Tell the Next Generation
Psalm 78:1-7 expresses for us the urgency and importance of Christian education for children and young people. Thus, we must Tell the Next Generation. September 7, 2008.
A sixteenth century monk turned priest turned university professor once wrote: Nothing can more easily earn hell for a man than the improper training of his own children; and parents can perform no more damaging bit of work than to neglect their offspring. Forceful, sharp, and pointed words, but true nonetheless. In his own unique way Martin Luther expressed the urgency and importance of Christian education for children and young people.
But what if parents don’t know the basic truths of Scripture as they are so vividly illustrated by the historical accounts of the Old and New Testaments? What if parents get questions about life and death and life after death and can’t recall what the Bible has to say about those things, or worse, say to their kids, “When you get old enough, you can make up your mind and choose your own religion.”
Martin Luther’s encouragement regarding the importance of Christian education stretches to all generations and parallels that offered by King David’s choir director and chief musician. A thousand years before our Lord Jesus walked on this planet, Asaph sang out in words recorded in Psalm 78 to, Tell the Next Generation.
The what of Christian education
Tell them what? Asaph answers, “Tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders he has done.” No doubt Israelite parents and teachers made sure their children could read and write, but the central focus for spiritual education was “the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD.” And Israelite parents and teachers were not at a loss for words when it came to relating those praiseworthy deeds of the LORD. They could talk about awesome miracles, going back in time to the two-score years of tiptoeing through the tumbleweed of Sinai’s wilderness. “Listen up kids! Our ancestors watched as God piled up walls of water so they could walk through the Red Sea on dry land. Then he shoved the water back like a tsunami on the enemies who were trying to attack then. Not long after, there came a time when their tongues were hanging out like dried pieces of leather because they couldn’t find any decent water. God made water gush out of a bone-dry rock like opening up a fireplug.” They could also tell the next generation about the LORD’s victories against incredible odds. “Our forefathers faced a foe hiding behind fortress walls at Jericho. Get this for a battle plan! God told them to walk around the city for six days in silence, except for the trumpet tunes of the priests, and on the seventh day at a big trumpet blast those walls came tumbling down like dominoes. A couple hundred years later our ancestors were oppressed by the people of Midian until God worked an improbable victory. Three hundred Israelite soldiers defeated one hundred twenty thousand Midianite swordsmen.” Best of all, Israelite parents and teachers could tell the next generation about a very special promise God had made, a promise that a Savior was coming who would, as Asaph sang later in this psalm “atone for their iniquities.”
We have set aside this day as an opportunity to focus on Christian education. Lots of folks who’ve been around churches for more than a few years might be thinking, “How nice! It’s always good to focus on kids. After all, they’re the future of our church.” But here’s something that has been substantiated by research with any number of churches. Christian education for children goes well only to the degree that adults are growing in the Word of God. In other words, we can offer all kinds of Christian education programming for children and youth – from Sunday school sessions to paying the lion’s share of tuition for Grace kids who are enrolled in a Lutheran elementary school in the area to sending nearly nine percent of our total annual offerings to our Wisconsin Lutheran High School – but the children involved in those spiritual growth opportunities will continue to remain connected to Jesus and his Word only to the degree that their parents and other adults model that kind of commitment.
We know God wants all people of all ages to continue growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ(2 Peter 3:18). We can debate for hours how to schedule more opportunities for adult spiritual growth on site, off site, and on the web. We can discuss adult learning styles and the possibility of offering a variety of Bible class approaches – and, believe me, those conversations are going on behind the scenes among our leaders and staff – yet there will be one clear focus for all Christian education among the family of God, the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD. We hang our heads in shame for the lack of priority we have given to spiritual growth. But what do we do when guilt gets to us? We go back to the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD. We visit a feedbox in Bethlehem, and walk the dusty paths of Palestine with a traveling teacher from Nazareth, and crane our necks to look up at blood-smeared timbers on a hill outside of Jerusalem, and poke our heads inside an empty tomb. There we see what we sing about. There we see what to talk about. There we see the “what” of Christian education – Christ Jesus front and center.
The why of Christian education
Asaph also tells us the “why” of Christian education, the reasons why on-going spiritual growth of people of all ages is so essential. He lists three reasons why we want to become personally immersed in the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD and tell the next generation. For one thing, we would be lying if we gave children and young people the impression that life is a bed of roses. One day in their work environment they will run into the irritating, know-it-all person, the “I can flaunt my floozy lifestyle and make fun of your Christian principles” person, and the “let’s see how much we can get away with” person. They will one day have to deal with knees that creak, sports injuries that come back to haunt, and allergies that don’t seem to go away. No matter how much we try to warn them or protect them, they will one day have to deal with relationships that just did not turn out the way they hoped and the loss of friendships that seemed so promising. Illnesses will come. Friends will turn their backs, move away, or die. But that’s exactly why we tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD. We want all to be growing in their grasp of what God has done for them, and that includes the kids who toss Cheerios in the back pews, and ’tweens who scream for the Jonas Brothers and Hannah Montana, and teens who text their way down the hall between classes, and college students who wrestle with writing something original and not plagiarizing when the Internet articles say it so well, and single adults who struggle to find a way to meet someone of the opposite gender who is not a groping pig, and young couples who wrestle with abstinence because they know that’s God’s way, and newly married couples who bit off more than they could chew and deal with debt, and families with kids who have a frenetic schedule that blurs the eyes, and empty-nesters who miss their kids but find themselves caring for four generations – their parents, themselves, their kids, and their grandkids – and retirees who struggle to stay active but know they can’t keep up the pace they used to enjoy, and senior citizens who find themselves wondering who’s left among their friends who would attend their funeral – we want all to keep their eyes on Jesus and the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD in good times and in bad, day in and day out so that they put their trust in God. Who else can pull us out of spiritual quicksand onto solid ground?
The second reason for on-going spiritual growth for all – Someone who has learned Christian truths might be able to recite all sixty-six books of the Bible, the twelve sons of Jacob, and the six chief parts of the Catechism faster than “two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame seed bun,” but if he or she can’t translate those truths into action, what good will they do? If those truths fill the head but do not connect with the heart and hands, what good will they do? That would be like a child being able to recite the names of all the great-grandparents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins on a family tree, but not know any one of those people personally and never receive care and love from any of them. We tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD so that they will not forget his deeds but keep his commands even when challenged by evolutionism, humanism, materialism, ecumenism, and all the other -isms.
The third reason for on-going spiritual growth for all – Asaph had good insights into human behavior. He knew that when one generation fails to tell the next, the result is disastrous. His fears came true. The history of the Israelite nation is a sad tale of slipping away from the Lord. Why? Because people did not focus on the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord and share those with the next generation. We want to tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD so that they in turn will tell their children. Persistent proclamation of Jesus leads to perpetual praise to Jesus.
Parents who tell their children, “You can make up your own mind about religion,” need to think that through. Would they also tell a two year old, “Here’s the fork. Have at it!” or a toddler, “Here’s your bike. Good luck!” or a teen, “Here are the car keys. I hope you don’t get hit”? We want to tell the next generation all the important things they need to know about life. Is there anything more important than guiding them to eternal life? And if we are serious about that then we adults also will want to keep growing spiritually because the future of our church is not our children. Many of them will grow up, go to school, move away, and become the future of some other church. The future of our church is our neighbors and friends who don’t have a church home or who are floundering in the relationship with God. They are the next generation of Lutheran Christians. That’s why we pick up the psalmist’s commitment and say to each other, “We will not hide[what God has done]; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD.” Amen.
Preached at Grace Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI (www.gracedowntown.org) on September 7, 2008
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