The Ninth Sunday of Pentecost
August 2, 2009
Psalm 78:1-8
In the great words of Colonel Hannibal Smith, “I love it when a plan comes together.”
Note: Smith, played by George Peppard, was the leader of the A-Team for five seasons on television.
Item #1: During his visit in June, our parish consultant Andy McAdams told me that this book, Essential Church, is essential reading. Essential Church answers the question, “Why do so many young adults leave the church, and what will it take to bring them back?”
Item 2: In the last week of June I received a letter from Franklin Graham. It is dated June 24th and the letter outlines a series of outdoor evangelistic concerts for youth called Rock the River. This tour began on July 18 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and today it is in St. Louis. As the tour visits key cities along the Mississippi, Rock the River will be in the Quad Cities of Illinois and Iowa on August 8th and will finish in Minneapolis/St. Paul on August 16th.
Franklin Graham writes,
During the last few years, we have seen God move in this generation, and
more than two-thirds of those who have made decisions for Christ at our
Crusades are youth. Researchers tell us that young people born between
1985 and the early 2000s will be the largest generation in American history.
They desperately need to know Christ, and this is a great burden on my
heart.
Item #3: Last week, I began reading a new book titled already gone. The subtitle is “Why your kids will quit church and what you can do to stop it.”
Item #4: On Friday at the annual CANA (Convocation of Anglicans in North America) Council in Herndon, Virginia, Dr. Steve Garber, director of the Washington Institute for Faith, Vocation and Culture spoke on the topic of “A Church of Great Grace and Great Truth.” His focus was “Engaging the next generation.”
Our psalm this morning also focuses on the transmission of faith to the next generation.
“I love it when a plan comes together.”
In verse 1 of our psalm we read, “Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth!”
The psalmist encourages his hearers to truly listen to him.
vv. 2-3 I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old,
things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us.
I’ve been spending time with Psalm 78 since late June and I’ve been pondering what it means for us at St. Andrew’s. The psalmist speaks about teaching in parable form. We know that Jesus used parables in His teaching. They are brief stories that pack a moral or religious lesson. Parables are wonderful teaching tools because they are engaging and memorable.
We can test this last statement now by naming out loud those parables of Jesus that we remember. [Time was given for the congregation to do so.]
Psalm 78 is a story psalm that includes a number of stories about God providing for His people up to the time of King David. These stories have a particular audience in mind.
v. 4 We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.
The intended audience for these stories of faith are our children. The call of God for His faithful people is to pass on the teachings that we receive from Him to future generations.
We are to pass on the glorious deeds and powerful works of God to our children. These stories of God’s action are not only from Scripture; these stories are also from our lives. Speak to your children about your faith – when you have acted in faith and when you have seen the hand of God working in your life. If you walk with the Lord, you have a story to tell.
Author Ken Ham reports in Already Gone on some findings of survey researcher George Barna. Barna’s organization conducted 25 different surveys with a total of 22,000 adults and 2,000 teenagers. They found that 50% of teens in the United States regularly attend church or church activities and ¾ of teenagers talk about their faith with their friends.
Barna also found that the religious activities of teens was greater than that of 20 somethings and 30 somethings. No surprise from this one. 61% of that 20s and 30s group are “spiritually disengaged.” Only 20% of those who were spiritually active in High School were still active in their 20s and 30s.
When I was leading youth groups my short-term priority was that all our kids would have a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. My long-term goal was that our kids would remain active in a church during college and beyond college. It can be difficult to connect college students with churches, but that was my goal.
In his presentation on Friday, Dr. Steve Garber quoted a 20 year old whom he had interviewed. Speaking about the Christian faith, this 20 year old said, “You have to show us why it matters; most of my generation doesn’t think it does.” The survey research bears this out.
Our youth and young adults need to know that the Christian faith is true and that it is relevant to their lives. It is relevant to their lives because it is true, but we have to help them make that connection. Because the Christian faith is comprised of the truest truths, the deepest, most bedrock truths of life, it is relevant for our lives and their lives. To communicate this we must first live it.
