Good
Morning Park Avenue! If you have your Bible with you this
morning, turn to the Gospel of Mark, Chapter 9 … beginning
with the 14th verse.
When
they came to the other disciples, they meaning Jesus,
Peter, James, and John, they saw a large crowd around
them and the teachers of the law arguing with them.
As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed
with wonder and ran to greet him.
"What
are you arguing with them about?" he asked.
A
man in the crowd answered, "Teacher, I brought you
my son who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed
him of speech. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him
to the ground and he foams at the mouth, gnashes his
teeth, and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to
drive out the spirit, but they could not."
"Oh
unbelieving generation!" Jesus replied. "How long shall
I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you?
Bring the boy to me."
So
they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately
threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground
and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked
the boy's father, "How long has he been like this?"
"From
childhood", he answered. "It has often thrown him into
fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything,
take pity on us and help us."
"If
you can?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for him
who believes."
Immediately
the boy's father exclaimed, "I do believe! Help me
overcome my unbelief."
When
Jesus saw the crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked
the evil spirit. "You deaf and mute spirit," he said, "I
command you to come out of him and never enter him
again!"
The
spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently, and came
out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many
said, "He's dead." But Jesus took him by the hand and
lifted him to his feet and he stood up. After Jesus
had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, "Why
couldn't we drive it out?"
He
replied, "This kind can come out only by prayer."
From
this text, I want to preach on the topic "Reclaiming Our
Youth." Pray with me. Dear
Father, we just ask right now that you would preach, that
you would speak. Your will be done, your will come forth.
That we would be your people, your church in this world.
In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen. Reclaiming
Our Youth. When I look at some of the issues going on in
the youth culture in this city, it is obvious; it is very
evident, that there is a need for a radical movement to
reclaim young lives. Youth today face many challenges and
obstacles, as they try to succeed not only now, but as
they develop into adults who will make a courageous, bold,
positive contribution to, and have a profound impact on
the City of Minneapolis. Young
people will either grow to transform this city in a radical,
positive way, or they will be our future liabilities. The
choice is in our hands. In this
story in Mark: 9, we find a child faced with a major obstacle
in his life. An obstacle that not only could keep him from
succeeding could kill him. In this situation, this evil
spirit had grown to a point where not only was it keeping
the child from being successful, but it could actually
kill him. He
even had attempted to kill him. Now
I'm a drama major. I majored in theater in college, so
I get caught up in good stories. Stories that have passion,
stories with good characters, stories that have a good
plot and a good drama. And there's definitely a great cast
of characters in this story in Mark: 9. We can
begin with the child himself. This child consumed by an
evil force that robs him. Robs him of his ability to speak.
Why speak? Maybe the spirit knew something that nobody
else knew. Maybe the spirit knew that this young man had
a great ability to speak, and if he would hone his gift
to speak and use his gift to speak, one day he would articulate
a vision so radical, so revolutionary, that he would turn
the world upside-down. So the evil spirit comes into the
boy's life to rob him of maybe the very gift that he would
use to bring change and transformation. That's
the first thing that we gotta understand. We're in the
midst, in this church, in this community, in this city,
in the midst of a number of gifted, talented people… young
people. I don't know what you see when you look at young
people today. Maybe you look at youth and you grimace.
