There are a lot of religious ghosts in this article.

The article is a short cute story about “kids these days” and how they don’t value the oldsters advice like they used to. The 4th commandment (5th if you go by the Reformed count) is Honor your Father and Mother. Luther’s explanation, like all . . . → Read More: The Advice Generation Gap]]>

There are a lot of religious ghosts in this article.

The article is a short cute story about “kids these days” and how they don’t value the oldsters advice like they used to. The 4th commandment (5th if you go by the Reformed count) is Honor your Father and Mother. Luther’s explanation, like all his explanations, enlarges the domain. Father and Mother are the stand-ins for any authority figure. The trick is of course what does honor mean? Do exactly and everything they say? Or do the Democrats of four years ago with “protest is the highest form of patriotism” have a claim to honor? In either case a certain respect for experience would seem to be needed. And the church, that entity that likens itself to a mother, is in many ways the real oldster on the block. Some of its advice goes back 4000 years.

Now read this clip…

“Age is no longer the qualifier for being the go-to person for advice,” says Jason Dorsey, 32, a cross-generational consultant who helps companies understand Generation Y. “Yes, if I go into a hardware store, I want advice from someone over age 60, because he could build my house with a screwdriver. But if I walk into an Apple store, I want the young person with blue hair and stretched earlobes, because he can talk to my computer.”

In short, “if we want to learn how to tie a tie, change a diaper, mix a drink, or cook a lobster, we can go on YouTube and find a video,” says Mr. Dorsey. “We don’t call mom and dad.” …Now an actuarial analyst in Atlanta, Mr. Borg says he often challenges advice he receives from older people. For instance, they’ve counseled him to buy a house because prices are low. “Older people think renting is throwing away money,” he says. “But I think owning a home is throwing away financial freedom. I couldn’t pick up and move to a new city. I couldn’t go back to Japan to see my old friends. I’d be tied to the house.”

What do Mr. Dorsey and Mr. Borg both have in common? They’ve both replaced mom and dad or lets just say family with something more nebulous or distributed. YouTube and financial freedom. Is that form of freedom really the way to thrive? The church says no, honor your father and mother. And that is the only commandment with a promise – that is will go well with you and you will live a long life.

The advice of the church runs smack into the conceits of 20 – 30 year olds. Now that is always the case. The church is always confronting sin and stubborness. But, this is a generation that does not take advice. Just because the church has been around 2000 years, its teachings have born out time and again, and your parents say its good for you does not mean that the kids will listen. The mode of teaching has to be more experimental. The church does not put down its claim to authority, but it probably needs to wear it very lightly, and make arguments for it where it didn’t in the past testing its own virtue of patience and hope.

Text: 1 Sam 13:5-18

Being king is a big job. Saul just never seemed up to the task. His dad, a wealthy land owner, had tasked him with the donkeys and apparently wasn’t too concerned if he went missing for quite a few days. At his corronation they have to dig him out . . . → Read More: A question of authority – 1 Sam 13:5-18]]>

Text: 1 Sam 13:5-18

Being king is a big job. Saul just never seemed up to the task. His dad, a wealthy land owner, had tasked him with the donkeys and apparently wasn’t too concerned if he went missing for quite a few days. At his corronation they have to dig him out from hidding amongst the baggage (1 Sam 10:22-23). Right after the corronation people are already uncertain (1 Sam 10:27). The kingdom must be renewed shortly after the first battle (1 Sam 11:14). The prophet Samuel tells Israel – you made a mistake, but now you are stuck with it (1 Sam 12:19). And in the first real military test the Israelites are running (1 Same 13:6-7). Poor Saul had been told to wait for Samuel (the adult guidance?) for the pre-battle offerings, but Samuel took his time and Saul for once takes charge. What is the response? Not your responsibility – that will be the end of your kingdom (1 Sam 13:13-14). Saul never really seemed to understand his role. He ran and hid when courage was required, and he usurped the authority when it wasn’t his.

Are we not often like that? I think the phrase is “the grass is always greener on the other side”. We are given vocations and the living out of those vocations (job, family roles, church roles, political positions, etc.) is a call to justice and truth, a call to recognize and act on the correct and appropriate authority. Instead, we too often seek to run from those roles because they are hard. They require us sometimes to wait on God. They require us to act outside of our comfort and have faith that God works in our weakness. Jesus is our great example of living out his vocation. Jesus was the messiah, the son of God. Part of that vocation was the suffering servant – being perfectly obeidient to the Father’s will. Jesus lived out his vocation all the way through the cross. Because of that – uniquely – Jesus deserves and has been given all authority. We can’t do that, but Jesus did it for us. That cross covers our errors.

Full Text

A hat tip needs to be sent to the Lutheran Hour Ministries and their Men’s Network for some of the ideas in this sermon.

Part of being the parson is being immersed in the Scriptures every day. And maybe even more importantly is the interaction with the Scriptures at a detailed level. . . . → Read More: Let’s go to the other side – Father’s Day – Mark 4:35-41]]>

Full Text

A hat tip needs to be sent to the Lutheran Hour Ministries and their Men’s Network for some of the ideas in this sermon.

Part of being the parson is being immersed in the Scriptures every day. And maybe even more importantly is the interaction with the Scriptures at a detailed level. For most of my life I have had a reading plan and would spend at least 15 minutes a day reading the Scriptures, but often that was rushed or just done at a devotional level looking for what stuck me at the moment. Even worse was some of that 15 minutes was spent reading the footnotes instead of the Word. When you start looking at what the Scriptures say about Jesus and the Christian Life at a more intimate level, you start to see the disconnects with popular understanding and the Christ presented by the Scripture. Even good pious saints with sound theology think in ‘words about God’ terms (my pejoritive God-talk terms) instead of the Word of God. Too much of the former drains the vitality from the latter. The person of Jesus Christ is who we as preachers preach each week, or should. That person is much more dynamic and alive than our God-talk language. The ways to meet that Living Jesus are in the living Word. Pick up the Gospel according to Mark and start reading. If you haven’t done it for a while get the New Living Translation (NLT) which is wonderful modern English that you can actually read like a story. If you want a more ‘word for word’ translation the ESV is what we read from on Sundays or the NIV are both fine if less readable. Don’t worry about the study notes. Just read that Gospel as you would a book. If necessary get a small pocket edition. It will open you eyes to a Jesus who is constantly challenging his followers, constantly saying things like ‘let’s go to the other side…’ as an invitation to an adventure, or constantly correcting our clouded visions of reality.