Shipwrecked - Questions

Last Shipwreck

Questions - World Religions

Ephesians 6:10-17

[Series Slide]

Good morning and welcome to worship. Welcome to you joining online as well as here in person. I know that we have experienced a shock today as we heard from Rags. I know her decision didn’t come easy and I am so thankful for her ministry here. Our children’s ministry has been and continues to be one of the premier ministries of FUMC. I hope you will join me in praying for our next children’s minister, whoever that may be, as God prepares them for what lies ahead. In March, we will have a time where we celebrate Randee’s ministry with us.

Now, as we move back to the sermon time, I want to wrap up our shipwrecked series I want us to look at one more thing that can shipwreck our faith, or it can be a catalyst to propel our faith forward. If you remember, as we have talked about regret, fear, and doubt, as we have considered pride and anxiety, each of these are aspects of our life that shipwreck our faith. When I say shipwreck, what we mean is things that tend to interfere with our relationship with God and therefore our relationships within the Body of Christ. But, as I said a couple of weeks ago, these emotions, these items, these events can wreck our faith… or they can be a catalyst that propels our faith forward and moves us into a stronger relationship with God.

Our final shipwreck can do the same. It is a shipwreck that many of you may have already dealt with, or maybe it is something you will never deal with, but I can guarantee you… your children and grandchildren are crashing on the rocks of this reality on a daily basis. Today’s shipwreck is questions.

Youth and young adults are questioning the faith of their parents and looking anywhere and everywhere for answers. It isn’t that our children and grandchildren aren’t spiritual, but many of them are not Christian. They may be walking the walk and talking the talk at church, but inside, they are questioning everything they see and hear about the Christian faith.

Our kids, those born between 1999 and 2015 are what is called Gen Z. Research shows that 46% are non-Christian, the highest percent of any prior generation. They also have the highest proportion to seek other religions. (Barna, retrieved February 14, 2022, https://www.barna.com/research/atheism-doubles-among-generation-z/)

When we look beyond Gen Z, we find that most non-Christian youth and young adults are interested in faith and discovering something spiritually better. (Reviving Evangelism, Barna, 2019)

Christianity has declined 12% in the past decade. 10 years ago, 77% of the US population replied that they were Christian. Today, only 65% claim Christianity as their faith.

https://www.pewforum.org/2019/10/17/in-u-s-decline-of-christianity-continues-at-rapid-pace/

I know we quote the Proverb, “Bring up a child in the ways of the Lord and when they are old they will return to it.” But that isn’t the proverb. What it actually says is,

Train up a child in the way he should go,

and when he is old he will not depart from it.

Proverb 22:6 (NKJV)

[Sermon Title]

Our children and grandchildren are living good lives, but they are not returning to the faith as we had hoped. Often, they are taking their questions to other religions of the world, or they are simply giving up on finding answers.

Why are our young people asking questions that we never asked?

Our children are the ones who have grown up with the Narnia movies and Lord of the Rings. They have read and watched the Harry Potter series. They have traversing the universe with Anakin Skywalker before and after he became Darth Vader. Our kids dove into the world of mythology as they read about the adventures of Percy Jackson! In each of these epic stories they have seen faith and practice that is real meaningful. They have seen seekers of the truth leave their own faith practices to discover new truths.

Our kids have seen radical adherents to Islam willing to die for their faith and we Christians won’t even give up a Soccer game for ours! It’s no wonder they are examining other faiths.

In one of the great scenes in the Star Wars Universe, Chancellor Palpatine reveals himself as the Sith Lord as he tells Anakin,

“If one is to understand the great mystery, one is to study all its aspects.”

Chancellor Palpatine to Anakin Skywalker in Revenge of the Sith.

There is great truth in that statement, as well as a great danger.

Our kids need to be asking questions of their faith. We need to be asking questions of our faith. We need to understand the faiths that are influencing the world around us, whether it is Islam, or Eastern religions, or even what has been called New Age. But, there is great danger when we dive into the study of these faiths without being properly prepared.

As we prepare to read today’s passage, I want you to imagine something with me. Paul has been and is sitting in prison. Now, he is likely in Rome and he continues to be chained to a roman guard. As he looks over at the soldier who drew the short straw for the day, he thinks of the many battles that soldier may have fought. He things of the armor the soldier is wearing and how it protected him in those battles, then, he starts thinking about the armor God has given us to protect us as we battle, not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and dark forces.

Turn with me to Ephesians 6 as we pick up on Paul’s description of how we are to suit up for battle.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Ephesians 6:10-17

Series Slide

[Prayer]

Paul used an analogy that made sense to his audience. At one time in my life, I thought of the military equipment I would wear, and I would show that equipment and explain how it helped me. My Combat gear from 1997 made sense. Today, if I brought out the equipment I used, it would be as obsolete as the Roman Soldiers combat gear.

So, today, rather than trying to go into detail about what the soldier wore, I want to use what I know as an analogy. My SCUBA gear.

Belt of Truth – BCD – Holds all things together. Protects from tragedy and embarrassment. Keeps the other weapons and gear accessible. Without the BCD, I wouldn’t be able to regulate my buoyancy. Without my BCD I wouldn’t have anything to hold my tank to my body and I’d lose my air source. The truth of God in our lives is what holds us together. It is what keeps us true as we navigate the environment around us.

Breastplate of Righteousness – Wetsuit – covers the majority of the body and protects against attacks. The largest threat when diving isn’t from Sharks or Barracuda or some big animal of the sea. The greatest threat is from the small things. A brush against fire coral. A sting from a Lion Fish. A school of sea lice. Any one of these can make life miserable and could end your dive completely.