Maybe you look at youth and you get a headache or you get
stressed. But when I look at youth - and the only way you
can see youth this way is by looking through the eyes of
God - when I look at youth, I see gifts and value and potential,
something revolutionary, something radical, that if only
we could reach out to the young people and nurture them
holistically and empower them, they could change the city
in a positive way. The
things that adults cannot do. The lines that adults refuse
to cross. The risks that adults refuse to take. The courage
that adults refuse to manifest could all spring forth with
the young people, if we would see who they are. But
we also have to recognize there's an evil force. And this
evil force seeks to rob young people of the very value
and purity and gifts they have. And see, what this child,
this character, the child … not only does the evil spirit
rob this young person of his gifts, his ability to speak,
but it also seeks to kill him. It seeks to throw the boy
into the fire, into water, to burn him to death or to drown
him. There
are obstacles out there beyond these walls that seek to
kill young people. The things that would just get us in
trouble when we were teens, the things that would just
put us on punishment when we were teens, could kill a teen
today. The same mistakes, the same potholes that we used
to be able to fall through and wake back up the next morning
ready to do it again could kill a child today. There's
a spirit out there. You can be in denial if you want to,
but there is a spirit beyond these walls. Sometimes it
walks in the door. Sometimes it gets in here. But there
is an evil spirit that seeks to steal the special gifts
and talents that young people have, and then the next phase
is to kill them. Let's
look at the next character. The father. Here is a father
trying to raise this child and is at his wit's end. He's
unable to solve the problem on his own. Now I don't know
what he's done with the boy. Maybe he's read books trying
to help the boy. Maybe he sat the boy down, thinking this
is just some limited condition that the kid would grow
out of. Maybe he took him to counselors, which is a good
thing. Maybe he took him to doctors, which is a good thing.
Maybe he just, at work, he would just talk with close friends
and he would just cry his eyes out trying to figure out
how to help the boy. He had done everything and he couldn't
help the boy. There
are many institutions in the city that are doing everything
they possibly can to help transform the lives of young
people, and it's not working. There are many non-profits
funneling millions of dollars through themselves annually,
and they still haven't found the antidote. Still haven't
found the solution. Still see the same obstacles, the same
challenges in front of young people. There
are parents that have done everything they can… they've
disciplined, they've talked to, they've listened, they've
done everything they possibly can, and the child is still
not were you'd want them to be. There are school districts
that have done everything they can… they've bought more
books, they've built new schools, they've got new subjects,
they've got more advanced, and they've got more computers,
they've got Internet access now and cable access. They're
funneling CNN and CSPAN right into the classroom. They're
doing everything they possibly can… they're firing teachers,
they're hiring teachers, they're bringing in social workers,
they're bringing in psychologists, doing everything they
possibly can, and still it's the same issues every year. See,
I don't know … before I beat up on this father, maybe you
felt like the father before. You've done everything you
possible can. You've used every resource at your disposal
and the situation stays the same. Awww man! It's got to
be hard to be the character of the father in this story. Well,
let's look at some of the other characters. The teachers
of the law. The religious leaders. What were they doing
about the boy? Well it says in the text that they were
arguing with the nine disciples. Three of the disciples
were with Jesus at the Transfiguration. You can read about
that a few verses before this text, but here were the teachers
of the law. The religious people… the pastors, the bishops,
the popes, the cardinals. The religious people… the theologians,
the scholars. And instead of helping the boy, they were
arguing about issues. They were debating about the music.
They were debating about theological issues. They were
arguing about should this sermon be preached or should
that sermon be preached, should we let those bad kids come
in here anyway. Do we? They were arguing and debating about
issues, they were so preoccupied with committees and boards,
and their ego, and their pride, and in how much money they
had, and what kind of reputation they had, that they didn't
have time to actually look at the heart of the issue of
the boy. Teachers of the law, the religious people. Oh,
we can look in the world today … in our city, hundreds,
maybe thousands of young people that need love, and nurture,
and care, and empowerment, and resources, and yet the church
is preoccupied with it's own issues. You
know the hard thing about youth - and probably the biggest
curse in a young person's life - are adults. Yah! Yah!
I mean, if you really want to get to the biggest problem
kids have … its grown people. You know, it might be good
if we just put all the grown people in a ship and shuttled
them to another planet and just let the young kids work
it out on their own. Because, sometimes, we … I mean me,
I am the biggest obstacle. The reason why is because when
I start thinking about how I can help kids, I don't think
about kids. I think about me. So what happens is teachers
get in a room and they don't think about kids, they start
arguing about themselves. Well look, you better pay me
right and look, this is the package I need. Look, I won't
even come back here and teach next year if you don't … I
want that room. That's the room I want, and if I don't
get my room, I'll just take my little syllabus and curriculum
and go, they gonna treat me right. Now, is that all teachers?
