Deuteronomy 6:1-9                                                    Youth and Young Adults

  Have you been watching the Olympics? Surely you’ve seen Michael Phelps swim at least once. And did you see Jamaican Usain Bolt zoom by his opponents at lightning speed? But one of the best moments was on Opening Night when nine year old Lin Hao walked in with Yao Ming, 7 foot basketball player. Lin Hao, second grader, lost 20 of his classmates in the Sichuan earthquake, but he encouraged those who were still trapped in the rubble by leading them in song, as they waited for rescue. He assisted two of them getting free. When asked why he was so brave, he said matter of factly, “I am a hall monitor. I am supposed to take care of my classmates.”

 The Israelites had been rescued by God when they were slaves in Egypt. After many years and after another capture, which left them in exile in Babylon, they were supposed to remember the One who rescued them and brought them out. Deuteronomy chapters 6-8 are filled messages to remember the Lord. Remember that the Lord brought you out. Remember that the Lord gave you all these good things. Know that the Lord will rescue you again. Remember that your children need to know that it is the Lord who has first place in life.

 Hear now the word of the Lord from Deuteronomy 6:1-9

^NRS Deuteronomy 6:1 Now this is the commandment-- the statutes and the ordinances-- that the LORD your God charged me to teach you to observe in the land that you are about to cross into and occupy, ² so that you and your children and your children's children may fear the LORD your God all the days of your life, and keep all his decrees and his commandments that I am commanding you, so that your days may be long. ³ Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe them diligently, so that it may go well with you, and so that you may multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, as the LORD, the God of your ancestors, has promised you. Hear, ⁴ O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. ⁵ You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. ⁶ Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. ⁷ Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise.
 ⁸ Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, ⁹ and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

 Sometimes I wonder if we are passing the torch to the next generation or if we have dropped it. Did we drop the torch or did we let the flame of our faith burn out? Why are so few who grew up Presbyterian wanting to be Presbyterian now? Most of them have not gone to other churches or other faiths. They’ve gone no where to worship. They are at home on Sunday mornings, trying to catch their breath after a busy week. Worship seems like just one more activity to add to their busy lives, instead of the one activity that brings perspective to every thing else.

 Even retirees who moved to Florida ten or twenty years ago, who call themselves Christian do not find church involvement compelling. My husband Richard, in his Hospice chaplaincy has regular contact with patients like this, who on their deathbed need the church’s support. I was talking to a neighbor recently. He mentioned the Lord in our conversation, so I began to connect with him and asked, “So are you part of a congregation?” He said, “Yes, I am.” I said, “Which one?” And then he could not think of the name of it.

 We could sit around for years discussing all the potential reasons why this has happened. Some are disillusioned with the church. Some are too busy for church and don’t see it as crucial to life. Some have been turned off by narrow conservative Christianity, while others simply slipped away from a low-key liberal Christianity that made no compelling claims.

 Bottom line is this: We have a large swath of people who did not get hooked by discipleship. Many of them are young adults. And I think we ought to put all our energy into making sure we are building strong disciples for the future of Christianity, even the Presbyterian flavor of it. The Acts 16:5 Initiative is an effort to do just that.

 Now is the time, not only to reach out to those young adults who for any reason are de-churched, but also we must reach in to those youth who are in our churches, to make sure faith is taking root. That’s why the Peace new church development with its rather small budget is reaching to call a part-time evangelist to youth and families.

 Tony Campolo, pastor, speaker, sociologist, one of a growing number of socially liberal Evangelicals was asked about a year ago “What Would Jesus Do?” on a number of subjects. His best answer was regarding youth.  “Jesus would say to them,
‘Youth was made for heroism and not for pleasure. And the church has been entertaining you. What I am here to do is call you to sacrifice all that you are and all that you have for love and justice in the world in my name. I want you to live out your life heroically for my kingdom and not get sucked into the dominant values of the culture.’”

 I’m afraid our young people are leaving the church in droves because they and we have been sucked into the dominant values of the culture. Are we really serious about following Christ or is it okay to be lukewarm, half-hearted?  Christianity a heavy calling to sacrificial living, which asks us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Even our lifestyle, time and pocketbook belong to God.

 The Shema is a high calling. Hear it, O Israel, and O Peace River Presbyterians.
The Lord your God is the singularly important, the Lord alone. Love the Lord your God with all that you are. Help those around you to do the same. It’s time to build communities of committed disciples. Raise the bar, expect more of one another. Let’s recite these words together...

:Love the Lord your God with all your heart..soul..might
 Keep these words...in your heart
 Bind them as a sign on your hand.
 Fix them as an emblem on your forehead.
 Write them on the doorposts of your house.
 Recite the to your children.
 Talk about they when when you are at home and away...

 It is time to light the torches of our faith and let them shine all over the world. Run the race that is set before you, looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of your faith. The more our every action as a church is grounded in Word and Sacrament, prayer and service the more we are on the path to be a missional Church living the Gospel, not just talking about it.

 And when we begin to live our faith with the kind of discipline that Olympians muster for their particular sport, then someone will see and will be inspired to follow. And we’ll say, “Come on, friend, run this race with me.” And we’ll match our pace with theirs and we’ll read scripture together and gather at table and share our stories, and before long, we’ll be passing Christ’s torch. We’ll pass it to our youth, who went on the West Virginia Mission Trip. We’ll pass the torch to new pastors, just coming into the presbytery to be approved for ordination. We’ll pass the torch to older adults with share commitment to live out the faith, people like the 85 year old Presbyterian named Doris in Berkeley who was hijacked in her church parking lot by a heroin addict and instead of panicking, she told him about the love of Jesus. Gold medal to Doris. Read about it in the PC(USA) news.

 We’ll pass the torch to Andrew in Charlotte, NC, teenage grandson of Gretchen and John at Peace. One day last spring the class bully was picking on him. Anyone in the room could see Andrew had just had enough. Then the bully took a marker and wrote on Andrew's face. Andrew was infuriated, but he held his calm, thought for a second, and then he found the chutzpah to turn the other cheek. Andrew had bound the Sermon on the Mount to his heart so that while a whole classroom of teens was watching, he had the courage to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly. When he was able to turn the cheek, the class got the message, the bully got subverted and disciplined, and Andrew was able to hold his head high as left the room to wash his face off. Gold medal to Andrew.

 May all who are watching us find us faithful. May all who come beside us see the face of Christ in what we say and do. May we be torch-bearers for Christ, those who carry the light, faithful to the Gospel in this joyous but difficult marathon called life.