The Children Of Our Fathers

THE CHILDREN OF OUR FATHERS

Read Jeremiah 31:27-34

Read Jeremiah 31:27-34

The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge. Jeremiah 31:29

When I was in college, my parents shook their heads in discouragement and befuddled amazement at us, their children known as the Baby Boomers. We wore bell bottoms, had long hair, protested the Vietnam War, shut down college campuses, and then all went out and became Republicans who ushered in the Reagan Revolution. Now, our ways have returned to us.

We Baby Boomers, now in our 50s and early 60s, shake our graying heads at our kids, the Millennials. They wear jeans with holes in them, have short and spikey hair, dislike the War in Iraq, voted Democratic in their first election and brought “Change to America” by putting Barak Obama in office.

It seems that things make no more sense today in 2009 than they did when I was in college in 1968. Think of it: The Baby Boomers were part of the greatest evangelical resurgence in history, the most “religious” generation in American history to date. Yet on our watch Roe vs. Wade paved the way for abortion on demand, divorce reached a peak in American history and same-sex marriages became legal in some states.

Now, after we’ve reared our kids in evangelical churches and kept them in church daycare, Vacation Bible Schools and youth groups from pabulum to puberty, all we have to show for it is the rising “new atheism,” and young evangelicals who think global warming and the economy are more important than abortion and homosexuality!

Case in point: In the Fall of last year, buses in London carried signs that read, “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.” American buses in Washington D. C. answered in kind last Christmas: “Why believe in a God? Just be good for goodness sake!” Even Santa Claus would be offended at the lifting of the lyrics from his song for such blasphemous tripe! Is this the world we Campus Crusade for Christ Baby Boomers built?

Jeremiah answers our questions: He points to an old proverb and says, “The Fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge” (v. 29). In other words, “Fathers sin and the kids pay the consequences.” Not so, says Jeremiah, each generation is responsible for its own sins.

What pastors need to do for these young, independently minded and searching twentysomethings is to teach them the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34). The Gospel will answer the questions of the soul of our youth as it did those of the souls of their fathers in their youth. Life with God may look a little different under Obama than it did under Reagan, but it will still be grounded in the Covenant of Grace.

In the end, are things really that different? At Ohio State University, my philosophy professor held up a magazine one day and with great delight showed us the cover. It read: “God is Dead.” Now, our sons and daughters read books with the title The God Delusion. What’s new?

Jack Kennedy or Barak Obama, Vietnam or Iraq, Communism or Islam, pollution or global warming, the civil rights movement or the right-to-life movement––they all remind us of the truth that spans all generations. The only thing that makes sense out of life is this overarching and magnificent truth: “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (31:33).

So, confused Baby Boomer parents, listen to some of your own guitar prophets: “Teach your children well.” Teach them the Covenant of Grace…the Gospel.

PRAYING FOR THE PCA

AC: The General Assembly relies on a cadre of volunteers (local to Orlando as well as from across the country) to function smoothly and efficiently. Pray that we will have sufficient numbers as well as the experience levels needed to accomplish our tasks.

CTS: Pray for Dave Wicker, Covenant Seminary’s chief operating officer, as he and his staff continue to develop strong and lasting relationships with Seminary friends and donors; ask the Lord’s blessing on their ongoing efforts to raise funds to support the Seminary’s work.

MTW: “Living in Grace,” a discipleship training seminar originally designed for missionaries, is now available to PCA churches through MTW’s Spiritual Life Department. Pray that God will use this seminar to more fully ground His people in the power of the Gospel for daily living.

RUM: Please pray for the five RUF International groups as they reach out to share the Gospel with students from over forty different countries. Many of these students will return to their home countries after a year. Pray that they will be strengthened and equipped to live for Christ and participate in building the Church. Also, pray for these Campus Ministers as they daily strive to overcome their own culture to meet the needs of those in other cultures and to apply the Gospel to these students.

RBI: PCA Ministerial Relief provides for financial assistance to those who qualify according to need. Please pray that more churches will participate in the annual PCA Christmas Offering this year, as it is the source of this financial help. We praise God for a Church that cares about the needs of their servants.