No! But there's too many. And
it's not just teachers. I mean, we could be in denial if
we want to, but most of the reason why it's hard for us
as adults to address the issue of young people, is because
we are preoccupied with our own pressures, and stresses,
and abuses, and our past, and our issues. Now
don't get mad, just be real. Most of the time … I'm being
real. Some of the hardest times that I have raising my
own kids is when I preoccupied with issues in my past that
I refuse to deal with, that I refuse to put on the table
and be transparent about, and I go, "Well, when I was a
kid, this is how my momma did me. Or I was treated like
this. Or I was done wrong." And because of my own past
that I refused to put on the table and be real about, that
becomes an obstacle for me being able to love our kids. Now,
don't feel guilty, just be real. Let's just say, that to
make a difference in the lives of kids, whether it's in
the church, whether it's in the school, whether it's corporate
America making a difference, whether it's non-profits,
we need something beyond ourselves. The
reason why the teachers of the law could not help the boy
was because they weren't willing to go beyond themselves,
their own wisdom, their own knowledge, they're own teaching,
their own ego, their own pride, their own abuses, their
own past, to really make a difference in the lives of kids. We need
something beyond ourselves. Now
you say, "You're wrong, Efrem! You're wrong." Ok, well
let's look at stats. I was invited to a breakfast meeting
with the Superintendent of Minneapolis Public Schools a
month and a half ago and she shared with me the stats of
the Minneapolis Public Schools. Out of all the kids in
Minneapolis Public School, regardless of race, regardless
of family situation, who enter high school their freshman
year, four years later only 44% of them graduate as seniors.
I didn't do the research, the Minneapolis Foundation did
it and it's out of a publication called the Minneapolis
Public School's Report 2000. Out of all the kids, not even
half of the kids that we put into a Minneapolis Public
High School come out four years later as a graduating senior.
Only 31% African Americans graduate in four years from
a high school entering freshman year. Only 30% of Latinos.
Only 16% of Native Americans students. Those are real stats.
This one really hurt my heart, because I'm African American.
Elementary through high school, African American students
account for 75% of suspensions. But
yet, the teachers of the law are debating doctrine, yet
the teachers of the law are consumed with their own egos
and pride and issues. Don't become that character in the
cast. Don't become a teacher of the law. Don't become more
concerned with debates than with lives. These are real
issues. Minneapolis Star and Tribune talked about how,
in certain ethnic groups, Minneapolis is starting to become
nationally recognized as having one of the highest percentages
of teen pregnancy. Matter of fact, I've been asked by a
sister who goes to this church, who works for the Minnesota
State Department of Health, to consider having some focus
groups with girls here at Park Avenue. Well,
we can talk about purpose, and identity, and true love,
so that we can break down and lessen those stats so that
girls will see themselves as valuable, special, and queens,
and don't have to find their identity in a sexual relationship
with a boy outside of marriage. Then
there's the nine disciples. The nine that weren't with
Jesus who failed to make a difference. The father said, "I
brought the boy to your disciples, and they could do nothing." And
Jesus becomes perplexed. I become perplexed as I read the
text. Why couldn't the disciples make a difference? Why,
the one's that hung around with Jesus, that were walking
with Jesus, that worshipped with Jesus, that heard Jesus
pray, that listened to Jesus teach, that broke bread with
Jesus, why couldn't the people hanging around Jesus… I
mean the inner circle, the people that knew him the best,
solve the problem? You can go to church every week, doesn't
mean that you can solve the problem. You can know the scripture
cover to cover, you can pray daily. Then what is it then,
why, why, why? We can only speculate. Maybe some of the
disciples weren't sold out yet. Maybe they were card-carrying
members, but they hadn't really given themselves to the
mission yet. Maybe they didn't think helping a boy was
important. Maybe they thought there were other priorities
besides helping that boy, and those issues need to be addressed
before. Now,
if you know the text of the gospels, you know that the
disciples had acted like this before, when a poor woman
came in and washed Jesus' feet with perfume, the disciples
thought that wasn't a big deal, that wasn't on the priority
list. There were certain people that Jesus would heal or
Jesus would touch and the disciples would say, "Why are
you wasting your time with them? That, look … the woman
has already caught in adultery, she's already been found
guilty. Let her serve her penalty. Jesus, why would you
care about that?" See,
sometimes, when we get to know the real Jesus, we find
out that Jesus is concerned about issues we're not. We
find that Jesus is consumed with issues that we're not
consumed with. That Jesus is on a different page than we're
on. No guilt trip, but it just means that we've got to
get on the same page. There must have been some reasons
why the disciples couldn't make a difference. And
then there's Jesus. The central character of the story.
