ANCIENT LANDMARKS REVISITED

#495                                                          ANCIENT LANDMARKS REVISITED                                                                        

Scripture Proverbs 22:28 NIV                                                                                                                      Orig. 5-12-1968

                                                                                                                                                                              Rewr. 5-11-1989 

Passage:  Do not move an ancient boundary stone set up by your ancestors.

Purpose:              On Mother’s Day, to share with my people some of the more noble concepts of a society based on God’s word.

Keywords:          Church                  Christian Education        Family                  Mother’s Day                    Special Day        Worship

Timeline:             Mother’s Day

Introduction

                Finding a different text for Mother’s Day is never difficult.  One can start anywhere except with Adam and Eve, and relate one’s life to one’s mother.  In every other instance there is one.  There are some negative examples, of course, but there are many positive ones.

                I have used some of the classic passages in celebration of prior Mother’s Days.  What more fitting example could there be than the mother of Jesus?  An Old Testament illustration of the highest echelon of motherhood was seen in Samuel’s mother, Hannah.  And surely, every one of us has heard at least two sermons taken from Proverbs, chapter 31,

                                “Who can find a virtuous woman? For

                                Her price is far above rubies.”

                While this passage, also from Proverbs, seems to have nothing at all to do with motherhood, I want to claim it today as a text to speak to us about the more noble of society’s concepts.  There are deep spiritual truths perceived here, and who has a greater interest in truth than a mother has for the child that she has born and nourished.

                Rudyard Kipling wrote about his own mother:

                                “If I were hanged on the highest hill,

                                “I know whose love would follow me still.”

He recognized, as we certainly must, that the fountainhead of society, the stabilizing force for godliness and righteousness, has been “neither school nor church nor hall of justice,” but the concern of a godly mother for her children.  May I share these four “landmarks” that are the keystones upon which any pertinent society must be built?

I.             The First is that of Home and Family Dedicated to God.  The home remains God’s focal point for the redeeming message.  Genesis 1:28. “And God blessed them and said, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion.”  It is a promise of blessing.  It is a pronouncement of bearing.  It is a profession of birthright.

                At the level of family relationship, it anticipates spiritual dominion.  Proverbs 22:6. ”Train up a child in the way that he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”  That is not the language of force.  It does not suggest that the child becomes what the parent chooses.  It says to give him consistent spiritual example. Pray regularly for them, and challenge them to be the best they can be.

                Recognize that home and family begin with two people committed to each other and to an endearing principle.  Marriage is not theatrics.  It is not exemplified by one single example on TV. It is not fun, games, and clever repartee; it is not a perverted relationship.  The safest marriage is to a person who is one’s spiritual equal.  Years ago safety meant a reasonable guarantee of happiness. Today it carries somber, physically debilitating overtones.

II.            The Second Landmark is that of Corporate Worship.  Psalms 55:14 “We took sweet counsel together and walked to the house of God in company.”  Of course, where there is spiritual mutuality, this is assumed.  Our friends Herman and Lois Smith in New Orleans are a fond example.  The fact of worship is a constant in nearly every human life.  By meaning, worship is “a willingness to serve or make sacrifices for someone or something.”  Our lives, then, are molded, not by what we profess, but by what we worship.  Jesus had this in mind when he admonished his hearers as “hypocrites.”  They claimed to worship God.  In fact, it is power, privilege, prestige.  It is so today as well.

                Christ is the only valid instrument to lead us to worship.  I Peter 2:5 “Ye . . . are built up a spiritual house . . . to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.”  He is the redeemer of all who will come to him.  In a Bridgeport, CT, cemetery there are two recognizable names.  P.T. Barnum (“a sucker born every minute”) lies beneath an expensive, ornate stone. A simple stone marks the grave of “Aunt Fanny”—Fanny Crosby (“I am Thine O Lord,” “Blessed Assurance,” “Jesus is Calling”). 

                He supplies the answer to any of life’s enigmas.  World Book 1968, p. 205, Kenyapithicus Africanus “The finding also destroyed the popular textbook theory that man evolved from an apelike, tree-dwelling primate.”  He holds the key to order in a disordered world.  He alone offers a meaningful climax to history: No more Lebanons. No more Noriegas for Panama.

III.           There is the Landmark of Christian Education. 2 Timothy 2:15 “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed.”  Education has clearly taken a downturn.  It may be administrative laxity, the lack of teacher dedication, a breakdown of family expectation.  The signs of the times clearly indicate a problem: drugs, pregnancies, dropout.  Let me define what I mean by Christian Education.  It is not the expectation of Christian education in the public schools.  It is the home and the church working furiously to involve all we can to the glory of God.  It is education geared to the student’s need and capability from a Christian perspective.

                At its heart, Christian education is a parental responsibility.  It should involve both parents.  Don McNeill’s Breakfast Club radio guests were asked to express views on mothers.  “See that their children are sent to Sunday School and Church.  Make sure the children respect their fathers.”  Every Christian should be eager to assist in such efforts.

                VBS planning has begun.  Are you ready to offer assistance?

                See that we do not get out of reach of our pulpits.  In the language of the sea, there was a sailor sent to the foredeck, called the “pulpit rider.”  On the foremost point of deck he rode the wave, took the shock, but warned the wheelhouse of imminent danger.

                The purpose of Christian Education is not to make people religious, but to give them freedom to make wise choices.  Candles of faith cannot be lighted in unbelieving hearts if there is not a bright, warm glow in our own hearts.

IV.          If Opportunity Permitted, There Would be One Other Landmark, that of Civil Disobedience.

Conclusion

                A major yachting event was underway. The race from Cape Town, South Africa, to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was won by a 43’ ketch captained by Kees Bruynzeel.  He was 72, and had a serious heart problem.  He hoisted anchor in Cape Town, with a nurse, a complete Cardiac Care unit, and a weighted bag for burial at sea if he did not make it.

                Susan Butcher (Iditarod winner 1986, 1987, 1988, and 1990), flew one of her lead dogs to Anchorage to the vet, and slept on the floor of the kennel for ten days until the dog was well enough to return home and resume training.

                What kind of dedication do we bring to our faith?