Reardan Grad Sunday
There are two of you we are honoring here this morning, but the odds of you two sitting here in 4 years with a still vibrant faith are small. Depending on the study, if we had a hundred HS graduates here proclaiming faith, in four years roughly 50% would have abandoned their faith. Following that cohort till they are thirty and likely another 20-30 would drop out. So, by age 30, 30 to 20 would be left.
Why is this? This is an exceptionally good question with many answers. But I am not here to give you an analysis of all the factors at play. Rather I am going to make it simple. The book of Ephesians says we are in a spiritual war. And those who will not be here in 4 years, and the additional people who will drop out by age 30, will be casualties of that war. It is an astoundingly high casualty rate. In physical combat your chances of being killed are about 1% and being wounded 5-10%. Here we are talking about a spiritual mortality rate by age 30 of 70%-80%!!!!
So, what is this war about? It is about your relationship with Christ. The reality is your spiritual enemies will do everything to disrupt and destroy this relationship. But here is the good news; unlike a physical battlefield, in the spiritual realm, you have some choice about whether you live or die because there is an inverse correlation between how well you maintain your relationship and your chances of being spiritually shot. In other words, the stronger your relationship the less chance you will have of being picked off and conversely the weaker the relationship becomes the more likely you will be killed. So, your job is to cultivate this relationship and with God’s help make it strong. There are lots of ways to do this but that is not the focus of my chat with you tonight: rather, in broad terms, I want to remind you of some spiritual truths regarding your relationship and how to survive and thrive in this war over these critical and vulnerable years.
I want to start by asking how many of you have watched the TV show called Antiques Roadshow. There is an American and a British version where people bring old things they own to an antiques expert who then tells them what they have and what it is worth. It is very entertaining, informative, and sometimes astounding as to what people have stored away in their attics. But here is a common theme in the show; once people know what their antique is worth, they change their attitude towards it. Where once something seemed common and plain, they now treat it with profound respect, honor, and wonder (and here is the important part for us), they change the way they take care of it. Where once it was in an old chest with a bunch of other stuff it is now its own case, or goes into a safe, or sometimes is sold to a museum. In other words, it becomes more special, more treasured, more honored, and respected than before because the owner now knows what he or she has and what it is worth.
I say all this, because your relationship with the God of the Universe is the most valuable thing you possess. And this is why: Jesus Christ, the second person of the Godhead, came to earth, inhabited human flesh, and on the cross, endured, suffered, and absorbed all of God’s wrath that was to be poured out on you for your sin. He took your place. And now he has forgiven you. But more than that he has made you his child and took residence in your heart. What is worth more than that? This relationship is unique, because if you take yourself anywhere in the world, you cannot lose it. Strip way all your health and all your wealth, and you still have it. It is not something that can be destroyed or taken from you. But, like any relationship, it can weaken or strengthen depending on how you treat it. Treasure it and it becomes more life giving every day, ignore it and you cheapen God’s gift to you and become vulnerable to the pull of the world. This is one reason you should ask the ultimate appraiser, the HS to help you sense the worth of Christ’s gift to you each day.
Proverbs 5:22 says an evil man is held captive by his own sins, they are like ropes that catch and hold him. Here the word ropes is used to indicate binding, but ropes can also be used for saving. For example, Eccl 4:12 says Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. When I was in high school, I climbed Mt Rainer. I went to a daylong introductory climbing school where we learned how to use an ice axe, how to arrest a fall, and how to rope up together and operate as a team while climbing. Then for the next 2 days we climbed the mountain. Above 10,000 ft we were roped together in groups of 4-5, so if one of us fell, the other three or four could arrest the fall. This is the principle of Eccl 4:12. A cord or rope tied to three is far stronger and likely to survive a fall than one person alone.
So let me identify three ropes metaphorically attached to you that do three things; they can lead you, if you stumble, they will help you right yourself, and if you completely fall off the cliff they can help pull you back. I am going to discuss each rope in terms of the strength of its pull, as some ropes are thicker and stronger than others. So, I will go from strong, to stronger, to strongest.
Rope #1. The strong rope. the rope of love for your parents. In 1 Chronicle 28, just before David died, he summoned all the leaders of the tribes, his commanders, his overseers, the palace officials—in other words, all his important leaders; civil, military, and religious and he had a big meeting. He then presented Solomon in front of them and gave him this charge starting in verse 8, So now I charge you in the sight of all Israel and of the assembly of the Lord, and in the hearing of our God: Be careful to follow all the commands of the Lord your God, that you may possess this good land and pass it on as an inheritance to your descendants forever. 9 “And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever. 10 Consider now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a house as the sanctuary. Be strong and do the work.
So, take this gathering as your parents charge to you; but instead of the assembly of the leaders of Isreal you have gathered here your church family. And like David your parents are charging you; be careful to follow all the commands of the Lord your God; acknowledge the God of your father; serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind; if you seek him, he will be found by you. And I will add, do not trainwreck your faith over these next four years!!!
Scripture says Solomon started the work in the spring of the fourth year of his reign and it took 20 years to build. So, Solomon honored his father’s command for 24 years! If you read the first parts of 2 Chron Solomon had all kinds of materials (gold, silver, stone, cedar) that he could have used on something else, but he honored his father’s command. Why? Because he loved him and sought to honor him. So, as you enter these next few years, be reminded of your parents’ rope of love tethered to you. Let the choices you make honor them because of your love for them and all they have done for you.
Rope #2, The stronger rope, the rope of love for friends. At this stage of your life, the rope of friends is stronger than the rope of parents. Rene Girard was a brilliant sociologist, who said we are imitative creatures, and our desires are based on what others desire. In other words, we want to be like our friends! We make the choices they make. This is why it is so important to have like-minded spiritual friends—because there is a good chance you will make the same spiritual choices as they will. In 1 Sam 20, Jonathan warns David that Saul is seeking his life and sends David away, even though as Saul’s firstborn son, he is line for the throne. David’s friendship with Jonathan was more valuable to Jonathan than an earthly throne. So, the rope of friendship saved David’s life at the cost of Jonathan’s earthly success. So, when you are tempted to abandon your walk with God, use the rope of your Christian friends to pull you out of the hole.
Rope #3. The strongest rope, the rope of love for God. This is the strongest rope and the one you may always rely on. It will protect and keep you from making bad choices and pull you out of the deepest holes if you do mess up. In Genesis 39 we have the story of Joseph living in Potipher’s house. Remember Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, transported to Egypt, and sold to Potipher who was the Pharaohs captain of the guard. Potipher had a promiscuous and lustful wife. She was attracted to his youthful, strong, and handsome body, and she desired him. She finally asks him to have sex with her, and he responds as follows, (Gen 39:8), But he refused. “With me in charge,” he told her, “my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. 9 No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God? The Bible says she then pressured him to have relations with her day after day. Think about that. We know the rest of story. She entraps Joseph and he is thrown into prison, where he languishes for anywhere from 2-12 years depending on which scholar you believe. But here is the point. His love for God prevented him from making a bad choice. His rope of Love for God was strong and though he ended up in prison, God’s rope of love for him was even stronger.
So, let us finish. You are entering a highly spiritually vulnerable period over these next few years. Let the rope of love for your parents, for your friends, and most importantly for your God, carry you through. And like Ecclesiastes says, a cord of three strands is not quickly broken. And know this to; His rope of love for you, shall never disappoint. Jesus said I will never leave you nor forsake you. God bless you, Amen!
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