IT'S NEITHER BRAVE NOR NEW, BUT IT IS THE WORLD

#1 · October 1, 2007, 7:49 am

Quote from Forum Archives on October 1, 2007, 7:49 am
Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>
ITS NEITHER BRAVE NOR NEW, BUT IT IS THE WORLD

September 30, 2007

Text: 2 Corinthians 4:1-18

A couple of weeks ago, on womens Sunday, Melanie shared about the concerns for America that the Agape Sunday school class discussed that morning. Even though I was not in that class that morning, it is not difficult to figure out the issues they discussed, especially since Melanie prayed about some of them that morning. For the reasons included in the lyrics of this mornings choir anthem, This Is America, I love this land. I think that it is the greatest place to live in the history of the world. I love our American heritage as perpetuated by the post-revolution founding fathers. I think that our form of government, our liberties, and our land are worth defending.

At the same time, I share a very deep concern with the Agape class and many others about our nations direction. About twenty years ago, I had a glimpse of where we seem to be heading. When I finally got around to reading A Brave, New World by Aldous Huxley it was in the 1980s for me I determined then that this was the book that predicted life in America and, perhaps, some of the other developed nations. For awhile, George Orwells 1984 was touted as the prediction of future life in America and the world with its Big Brother is watching theme, especially as the real 1984 approached. Even though the Orwellian specter of Big Brother reappears every once in awhile, I still believe that A Brave, New World maintains the edge in predictive ability.

I did not think that I was being particularly clever then, nor do I think so now. To me, it seems I am just stating the obvious. In a nutshell, Huxleys novel is about a future society in which pleasure is used and manipulated by an elitist few in order to control the general population. Genetic engineering is used in order to create different castes in society where some serve and others are served. A drug called soma is used to keep the population numb to anything except whatever produces pleasure. Analysts of the novel typically call this paradise-engineering. Those who manage to rebel against the culture for instance, the religious of this brave, new world are forced to live in a place far away from the main population so as not to create disharmony. Let me emphasize this future setting: (1) society is ruled by an elite few; (2) the general population is kept under control through the use of some type of mind-numbing drug called soma; (3) the general population does not care who rules them as long as they have access to all the pleasures provided them; (4) in order to provide the servant class necessary to provide for the other classes, servants are genetically engineered; (5) anyone who manages to have a moral difference with this society is exiled somewhere else so as to not create trouble. They are marginalized.

Now look around our society and our culture and tell me that we arent almost there. Pleasure is certainly a primary goal in our culture as entertainment, pornography, and sexual deviancy have all been elevated to almost god-like levels. I guarantee you that you would find more people in any given community more upset about losing cable or satellite television service this morning than if the church doors didnt open. Am I wrong? There are increasing numbers who lobby for more currently illegal drugs to be legalized. And look how our leading politicians campaign these days. They have been made more electable if they do better on the Tonight Show than if they espouse solid ideas to defend this nation, reestablish strong moral character, and provide opportunities for success. Modern thinking has become, If they can keep us entertained, then they deserve to win.

My conclusions about the condition of our culture are validated about every day in the news. A case in point came last Friday from Erin Shultz, the Kokomo Tribune Friday editor. In her weekly column, she wrote about her current boyfriends king size bed. She knows about it because she stays there. Without stigma, without embarrassment, and without shame, she openly writes about their living arrangement. (Erin Shultz, The Valley of No Return, Friday, Kokomo Tribune, September 21, 2007, p. 2) No doubt many subscribers reading her article have no concept other than this is normal. It would be me who would be called the oddball at best for suggesting anything wrong and immoral with their relationship. It would be us who would be cast as intolerant if we interjected the concept of sin into their relationship. Am I wrong?

You can see why I think that A Brave, New World is predictive of our culture. Miss Shultz, like hordes of others, will be perfectly happy with whoever is in charge of our government, culture, and world as long as she can maintain her current living arrangement and anything else that brings her pleasure as she defines it. Place before her anyone who threatens her pleasure with moral truth, and then we will see a great disturbance. Paradise-engineering.

