Confirmation Sunday Sermon for May 3 2026
We are about half-way through
our survey of the apostle Paul.
We’ve heard how Paul was an ardent persecutor
of the earliest Christians;
hauling them to prison,
and even having Stephen stoned to death.
But Paul was changed by Jesus;
called by the Holy Spirit,
blinded by the Light of God,
but healed and sent
to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth,
sent to continue the ministry of Jesus Christ.
This new Way was so powerful for Paul that,
even having found himself in prison,
he rejoiced, always.
Paul, also known by his Hebrew name Saul,
was a highly educated Jewish religious official.
He knew the scriptures;
he knew the Torah:
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
Deuteronomy.
He knew the prophets and the Psalms.
Like many other learned Jews,
he likely had much of the scriptures
committed to heart.
This was one of Paul’s gifts:
the ability to discuss theology,
to know the scriptures,
and now, by the Holy Spirit,
to proclaim that Jesus is the Messiah,
the Son of God.
After his calling,
Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus,
immediately proclaiming in the synagogues
that Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God.
It confused the people:
wasn’t this the man dragging followers of Jesus
off to prison?
Eventually, as his power grew,
the Jewish authorities plotted to kill Saul
but he escaped.
As time went on, Saul continued to proclaim Jesus,
and the church grew in strength.
Now - would you like to hear the story
of how Saul changed his name to Paul?
So would I!
It’s not much of a story,
the bible doesn’t really tell us much.
It just sort-of … happened.
In Acts 13, suddenly Saul is also known as Paul.
No proclamation.
No ceremony.
No breaking open of the heavens,
Saul is simply also known as Paul.
It wasn’t abnormal for people to have dual names.
In Hebrew, the name Saul means “ask or question God.”
Paul, on the other hand,
is a Gentile name, a Greek name.
Paul means “little.”
It’s interesting,
the name change helps the Hebrew man minister
to the Greek community.
The name is fitting for Paul and what he preaches;
Saul questions God - God responds,
Calling Saul to continue the ministry
of Jesus Christ - to the ends of the earth.
Paul means little -
Jesus means everything!
Invite reader forward
Many years had passed
between the conversion of Saul and today’s reading.
Hard to say how long, exactly.
In those years,
Paul and Barnabas had travelled together
proclaiming the Gospel,
and they separated after a sharp disagreement.
Paul and Silas began their journeys together.
This is where we enter the story today,
on Paul’s second missionary journey.
Let’s quiet our hearts and listen for God’s voice…
FIRST READING: Acts 17:16-31
A reading from Acts.
In Athens, Paul faces the challenge of proclaiming the gospel to Greeks who know nothing of either Jewish or Christian tradition. He proclaims that the “unknown god” whom they worship is the true Lord of heaven and earth who will judge the world with justice through Jesus, whom God has raised from the dead.
16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply distressed to see that the city was full of idols. 17 So he argued in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and also in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. 18 Also some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers debated with him. Some said, "What does this babbler want to say?" Others said, "He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign divinities." (This was because he was telling the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.) 19 So they took him and brought him to the Areopagus and asked him, "May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 It sounds rather strange to us, so we would like to know what it means." 21 Now all the Athenians and the foreigners living there would spend their time in nothing but telling or hearing something new.22Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. 23For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, 25nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. 26From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, 27so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. 28For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said,
‘For we too are his offspring.’
29Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. 30While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”
Word of God, Word of Life.
Thanks be to God.
I came across a fascinating poll not long ago.
There was a simple question asked;
“Do you believe in God?”
4/5 US American adults said yes.
That means 1/5 of those surveyed don’t.
70% of those who said they believe in God
say that they believe in the God
of the Judeo/Christian bible.
That means 30% don’t.
It’s fascinating.
Depending on how this question was framed,
I don’t know how I would have answered.
I mean,
I believe in the God who is witnessed to in the bible,
especially through the life, death and resurrection
of Jesus Christ,
but when I hear some of the stories
of what God supposedly called
God’s people to do,
- take the imperial violence in the book of Judges -
or stories of Christians
proclaiming a god
who excludes and excommunicates
based on gender, sexual orientation, class,
ethnicity, or ability;
I’m not so sure I believe in that god either.
Nevertheless,
this tells you something;
a strong number of US American people
who believe in God
believe perhaps in God as described
in other faith traditions,
or perhaps a combination of faith traditions.
