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One of the greatest days of my life
was the day I was ordained a priest in All Saints church
North Wootton. It was both a most private and a most
public occasion. Private in that I had made an oath to
work in the service of God, with whom I had a
relationship. Public in the way that I had declared
before the whole congregation my allegiance to God, and
the wearing of a “dog collar” is a signal to the whole
world.
Near the end of his life, the great
emperor Napoleon was talking to a historian. The
historian said, “What was the happiest day of your life?
Was it the day of your victory at Lodi? Was it the day
you entered Vienna? Was it the day you marched through
Berlin in triumph? Or was it the day you were crowned
emperor?”
Napoleon said, “It was none of these things. The
happiest day in all my life was the day of my first
communion. I felt so close to God. I’d do anything to
get that feeling back again!”
4 November will be one of those
great days for a group of people from the Woottons. It
is the day when the Bishop of Norwich will be here to
confirm them at 6pm in All Saints Church, and in that
service they will make their first communion.
What we now call Confirmation was
originally part of a wider ceremony of Christian
initiation and only became a separate rite when bishops
were no longer able to preside at all baptisms.
Through prayer and the laying on of
hands by the confirming bishop, the Church also asks God
to give them power through the Holy Spirit to enable
them to live in this way.
Baptism is the starting point in a
person’s Christian journey, and Confirmation marks the
point at which the participation in the life of God’s
people is confirmed by the bishop by the laying on of
hands. Particularly for those baptised as youngsters at
their parents’ request, they can affirm for themselves
the faith into which they have been baptised and their
intention to live a life of responsible and committed
discipleship.
Confirmation allows church members
to partake in Communion at the Altar, taking the bread
and wine, symbols of the Jesus' body and blood.
Our public worship reaches its
height at the Altar (Lord’s table), as we contemplate
and partake of the bread and wine. At that time we can
become occupied with no person save Jesus only, our
thoughts being centred upon Him. The Lord’s Supper as
it sometimes known is our visit to Calvary where in
quietness of soul the Christian contemplates and
meditates on Christ. Nothing but Christ should be
magnified in the Lord’s Supper.
This act of Communion (Eucharist) was not some invention
of the early apostles or of the early church. It didn’t
come by man’s reasoning but by God’s revelation. The
Lord’s supper was instituted in the gospels, practised
in Acts, and taught in the church epistles.
It is not an activity that is
optional for the church, but rather it is an obligation
placed upon the church by the Saviour himself. God knows
that believers forget important matters easily and so He
designed this supper to help each believer remember and
worship Him.
If you are able to be there to
support the candidates you will be most welcome, if you
cannot make it, then please remember them in your
prayers as they make this private and public
demonstration of their Christian journey.
David Tate |
Sceptics
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