Now I finally get to the point that prompted me to give such a laborious title to this sermon: Its Neither Brave Nor New, But It Is the World. The decline of our culture toward open immorality is not brave. What is brave is to stand against sin, not cave into it. Humanity has been letting sin run rampant ever since the deception of Eve and Adam. Living as sinners does not get people persecuted; standing up against sin is what gets them torn asunder.

The decline of our culture is certainly not new. There are places in the Old Testament, including Israel at times, that are described as every bit as morally corrupt as anything we see in our day. Ecclesiastes 1:9 tells us What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. When it comes to mans capacity to rebel against God, indeed, there is nothing new under the sun.

Does this mean, then, capitulation? Surrender? Defeat? Accept a brave, new world as inevitable? Hardly. Does anyone here believe that we face a harder time than the Apostle Paul? Really, I want to know. Does anyone believe that Paul had an easier life as a Christian than we do? Yes, the questions are rhetorical. If anyone is going to tell me that we have it worse than Paul, theyre going to have to pull out some real proof for it. Anyone here been imprisoned for sharing the Gospel? Been beaten lately for being a Christian? Do we have lookouts posted at the windows to warn us of approaching police coming to break up our worship service?

You know it and I know it: even in the face of this increasingly hostile culture, we experience nothing like Paul faced. So what Paul says about facing the world should be vitally important to us. And he has a lot to say in 2 Corinthians 4. Consider again verses 6-9: For God, who said, Let light shine out of darkness, made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this allsurpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. Even in the face of a not-so-brave and not-so-new world, here is a man of faith who was at times pressed on every side writing encouragement to one of the churches and telling them that they are struck down, but not destroyed. Does this sound like a man who was dismayed and overwhelmed by an ungodly culture? I dont think so. So what about us? Are we overwhelmed by an increasingly hostile culture? A culture that increasingly does not recognize the difference between ungodliness and righteousness? A culture that perceives moral discernment as a threat to its pleasure? Are we neutralized by a brave, new world? How are we to respond?

The first few suggestions are the most vital, but Im not going to dwell on them at length this morning because they are what we have been learning for years. Over time, we will once again emphasize these spiritual disciplines at greater length. Read the Bible. Learn from the Word of God; let Him speak to us and lead us and encourage us. Know how God wants us to live. Be in prayer. Praying is our avenue of conversation with God. God wants to receive our praise. He wants us to tell Him our needs. He wants us to pray for the salvation of others. Pray for God to have a victory in this not-so-brave, not-so-new world. Share the Gospel. Be a witness. Its hard for someone to know Jesus when they never hear about Jesus outside of a few cuss words. Remember the guidelines that Pastor Rick Warren included in his first book, The Purpose Driven Church, that we cannot expect an unbeliever to act like a believer. Point them to the truth and allow the Holy Spirit to convict them of sin and their need to repent.

In addition to applying these and other spiritual disciplines to our lives, there are additional steps Christians can take to make a difference in our not-so-brave and not-so-new world. Keep up with current events. You dont have to spend all your time in front of the 24 hour news channels, but stay informed about our culture and issues. Arm yourselves to be able to make decisions when it comes time to vote for politicians and on issues. Do not withdraw from the political world, for this is where our policies are shaped in our representative government. Contact your lawmakers at all levels of government. Choose a few specific issues, say two or three, to become familiar with and inform your elected officials of your informed opinions. Follow up with thank you notes when they cast votes the way you think that they should have. Let them know that you are remembering them in your prayers. Offer them expressions of support and encouragement when you can be sincere about it. Men and women in public office receive plenty of negative correspondence. Be one of the different ones who gives encouragement.

