Ah, the things we do when we’re young.
My brother Bill is two years older than me.
He has always liked fast cars …
or at least he liked driving fast.
I remember when I was attending university in my arts days
my brother said he’d give me a ride back to school.
So we headed from London to St. Catharines on the 401.
My brother at the time drove a 1967 Mustang fastback.
Bell telephone green with a black leather interior and chrome appointments.
Under the hood was a 440 cubic inch, 4 barrel Shelby cobra engine,
four on the floor.
The car wasn’t just fast.
It was … fast.
My brother was driving down the 401 at 140 miles an hour,
passing cars going 70 miles an hour as though they were parked.
I told him that if he didn’t slow down I’d never drive with him again.
Brotherly affection won out over speed that day.
He slowed down.
I don’t think my brother ever got a speeding ticket.
Either they didn’t catch him or they could never catch up to him.
But he did get an occasional ticket for disturbing the peace.
He’d be sitting at a red light at an intersection.
There was so much power under the hood
the car was just jumping ready to go.
And when he’d step on the gas
he’d leave a patch of rubber yards long
as he left the other cars behind.
That patch of rubber was telling. You knew my brother had been.
There, where the rubber met the road.
Last Sunday was a most wonderful day at Collier.
It was wonderful for a lot of reasons
but particularly and deeply moving when 19 young people stood here
and, making their professions of faith and being confirmed,
were welcomed into the membership of the congregation.
And in the message that day I invited you
to think back to the time you were confirmed
or were considering embracing the Christian faith.
Maybe you were young like our confirmands were.
Maybe you were older and had more of life’s experiences
when you made your profession of faith.
Maybe it was a long time ago.
Maybe it was this year.
Maybe you had it all figured out.
Maybe you’re still trying.
Maybe you had lots of answers.
Maybe you had lots of questions.
But I invited you to think back to the time …
and the moment.
What was it like for you?
What difference did it make for you then?
What difference does it make for you now?
If people were to look at your life as a Christian
would they be able to see where the rubber meets the road?
I said to our young people, even as I said to you:
If love is the thing we understand about God …
if in his life beautifully lived
and his death bravely faced
and his resurrection gloriously accomplished
we see the love of God at work;
if we understand that and embrace that
and strive to live our lives by that;
if we live with our questions but ourselves become loving answers in the world;
then, like the disciples of old who followed Jesus’ call,
and who learned along the way,
in our following we will all learn along the way.
That’s the theology of what it is to be a Christian.
But being a Christian is more than having it right up here (point to head).
Being a Christian is having it right in here (point to heart).
Being a Christian is to accept Jesus as Saviour, Brother, and Friend.
But is so much more than that.
It really is about your faith being lived out.
It really is about where the rubber meets the road.
At the heart of our faith, as I said last week,
it is to understand the simple yet radical teaching of Jesus:
we are to love God with every part of our being
and to love our neighbours as we love ourselves.
At the heart of our faith, as I said last week,
it is about faith, and faithfulness …
about believing certain things and becoming certain things.
At the heart of our faith, as I said last week,
it is about living with questions
for which you don’t have answers,
and living with the answers you have
so that no one will ever question who you are and whose you are:
a beloved child of God.
Are you living in such a way
that no one would ever question
who you are and whose you are?
Making an affirmation of faith is more than making a promise.
Making an affirmation of faith is choosing to live by the promise.
Making an affirmation of faith is more than having your theology right.
Making an affirmation of faith is about having your living right.
As a part of being confirmed,
recognizing that this is not the end of a journey
but one of many steps along the way,
our young people have to make a commitment, for at least a year,
to be involved in one of Collier’s programs.
It could be taking a shift at the Reception Desk
or working in our Sunday Children’s Program
or helping out at Rainbows
or volunteering as an usher
or giving their time to Jesus Walk.
One of our teens, as a part of her volunteer time,
wrote this statement of intention:
My Commitments To God.
I want you to listen to these words.
They speak of a heart that has been touched by the love of God.
They speak of a life that wants to be lived out as a child of God.
They speak of a commitment that may make our commitments pale by comparison.
They are the hopes and aspirations and longings and faith of a young heart.
They are full of youthful idealism.
Would that everyone had such idealism and could make such a commitment.
Listen to these words ~ My Commitments To God ~
an expression of one young person’s faith.
I am humbled by them.
- I will treat others with respect, compassion, love and kindness.
- I will volunteer at my church, and at local charities as much as I can.
