Generations passing
By the Rev. Andrew McHenry, First Congregational Church
Friday, July 17, 2009
By the Rev. Andrew McHenry
First Congregational Church
Generational differences can be both fascinating and frustrating. Several shifts have happened in America in the last century:
• For the generation grew that up in the Great Depression, a good parent was one who held a job, put food on the table, and kept a roof over your heads. But the next generation emphasized the emotional, nurturing parts of parenting more.
• The older generation grew up in dire financial need, and became both very generous but also very frugal. But their children’s generation was willing to spend more and indulge. And so shopping malls sprang up all across America.
• One generation cherished the values of duty to country, patriotism, and faith in God – as the world came together to fight Adolph Hitler and Nazism. But in the 1960s the war was in Vietnam. The government seemed less trustworthy then. The public was not behind this war in the same way, and many of the cherished values of the older generation were being mocked.
• Generational dissonance peaked in the 1960s and 70s, and the effect was felt in churches. Mainline denominations began to decline after explosive growth in the 1950s. Institutional religion was held in mistrust with many other parts of American life. The saying became popular: “Trust no one over 30.”
I have been to many churches and have seen the generational differences play out. Quite often the grandparents’ generation was very devout, and their faith affected every part of life. But their children were less religiously inclined. They had the form but not the power of their parents’ faith. They might go to church occasionally and value church-relationships, but it had little effect on the habits of prayer, Bible study, and other spiritual practices at home. And this really played out in the grandchildren’s generation. They came to see church as just another thing that people do, without any substantive value. So they chose not to go.
This may seem peculiar to our time, but it isn’t. This also happened 1,200 B.C. The Bible says (in Judges 2:10), “After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel.”
There is an emphasis in the Bible on a direct, first-hand encounter with God. So long as a generation was around with direct memory of God’s work in the exodus, migration, and settlement phases of Israelite history, the people were faithful (Judges 2:7). But Joshua’s death seemed to trigger a national faith-erosion (Judges 2:8-9). This points to several things:
• Every generation needs to discover the power of God for itself. No one else can do it for you.
• Every person needs to learn the truth of scripture. No one else can learn the Bible for you, or discover your beliefs for you.
• Every generation needs to engage in prayer. No one else can pray the prayers that you should be praying.
• Religious-surrogating is not in God’s pattern. Saying, “My uncle was a preacher,” means nothing if you have no faith-relationship with God yourself. Family members can’t fill in for you.
Joshua’s death was singled out, which tells us another thing: God uses people to make a spiritual difference. God raises up people to be spiritual anchors in their families. God raises up pastors and other church leaders to be Christ-like models in their congregations. And God raises forth prophetic figures to be spiritual strongholds for generations. God has never stopped doing this. Look around and you can see the people that He is using. And remember – maybe God wants to use you to be a spiritual anchor for someone else?
God bless you.
• “Sunday Sermon” is a forum for Emporia area ministers to share their sermons, thoughts and observations. This week’s sermon is from the Rev. Andrew McHenry of Emporia’s First Congregational Church.