Submit letters to the editor expressing the importance of the Christian faith in this world. Twenty or so years ago, the Reverend Dr. Jerry Falwell established the Moral Majority on the premise that the majority of Americans stand for Christian moral and ethical values but remained silent about them. I believe that a majority of Americans still believe in and support the Christian foundations of our nation but, like before, remain silent about them. There are a lot of people who are in the middle and just waiting for their quiet belief that a brave, new world is not a good thing to be affirmed. The more that Christian values are projected as normal, the more opportunities there are to invite others to at least look into Christs message.

Attend Christian public events when possible. Every year in May there is a National Day of Prayer gathering at the county courthouse. The turnout at this event tells most passers-by that Christianity is not a very significant force in our communities. Now we all know that the significance of the Christian faith is not found only in the number of attendees at rallies, but there is still an impact on communities that see that professing Christians are serious about seeing the world changed for Christ.

If you are thinking that I am talking about actions of public activism, you are right. Activism is how the immoral minority have been able to pursue their own ends. We need to show our communities that Christian believers are indeed an active force. We are not to gather for the purpose of bullying, but for being a witness to the love and light of God. We have the privilege of living in a great land. It is great because our Founders pinned all of their hopes for a new world on the Creator of the whole world. The Apostle Paul had nothing like the land of liberty in which we live, yet he was fearless in his pursuit of proclaiming the work of the Lord. Paul faced a world that was every bit as decadent and cruel as ours is becoming. He faced a world in which the persecution of Christians was acceptable. And while he faced a world like that, he proclaimed, Therefore, since through Gods mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. (2 Corinthians 4:1)

So let us not lose heart, either. Let us be the Christian faithful that Paul teaches us to be. Its neither brave nor new, but it is the world. And it is the souls of this world that can be won or lost for Jesus Christ. Do not be dismayed or overcome by the ungodliness we see in our land today. Instead, be resolved to push back the darkness with the light of the Lord. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Rev. Charles A. Layne

First Baptist Church

PO Box 515

170 W. Broadway

Bunker Hill, IN 46914

765-689-7987

bhfbc@bhfirstbaptist.com

www.bhfirstbaptist.com
-- To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: abesermons-unsubscribe@welovegod.org   

Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>

ITS NEITHER BRAVE NOR NEW, BUT IT IS THE WORLD

September 30, 2007

Text: 2 Corinthians 4:1-18

A couple of weeks ago, on womens Sunday, Melanie shared about the concerns for America that the Agape Sunday school class discussed that morning. Even though I was not in that class that morning, it is not difficult to figure out the issues they discussed, especially since Melanie prayed about some of them that morning. For the reasons included in the lyrics of this mornings choir anthem, This Is America, I love this land. I think that it is the greatest place to live in the history of the world. I love our American heritage as perpetuated by the post-revolution founding fathers. I think that our form of government, our liberties, and our land are worth defending.

At the same time, I share a very deep concern with the Agape class and many others about our nations direction. About twenty years ago, I had a glimpse of where we seem to be heading. When I finally got around to reading A Brave, New World by Aldous Huxley it was in the 1980s for me I determined then that this was the book that predicted life in America and, perhaps, some of the other developed nations. For awhile, George Orwells 1984 was touted as the prediction of future life in America and the world with its Big Brother is watching theme, especially as the real 1984 approached. Even though the Orwellian specter of Big Brother reappears every once in awhile, I still believe that A Brave, New World maintains the edge in predictive ability.

I did not think that I was being particularly clever then, nor do I think so now. To me, it seems I am just stating the obvious. In a nutshell, Huxleys novel is about a future society in which pleasure is used and manipulated by an elitist few in order to control the general population. Genetic engineering is used in order to create different castes in society where some serve and others are served. A drug called soma is used to keep the population numb to anything except whatever produces pleasure. Analysts of the novel typically call this paradise-engineering. Those who manage to rebel against the culture for instance, the religious of this brave, new world are forced to live in a place far away from the main population so as not to create disharmony. Let me emphasize this future setting: (1) society is ruled by an elite few; (2) the general population is kept under control through the use of some type of mind-numbing drug called soma; (3) the general population does not care who rules them as long as they have access to all the pleasures provided them; (4) in order to provide the servant class necessary to provide for the other classes, servants are genetically engineered; (5) anyone who manages to have a moral difference with this society is exiled somewhere else so as to not create trouble. They are marginalized.

