Lost
or Found or Any Which Way
Mark 1.9-13
A Sermon Preached by Dave Shull
Confirmation
University Congregational United Church of Christ
During confirmation class last month, we studied the story about Jesus’ baptism that Alex just read. And we discussed how you can’t talk about confirmation without talking about baptism.
For youth who have already been baptized, confirmation asks them whether at this time and in this community they want to say Yes to their baptism. Confirmation says, “In my baptism, God told me who I am and where I belong. Now that I am old enough, do I want to say back to God, ‘Yes, God, I hear your promise’? Do I want to say, ‘Yes, God, I promise to be who I am and to commit myself to where I belong’?”
For youth who have not been baptized, confirmation asks, “Do I want to be baptized? Do I believe God’s promise in baptism is true? And even if I do, am I ready to commit myself to where baptism tells me I belong?”
Baptism tells us who we are. Who we are is who the voice from Heaven told Jesus he was. In baptism, God proclaims, You are my beloved daughter. You are my beloved son. You are chosen and marked by my love, pride of my life (Mark 1.11, Eugene Peterson translation in The Message). No one can take that name away from you. You can’t change your name either.” In baptism, God says, “In my eyes, that’s who you are, and that’s who you will always be. Beloved. Chosen. Marked. Pride of my life.
And baptism
tells us where we belong. We belong in a
community of faith called the Church. We
are not baptized in private; we are baptized into the community of the Church. That community makes promises to us. When we are baptized, that community
promises, “We will be there for you. We
will get to know you. We will be a place
where we do our best to love and accept you just as you are. We know how hard it is to believe you are
Beloved,
I don’t for one minute believe baptized Christians are the only people God names, “Beloved.” As the Creator of all of us, God looks upon those of all faiths or no particular faith and says, “You are my beloved.”
Baptism
doesn’t change how God feels about us.
What baptism does is call on individuals and the Church to respond to
God’s love in particular ways. As the
community of the baptized, the Church has a God-given responsibility that is as
joyful as it is difficult. God calls us
to treat everyone inside and outside these walls in a way that declares, I know who you are!
You are the pride of God’s life!
And baptism
also means we belong in the Church. All
are welcome in the Church, all are welcome to explore whether they feel called
to join the Church and be baptized. In
baptism, God reclaims us as God’s own.
And God calls us to remind all who are baptized,
The Church is where you belong.
Because here is where we remind you who you are! Here is where we make the love of Jesus real!
There’s a novel that tells the story of a gathering of people who surprise themselves by making the love of Jesus real for each other.
A bizarre collection of people has been invited to have Thanksgiving dinner together. After everyone’s finished eating, a traveling preacher name Leo stands up to speak. Seeing how well everyone has gotten along at this dinner – rich and poor, young and old, clean and smelly, respectful and shady, Leo talks about ‘the Kingdom of Heaven.’ The Kingdom of Heaven is not a place. It’s what Jesus says happens when people who know they are loved and know there is a place they belong share that love and sense of belonging with others.
This is what Leo says to his eating companions:
‘The Kingdom of Heaven is like a great feast. . . .The Kingdom of Heaven is a love feast where nobody’s a stranger. Like right here. There’s strangers everywhere you can think of. There’s strangers was born out of the same womb. There’s strangers was raised together in the same town and worked side by side all their life through. There’s strangers got married and been climbing in and out of the same [bed] together for thirty-five or forty years, and they’re strangers still. And Jesus, it’s like most of the time he’s a stranger too. Even when he’s near as the end of your nose, people make like he’s nowhere around. They won’t talk to him. They won’t listen to him. They keep their eye on the ground. But here in this place there’s no strangers, and Jesus, he isn’t a stranger either. The Kingdom of Heaven is like this.
He said, ‘We all got secrets. I got them same as everybody else – things we feel bad about and wish hadn’t ever happened. Hurtful things. We’re all scared and lonesome, but most of the time we keep it hid. It’s like every one of us has lost his way so bad we don’t even know what way is home any more [and] we’re afraid to ask. You know what would happen if we would [admit] we’re lost and ask? [W]hat would happen is we’d find home is each other. We’d find out home is Jesus loves us lost, or found, or any whichway’ (Frederick Buechner, Love Feast, San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1984, p. 56).
Home is each other. Home is Jesus loves us lost, or found, or any whichway.
That is the message that reminds us who we are. That is the message that reminds us where we belong. And that is the message that churches – and this church – sometimes forget. We forget that God calls us to treat everyone like they’re God’s beloved sons and daughters. And when we forget to do that, people don’t feel like the Church is any different than any other institution. When we forget to love each other, the baptized forget this is where they belong; and the unbaptized don’t know why they should bother staying.
It’s no secret that Confirmation Sunday is often the last time we see some of you and some of your families until you come to our graduates’ breakfast at the end of high school. That’s the case with churches across this country; that’s the case here. That’s the reason we talked at our last confirmation retreat about what would keep you coming here after today. You had a lot to say about that question. And one of you summed up everyone else’s comments by saying, “At church, I want fun, purpose, and connection.” A place where we laugh and enjoy each other. A place where we deal with issues that we don’t talk about other places; issues like where God is when we suffer, how to pray, how to forgive, how to hold onto hope, how to say ‘yes’ and how to say ‘no,’ what God wants me to do with my life. And the Church is a place for connection, where we take time for each other because there’s no more important person in the world than the person who’s sitting near you right now.
You have told us you are looking for fun, purpose, and connection here. All of us in this room hear you. And as the community of the baptized, we want to help you find and create those kinds of ministries here. We want this church to be a place where you can feel wanted. Because my friends, believe me when I say this community needs you. Whether you are joining the church today or not, this community needs you.
We need you to show us how to be more loving and accepting.
We need you to show us how to care more about starving people and endangered species
We need your music-making skills and your prayer-writing and public-speaking skills to create worship here that speaks to a wider range of people.
We need your spirit of playfulness so you can remind us how to take life less seriously.
We need you to share yourselves with us. Because God has a lot to say to us. And you are how God speaks.
We also don’t want Confirmation Sunday to be the time you start to drift away because we know you need this church. Whether or not you are joining the church today, I believe you need this church.
You need us because there are so few places in your life where you can be yourself. And, as the community of the baptized, we promise to try to remind you you are God’s beloved, the pride of God’s heart, and nothing can change that.
You need us because you know there are times when you feel pretty empty and lonely. And, as the community of the baptized, we promise to walk through your lives with you, and bring the love of Christ to you.
You need us because life can be scary and confusing. And, as the community of the baptized, we help you form a living relationship with the God who says, “Do not be afraid! I am with you. Together we will get through whatever happens.”
You need us because the world teaches you really unhealthy lies about what you have to look like and do to be attractive and successful and popular. And those lies lead to eating disorders and sex way-too-young and substance abuse and making yourselves so busy you don’t have time just to stop and remember who you are. As the community of the baptized, we remind you that the Savior we follow made sure he had time to be alone to pray, and eat with family and friends, and let someone in need interrupt his schedule.
Confirmation class of 2004: we need you. And you need us. Together, let’s create ministries of fun, purpose, and connection. Let’s be disciples of Jesus, so everyone who comes into this church feels our love so strongly they know Jesus loves you lost, or found, or any whichway. Amen.