Bishop David Confirmation Sermon

Confirmation Service Tou= louse

30 March 2008

Sermon by Bishop David Hamid

The Sunday after Easter Day used to be called Low Sunday. Do you remember that?= It was never much fun to write and preach a sermon on the day that had this depressing title. When I was a young priest, it was the day that the vicar turned over to the curate. I notice Fr Charles has managed to turn it over = to the bishop!

But the reference to “low” had nothing to do with low attendance, or low excitement after the high spiritual experience of Holy Week and Easter Day. “Low” has nothing to do with depression, attendance or let-down. Originally this Sunday was known as Laudes Sunday, “praises Sunday”. It was to remind us that the great feast of Easter had not e= nded – the praises continue. You note that we call this the second Sunday = of Easter, not the Sunday after Easter. There are 7 Sundays of Easter. = This holy feast is so central to our faith that the festive time of celebration lasts for 50 days until Pentecost. It is like one long feast day. In fact, early Christians called these 50 days “great Sunday” because th= ese 50 days are to the 365 what Sunday is to the 7 days of the week. So there a= re to be no “lows” in this season, just laudes, praises. The large and beautiful paschal candle will always be lit, there will be extra light and colour and strong and joyful alleluias in our services.

But there perhaps a better n= ame for this instead of “low Sunday”: “Thomas Sunday” f= or the central figure in the Gospel today is St Thomas. History has been a little hard on Thomas, calling him “doubting” Thomas. Yet, we should not be too hard on him. Because he is supposed to represent us!

Thomas helps us with several important questions that were on the mind of the apostolic church, and that= is still relevant for believers today.

The first question is this: “How is it possible to believe in the risen Lord if you have not seen him?” Thomas is like us – he is like the majority of believers.= He was not there at the tomb, he was not there when Jesus appeared on the even= ing of the first day of the week. Yet, like us, he needs to know for sure. Thom= as is such an important figure for us believers who have not seen and yet have faith. This story of Thomas is the charter for the believers of the future,= for you and me. And it should be a great comfort that Thomas is a paradox: Even though he was the doubter, he was the one who made the most profound and explicit affirmation of faith that we find in the Gospels when he acclaimed Jesus: “my Lord and my God”.

The second important questio= n that Thomas addresses for us has to do with what sort of Risen Christ do = we believe in. Thomas does not want to believe in some kind of mystical Christ figure that floats like a haze in our minds and hearts, but who is not real= and concrete. Thomas has no time for a Risen Jesus that is simply a figment of a romantic imagination. He wants to know that it is the same Jesus whom he kn= ew as a friend and teacher in Galilee. The = same Jesus whose real, flesh and blood body hung from the cross on Good Friday. = And this is an important point for us. Our Risen Jesus is real. He is the one w= ho the Gospel says “was made Flesh”. Our Risen Lord Jesus is not s= ome sort of kindly phantom, blurry and sort of glowing and floating into the picture. The Risen One is the actual person whose blood dripped from his ha= nds and sides as he hung on the cross. He is not some ghost or figment of imagination. Thomas wants to see the hands and side of Jesus. He wants to s= ee the wounds in his flesh. The Jesus we serve is not a ghost.

The third important question= has to do with how we find this Risen Lord. The remarkable thing in today’= ;s Gospel is that this Risen Lord actually comes to us and finds us! We believ= ers do not have to embark on a long quest and search for our Lord. He comes to = us. Look again at the disciples in the Gospel. There they are behind locked doo= rs because they were afraid, huddled, in hiding, and in the case of Thomas, fi= lled with doubt. Then Jesus comes through their locked door. God comes to us. Je= sus doesn’t wait for the disciples to figure things out in their minds. J= esus doesn’t wait until they were mature in their faith and not afraid any more and ready to unlock the doors themselves. Jesus doesn’t wait for Thomas to stop doubting. Jesus doesn’t wait for any of them to do anything different, or to be anyone different. He just showed up. And loved them, and blessed them with the Holy Spirit and give them a job to do. That= 's all. That's what he did, that's what he does now. He comes through whatever doors we have that keep us locked up and apart, he does not wait for us to become perfect believers and perfect Christians. He just comes and he loves= us and he empowers us with the Spirit and gives us a mission. That's what the resurrected Lord does.

And the last thing that we l= earn from today’s Gospel is what Jesus does to us and expects of us when he finds us. When Jesus came through their locked door, he gave two things to = the disciples.

