Thursday, 8th Week of Ordinary Time

Acts 8:14-25

It’s interesting how a few Bible verses can be interpreted quite differently. Verses 14-17 of today’s reading are usually taken as the scriptural basis for the rite of Confirmation, where baptized Christians confirm the faith their parents first professed on their behalf. More evangelical Christians cite this verse as proof that getting dunked once isn’t sufficient to be “saved.” You must also be baptized in the Holy Spirit and be “born again.” But there is no indication in ch. 2 of Acts that the 3,000 who became Christians on the day of Pentecost were baptized twice.

What links the baptisms in Jerusalem and Samaria is the presence of the 12. They were the acknowledged leaders of the Church, the ones who could speak for all the believers, and who marked the boundaries of the Church. When they heard in Jerusalem of what Philip had accomplished in Samaria, they realized that something needed to be done to make it clear that this was not a private party, an isolated thing. The Samaritans needed to know that they were a part of something bigger than themselves, a Church that, as Jesus promised, would stretch to the ends of the earth.

In the Episcopal Church, bishops are seen as the successors to the 12. They represent the wider Church. Thus they must be present at confirmations, to remind those confirming their faith that they are part of something bigger than their little congregation. Of course, when a Christian, baptized in Christ, confirms their faith, and has the hands of the Bishop laid on them, they also become “Episcopalians,” as opposed to some other kind of Christian. So, just as their horizon of what constitutes “The Church” expands, they also mark out the boundary of their particular “church.”

Thus, “Confirmation” can be a very inclusive act, and exclusive at the same time. I like to think of the Church sometimes as an amoeba. That single celled creature has very flexible boundaries. It can adjust its outer membrane to new movements. Sometimes, it can even merge with another amoeba. But, it always retains its membrane, its individuality. The 12 faithful sons of Israel were flexible enough to recognize Jesus at work even among their longtime enemies, the Samaritans, and to join themselves and the Samaritans together.

As Episcopalians, may we be flexible enough to recognize the Spirit in unfamiliar places, while retaining the particular gifts God has given us in this reformed yet traditional, evangelical yet catholic, church.