(Note to reader- A video clip from the show "Overhaulin"was shown prior to the sermon. In this clip, friends and family take a prized old car from its owner without the owner's knowledge. The old car is overhauled and completely redone to restore it to better-than-new. It becomes an instant classic!)
A subtle shift has taken place over the last few years that says something about me. First, I was invited to speak at youth camps, then at college-age retreats. Now I'm invited to speak for seniors' conferences and last month for Heritage Day at Lincoln Christian Church. If that’s not enough, my son-in-law has scheduled me today to speak for the next sermon in the TLC series. The Learning Church: Life Scripted. These sermons spin off shows on The Learning Channel like "In a Fix", "What Not to Wear", or "While You Were Out", among others. Of all the possible topics, my assigned topic was "Overhaulin"! As you saw in the video clip, it’s about restoring old cars. Turning clunkers into classics. The idea for the message is learning from and valuing previous generations. The wisdom of the elderly. I am not sure what he is trying to tell me!
The video clip from "Overhaulin" is a parable. It uses a story or example to make a point. The only thing that would have made it better for me would for the restored car to have been a restored 1964 Ford Mustang instead of a 1967 Mustang. That '64 Ford Mustang is the car of my dreams. I never owned one but I coveted one once. I remember when Steve, the center of the high school basketball team, got one. His car was brand new, bright red, and just off assembly line. It was a girl magnet! At that time I was driving an old faded green 1951 Ford that was bought for two hundred dollars from my grandfather. If you were to see it today, it would probably look more like a clunker than a classic.
That’s the point of "Overhaulin". You never know where you might find a treasure. A treasure might sometimes be in junkyard, sometimes in retirement home. We can often find value in people or things that our throw-away culture long ago cast off as useless.
Generational differences are challenging to the overhauler.
It is ironic that Beatle Paul MCartney, who wrote the hit song "When I’m 64" when he was a teen-ager, just turned 64. As we get older, and all of us will, we recognize and appreciate generational differences. It is amazing what a difference thirty years can make.
In 1976— going to a new, hip, joint. In 2006— getting a new hip joint.
In 1976— long hair. In 2006— longing for hair.
In 1976— acid rock. In 2006— acid reflux.
In 1976— Rolling Stones. In 2006— kidney stones.
In 1976— women trying to look like Elizabeth Taylor. In 2006— women tryingnot to look like Elizabeth Taylor.
As a culture that worships at the shrine of youth, we need to ask, "Is it possible to improve upon the classics?" A first-grade teacher put that to the test. She reportedly handed her class the first part of well-known proverbs and asked first graders to fill in the rest. Here are the results. Some of the new ones make more sense than the original ones.
It’s always darkest before daylight-savings time.
Don’t bite the hand that looks dirty.
You can’t teach an old dog new math.
A penny saved is not much.
Laugh and the world laughs with you. Cry and you have to blow your nose.
Children should be seen and not grounded.
Generational receptivity to the faith is a challenge to the overhauler.
Popular leadership author Warren Bennis captured generational differences in his book Geeks and Geezers: How Era, Values, and Defining Moments Shape Leaders. One area of generational differences is perhaps more important than those that have been studied and written about. That difference is generational faith receptivity. As Reggie McNeal notes in his book The Present Future, "The further down you go in the generational food chain, the lower the percentage each succeeding generation reports going to church." The percentage of each generationthat regularly attend church is as follows:
52% of the Builder generation, those born before 1946.
41% of the Boomer generation, those born between 1946-1964.
34% of the Buster generation, those born between 1965-1976.
29% of the Bridger generation, those born between 1977-1994.
According to Thom Rainer’s research in the book Surprising Insights from the Unchurched only 4% of American teenagers understand the gospel and have accepted Christ. How well do we keep them once they've accepted Christ as their savior? Dawson McAlister, national youth ministry specialist, says that 90% of youth in high school youth groups do not go to church by the time they are sophomores in college. One-third of them will never return to church. That parallels the statistic from the Barna Research Group which says that, "37% of parents who went to church as children do not take their children to church."
Generational responsibility is a challenge to the overhauler.
That brings me to issue of generational responsibility. Today is a celebration of classics. Classic cars, classical music, classic hymns, and classics in literature. Celebration of the wisdom of age and maturity. So what are we who are older, wiser, and more mature to do? We are to engage in the eternally important task of overhauling. Overhauling is the rebuilding, renewing, renovating, andrestoring the lives of the young and the old. We should all be engaged in restoring the lives of young and old alike.
In another parable Jesus teaches truth that is illustrated in "Overhaulin". This parable is found in Matthew 13:52 (NIV). "He said to them, 'Therefore every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.' " The well-equipped, fully trained disciple sees value of old and new. He draws on both old and new as he teaches transformational truth to others.
Today, we want to be sure that the young among us sort through the superficial stuff and confusing clutter to see what really matters and what is most important in the process of being restored and renewed. As overhaulers, what is our repsonse to the generational challenges that have been listed?
Treasure out of the old.