Jesus appears and gives the disciples his peace and breathes on them, saying “Receive the Holy Spirit”. This Holy Spirit, this gift of God’s grace, God’s power, God’s guidance, is the Spirit we are given at our Baptism. Thi= s is the same Holy Spirit that strengthens us in Confirmation. This is the same = gift we have been given, over and over, as God reaches out to us and feeds us in= the Eucharistic banquet. It is God’s gift of divine life. The breathing is reminiscent of the Lord creating the first humans in Genesis, breathing into Adam the breath of life. And our Lord Jesus fills us with that same Spirit, making a new creation, a new Adam, forgiving us our sins, and filling with = his grace and power.

Then Jesus sends us out as forgiven people, made new in his Spirit. We are sent = into the world with a mission to forgive, to be reconcilers, to participate in t= he same saving mission which was their Lord’s – reconciliation and forgiveness, bringing people back to God, removing all that separates them = from God. This is such an important point – it is about the mission of the Christian Church. The mission of the church is not to enlarge its membershi= p. Your task and mine is not simply to bring outsiders into our assemblies. Our task is to love the world the way that God does – forgiving failures = and reconciling people to each other and to the Father. Of course we need people inside the Church to do this mission – but that is so that Jesus can breathe his Holy Spirit into us to empower us to be holy, living, brilliant flames, breathing love and peace and justice in the midst of the fear pain = and hopelessness of the world.

Now, candidates for confirmation today, this story of Thomas is yo= ur story – and I want you to embrace it.

You were not present to be a personal witness to the resurrection = of our Lord, but like Thomas you are invited today to declare your belief and trust in him as your Lord and your God. You will do it in the words which y= ou answer to questions I will ask you – and the words are those of the Creed, which is simply a way of expanding what Thomas says in the Gospel – that Jesus is your Lord and your God.

And this Jesus in whom we be= lieve is real. He is not a phantom or a ghost. He is the one whose body was actua= lly broken and whose blood was outpoured. We reach out and touch that real, sac= red Body as we reach for the sacred elements of the Eucharist. This one we rece= ive in Holy Communion is none other than the Jesus who was crucified. But not o= nly do we reach out to and touch Christ in the Eucharist. Through Thomas= today, Jesus is calling us to reach out and get our hands joined to the world’s bleeding hands, to get our fingers into the side of life where Christ’s blood still runs warm. For where there is brokenness and pain and injury and wounds in this world, there is Christ. We reach him there. We touch him there. Our reaching for him in the Eucharist must be matched by reaching for him in the world. The real test of faith is not only whether we believe that Christ is risen, but whether we can put our hands out to feel = the woundedness in the world around us. That is why I will ask you whether you = will seek and serve Christ in all people, loving your neighbour as yourself, and whether you will defend the weak and seek peace and justice. Jesus invites Christians as he did Thomas, to touch him in the place of hurt and wounding= in the world.

And this Jesus does not wait until you have all the answers, until you have everything figured out, and until all your doubts are dispelled before he welcomes you into his family. The thing that Thomas shows us is that in the= Church, in the community of Jesus, we allow the doubters the right to ask questions= . We allow members of the community to express disbelief. We allow our children,= our teenagers, our newcomers, our more jaded members to question, to doubt. No-= one is to be driven out of the midst of the community simply because they have questions, doubts and fears. Thomas, even with his doubts and demanding questions was still a part of the fellowship. To me, that is really good ne= ws. We don’t need always to be sure about everything. God does not requir= e us to be doubt-free. God comes to his people and calls us, even though at time= s we will have questions and will have much growing and maturing in the faith ah= ead of us.

And confirmands, when our Risen Lord comes to us, he shares with us his mission= ; he calls us into service. We are a people loved and forgiven, and we are sent = into the world with the rest of the Church to participate in Christ’s work= of love and reconciliation. To love the world as God does, to spread Christ= 217;s peace and forgiveness. This is our task. If only human beings could forgive= as he forgave, where would be the wars? Where would be the hatred and mistrust? All would be conquered by the resurrection. So the prayer of Jesus which Christian disciples say every day reminds us that we are called to be reconciled with those who have injured us, and to pray for forgiveness for = our sins “as we forgive those who have sinned against us”. At the e= nd of the service you will receive a lighted candle and you will follow me out into the world with that light, to symbolise that your mission, our mission= , is to bear the light of Christ’s love and reconciliation everywhere ther= e is still darkness.

Dear friends, the Christian = faith has been spread through all lands and in all ages by those who have not seen Christ in the flesh but who confess their faith in him as Lord and God, who have been filled with the breath of his Spirit, who reach out and touch Chr= ist himself in the sacraments and in a broken world, who spread the light of his love and peace. As you join with me in praying that the Holy Spirit will co= me down on these persons and so fill them with grace for this work of being a Christian disciple, pray also for that same Spirit to fill you once again, = that you may be recommitted this Eastertide to Lord’s service and mission.= You are a people loved, and given power, and sent into the world. Always rememb= er that. The Easter story continues, and we continue to be a part of it.<= /o:p>

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