Jesus, the way to reclamation, the way to reconciliation,
a Jesus that heals people, a Jesus that's a teacher, a
Jesus that's a caregiver, a Jesus that's a listener, a
Jesus that's well-trained and educated, a Jesus that holistically
can touch and reconcile anybody's life that would receive
him as Lord and Savior. He touches the boy and the boy's
life is changed. Oh,
there's a cast of characters. The issue comes, where do
we fall in the cast? If
we're serious about reclaiming young lives, about reaching
out - see, that's the purpose statement of the youth revolution
here at Park Avenue. To reach out to out to young people
with the holistic gospel of Jesus Christ. To nurture them
so that they would live the life on a daily basis and to
empower them, so that they can bring positive change to
their high school, their middle school, their church, their
community, and their family. Jesus can do that. Jesus can
holistically transform somebody's life. Who are we in the
cast of characters when it comes to being able to affect
the lives of young people? I want
to finish that story about when the Superintendent invited
me to that breakfast. She said something that I couldn't
believe. She said, "Church, I need you." I can tell you
one thing. Even though the stats I told you, I quoted you,
aren't very good, they have improved since Carol Johnson
has been our Superintendent. And she says that the only
way she can get it where it needs to be, she said, "Church,
I need you." She said: "I know all the politics about separation
of Church and State, but I'm telling you I need you." You're
the final piece to the puzzle. If we could get this pie
and have a slice of corporate America, a slice of Park
Boards and youth community agencies, a slice of the school
district, a slice of people that maybe you retired from
your 9 to 5 job, but now we need you in your 60s, in your
70s, in your 80s, to read to a child, to listen to a child,
to spend some time during the week with a child and make
a difference in their life. There's something in you that
the child needs to grow. And then, if we put the piece
of the church in there, now you've got a holistic revolution
that can reclaim young lives out there and we can win.
We can win. Who
are you in the cast of characters? Well,
this is the next… I talked about the cast of characters,
now I want to talk about casting a vision. See, we can't
reclaim young lives if we don't cast a vision. We can't
rescue young people from the obstacles and the evil forces
that want to take their gifts and snuff them out and kill
them. We can't, we have to have a vision. Proverbs
29:18 says, "Where there is no vision or revelation, the
people perish." Maybe one of the reasons is because the
church doesn't have enough vision. Now, I've got vision.
I mean, I'm not trying to arrogant about it, but hey, I
don't got a lot of gifts, but vision in one. I got that
gift. I'm just telling ya, I got that one down. I'm a visionary.
