Ezra 3:10–13 (NIV)

When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praise the Lord, as prescribed by David king of Israel. With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord: “He is good; his love toward Israel endures forever.” And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away.

Don’t Drop the Baton

Introduction

Last week the summer olympics ended, and what an Olympic Season that was?

My family was all in on the athletic events. We cheered on the USA. Me and my Jude were glued to the game watching USA defeat France in the basketball final.

And, he keeps talking about Flag Football coming to the Olympics in four years and how cool that is going to be watching Tyreek Hill dust a Taxi a driver from Serbia. We’re going to see Patrick Mahomes outplay a bartender form Greece. It’s going to be great!

But there’s an event called the relay race and in this event multiple runners compete on the same team against other teams of multiple runners. And in the relay race the transition from one runner to the next runner is marked by the passing of the baton.

Now, thousands of years earlier, when we look at the people of God in the story of the Bible, we see that God always intended for one generation to pass the baton off to the next generation.

God’s plan for the family was that Dad & Mom would hand off the baton to their children and they would take the next leg of the race of life. The family dynamic was such that Dad & Mom didn’t refuse to hand off the baton, or even that children refused to take the baton. There was this family dynamic where the multi-generational family was on the same team and they were running the same race together.

Transition

And what I want to talk to you about today is how do we, parents, make sure that we are first and foremost, running in the same race with our children, and not against them. Second, how do we ensure that we don’t drop the baton as we release the next generation. And, finally, we are going to let this overarching thought guide us today - how do I raise my child in a world that is different than the one I grew up in?

Text

I want to begin by first examining our text together.

The book of Ezra records a time in Israel’s history when they were under the rule of the Persian Empire. Years before this, Israel was their own Kingdom and under no other nation, but a nation called Babylon conquered Israel, and then Babylon was conquered by Persia, and so due to multi-national conflict, Israel was under the rule of Persia.

One night, God spoke to the King of Persia, which is actually a miracle that we don’t have time to get in to today, and the King was moved by God in a dream to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. When Israel was conquered by Babylon the temple was destroyed, and the artifacts of the temple were taken from them. It’s important to note that the temple was not just the center of their worship, but this represented the center of their faith. This was a sacred building to the people of Israel.

So Cyrus, the King of Persia, commissioned thousands of Jewish captives to return to Jerusalem and build the temple, and he gave them back many of the artifacts that belonged in the temple.

And that brings us to the third chapter of Ezra, which we read just a minute ago.

The exiles had just finished laying the foundation of the temple and it is time to pause and celebrate this great accomplishment.

So here is what they do, when they laid the foundation they did research as to how they were to proceed with the celebration. They found examples of how David, the former once-great King of Israel did it, and they reenacted that.

That was smart. That was real smart.

This generation went into their historical archives and did things such as:

Get the right families to be priests

Get the right families to hold the cymbals

Sing the right songs.

Make sure the shout is right

With great care and meticulous intention, they celebrate and rejoiced at the laying of the foundation.

Then the Bible records two very distinct things happening:

All the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord.

The older priests and Levites and heads of the family who saw the old temple began to cry because this temple wasn’t going to measure up to their old temple.

And the Bible records that with all the shouting and with all the crying, no one could distinguish between the two sounds.

And the Elders Wept…

When I read about the Elders weeping while the next generation rejoiced, I had these flashbacks to my youth group.

The church I grew up in and where a significant part of my formation occured resembled this scene here in Ezra. You see, my generation inherited a facility that the generation before us built. And I don’t mean they raised the money, they did that, but they also physically built the building. When they built this building they had this ceremonial procession when the entire congregation marched from their old building in one part of town to their new building. They put the city on notice!

Early on that church was so filled with so much faith and effort, that they called those early years the glory days of the church. I would hear the church tell stories of these glory days. There were late night services where the power of God would visit the church and they’d be arrested by the presence of God. There was so much power and anointing in those services.