- I will care for the environment.
- I will eat healthy and exercise regularly.
- I will be “gay-positive” and treat homosexuals the same as everyone else
and not add to their isolation.
- I will not participate in lotteries or casinos as they take poor tax-payers money for their own selfish needs.
- I will treat everyone as I want to be treated.
- I will maintain my commitments to the church.
- I will attend church each Sunday.
- I will keep my place in the church family.
- I will stand up for people being mistreated.
- I will love everyone.
Those words, for me, are a simple and honest reflection of the words of Jesus.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.”
“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”
“You are the light of the world. Let your light shine before others,
that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.”
“Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you.”
“A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you,
so you must love one another. By this will all people know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
And what makes Jesus’ words so powerful
was that he didn’t just say them …
He lived them.
Making an affirmation of faith is more than making a promise.
Making an affirmation of faith is choosing to live by the promise.
Making an affirmation of faith is more than having your theology right.
Making an affirmation of faith is about having your living right.
A wonderful story is told of a time when St. Francis of Assissi
invited a young follower along on a preaching mission to a nearby town.
He spent the day among the people of the village,
visiting with them and helping them.
And when the day was coming to an end
St. Francis and his young follower left the village and headed for home.
And it was then that the young follower questioned him.
“St. Francis, you said that we were coming to the village today
on a preaching mission.
But all through the day
you did not preach a sermon.
You spoke from no pulpit.
You stood in no square.
I don’t understand.”
And the kindly saint answered him.
“My young friend, you think I didn’t preach?
Oh, I spoke from no pulpit
and I stood in no square,
but I did preach.
I preached as I walked.”
It was there that the rubber met the road.
Someone was once asked to describe what she thought was a saint,
and in looking at the stained glass windows in her church, she said:
“A saint is a person who lets the light shine through.”
And that is the work of the Christian.
That is the essential task of those who are Christ’s:
to be windows that let the light shine through …
to be that seamless cloth that proclaims, all at once,
both conviction and conduct …
both faith and faithful living.
What do you suppose really convinces people
about the glory of Christ in anyone’s life:
the eloquence of an argument
or the silent influence of a life
lived in a Christ-like way?
I would venture to say that most of us who have become Christians
became so not because we heard a powerful apology for the faith
but because we saw the beauty of faith lived out in someone’s life.
We were drawn to Christ
through the life of someone who expressed Him.
And what we saw with our eyes
was more convincing than what we heard with our ears.
What we saw was the window of someone’s life
that let the light of Christ’s love shine through.
What we saw was the rubber meeting the road.
Years ago, at the West Point Academy,
some cadets were having a bull session
and conversation got around to religion in general and Christianity in particular.
Some students thought it was a helpful code of ethics
and should be encouraged.
Some thought it was superstition,
soon to be outgrown as science and technology increased.
One cadet who was quite agnostic thought it long ago a spent force
that we’d be better off without.
“After all,” he said, “what is a Christian anyway?”
And quick as a flash one cadet answered, “Oscar Westover.”
There was silence.
No one had anything to say.
One young man on the campus, Oscar Westover,
in whose life everyone had confidence ~
one young man living our his faith winsomely, convincingly ~
after that, no argument.
Another window that let the light shine through.
Another ambassador for Christ.
It is a faith like that that will win the world.
Remember, God has chosen you to be one of His proofs.
He has put his hand on you to be the convincing argument.
It was Sir Wilfred Grenfell who wrote:
“No one can write his real religious life withy pen or pencil.
It is written only in actions, and its seal is our character, not our orthodoxy.
Whether we, our neighbour, or God is the judge,
absolutely the only value of our religious lives to ourselves or to anyone
is what it fits us for and enables us to do.”
What does all that you believe fit you for and enable you to do?
After you’ve said “I believe” and the rubber meets the road.
My encouragement to you today?
Let it be for you as it is for our young confirmand.
Let your kindness
and goodness
and inclusiveness
and loving heart,
as expressions of your faith,
cause people, when asked the question,
“What is a Christian anyway?”
to say your name.
Be all of this,
for the sake of the Christ who loves you
and whom you love.
Let the rubber meet the road.
SOLI DEO GLORIA
Holy Scripture
Selected Words of Jesus
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.”
“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”
“You are the light of the world. Let your light shine before others,
that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.”
“Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you.”
“A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you,
so you must love one another. By this will all people know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
And what makes Jesus’ words so powerful
was that he didn’t just say them …
he lived them.