I'm a daydreamer. I love dreaming. I love thinking about
what can be, what can happen. When
I look at Park Avenue Church, and the effect that we can
have on young lives, this is what I see. I see hundreds,
almost like thousands, of young people being involved in
the Park Avenue youth revolution. From the suburbs, from
the inner city, Black, White, Latino, Asian, two parent
families, single parent families, lower class, middle class,
upper class, kids from all over the city… it would be a
sneak preview of heaven. I see a multitude of nationalities
and languages and races coming here to be holistically
developed. What
do you mean, holistically? Holistically means that each
part of a young person's life will be addressed. Let's
start with academic. Oh, we've got a computer center here
at the church. Could you imagine young people, I mean,
could you imagine every computer in our computer center
having a kid behind it and an adult behind that kid helping
that kid become proficient on computer? Could you imagine
the kid e-mailing somebody in South Africa? Could you imagine
the kid e-mailing somebody in Turkey and having a dialog
about the global influence of God in the world? Could you
imagine tutors sitting down with kids, helping them pass
the basic reading and math skills test, right here in God's
house? Right here in the church, could you imagine that? Adults,
business leaders, and athletes, and coaches, and vice presidents,
and teachers, volunteering their time once or twice a week,
here working with kids so that they could be excellent
in living and in learning, could you imagine that? That's
a revolution. I see that, 'cause I'm a visionary! I can
see things that I don't see right now, I'm a visionary.
I can see it, because where there's no vision, the people
perish. The reason kids are perishing is because we have
no vision for them. Now,
let me go past the academic to social. We've just built
a youth space and we're going to turn it into a teen Christian
nightclub and coffee house. That means on Friday nights
and Saturday nights, we are going to be the cutting edge
Christian alternative for teens. They will be able to come
and listen to stuff you don't like. They will be able to
come and listen to rap music, and hip-hop music, and heavy
metal music, and alternative music, that lifts up the name
of Jesus Christ. They will be able to dance and worship
God. Build friendships and we'll having loving adults in
that space on Friday nights and Saturday nights. We'll
have like a Christian happy hour. I mean, right after school
on Friday, the kids can come down and we can develop them
socially. I have
a vision today! I can see beyond what I can see in the
natural eye. Can you imagine young people having their
own worship service? Not just worshiping with you, but
on Sunday night, they would be thousands of teens, Black,
White, Latino, Asian, lifting their hands, jumping, singing,
leading drama, having step-teens, preaching, giving their
testimonies and they would use that revolutionary worship
service to reach kids that won't come into church. I don't
know what you see, but I can see it! I can taste it! I
smell the revolution! Ahhhh,
the Bible, the Bible says, "Where the spirit of the Lord
is, there is liberty. Where the spirit of the Lord is,
there is freedom." In Acts Chapter 2, when the spirit came
in, it said that old people began to dream dreams and young
people had vision. Wherever the spirit is, there ought
to be action. Wherever the spirit is, there ought to be
resources. See,
we can dream beyond $4-point-some-million dollars pastor,
because my God owns more than $4 million. He's got street
of gold, he's got mansions. Don't judge what you can do
by your checkbook, don't judge what you can do by your
annual salary. There's no reason why Park Avenue can't
develop a holistic global village that will provide healthcare
and fair housing and legal services. There's no reason
why we can't become a bank, where people can get real loans,
that won't downgrade them, so that they can have ownership
in their own community. There's no reason why we can't
start businesses right here in our own community, so that
we can have economic development, community development,
and break down some walls. Glory to God! Are you with me? Come
on now, we can do this in the church. I shouldn't have
to run for school board or mayor or city council to get
this vision … I'm not doing that anyway, but I'm just saying.
I'd rather do it in the church. We need to dream dreams,
Park Avenue. Beyond your checkbook. You need to dream dreams
beyond your salary. You serve a God that owns everything.
Why do we limit our dreams at Park Avenue? Why have we
limited our dreams to a $4 million dollar building campaign,
when we can have a $50 million enterprise that will grow
this community? Can you see it? Oh, can you see it? The
only way you can see that though is that you've got to
see that your money is not yours. You've got to see that
your talents aren't yours. They were given to you on loan.