And then… that generation got older and a younger generation was inheriting what they had not worked for.

So, when my generation wanted to do something for God, if it didn’t resemble yesteryear there was a critical spirit about what was going on. There was a, “As good as this is, it won’t be as good as it was,” kind of attitude about everything.

When people would get saved, there was an attitude of, “Well, let’s just see how long this fire of his burns before it burns out.”

And, sadly, many in my generation stopped running the race.

So I started to ask myself, why does that happen?

Here are two reasons that generational disconnects occur:

We don’t invite the next generation into what we are doing

We fail to pass the baton to the next generation

When either of these two things happen, who carries the responsibility?

It is the job of the previous generation to champion the next generation.

While these elders were weeping in Jerusalem about the foundation that was laid, they had no one to blame but themselves. The younger generation picked up the scrolls and they read about how David did it, and to the best of their ability they did what David did. But what that generation lacked was the voice of a father or a voice of a mother who didn’t just let them read the manual, but they also came along side them and worked together with them. They needed an elder to come alongside them and give them a view that they couldn’t attain from reading a scroll. They needed a perspective from someone who had been there and had seen that.

But instead, they had a generation of people before them that would rather weep and be critical than involve themself in stewarding the work of the next generation.

Wineskins

I want to take you to one more passage of scripture that I think also illustrates this point.

Matthew 9:17 (NIV)

Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

Jesus is teaching to his audience that new wine, doesn’t work in old wineskins.

And I was thinking; who is at fault here when this happens?

The answer is the old wineskin.

Because the scriptures doesn’t say that Jesus tosses out the new wine. He tosses out the old wineskin.

Whenever there is a failure of generational transfer, the fault is not on the younger generation, but on the generation that preceded them. It is the fault of the elders.

In a relay race, whose job is it to pass the baton? Not the one with his hand reaching back and who can’t see the runner… it’s job of the runner who precedes him to hand off the baton correctly.

So let me say this once more, but as plainly as I can say it, Parents, Jesus is looking at you to hand off the baton to your children.

Discern the Time

The first thing that we need to do is understand the times that we are living in.

When I was growing up, if you went to a Christian church and you regularly attended church on Sundays, you were immediately thought of as being a person of values. You were a clean, and sober person. You were the type of person who could be trusted. You were seen as a pillar in the community. If they needed to pick a person out a group of people, being a Christian gave you a leg up on the rest of the group.

That is because during that time, there was a “positive world” view on Christians in our country. This was any time in our nation prior to 1994.

Then, there was a shift , and the time between 1994 and 2014 was seen as a “neutral view” on Christians.

This meant that all of the positive assumptions about Christians are gone. And all assumptions about Christians are neutral. You go to church? That’s good. Good for you. No extra credit here. Just, good for you.

Now, since 2014, the landscape has shifted and there is a “negative world” view towards Christianity that is emerging. Now, keep in mind, that we’re strictly talking about our country and our western culture. And, there are pockets in our country that do not hold this view at all. However, it is still a view that is gaining momentum. And this view is this, “Oh, you go to church?” So you don’t believe women should have rights. You teach hate over love. You Christians are all about money. You all think you’re cool with your celebrity Pastors.

Do you see the difference?

So if you are like me… I grew up in the positive world. I was born in the 80’s and made in the 90’s. I was able to stay outside until the lights came on. I could walk into any of the houses in my neighborhood, no questions asked. We went to church on Sundays and were never ashamed of not just our conservative values, but we locked arms with everyone else holding conservative values.

For my children, the world is different. I have to teach them and train them to live in a much different world.

But, Dad and Mom, let me help you out now. It’s different, but it is not unprecedented.

We only have to look at the second century, post-Apostolic Church, which by the way is part of our Church history, in order to find a parallel for our children. Here are some of the descriptors of that time:

Christianity was misunderstood. People didn’t understand these new followers of the way and there were lies that were created about Christians in an effort to stop their way of life.