Another interesting tidbit:
of the 1/5th who do not believe in God,
about half of them
believe in some kind of higher power
or spiritual force
at work in the universe.
Even 18% of those who identified as atheist
said they believe in some kind of
spiritual higher power.
It’s fascinating.
You can find more detailed analysis in the survey itself,
but suffice it to say that the question
“Do you believe in God?”
has a more complicated answer
than simply Yes or No.
I admit that the results of a US American poll
might not produce the same results
as a similar poll in this part of the world,
but I’m thinking that maybe the context,
the neighbourhood,
the people that Paul spoke to in the Areopagus
isn’t all that different from our context,
our neighbourhoods,
and our people.
They were a people who only talked about what’s new,
and we are a people glued to our smart phones.
People worshipped various gods in that time;
even “an unknown god”
and it seems in this part of the world,
God often goes unknown.
But Paul knew better.
Paul knew one God.
Paul knew Jesus.
With thanks to the gifting of God’s Spirit
and his knowledge of scriptures and theology,
Paul was able to speak to these people about Jesus Christ,
using their language:
“What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you… The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things… In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said,
‘For we too are (God’s) offspring.’
Paul didn’t use Jewish language.
Paul didn’t name Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.
This wasn’t Saul talking - it was Paul.
Paul didn’t talk about the theological need for a Messiah;
the anticipated anointed one.
In this little message, Paul didn’t even say the name “Jesus”
Paul talked about God in a way the Athenians
- and foreigners might understand -
using their own ancient poems:
like: the one in whom we live
and move
and have our very being -
and - for we too are his offspring.
Paul said this God is known in
“a man whom (God) has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”
We know this person is Jesus.
In a time that it could be said that
many seem to worship many gods,
or at least believe in an unknown god,
people like you and me,
people gifted by the Holy Spirit,
have a unique opportunity
to put a name to the One
in whom we live and move and have our very being -
Jesus of Nazareth,
crucified
and risen
and alive
and at work in the world.
That’s our job - point to Jesus.
Like Paul,
or Peter,
or Moses,
or Abraham
or Joseph
or David,
or Ruth
or Mary
or Hannah
or Lydia,
I believe God has given you something unique.
You have particular skills,
talents,
interests,
abilities,
and passions;
and then God calls people like us
to use these gifts
in specific contexts,
particular places
and neighbourhoods,
with people that we might share God’s good news,
that we might be God’s Good News.
I am reminded, on this Confirmation Sunday,
of confirmation services in years past.
Many of you remember your own confirmation,
maybe you had to recite Luther’s Small Catechism
before the council from memory.
Many of you remember being quizzed by the pastor
Well, I quiz our confirmands too,
and I often ask them - how many Gospels are there?
You’d think the answer is 4, but no…
The answer is 5,
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John
and you.
A Gospel is a story of God’s good news,
and each and everyone one of you
is a story of God’s good news.
(Invite Sarah forward)
We give thanks for Sarah this morning in particular,
and like Paul in Athens,
She has the opportunity to share her faith with us,
in her own words.
Sarah, you might be the lone confirmand this year,
but you are not alone,
we are all in this together…
Thank you for sharing your faith expression with us.
Faith Expression.
Thank you, Sarah.
you have blessed us with your witness.
God is with you.
You are a Gospel,
a story of God’s good news.
And indirectly,
you’ve helped us imagine for ourselves,
how we might tell our own stories.
And as I look out at you all,
including you gathered online,
I can see another hundred or so Gospels.
You are the people God has called and chosen
to be the Church,
to be the baptized.
You too are a story of God’s good news,
you too are gifted with the Holy Spirit,
and you are joined in God's mission
for the life of the world.
And now we are the apostles,
the ones God sends out to proclaim and be the Good News.
Let us pray…
O God, you are the one in whom we live, and move, and have our very being. We are your offspring. Give us courage to share our own stories of faith, in our own words. and give us patience and openness to listen to the stories of others. It is often in relationship that we find you - open our hearts to others, that we might receive the Gospel from them. As you have led and guided Sarah to this moment, as you will continue to lead and guide her, so bless us all with your Spirit - lead us where you would have us go. Change us by your Spirit that we may be more like Jesus, the One who saves. Amen.