Now look around our society and our culture and tell me that we arent almost there. Pleasure is certainly a primary goal in our culture as entertainment, pornography, and sexual deviancy have all been elevated to almost god-like levels. I guarantee you that you would find more people in any given community more upset about losing cable or satellite television service this morning than if the church doors didnt open. Am I wrong? There are increasing numbers who lobby for more currently illegal drugs to be legalized. And look how our leading politicians campaign these days. They have been made more electable if they do better on the Tonight Show than if they espouse solid ideas to defend this nation, reestablish strong moral character, and provide opportunities for success. Modern thinking has become, If they can keep us entertained, then they deserve to win.

My conclusions about the condition of our culture are validated about every day in the news. A case in point came last Friday from Erin Shultz, the Kokomo Tribune Friday editor. In her weekly column, she wrote about her current boyfriends king size bed. She knows about it because she stays there. Without stigma, without embarrassment, and without shame, she openly writes about their living arrangement. (Erin Shultz, The Valley of No Return, Friday, Kokomo Tribune, September 21, 2007, p. 2) No doubt many subscribers reading her article have no concept other than this is normal. It would be me who would be called the oddball at best for suggesting anything wrong and immoral with their relationship. It would be us who would be cast as intolerant if we interjected the concept of sin into their relationship. Am I wrong?

You can see why I think that A Brave, New World is predictive of our culture. Miss Shultz, like hordes of others, will be perfectly happy with whoever is in charge of our government, culture, and world as long as she can maintain her current living arrangement and anything else that brings her pleasure as she defines it. Place before her anyone who threatens her pleasure with moral truth, and then we will see a great disturbance. Paradise-engineering.

Now I finally get to the point that prompted me to give such a laborious title to this sermon: Its Neither Brave Nor New, But It Is the World. The decline of our culture toward open immorality is not brave. What is brave is to stand against sin, not cave into it. Humanity has been letting sin run rampant ever since the deception of Eve and Adam. Living as sinners does not get people persecuted; standing up against sin is what gets them torn asunder.

The decline of our culture is certainly not new. There are places in the Old Testament, including Israel at times, that are described as every bit as morally corrupt as anything we see in our day. Ecclesiastes 1:9 tells us What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. When it comes to mans capacity to rebel against God, indeed, there is nothing new under the sun.

Does this mean, then, capitulation? Surrender? Defeat? Accept a brave, new world as inevitable? Hardly. Does anyone here believe that we face a harder time than the Apostle Paul? Really, I want to know. Does anyone believe that Paul had an easier life as a Christian than we do? Yes, the questions are rhetorical. If anyone is going to tell me that we have it worse than Paul, theyre going to have to pull out some real proof for it. Anyone here been imprisoned for sharing the Gospel? Been beaten lately for being a Christian? Do we have lookouts posted at the windows to warn us of approaching police coming to break up our worship service?

You know it and I know it: even in the face of this increasingly hostile culture, we experience nothing like Paul faced. So what Paul says about facing the world should be vitally important to us. And he has a lot to say in 2 Corinthians 4. Consider again verses 6-9: For God, who said, Let light shine out of darkness, made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this allsurpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. Even in the face of a not-so-brave and not-so-new world, here is a man of faith who was at times pressed on every side writing encouragement to one of the churches and telling them that they are struck down, but not destroyed. Does this sound like a man who was dismayed and overwhelmed by an ungodly culture? I dont think so. So what about us? Are we overwhelmed by an increasingly hostile culture? A culture that increasingly does not recognize the difference between ungodliness and righteousness? A culture that perceives moral discernment as a threat to its pleasure? Are we neutralized by a brave, new world? How are we to respond?

