"Today,We Have Confirmation!"

Today, we have confirmation!

Twelve persons have completed confirmation classes. Did you note in the bulletin that they have been studying Scripture, worship, theology and United Methodist history since last autumn? Each of these confirmands has presented a class project; all have served the congregation in ministries like ushering and acolyting and banner making. The banner on the side wall was made by one of the members of the confirmation class. Others have been assisting in teaching, sanctuary preparation and lectoring. All have made commitments to continue these ministries. Each of them has pledged to support financially the ministry of The United Methodist Church and this congregation. They have made commitments to the ministries of ushering, acolyting, selling Christmas trees, working in the church office, storytelling, helping in Sunday School Plus and cooking for fund-raisers.

Today, we have confirmation!

Laken and Allie and Philip and Catherine and Kenny and Alexis and Aaron and Brian and Daniel and Sarah and Krissa and Natalie -- these are youth, blessed youth. Youth of our families, youth of our church. Amen.

Friday, I went to the board meeting of the Center for Democratic Renewal, of which I am secretary. It is a group that keeps track of hate groups throughout this country. Among members of this board are Dr. C. T. Vivian, one of the top lieutenants of Dr. Martin Luther King; Marilyn Clement from the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom; Lois Dauway from the Women's Division of the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries; Martin Luther King III, president of the SCLC; Julian Bond, president of NAACP; Leah Wise from Southeast Regional Economic Justice Network; Jo Ann Watson, a representative from Rep. John Conyers' office; Anne Bradey from Southern Organizing Committee for Social and Economic Justice; and Ron Daniels, head of the Center for Constitutional Rights. We had a briefing on Littleton, Colo. I'd like to share just a bit of that briefing with you: Since 1997, there has been an 80 percent increase in hate-group activity in the United States. In two years -- an 80 percent increase. Littleton, Colo. is the national headquarters of the National Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Two Christian Identity groups are based close to Littleton. I need to explain "Christian Identity" because it is a term that can be misunderstood. Christian Identity groups are basically groups that believe, among other things, that people of color are pre- Adamic. That is, they were created before Adam and are descended from the beasts. Christian Identity group members are people who believe Jews are spawns of Satan. They believe the real lost tribes of Israel tarried for a while at the Caucasus mountains, at which point they became Caucasians. The real lost tribes then went into Northern Europe and stayed there a while before coming to what they understand to be the promised land -- the United States. They are people who believe that the Northwest United States and Colorado should be saved because these areas have been promised to white people.

A lot of the people who follow the teachings of these hate groups are white people -- middle-class white people -- who believe they've been squeezed. Hate- group rhetoric leads them to believe they are being squeezed by big government intrusiveness and by what are called "special privileges." They believe what's being said over and over and over again by hate groups, that middle-class people can't get anything in our country because people of color and gays and lesbians are getting special privileges.

People who feel squeezed like this are vulnerable to the messages of hate groups. The two young men who, as we're beginning to understand, surely felt squeezed, wore swastikas; Confederate emblems; and red boot laces, which are the symbol of the Aryan Nation. As we're learning, these two young men left cryptic messages on their website and other places, messages saying, "Watch out for April 20th," which was Adolph Hitler's 110th birthday. These were young people who believed in the Doomsday prophecy that the world is ending in the year 2000.

Our briefing on Littleton, Colo., included results of an MTVsurvey -- if you don't know what MTV is, talk to the confirmands. That survey taken this month, showed that 91 percent of the 750 youth interviewed, believe that there is a crisis of hate crimes in this country, and not enough is being done.

We also heard Friday from a person who shared with us that she always rides the bus to work in Atlanta. They have rules -- unofficial rules -- on that bus. Any of you who commute to work on buses or trains know those rules:

You don't talk to anybody.

If somebody bumps you with a backpack you say, "Oomph."

Everybody stays in her or his own little world.

But the day after Littleton, when a group of youth got on the woman's bus, another woman on the bus broke the silence and said to these youth, "How are you today, babies?" Weeping broke out on that bus -- a bus that the community had defined every morning for years as a place, well, where you don't talk to each other. Concern for the children and the youth burst out.

Alongside this, put the 23rd Psalm. Can we say it together? Will we help each other? Together: "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads my beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff -- they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

Today, we have confirmation!

What did we say to the confirmands as the congregation? We said that with God's help, we will proclaim the Good News and live according to the example of Christ. We will surround these confirmands, we said, with a community of love and forgiveness, that they may grow in their trust of God and be found faithful in their service to others. We will pray for them that they may be true disciples who walk in the way that leads to life. That's what we promised.

Today, we recited a confession of faith in the confirmation service that's from the United Church of Canada. We said:

"We are not alone. We live in God's world. We believe in God -- in life, in death, in life beyond death -- God is with us. We are not alone. Thanks be to God. Amen."

I wish I could tell you what I think we as a congregation ought to do about Littleton, Colo., and all that it represents. One year ago, I spoke with you about Jonesboro, Ark., and said that we needed to pray and decide and think and figure out, and not be too quick to do our usual analysis. One thing we can do -- and we are uniquely in a place to do it as a congregation -- is to make sure 250 Bryant Avenue is a safe place -- a sanctuary. 250 Bryant Avenue can be a safe place for the children and youth of our church. And we might even want to think what it would mean to reach out to our whole community as a safe place for youth -- a sanctuary. I don't know what that might look like, but I hope that we, as a congregation, can pray about it. If anybody has a vision or ideas, come forward. Let's talk and figure out how it is, as stated in the 23rd Psalm, that "Thou preparest a table before me." I've been thinking about how the table from which we have the meal of Jesus can become a symbol that this sanctuary, this church, is a safe place for all of us and for the youth.

At a recent youth-group meeting, my wife Dana asked the youth to complete the sentence, "The church is ___________." One member of the youth group, who is also a member of the confirmation class, said, "The church is my bodyguard." Will you think about that for a second? What a wonderful affirmation that is about this church -- Memorial United Methodist Church. How it is that a person can feel safer in this world because of a congregation? That's wonderful.

So church and confirmands, we are in covenant. The Lord is our shepherd. The church is our bodyguard. We don't have to want. We don't have to fear evil. God is with us. We can find comfort. There's always a table set for us here, even when we have enemies. We are anointed with oil. Goodness and mercy will be with us all the time, and we can live here forever.

That's the covenant we made this morning. We will receive the ministry of these confirmands, and in turn, we will provide the confirmands, and all the youth and children of our church, with a safe space -- a place of sanctuary. The table is set, it is prepared, today and every day, for the confirmands and for us.

We have confirmation! Amen.