Sermon Tone Analysis

SERMON OUTLINE, SESSION 6

Chapter 6, “Raising Resident Aliens”

, “Raising Resident Aliens” ● ● ● Scripture reading: Guiding theme: How do we raise resident aliens?

• Assumption that Christians are/were in charge, that we had “Christianized” the culture; challenge of exile is that the culture is no longer a prop or help but sometimes even antagonistic toward raising a particular kind of people in the world.

Raising resident aliens is the hardest thing about exile in an increasingly post-Christian world.

• Illustration: Story of immigrants trying to make their way in America while still maintaining the food, identity, language, and traditions of their motherland.

• Primary sin that the people of God seem to commit throughout the Old Testament is forgetting.

We want the “good life” for our children, but the many visions of good life may overlap and compete with what it means to be a person committed to Christ.

• Daniel and his three young friends probably were taken from Jerusalem in the first wave when Nebuchadnezzar repopulated part of his land.

They were invited to eat at the king’s table and given positions of authority.

Daniel’s parents likely would have been left behind in Jerusalem.

• The great fear of many immigrants is not persecution but assimilation and comfort.

• Hoosiers illustration: “Doesn’t everybody want to feel like a god every once in a while?” “Isn’t it sad in a culture when you can become a god by putting a leather ball through an iron hoop?

It’s kind of a cheap god.”*

To raise resident aliens, what we need is a particular story, a story that constantly forms them.

• Illustration: Family stories we share over and over around the table; biblical stories we share over and over in Sunday school/worship service.

• What resident aliens eat, with whom they identify, and how they speak and dream—all of it matters (Daniel and his friends).

It’s critical that our children understand why these stories shape the decisions that we make about how we spend money, spend time (Sabbath), and choose our career and the pursuits of our lives.

*Paraphrase; see “Hoosiers,” Subzin Movie Quotes, accessed February 16, 2017, http://www.subzin.com/quotes

/M98065f0e/Hoosiers/Gods+come+pretty+cheap+nowadays%2C+don%27t+they%3F. 2 • Joshua: “What is this pile of rocks about?

God met us here.”

Build altars and ask, “Do you know what this means?

God has acted in the past, God is acting now, and God will act in the future.”

It takes a whole tribe of people who are trying to live this unique way of life in the world to raise resident aliens.

The children of this community are the responsibility of this community

● ● ●

Guiding theme: How do we raise resident aliens?

• Assumption that Christians are/were in charge, that we had “Christianized” the culture; challenge of exile is that the culture is no longer a prop or help but sometimes even antagonistic toward raising a particular kind of people in the world.

Scripture reading:

Introduction:

Dallas Willard in his book, “The Great Omission” said, “The greatest issue facing the world today, with all its heartbreaking needs, is whether those who, by profession or culture, are identified as “Christians” will become disciples—students, apprentices, practitioners— of Jesus Christ, steadily learning from him how to live the life of the Kingdom of the Heavens into ever corner of human existence.”

This is not something that just happens by accident, but it is something we must be purposeful about.

I began today by reading a portion of one my favorite Psalms today; .

Fortunately for you, I did not read it in its entirety as it is 72 verses long.

:-) You can thank me later!

;-) However, I like verse 3 & 4 which say…

As a children’s pastor I chose this verse to be a theme for my ministry, but it is not a theme for children’s pastors alone, but it should be for every church and every parent a guideline of the responsibility we have to raise our children who will, like us be “resident aliens.”

This is not easy to do.

In the culture we live in, they are often out in the world hearing from others, then they are with us.

In the days of pioneer life, things were different.

The children were at home working and learning alongside their parents a good part of the day, but now parents raising children are lucky if they get even 3 hours a day with their children.

One of those hours is taken up getting ready to go to school and work.

Another is busy with dinner preparations.

And I fear too much of what is left over is in front of a television.

I am glad to see so many of the young mom’s in our congregation who have chosen to be home with their children during their young years when they can be with them all day.