Christianity was marginalized and Christians were being pushed out into the margins of society. There was a real reason that Christians would move out into the desserts and live away from the society that was confronting them every day.

Because Christians took communion, which Jesus described as eating his body and drinking his blood, and they called each other Brother and Sister, they were just seen as weird. They didn’t understand them so they just labeled them as weird.

Christians proclaimed that “Jesus is Lord,” and to every earthly King, this was seen as an act of treason, even though Christians were talking about a spiritual Kingdom and not a natural one.

And today, what do we find?

Christianity is misunderstood. There are a lot of people who don’t know anything about the Bible and want to speak into the Bible and the way of Jesus, and yet they have no authority. And becuase they’re famous, people listen.

Today Christians feel like they are being pushed into the margins because of our scriptural beliefs on families, gender, and what is sin. We respectfully tell people that they don’t get to overwrite what God created and so we are labeled haters, even though everyone is allowed a difference of opinion.

The Church continues to declare “Jesus is King” and the response today is that we are reading a silly comic book about a fake person, even though there is over 500 first person witness accounts that document his existence and his resurrection. But go ahead… over 2,000 years later, you have more authority about his existence than the ones that actually walked with him and talked with him.

So why do I say all of this?

Parents, all of this may mean that it is new for your kids, but it is not new for the church. Not only did the church survive this time in history, but the church went on to thrive during this time in history.

So wisdom tells us we need to not just read about what they did, but we also need to replicate what they did for our kids.

So parents, here is what you need to do:

Move Your Kids from the Margins and into Community

The church did not survive during this time by isolating themselves and allowing a large gap to exist between them and the fellowship of believers. No, the church came together. The church united and they endured the tides of criticism and they endured the waves of persecution. Parents, you need to bring your kids into the community of Lighthouse Students. Don’t let your kids live on the margins. Pull them in to community. Pull them into a place where they are seen, they are valued, and they are loved.

They are being torn at school, and they don’t need you doing the same when they get home.

They need each other. They need to know that there are other kids their age that are walking this walk with them.

They need to know that they are part of a larger community and that there is a greater calling and purpose on their life.

We need to also examine the roles of:

school

sports

friends

Parents, those things are not concerned with handing your children a baton. You need to look at those things and remember that life in community is going to strengthen them in this “negative world” that they are growing up in.

Remember, invite your children into your world, and that means your faith! If you are living in a community of faith, invite them into this same community of faith and make sure that they know that they are wanted here.

Now for the youth that are here, I want you to understand that we are creating a place for you here, because a place that is for you doesn’t exist out there.

Here’s what I mean by that:

They don’t care about eternal things, they care about temporary things.

They want what’s good for them, but not necessarily good for you.

And we want a place here where you can discover your purpose, and use that to make a difference in this world.

Worship Centered Gatherings

We need to make sure that here in these spaces, they are worship centered gatherings.

There is a time for fellowship, fun, vacations, and friendship. But what separates the church from just another social club is that we gather with eternity in mind. So when we gather, it’s all about Jesus! It’s all about worship unto our King. It’s about returning to the ancient practices of Jesus followers. It is about returning to the rhythms of a disciple. It is about making sure that we don’t turn our services into “me focused” pop psychology groups, but they are “Jesus focused” life-changing gatherings where we make much of Jesus!

Teach Your Children the Ancient Ways (Conclusion)

When we invite them into our world, we then need to hand them the baton. This is why there is not replacement from the intentional discipleship of Dad & Mom. There is nothing that replaces that.

One of the joys of the Leadership College is seeing parents who are better equipped to disciple their children.

That’s the bullseye right there.

Sure, we want for you to grow in your leadership. We want for you to grow in your capacity. But the joy is this…

(Picture of Carlos & Mati)

Parents, this is a picture of passing the baton. This is parents taking the responsibility to raise up Sons & Daughters to know God and experience His presence.

I’ll close by reading to you one last verse.

3 John 4 (NIV)

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.