Introduction
When Oliver Wendell Holmes was still on the U.S. Supreme Court, he and Justice Louis Brandeis took walks every afternoon. On one of these occasions Holmes, then ninety-two, paused to gaze in frank admiration at a beautiful young girl who passed them. He even turned to look at her as she continued down the street. Then, turning to Brandeis, he signed, “Oh! What I wouldn’t give to be seventy again!” (Hodgin, Michael E., 1002 Humorous Illustrations for Public Speaking, Zondervan: Grand Rapids. 2004. Pg 22.)
Youth is in the eye of the beholder. Now, I’m not suggesting that we should be eyeing young women as they pass us by. But, youth isn’t just a number assigned to our driver’s license. It’s more an attitude of how we choose to perceive the world, an experience that understands the implications of our actions, and a wisdom that has learned from the past.
Today, our sermon is based on Psalm 119 that has a warning about youth wandering away from the faith. As our children grow to become teenagers, they believe they know everything. They feel they understand the world, the risks and the hazards that are all around them. But, their lack of experience, their failure to understand the effects of their actions, and the belief that they are invincible with an unlimited amount of time often allows them to stray away from the faith, and away from God’s commands. Since we’re all young in our own way, we too can commit these same errors and make ourselves victims by not looking to the outcomes of our actions.
As youth, we have much to learn. Tonight, I want to talk to you about following God’s commands. Although together we represent many different generations of people, we are the youth that Psalm 119 warned may stray. Each of us, in our own way, is youth who needs to learn more about God’s Word and its application to our lives. We need to understand that we’re not invincible, but prone to error. It is us that King David wrote about when he penned this Psalm to look towards God’s instruction book for our teaching and to learn from His wisdom.
Recognizing Sin
Being youthful, we’re surrounded by a world that we don’t always understand, and doesn’t always agree with God’s guidelines. One of the problems we need to deal with, is a society that defines terms differently than God envisioned. This is a big problem as we don’t always recognize the dangers around us. We live in a world where moral absolutes are not accepted, where truth is relative to one’s position rather than a bedrock fact one can rely on. On a regular basis, we find sin being redefined as something else, something more acceptable, something more explainable, perhaps even less offensive. No-one likes being told that what they do is wrong. Even if that accusation is coming from God himself.
Look at the things that have become not only common place, but seemingly acceptable to a world that has moved away from a moral standard. Teen pregnancy continues to be on the rise. Single parent households are normal today, rather than the exception. Drug use is at epidemic levels in many areas. Lying, stealing and cheating are considered acceptable rules and norms for business deals. Hurting others, abortion, and even murder are found to be justifiable and acceptable ways of dealing with problems. It seems like the moral standard that was useful to us in past generations, has become outdated and ill-suited for today’s way of thinking. However, this problem really isn’t anything new.
Our former President, Abraham Lincoln, faced a similar situation during his time in office. While discussing a matter with a stubborn colleague, Lincoln said, "Well, let's see how many legs has a cow?" "Four, of course," came the reply disgustedly. "That's right," agreed Lincoln. "Now suppose you call the cow's tail a leg; how many legs would the cow have?" "Why, five, of course," was the confident reply. "Now, that's where you're wrong," said Lincoln. "Calling a cow's tail a leg doesn't make it a leg." (Lincoln, Abraham. As quoted from Bits & Pieces, July, 1991. Available on-line at http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/l/lincoln.htm)
Society has lost sight of the standard that God set for us. Instead, He’s been replaced with a secular, moral frame work where nothing can truly be called morally right or morally wrong. The attitude seems to be to do your own thing, invent your own standard, and choose how you will live your own life. Above all, never call anyone wrong because… well, that’s just not nice, and we wouldn’t want to offend anyone would we?
Instead of seeking out a standard to follow, people are looking for validation for the way they choose to be, rather than looking toward the image that God created man to be. Instead of people looking to improve themselves, they’re looking for others to say “you’re okay, just the way you are”. But, is that a true reflection of what God intended?
The world today is really like Lincoln’s colleague. They’re willing to redefine the number of legs a cow has, even though the physical attributes are still the same. There are still 4 appendages that touch the ground and support the cow. There are still 4 limbs that allow the cow to walk around. Calling a tail a leg does not add to the cow’s mobility, doesn’t help the cow support its weight and doesn’t assist with keeping it upright. Calling it something else doesn’t change the reality of what the cow really is.
