Taking Sides

I’ve long remembered the story of the elderly woman who was frail, hard of hearing, and nearly deaf.  Despite these obstacles, every Sunday morning she rose early, dressed and did her hair and makeup, and then called a taxi.  The taxi took her to church. After the service she took the taxi home.  This was her regular Sunday routine.

While at church one morning, her pastor said to her, “I know what an effort this is for you.  You know you don’t have to be here each week.  You can listen over the computer, or I can have someone bring you a copy of the service. You don’t have to go to all this trouble. So why do you do this week after week?”

"Because," she replied, “I want people to know which side I’m on.”

It’s easy for people of all ages to find reasons to stay inside, or stay away altogether.  This may be even truer for young people who have an array of digital amusements that older folks could never navigate. There is also less expectation among young people that they will take a stand for the Lord. That’s one reason why Confirmation Sunday is always moving for me.

When we’re so often told that Christianity is always just one generation away from extinction, I’m heartened by young people who step forward to say, “I’m on Jesus’s side.” I’m encouraged by these teenagers who want to be a part of God’s great work in the world, teenagers who cast their lot with the disciples and denominational church and say, “Count me in.” Every year on Confirmation Sunday, a fresh group of adolescents comes forth to make a public profession of faith, to kneel before God, to receive the prayers and the laying on of hands, and to rise into a new life of Christian discipleship.

This Sunday is Confirmation Sunday.  It’s an appropriate Sunday for Marti Ringenbach, our Director of Youth Ministries, to preach the sermon.  She has worked faithfully and diligently in the Confirmation program and is beloved by so many of our youth.  Marti has also responded to the calling of the Holy Spirit in her life -- she's preparing to become the Associate Pastor at Springfield UMC as of July 1. 

So this weekend is a time for celebration and wonder at how the Holy Spirit persists in calling people to take sides and choose the Lord. “Let no one despise your youth,” Paul wrote to young Timothy, “but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.”

Come to encourage them, to celebrate them, and to show them they’re not alone – that you stand with them on the side of Jesus Christ.  

 

            Pastor Larry