It is essential that we both walk the walk and talk the talk. Our lives can validate Scripture as we live lives that provide evidence for the truth of the Scriptures. We can demonstrate by our living that Scripture is relevant and its way of life does work. When we live vital Christian lives our children and youth are more likely to live vital Christian lives. Listen to a paragraph from Essential Church:
Parents are a critical element in keeping college-age young adults in
the church. They are more than mere parental figureheads. These
students, even older teens, look closely at how their parents are
living out what they say is spiritually important. And how well
parents convey the importance of the church plays a major role in
whether students remain or drop out. Additionally, parents have
the ability to persuade the dechurched to become rechurched. We
hope that it is not surprising to find that parents have a profound
influence on their children. But our research uncovered a strong
link between teens assimilating in the church and the actions of
parents. In other words, it isn’t enough for your children to hear
from you that church and spirituality are important. Parents must
show their children that church is essential to the entire family.
[pp. 93-95, italics in original]
The most powerful youth group on earth is the Christian family. As you bring your children and youth to church Sunday by Sunday, as you live your lives as devoted followers of Christ, your children will pick up your values. When I was in college I went to church every Sunday. Sometimes I went with a hangover, but I went. I went because my mother taught me that you go to church every Sunday. That was her value and it became my value. already gone reports on the Lifeway survey that was commissioned by the Southern Baptist Convention. Along with the survey is this commentary:
Church leaders should passionately and consistently challenge
church members to maximize their influence with youth and
young adults. Frequent and intentional contact can either prevent or
counteract the tendency of some to drop out of church… This return
to church after being gone for at least a year is primarily the result of
encouragement from others. The most common reason for returning
is “My parents or family members encouraged me to attend” (39
percent). Twenty-one percent attribute their return to “My friends or
acquaintances encouraged me to attend.” Combined, 50 percent of
those who return were influenced by the encouragement of either
family or friends. Young adults also return to church when they feel
the desire personally or sense God calling them back: “I simply felt the
desire to return” (34 percent) and “I felt that God was calling me to
return to the church” (28 percent). [p. 135]
The Psalmist writes in verses 5 through 8,
He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments; and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God.
There was a noticeable focus on youth at the CANA Council this week. There were activities for youth. Dr. Steve Garber tackled issues concerning reaching youth and young adults. In the opening keynote address by Archbishop Ignatius Kattey of the Province of Nigeria spoke of the next generation with “great concern.” He challenged parents to live exemplary lives and to incorporate Bible reading and prayer into family life.
The morning the psalmist directs fathers to teach their children the ways of God in verse 5. The psalmist sees the transmission of faith as reaching not only the next generation, but the one after that, that is, children yet unborn (v. 6). This transmission process is our most pressing task.
God has spoken to me profoundly and powerfully over the last two months about our work with children and youth. He has spoken to me through Essential Church and already gone, Dr. Steve Garber, Archbishop Ignatius Kattey and most importantly, through the psalmist this morning. I believe that this message from God about ministry with children and youth is not just for me, not just for our parents, but for all of us.
As the commentary from the Lifeway survey quoted in already gone says, I am challenging you and all of us to maximize our influence with children, youth and young adults. Every one of us can take an interest in our children, youth and young adults. The challenge of the psalmist and our times is for all of us.
Here are some action points from already gone that fit with the message of Psalm 78:
First, make your own spiritual life a priority. Read your Bible daily, reflect on Scripture and pray often and thoughtfully.
Second, take responsibility for your spiritual life. Evaluate your walk with Christ to ensure that it is consistent and exemplary. In his sermon yesterday at our closing Eucharist, Bishop Bena mentioned a sign next to a mirror. Bishop Bena was a Marine officer serving in Hawaii and the sign next to the mirror there said, “You are a Marine, do you look like one?”
The corollary is, of course, you are a Christian, do you look like one? Our church has a great future, but it will take a great effort from all of us. Dr. Steve Garber spoke well on Friday, challenging us in CANA to be a church of great grace and great truth. This is our call at St. Andrew’s for all of us, for Christ, and for the world. We hold the truest truths of the universe. Let’s pass them on passionately, consistently and in a way that is compelling to others.
I love it when a plan comes together. A plan is emerging for our ministry at St. Andrew’s with children, youth and young adults. You can support this great work with your prayers and your own efforts to connect with our younger members. By your life and your words, point the way to live for Christ. The plan of God for St. Andrew’s includes you.