This is such an important time as it give the best chance to make an impression on them before they go out into the world.

With so few hours in a day, it is really difficult to have much influence in their lives and it is easy to allow time to go by forgetting to share the things God has done in our lives.

Raising resident aliens is the hardest thing about exile in an increasingly post-Christian world.

Raising resident aliens is the hardest thing about exile in an increasingly post-Christian world.

For a long time our culture seemed to bare an image of what we called “Christian” and we felt safe with our children out in the world.

Too often I think the church was depended upon to “make Christians” out of our children forgetting that as parents we were the prime leader in this role.

We counted that our children were getting Bible in church and school, so it was not felt necessary in the home.

However, it was never meant to be up to the church and schools alone.

The Bible is clear that we as parents have the responsibility to pass it along to our children.

Look at , another favorite verse of mind.

There are many examples around us of this challenge.

I think it was in 3rd grade that I was told about how the U.S. is a melting pot of so many peoples.

Phylacteries

Pictures throughout my home with scriptures on them.

- memorial stones...Primary sin that the people of God seem to commit throughout the Old Testament is forgetting.

• Illustration: Story of immigrants trying to make their way in America while still maintaining the food, identity, language, and traditions of their motherland.

It is a challenge to maintain your cultural identity in a different culture.

Chinatown

Armenians

Marsing

The Armenian experience: They fled violence to maintain their identity only to have the that identity stolen by the good things found in America instead.

(Wratto family - satisfaction with nothing to an overwhelming desire for things)

Our actions as human beings flow from three core areas: our values, our identity, and our convictions.

• Daniel and his three young friends probably were taken from Jerusalem in the first wave when Nebuchadnezzar repopulated part of his land.

Nebuchadnezzar’s plan was to assimilate these young men into his culture.

To do so, he has to change their values, identity and convictions.

So look at what he does:

They were invited to eat at the king’s table, that is the very best foods of Babylon.

Their names are changed to reflect the god’s of Babylon

Daniel= “God is my judge” to Belteshazzar = “Bel protects the king”

Hananiah = “The Lord is gracious” to Shadrach = “the command of Aku”

Mishael = “Who is like God?” to Meshach = “the gods move with force”

Azariah = “the Lord has helped” to Abednego = “the servant of Nebo”

They are then given positions of authority and are educated to read, write and speak Aramaic, the language of Babylon.

All of these things are given in order to sway their loyalty and change their values, identity, and convictions.

However, by not worshiping Nebuchadnezzar they hold onto their identity and citizenship under God and God rescues them.

That should be our hope for our children.

However, it is too easy to get sidetracked by our culture and wanting to see our children succeed within the culture for which they live.

and given positions of authority.

Daniel’s parents likely would have been left behind in Jerusalem.

Daniel’s parents likely would have been left behind in Jerusalem, but can you imagine how they felt when they heard of Daniel’s success in Babylon?

We want the “good life” for our children, but the many visions of good life may overlap and compete with what it means to be a person committed to Christ.

• Primary sin that the people of God seem to commit throughout the Old Testament is forgetting.

We want them to succeed within our nation.

We want to see them have good jobs, nice homes, and cars, yet the desire for such things sometimes overlap with what it means to be a Christian and sometimes compete with what it means.

We want the “good life” for our children, but the many visions of good life may overlap and compete with what it means to be a person committed to Christ.

I have never been a big “reality TV” fan, however there is one program that I have come to enjoy.

It is The Voice.

As much as I enjoy it, there is one issue I am struggling with.

There have been multiple youth and adults that are either worship leaders or on worship teams in churches and they desire more.

The gift God has given them to lead others in worship has lead to success and turned their sights on what they feel are “higher prospects” than the church.

Then they share their stories and introduce their parents and share how their parents have been so supportive throughout this process.

WOW, that blows my mind on so many levels!

They

There is no higher calling I can think of than leading others in worship and to the throne of God.

They have lost their focus on God and now placed it on themselves.