Will Our Children Have Faith?

Psalm 78:1–8 ESV

Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth! I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done. He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments; and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God.

Psalm 78:32–39 ESV

In spite of all this, they still sinned; despite his wonders, they did not believe. So he made their days vanish like a breath, and their years in terror. When he killed them, they sought him; they repented and sought God earnestly. They remembered that God was their rock, the Most High God their redeemer. But they flattered him with their mouths; they lied to him with their tongues. Their heart was not steadfast toward him; they were not faithful to his covenant. Yet he, being compassionate, atoned for their iniquity and did not destroy them; he restrained his anger often and did not stir up all his wrath. He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes and comes not again.

Scripture: Psalm 78:1-8, 32-39

Sermon Title: Will Our Children Have Faith?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the question is out there, “Will our children have faith?” I think it’s a question that comes up when our kids all of a sudden are not the age of those that were just up here for the children’s message, but entering junior and senior high, going off to college, moving out but not growing up; these cute saints all of a sudden have aged 5-10 years and the cuteness is often replaced by rebelliousness.  Will our children have faith? The question comes as a worry and often a prayer from parents, grandparents, teachers, Sunday School leaders, Boys and Joy Club facilitators, prayer partners, and pastors as all of a sudden drinking, smoking, and mischief become a weekly routine. The disobedience that comes with kids growing up and learning responsibility now rears its ugly head in backtalk, cursing, music that in no way resembles what is sung at church, and being pushed out of the lives of our young people. 

Often the question reveals deeper what the parent wants, will our children go back to church? We locate having faith and church attendance as two sides of the same coin. Some will say, “Don’t worry; the kids need freedom to explore and grow into their faith.” Freedom can be good, it can help young people and young adults look at why they have gone to church, why do they believe, but I don’t think this eases the parent calling their son or daughter halfway through a semester at a college 12 hours away and when asked where they went to church this morning the response is, “I slept in again, I have to do homework tonight, maybe next week.” In a survey conducted by the Berkley Center at Georgetown University about a year ago now, researchers found that only 25% of people in my age group, give or take 5 years, go to church weekly; 43% rarely if ever go. At religious schools the numbers are a bit better, 45% go weekly, but only 13% of those at public schools. When they were kids, only 11% of those surveyed did not affiliate themselves with a faith practice, but now 25% consider themselves as not affiliated. This is the same generation who was involved in National Study of Youth and Religion in the early to mid-2000s, discussed in the book “Almost Christian” and coining the term “moralistic therapeutic deism,” a generation who sees God as someone nice, expecting humans to do good and be happy, and only stepping in when he needs to, 40% of this generation 8-10 years ago was attending church regularly, again, now down to 25%.

While a growing number of people want to reject “religion” and “institutionalized worship” for worship through boating, shopping, and having fun, the church father, Cyprian, in the third century wrote a statement which has translated and come to say, “There is no salvation outside of the church.” In the Reformation tradition, Luther wrote that in order to know where Christ and his faith were, you have to know his believers. People cannot build bridges to heaven on their own, they inquire through the church. The Church is the company of believing people; outside of the Christian church there is no truth, no Christ, no salvation. For Calvin, if God is our Father, then the Church must also be a mother. In our tradition faith is a work of the Spirit on individuals, but it is lived into in community where others practice, express, and disciple as called by God.

I don’t want this to be just a lecture on church attendance tonight, brothers and sisters, but it’s appropriate to acknowledge where we are today and what our tradition holds. I want to return to our reading though, and look at what God has provided for us to address the worry and fear that is in many. In verses 4-6, the psalmist writes, “We will not hide [the things told to us by our fathers] from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done…[the Lord] commanded our forefathers to teach their children, so that the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children.” The tradition of passing down the knowledge of God and his wondrous covenantal acts saturate the pages of the Old Testament. In looking through the first six books of the Bible before Israel arrives in the Promised Land we find these accounts. In Gen. 9, God tells Noah and his sons after the flood, “I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you…a covenant between me and you, for all generations to come.” Among the covenants God made with Abraham, we find the institution of circumcision in Genesis 18, “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be a father of many nations…As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come.” In Genesis 48, Jacob who was given the name Israel tells his sons, “May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day…may he bless these boys.” In Exodus 12, the first celebration given to the Israelites to be commemorated and celebrated annually was Passover, to which the people were given an answer to provide their children when they asked what the ceremony means. Skip ahead to Deuteronomy 1:39 where Moses is addressing the people concerning their entry to the promised land, “And the little ones you said would be taken captive, your children who did not yet know good from bad—they will enter the land.” Then there is the Shema in Deuteronomy 6, where before saying that, Moses tells the people God is reteaching and reminding them of the journey and the command and the decrees, “so that you, your children, and their children after them may fear the Lord as long as you live…” and following “The Lord your God, the Lord is one,” he says, “Impress [these commandments] on your children. Talk about them sitting at home, on the road, when you lie down, when you get up. When they ask what is all of this about, tell them the story of God’s saving his people from Egypt.” One final one is Joshua 4 where Joshua has delegates build a memorial in the Jordan so that when your children ask “What do these stones mean? Tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord…These stones will be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.” 