The first few suggestions are the most vital, but Im not going to dwell on them at length this morning because they are what we have been learning for years. Over time, we will once again emphasize these spiritual disciplines at greater length. Read the Bible. Learn from the Word of God; let Him speak to us and lead us and encourage us. Know how God wants us to live. Be in prayer. Praying is our avenue of conversation with God. God wants to receive our praise. He wants us to tell Him our needs. He wants us to pray for the salvation of others. Pray for God to have a victory in this not-so-brave, not-so-new world. Share the Gospel. Be a witness. Its hard for someone to know Jesus when they never hear about Jesus outside of a few cuss words. Remember the guidelines that Pastor Rick Warren included in his first book, The Purpose Driven Church, that we cannot expect an unbeliever to act like a believer. Point them to the truth and allow the Holy Spirit to convict them of sin and their need to repent.

In addition to applying these and other spiritual disciplines to our lives, there are additional steps Christians can take to make a difference in our not-so-brave and not-so-new world. Keep up with current events. You dont have to spend all your time in front of the 24 hour news channels, but stay informed about our culture and issues. Arm yourselves to be able to make decisions when it comes time to vote for politicians and on issues. Do not withdraw from the political world, for this is where our policies are shaped in our representative government. Contact your lawmakers at all levels of government. Choose a few specific issues, say two or three, to become familiar with and inform your elected officials of your informed opinions. Follow up with thank you notes when they cast votes the way you think that they should have. Let them know that you are remembering them in your prayers. Offer them expressions of support and encouragement when you can be sincere about it. Men and women in public office receive plenty of negative correspondence. Be one of the different ones who gives encouragement.

Submit letters to the editor expressing the importance of the Christian faith in this world. Twenty or so years ago, the Reverend Dr. Jerry Falwell established the Moral Majority on the premise that the majority of Americans stand for Christian moral and ethical values but remained silent about them. I believe that a majority of Americans still believe in and support the Christian foundations of our nation but, like before, remain silent about them. There are a lot of people who are in the middle and just waiting for their quiet belief that a brave, new world is not a good thing to be affirmed. The more that Christian values are projected as normal, the more opportunities there are to invite others to at least look into Christs message.

Attend Christian public events when possible. Every year in May there is a National Day of Prayer gathering at the county courthouse. The turnout at this event tells most passers-by that Christianity is not a very significant force in our communities. Now we all know that the significance of the Christian faith is not found only in the number of attendees at rallies, but there is still an impact on communities that see that professing Christians are serious about seeing the world changed for Christ.

If you are thinking that I am talking about actions of public activism, you are right. Activism is how the immoral minority have been able to pursue their own ends. We need to show our communities that Christian believers are indeed an active force. We are not to gather for the purpose of bullying, but for being a witness to the love and light of God. We have the privilege of living in a great land. It is great because our Founders pinned all of their hopes for a new world on the Creator of the whole world. The Apostle Paul had nothing like the land of liberty in which we live, yet he was fearless in his pursuit of proclaiming the work of the Lord. Paul faced a world that was every bit as decadent and cruel as ours is becoming. He faced a world in which the persecution of Christians was acceptable. And while he faced a world like that, he proclaimed, Therefore, since through Gods mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. (2 Corinthians 4:1)

So let us not lose heart, either. Let us be the Christian faithful that Paul teaches us to be. Its neither brave nor new, but it is the world. And it is the souls of this world that can be won or lost for Jesus Christ. Do not be dismayed or overcome by the ungodliness we see in our land today. Instead, be resolved to push back the darkness with the light of the Lord. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Rev. Charles A. Layne

First Baptist Church

PO Box 515

170 W. Broadway

Bunker Hill, IN 46914

765-689-7987

bhfbc@bhfirstbaptist.com

http://www.bhfirstbaptist.com

-- To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: abesermons-unsubscribe@welovegod.org