Proverbs 1:1-9 (The Message) "These are the wise sayings of Solomon, David’s son, Israel’s king— Written down so we’ll know how to live well and right, to understand what life means and where it’s going. A manual for living, for learning what’s right and just and fair. To teach the inexperienced the ropes and give our young people a grasp on reality. There’s something here also for seasoned men and women, still a thing or two for the experienced to learn— Fresh wisdom to probe and penetrate, the rhymes and reasons of wise men and women. Start with God—the first step in learning is bowing down to God; only fools thumb their noses at such wisdom and learning. Pay close attention, friend, to what your father tells you; never forget what you learned at your mother’s knee. Wear their counsel like flowers in your hair, like rings on your fingers."
Your treasure may not be a restored car, but instead something valuable from the "Antique Road Show". Like gold jewelry or something even more valuable. That’s what is promised in Proverbs. Proverbs provides moral skillfulness in wisdom and discipline and mental discernment. Proverbs was intended to teach what children, youth, and even adults need to know about to be able to live in a godly manner. Proverbs teaches us the following things:
What is right - that which conforms to God’s standard.
What is just - fitting and proper in God's eyes.
What is fair- pleasing to God.
The first lesson to be gleaned from the Proverbs is that whether you are young or old, overhaulers see the indisputable wisdom of starting with God. He is the first step in learning. Only a fool would walk away from that wisdom. Several years ago a Unitarian minister named Robert Fulghum wrote a bestseller called All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. As an educator who is still learning, I would never advocate that. But I would say without hesitation that the most important things I have learned, I learned in pre-kindergarten from my mother. I call her lessons the twin towers of toddler theology and the greatest truths ever learned.
One of first prayers I learned to pray helped shape my theology and my view of God to this very day. This may sound familiar to you also. "God is great. God is good." And we hurriedly added, "And we thank him for this food. Amen." The greatest transforming, life-shaping truth I ever learned came in the form of the first song I ever sung. "Jesus loves me. This I know. For the Bible tells me so." No wonder the wise sage who wrote Proverbs said, "Pay close attention, friend, to what your father tells you; never forget what you learned at your mother’s knee."
Treasure in the new.
"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it." Matthew 13:44-46 (NIV)
The thought of finding a treasure hidden in a field that is unclaimed that seemingly does not belong to anyone, or walking into a pawn shop and seeing a one-of-a-kind pearl that is underpriced gives an a person an adrenaline rush. In Jesus’ parables the treasure and the pearl are the kingdom of God. He taught earlier in Matthew 6:33 (NIV), "..seek firsthis kingdom and his righteousness..."
The lesson to be gleaned from this is whether you stumble on to it or spend a lifetime searching for it, overhaulers see the incomparable value of seeking the kingdom. When you find life’s eternal treasure or that prized pearl of great price, you are wise to willingly abandon everything else to seize it. Missionary Jim Elliott said it well when he observed, "He is no fool to give up what he cannot keep, in order to gain what he cannot lose." What wisdom!
Treasure that is never old and is forever new.
Colossians 2:2-3 (NIV) "My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."
Colossians 2:6-7 (NIV) "So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness."
Paul had invested much of his life in the spiritual development of first century Christians, and his concern was that they, like us in twenty-first century, would throw it all away and somehow be deceived by fine-sounding arguments or be taken captive by hollow and deceptive philosophies.
The lesson in these scriptures is whether you are just starting the journey, or nearing the end of the journey, overhaulers see the indescribable benefits of staying in Christ. If you are in Christ, you already have more than you will find anywhere else or in anyone else in all the world. So continue to live in him.
The secret to eternal youth- Be overhauled by Jesus Christ.
In his best seller The Greatest Generation Tom Brokaw told the stories of many well-known and not so well-known heroes of the Builder generation. One hero of that generation, General Douglas MacArthur, who was known primarily for his military contribution, lived by philosophy expressed in a plaque on a wall. It read, "Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind. You are as young as your faith, as old as your fears, as young as your hope, as old as your despair."
The wise old general knew that you don’t grow old by living a certain number of years, but you grow old by abandoning your ideals, principles, and values. So do you want to know how to stay forever young? Here’s the secret. It's not by pursuing some mythical or magical fountain of youth in Florida as Ponce de Leon did and millions of retirees still do, but by pursuing Jesus Christ, his kingdom, and his wisdom for as long as we live.
I told you of profound theological truths that I learned from my mother as a very young boy. About two years ago my father taught me most important practical thing that any father could teach his son. As a farmer and fix-it yourself handyman, my Dad tried to teach his sons many practical things, regretfully, many of which I never bothered to learn. But in a hospital room that became a classroom, he taught us how to die. As a bed-ridden kidney dialysis patient, but more importantly as a Christ-follower, with determination and courage he decided it was time to go home. That there was more than this life. There was the eternal life before him. My Dad, who had overhauled engines of tractors, trucks, and cars, had himself been overhauled by Jesus Christ. That fact made all difference in his living and his dying.
My name is Don. I’ve been overhauled!