The biggest investment that you can make in not another
lake home, it's not another cabin to go fishing at. Your
next investment doesn't have to be a yacht. It doesn't
have to be a new Benz. It could
be a young life. We need
beanbags and chairs up in that youth center. We need a
juice bar in that youth center. We have kids in mission
trip right now, and half of them can't even afford to be
there. And we sit around like that's not our problem, it
is. Youth ministry is the second lowest budget line in
this church. That must change. No longer can we relegate
young to the run down house or the smallest room in the
church, or the lowest financial budget line… no longer
can we relegate a youth pastor position to a program director.
We need change! And I'm in! So let
me end with this, 'cause I gotta preach twice more. We
talked about a cast of characters. We talked about casting
a vision. The next and final point I want to make, that
can make what I'm talking about a reality, is that we need
cast our cares on Jesus. Give Jesus your marriage, give
Jesus your children, give Jesus your finances, give Jesus
your gifts and your talents. We must be unified and crucified
with Christ. Philippians
2:1-5, let me just do this quickly. It says this:
If
you have any encouragement from being united with Christ,
that means if out of your relationship with God, if
you got anything out of it, any comfort from his love,
and fellowship with the Spirit, and tenderness, and
compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded,
having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.
Verse
5 says that your attitude should be the same as that of
Christ. We need to be unified together. Adults, I know
it's hard. See, kids are crossing racial and cultural and
economic lines all the time. We're the ones that are stuck.
We're the ones that have a hard time coming out of our
comfort zone. We're the ones that have a hard time speaking
to people that don't look like us. We're the ones that
have a hard … just because you sit in a sanctuary of diversity,
doesn't mean you live a life of diversity. We need to be
unified and crucified with Christ. We need to be like-minded
with Christ. Never again do I want to hear the language
of church kid and community kid. That's bogus. That's a
curse. That has nothing to do with who God is. Look,
I'm going to tell you something. I was a church kid and
I was bad. I went to church every week, I was baptized,
I was confirmed, everyone liked me, I could sing, I was
in the youth choir, but I'm telling you … when I was away
from y'all, Lord have mercy. Thank God I was reclaimed.
Let me tell you something. And this is, please don't take
this the wrong way. In the last three months, every report
I've got on a struggling kid, a hurting kid, a kid that's
caught up in issues that could take them out … the last
three months it hasn't been one kid out there, it's been
kids in here. Look,
evil spirits don't care if you're a church kid or a neighborhood
kid. They don't care if you're Black or White, if you're
rich or you're poor. They don't care who your momma is
or your daddy is. We have all kinds of kids in the church
and outside the church with pain, with stresses, with struggles,
with low self-esteem, with anxieties, with identity issues … and
the best thing that we can do, is take away all the labels,
all the politics, bring them into one sanctuary, one holistic
youth revolution, and see every young person's life changed. Why
settle for just a few kids in the church when you could
have them all? If I die, I want to die knowing I gave my
very best to every young life I had a chance to get. I
don't want to take a few, I want an army. If you align
yourself with Jesus, the start of that cast of characters,
if we could cast a radical, holistic vision for youth,
and if you would cast every care you have on Jesus, we
could change the youth culture. We could make a difference.
We could become nationally known. We could have an institute
for urban youth ministry right in this place. We could
have a school where people would come, scholars would come
and learn and get degrees on how to change young lives.
Because I have many friends, teachers, many loved ones
that are principals, and counselors, and social workers,
and they work for the Park Board, and if you got them in
a room and they were honest with you, they would tell you
as soon as the church gets serious, we can change lives. Amen. This
morning, maybe you need to cast your cares on Jesus. Maybe
you were a child that an evil spirit tried to take out.
Maybe you have children around you and you see the evil
spirit attacking. Maybe you know that God is calling you
to use your resources, your gifts, and your time, to change
one young life. There's a need, and you can make the difference.
One church can make a difference. One person. If you know
that you need to use this altar to bring your individual
cares to Jesus, if you know that God has been talking to
you about reclaiming a young life, if there is a young
person you know that you need to pray for and stand in
the gap for… as we're signing Spirit of the Living God,
I pray that you would come forward use this altar and we
could make a proclamation of reclamation in Jesus' name.
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