Today we are confirming seventeen members of our congregation. Over the last few weeks we have met to discuss the Creed, the Bible, prayer, the Eucharist and ethics. Each time that we have met we have heard from differing members of the congregation who have been brave enough to share their own journey of faith.
Over these weeks I have been reminded of my own confirmation on 27 February 1982. I remember the exact date so easily because it is engraved on a beer tankard that I was given as a confirmation present. It seemed somewhat incongruous at the time but as it still sits on my desk, it might have been a more perceptive gift than I then realised.
I remember hoping that I would feel utterly different after the service, that my doubts would be silenced and that the trouble I occasionally got myself into in school might lessen. It turned out, however, to be a much more gradual experience.
The journey of faith is indeed a long one and confirmation is a cairn on that journey. Confirmation is a marker and celebration of where we have come to and stands as point that we can look back on in future life. It is a moment when we pray not for the will power to be good but for the strengthening of God’s Holy Spirit which is the only power required to live the Christian life.
And so this morning we will join with Bishop Christopher as we pray; ‘Defend O Lord, these your servants with your heavenly grace, that they may continue yours for ever, and daily increase in your Holy Spirit more and more until they come to your everlasting kingdom. Amen.’
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