysterious and multi-layered as the Christian faith to kids who would rather be beaten with a club than sit through a weekly lesson in theology. But it's a tradition, and year after year we go through it.
To be honest, I don't really remember much about my own Confirmation except that my fellow confirmands somehow got out of order in our line-up at the communion rail. Our pastor got confused, and I had to whisper to him frantically that he had forgotten to lay hands on me and say the prayer for the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Once I had been prayed over, a church council member presented me with a small New Testament and a box of offering envelopes. I guess that made me an adult in the faith.
So I wonder about the kids I'll confirm this year. Do their parents--many of whom have shown no inclination for religious observance themselves--have them make their Confirmation just because it's "the right thing to do?" Is this more superstition than true religion?
Being confirmed certainly won't ward off evil. Those spirit-filled Christians on that first Pentecost found that out soon enough. All of them faced jail time, and all but one of the twelve died violent deaths for proclaiming faith in Jesus Christ.
What will happen when I lay hands on the heads of these young people and pray for the outpouring of God's spirit? I doubt that the church will be filled with the sound of a rushing wind. No tongues of fire will appear over their heads. They will not begin to preach in strange languages. They might just say, "Thanks, Pastor. I'll see you at my wedding!" as they head for the nearest exit.
But maybe not. I mean, even those first Christians, the ones who lived and ate and prayed with Jesus, the ones who saw Jesus resurrected, still didn't get it at first. Spiritual faith takes time to develop. I can't give my students that faith. I can only give them information. But, as Luther teaches, the Holy Spirit calls us through the gospel. And the Spirit's work--every day, according to Luther--forgives our sins, enlightens us with gifts, calls us into togetherness, and makes us holy. We aren't even aware of it. The older I get, the more I suspect that spirituality has less to do with knowledge or experience and more to do with time and practice.
If the rest of us can create an environment within the church which is loving and open enough, maybe these young people will stick around long enough to get the hang of this Christian thing. So I'll keep believing, and I'll keep teaching, and I'll keep hoping that somehow something will register in the minds of these youths that will make a difference in their lives some time down the road. Who knows..?
As for me, the sacred stories, the rituals, the songs, just get more beautiful the older I get. The Holy Spirit is more real to me now than in my youth, and she keeps whispering new ideas in my ears. I can't wait to find out what she has in store for me in the future.
Thanks for reading, my friends. Amen. Come, Holy Spirit.
You bring up so interresting views, Pastor. Personally, I feel as though the "children" today lack so much in terms of imagination. What is Spirit, especially the Holy Spirit, but imagination and a sense of purpose. I think that as we grow older, we use our experiences and realize the true beauty and nature of things. I do agree that the Spirit is becomming more apparent and more beautiful each day.
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