Similarly, when society calls abortion a choice, rather than killing an unborn child, we are changing the terms, yet allowing the same outcome. When society calls adultery an indiscretion, we are using language to make the act sound more friendly, even though the act is endangering, or even destroying, a marriage. When we call sinful behavior, an alternate lifestyle, we’re just trying to make the situation sound okay, rather than condemning a moral failure.
Instead of condemning the bad behavior for what it is, sin, we find society repeatedly refusing to accept a moral standard for any action chosen. We, as the youth in this society, live amongst the war of ideas, and that war is often against any standard that God has erected. We need to understand that God has indeed placed a standard in our hands that shows us what sin is. We need to be prepared to accept sin for what it is, disobedience to His will. We need to learn from the mistakes of ourselves as well as those around us… and learn the wisdom that youth often doesn’t possess, regardless of the age on our birth certificate.
Dangerous Temptations
The reason that society has chosen to re-define what it means to be right and wrong, is because temptations surround us each and every day. People make choices all the time, both good and bad, that are ‘validated’ in society’s eyes. As youth, we live in this society as well. During any given day, we may find ourselves attracted to something that we probably should be avoiding.
I think this story illustrates the idea. One year, Pastor George Sweetings visiting Niagara Falls to see the amazing work of God. It was spring, and ice was rushing down the river. As the large blocks of ice flowed toward the falls, one could see that there were carcasses of dead fish embedded in the ice. Sea gulls by the dozens were riding down the river feeding on the fish. As they came to the brink of the edge, their wings would go out, and they would escape from the falls.
One gull seemed to delay and it was curious to see when it would leave. The gull was engrossed in the carcass of a fish, and when it finally came to the brink of the falls, out went its powerful wings. The bird flapped and flapped and even lifted the ice out of the water, and it seemed like it would escape. But it had delayed too long, and its claws had frozen into the ice. The weight of the ice was too great, and the gull plunged into the abyss. (adopted from Sweetings, George. “Special Sermons for Special Days” as adopted by Sermon Illustrations. Available on-line at http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/s/sin_attraction.htm)
If all we’re doing is trying to reach out for a bite to eat, there’s really nothing wrong with that. But, often enough, it’s not food we’re looking for, but trouble that we seem to be reaching out to. Sometimes, we see temptation in front of us, and unfortunately, we fall prey. Sometimes, we see something that we probably should be avoiding. Each day, we are faced with the opportunity to sin. But, no matter what choice we make, we never know if this is the decision that will pull us over the falls. We never know when sin will stick to us, and lead us over the edge. Jesus said to repent, to turn away from sin, and that is standard He wants us to follow.
The Reliable Standard
And it’s really the standard that’s the discussion point for tonight. We need to follow the standard that God has outlined for us in His Word, and store these standards in our heart. David talked about keeping God’s commands in his heart and applying them to his life. And when we look at David’s life, we see that he too struggled with sinful decisions. Look at one of the notorious stories of David. The king fell prey to the beauty of Bathsheba, the wife of his faithful servant Uriah. He committed adultery with this ravishing beauty, got her pregnant, tried to cover up the crime by recalling Uriah from the battlefield, then intentionally send this faithful soldier off to die on the front lines of war when his cover-up failed. David wasn’t always the role model we would have liked him to be. But, he was a repentant sinner. Like David, we too will fall short of God’s instructions from time to time, and also like David, we have a similar decision to make when we make our own mistakes. We need to store up God’s word in our heart, and turn away from our sinful past. It’s God’s Law that shows us our sins, shows society how to behave, and shapes our actions to please God. Without the standard of the Law, we wouldn’t know how God wanted us to act. But with the Law, we understand the difference between right and wrong.
We, as the youth of the church, need to look at the trustworthiness of this ancient of books. God has repeatedly revealed himself to us to be the unchanging deity who has always been there for mankind… even when we chose to turn our backs on Him. Like youth spreading their wings and trying out that new thing, we need to ensure we come back to roost in our Father’s house.
Closing
When it came to repentance, and storing up God’s Word in our heart, David had it right. Keeping God’s word in our hearts is the surest way to stay true to his will. We live in a world where temptations will always be present, a world where sin is ever present and always finding new ways to move away from the standard that God has laid out for us. We need to be prepared as the world redefines sin to sound acceptable, even though it’s really not what God intended. Reaching out for that sinful desire is not was God wanted us to do. Instead, he wanted us to repent and turn away from our sinful past, so that we can enjoy the gifts of forgiveness that He sacrificed so much to offer for our salvation. Ultimately, its God’s standard that is the one and only thing that we can rely on no matter what. God spoke of salvation to Adam and Eve when they left the Garden of Eden, and He provided that salvation in the form of His Son, Jesus Christ.
