Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Next Generation

Next Generation
Psalm 78:1-7[1]
There was a time when “new and improved” was the marketing slogan that would move products off the shelf. Of course, over time, it got used so much that we began to ignore it altogether. “New and improved” was just a part of the packaging. Different times bring different slogans. For a while “Next Generation” was the ticket for selling a new product. I’m not sure many of us even knew what “next generation” meant, but it seemed to convince us that we needed to “upgrade”—or at least it made us want to! I think we’re already getting to the point where “next generation” is losing its punch. There have been too many “next generation” devices that just didn’t perform well enough to justify the expense!
One arena in which “next generation” still seems to have some selling power is in the church. In fact, there is focus group of Presbyterians calling themselves “NEXT church” that has been working to to promote church renewal since 2010. Their goal is to answer the questions, “What’s next for the church? What’s the spirit calling us to? How do we be the church of Jesus Christ in the 21st century?”[2] It would seem that there are enough people trying to find answers to those questions that there is sustained interest in what NEXT Church might offer.
Our lesson from the Psalms for today addresses this question quite explicitly. In fact, the practice of teaching the “wonders” God has done to the next generation is something that the psalmist recalls as a command to be obeyed. The purpose of this command is fairly straightforward: “so that they should set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments” (Ps. 78:7). In this context, it would seem that the answer to the questions posed by various renewal groups is clear: if you want the next generation of the church to thrive, make sure to keep telling the story of what God has done. And do it in a way that is compelling so that they will “set their hope in God.”
Unfortunately, if we were to read the rest of the Psalm, we would hear from Israel’s history that telling the story of God’s wonders doesn’t necessarily guarantee that the next generation will actually “set their hope in God.” In fact, time after time, those who actually witnessed firsthand God’s “wonders” turned away from faith. The psalmist says that they “forgot” what God had done (Ps. 78:11). They “had no faith in God, and did not trust his saving power” (78:22). Perhaps the psalmist gets to the heart of the problem by pointing out that “their heart was not steadfast toward him; they were not true to his covenant” (78:37). It is a sobering reminder that even those who witness God’s wonders may not “set their hope in God.” And it is a reminder that even the faithful retelling of God’s story does not guarantee that future generations will put their trust in God.[3]
In spite of a history of unbelief on the part of Israel, generations later, the psalmist continues the tradition of telling the story of God’s saving wonders so that future generations would trust in God. In fact, he envisions the effect of telling the story not only on the children of the present day. He believes that each generation has to the responsibility to recount God’s wonders “that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and rise up and tell them to their children” (78:6). It seems clear that that faithfully telling the story would affect a generation not yet born. And beyond that, continuing to tell the story would lead that future generation to pass it on to their children. Even though the psalmist is well aware that not all will embrace the story of God’s wonders with faith, he continues to tell the story nevertheless.
It seems to me that as each generation of the people of God faces new challenges and seeks new ways to be faithful to the gospel, this never changes. Telling the story of God’s saving wonders always has been and always will be vital to the life of the church.[4] While I remain interested in the ideas generated by movements like NEXT church as much as anyone else, I believe that a foundational part of the answer to the question of how we are to be the church of Jesus Christ in the 21st century must include a commitment to telling the story of God’s wonders to coming generations.
As I mentioned last week, I would say if you are searching for a reason to motivate you to contribute to the work of Hickman Presbyterian Church, this is another place to start. While on the one hand I think we must entrust our children to God’s grace and love, we support the work of the church with our tithes, our time, and our talents to ensure that we are doing everything we possibly can to lead them to “set their hope in God.” We offer our service, our faithfulness, our telling of the story, as well as our contributions in order to plant the seeds of faith in the next generation.



[1] ©2017 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Dr. Alan Brehm on 11/12/2017 at Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.
[2] Gregg Brekke, “What’s next for NEXT Church?” Presbyterian News Service, September 9, 2016. Accessed at https://www.presbyterianmission.org/story/whats-next-next-church/ .
[3] Cf. J. Clinton McCann, Jr., “The Book of Psalms,” New Interpreters Bible IV:993.
[4] Cf. James L. Mays, Psalms, 256: “remembering and telling are essential to the existence of the people of God.”

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