Throughout the history of this people, God’s people, the way that God works isn’t just for one person or one generation, but these were to be passed down. They weren’t just stories or campfire tales, but real experiences of how God cared for his beloved and how his promised faithfulness guided them. The psalmist goes on in verse 7 to tell why this passing down through generations is so important: “Then they (the next generations, the children to be born) would put their trust in God and would keep his commands rather than forgetting.” For Israel in this psalm, the teacher answers the question before us, “Will our children have faith?” with Yes! And that faith will include first trust, second obedience. The children, the offspring, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will have faith because the generations pass down the message which God has commanded them to pass down. Scripture tell us it looks like to not have faith in verse 8, we read do not be like the past, don’t be stubborn, rebellious, disloyal, and unfaithful; to have faith then means to be gracious, obedient, loyal, and steadfast; these attributes come about because God’s children remember what he has done. Our children will have faith this audience would call back, because we know and will not hide the things that have been handed down to us.     

The psalmist then goes on to describe in the verses we didn’t read the unfaithfulness, the sin, the grumbling of Israel, even as God led them, gave them water, manna, and then meat. God’s hate for their sin led to the display of his just wrath at times, he struck down some of the people by way of natural disaster and sending opposing armies to defeat them, by keeping them in the wilderness, then we come to this section starting with verse 32: “In spite of all this, they kept on sinning, they did not believe, so God slew them.” This was a people who from all accounts is weak when it comes to knowing their identity. They ran after other gods, they doubted that the God they had seen work for their good was really with them or at least felt that God should provide for them, a mentality that looks like their neighbors where the pagan gods and idols dictated the fruitfulness of life. This was a people who was taught the faith when they were young every generation, but then decided to go astray. When God would bring punishment, they knew enough to come back, and were told in verse 34-35, that they remembered God was their Rock and their Redeemer; they had faith, but would quickly fall off the wagon and give lip service, returning the ways of their fathers. However because they were God’s people, the promises remained; God was merciful, forgiving, restraining his anger. What a picture of God that is! He cherished Israel so much that they could completely deny him and he still remains gracious and full of compassion.

I want us to dwell on verse 39 for a moment. “He (God) remembered that they were but flesh, a passing breeze that does not return.” It is interesting if we are to look at the human part of faith as remembering what God has done and what he has promised to do, faith handed down through a strand of memories, now God also is written about as remembering. But God in dwelling with the faith of his people has restrained himself, has been merciful to them, because he recognizes their flesh, their mortality. God is eternal, but humanity will die, and if they are to die, they will not return. This verse is not trying to deny the resurrection that all humanity will experience, rather if God wipes the people out for how rampant the unbelief is in Israel, then the covenant he has made with his words “forever” will be void. God grieves the path of destruction that Israel sows, he is angered by their testing, he both blesses them and rejects them, but he loves them and therefore continues to uphold that which he has established. Praise be to God that the faith does not rest merely in the hands of humans.

But what about today, brothers and sisters? What about us, a people in a much different time, living as God’s people but no longer defined by a particular family lineage, Gentiles, will our children have faith? I pray that the answer is yes. The research conducted over the last 10 years is scary, but it is not far from typical and that goes all the way back to the Israelites. Rebellion is not something that takes place only in homes of non-believers, each of us probably has a son or daughter, brother or sister, maybe even ourselves to look at and honestly say that at some point his or her, their or our faith was wondered about. God allows his people the freedom to go out like dogs on those retractable elastic leashes. It does not please God when we wander off into someone or something else’s property, and I doubt it pleases God when we make the choice to not gather with his people because we don’t see it as the fun option. I want to point something out and then I want to provide a challenge. First, with all of this talk of children and young adults, let’s not forget that our children may be in their 30s, 40s, 50s, maybe even older, the “child” might be your parents, might be the co-worker who you would love to parent spiritually. There are some of you who might not have children, but God has led you to pour your life into others; others who have come to the faith not having been brought up in a Christian home; praise God, be encouraged to share this with your family! Then my challenge, and it’s particularly for those of you in junior high and high school that are still listening, but maybe there are adults and even parents who this also touches. If you have never really considered what it means to have faith; maybe you’re at Holland Christian, you come every week, you’re in CrossTrainers or Youth Group, you confess Jesus died for you, but you’re wondering why all of this matters, why have my parents brought me up this way, is it just about having eternal life and not experiencing hell fire of eternity; if that describes you, I want to encourage you to talk to your parents, to your prayer partner, to Marv or myself, to a peer that you look up to as a spiritual role model you might say, and ask them why they love God and why they love the church, both 14th St. and the broader family of God. 

 What is amazing and I think helpful for us to keep in mind is that faith is not an entitlement, not a possession, it’s not something we earn or really can even call our own. Faith is a gift from God. It is a belief and a way of living that is communicated to us through the covenants made by God over and over again. God doesn’t change, he never leaves his people, and I think that may be the most striking thing when we consider the imagery of Israel throughout the Old Testament. No matter how many times Israel turned away or how far from God strayed, the stories continued, the faith was passed through. The hope that we have as believers, whether we have been born and raised in the church, whether we have gone away and come back, or if we’re the first generation of hopefully many to come, God has always been, he has never had to reveal himself anew. Stand firm that the faith inspired in you by the Holy Spirit and assured by the promises that have passed down through the ages will continue to go forth in us and our children. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, Amen.