“Righteousness is an attribute of your recreated spirit… This means that when righteousness is graciously imparted to a believer by God, the believer should grab hold of it and realize that he or she is righteous. It changes them. They no longer view themselves as of little importance, or a defeated believer. They are affected in their attitude and it gives them such assurance that they move from the realm of being in a struggle to the realm of reigning in life like a king.”

(Commentary, Thompson, Verda L., Th.D., Commentary on World Religions, Chapter 8, Ed. Elizabeth Oakley, Colorado Theological Seminary, 2007)

Our righteousness is both a defensive and an offensive weapon. The enemy will come against us with unrighteousness… with these little stinging things that we may not even recognize as dangerous – a comment on Social Media… a racial joke at work among friends… a little lie to our spouse… each of these little darts of unrighteousness build up to the point that our entire life is covered… we combat that with the Righteousness that Christ has covered us with. Put on the Righteousness of Christ.

Shoes of the Gospel of Peace – Fins – get you where you are going. I was helping with an Advanced SCUBA class once and the student lost a fin before he began his underwater navigation. For some reason, he didn’t recognize that he had lost his fin… but every time he would take off and try to follow a specific course, he would turn. He couldn’t go strait. He couldn’t find his mark.

Without the peace of God in our lives, we are simply swimming in circles in our life, looking too and fro, trying to find the answers to where we need to be. Besides that, it is the Gospel of Peace that the world needs to hear from you and me.

Shield of Faith – Mask – protection from environment around you. We have all seen shields used in battle. They block the darts and arrows of the enemy. They are used to push forward and to protect against. They are offensive and defensive. But here is the thing about the shield of the Roman Soldier. It had to be cared for. Each day, they would take oil and rub the hide that the shield was made from. If they didn’t it would shrink and dry and crack and be useless.

As a diver, without my mask, I can’t see what is ahead of me. But if I don’t care for my mask, then it will be useless. Each time I dive, I rub the inside with a chemical so that I don’t fog up and lose my vision.

Our faith must be cared for. When we fail to exercise our faith, when we fail to strengthen our faith, our faith gets weak and becomes less and less important in our lives.

Helmet of Salvation – Regulators – For the soldier, to protect the head was the most important. It is where we make decisions. The head is the key to living… if the brain is damaged, then the body is damaged. We can lose and arm or leg and survive. But not the head. So, how are my regulators like the helmet of salvation?

The air in this just normal air. 70% nitrogen and 30% Oxygen… just like you are breathing now. But it is pressurized to 3000 psi. I can’t breathe it straight from the tank. The regulators reduce it down to a breathable pressure.

Another thing, On this console is my depth and pressure gauges. Many times we use a computer on the console or on our wrist as a part of this. If we ignore any of this information it can lead to problems. You’ve all heard of “The Bends.” That happens when a diver ignores the depth and time limits. Nitrogen builds up in the system and leads to an air embolism, stroke, or even a heart attack. But, with the application of the proper knowledge we are kept safe, just as we find our salvation in Christ when we realize our sin, repent, and return to God through Jesus Christ. It is this knowledge and application that leads to our salvation. A diver can’t rely on someone else to monitor their gauges for them… they have to do it themselves… just like we do as followers of Christ. We must make the decision.

Finally, the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God – OK, my knife could be like a sword and I could go fight a shark with it… I know everyone thinks that’s why we carry a knife when we dive. But really, the knife is used to cut away a fishing line if we get tangled, or it is to pry a piece of debris from a rock. It is a protective weapon.

The Word of God is protective. We hide God’s word in our heart that we may not sin. The Word of God is a light to our feet and a lamp to our path. But the Word of God is also a weapon that we can use against the Devil. It is our most important weapon.

Now, what does all that have to do with our Questions of faith, and more importantly the questions of our children? How will my little SCUBA illustration help us encourage our children and grandchildren to not leave the faith?

Previously, I quoted Darth Sidious from Star Wars, “If one is to understand the great mystery, one is to study all its aspects.”

Our children, our grandchildren, even some of us watching online or in this very room, are going to question our faith. It’s OK. God can handle our questions. God is a great mystery and God has revealed Godself in many ways around the world to many populations. To consider the habits of the Buddhism, to study the practices of Islam, to read the philosophies of Daoism is not in and of itself something that will wreck our faith. In fact, As we study the prayer rituals of Muslims, we will find our own tradition of the Daily Office, where we should pause in the morning, noonday, evening, and at night to spend time in prayer.

As we consider the habits of Buddhists we will begin to recognize the presence of God in all of creation.

As we consider the Dao, we will find that Jesus truly is the way the truth and the life.

The danger, however, is that we dive into these studies, that our children will dive into these questions of faith without being dressed in the armor of God.

It is when we consider other faiths while neglecting our own that we become shipwrecked.

When we forget to gird ourselves with the truth of God….

When we fail to protect our heart with the breastplate of righteousness…

When we neglect to care for our shield of faith…

When we ignore our helmet of salvation…

When we fail to fit our feet with the Gospel of peace…

It is then that we are at risk from the lies of the enemy.

And it is when we turn our back on the Sword of the Spirit which is the very word of God that we will have nothing to battle against the schemes and plots of the deceiver.

Questions are healthy. We need to question… everything, for without questioning our faith, we would still be practicing Slavery as we did 250 years ago. If we didn’t question our faith, Amerigo Vespucci and Christopher Columbus would have never landed in what we now call the Americas.

If we never questioned anything we would never advance… but we must carry our faith into the questions. We must carry our salvation and the Peace of God into our questions. We must carry God’s word with us, in us and through us as we question.

Then and only then will we find the answers to our Questions without wrecking our faith. And that, those answers will be the catalyst that drives us to be who and what God has called us to be.