When Foundations Crumble

June 6, 2013                                                      THESE NOTES ARE NOT EDITED

When Foundations Crumble

Psalm 11

SIS:  As our nation changes we must realize as believers that God does not change and our mission as the church to spread the gospel has not changed.

This week we celebrate the 237^th birthday of the United States of America (counting from the D.O.I).  We celebrate birthdays with parties and frivolity, and well we should.  For each birthday is an acknowledgment that the Lord has blessed us one more year.  But, I’m not so sure the 237^th birthday of the U.S. calls for light-heartedness and frivolity.  In light of the recent bombshell dropped the Supreme Court in their long awaited decisions on gay marriage, there is a foreboding cloud lingering overhead.  Our Republic is definitely showing signs of wear and tear.  I feel it would be helpful to set down a few principles for what God’s Word says in regard to Christ and culture.

There is absolutely no doubt that there has been a “sea change” in American culture.  Sea-change or seachange is a poetic or informal term meaning a gradual transformation in which the form is retained but the substance is replaced.  Shakespeare described this process in his play, The Tempest.  Ariel sings:

"Full fathom five thy father lies // Of his bones are coral made,


Those are pearls that were his eyes // Nothing of him that doth fade,


But doth suffer a sea-change,

In this case, Shakespeare was describing something positive—a good, lasting transformation.  A sort of immortality in the poet’s eyes.

In regard to the sea change in American culture, I’m not sure we can be as positive.  Gradually, over many decades now America has been changing.  I can see little evidence that the results have been altogether positive—especially in regard to the general moral condition of the country. 

Since 1962, the Supreme Court has been a major player in bringing about a sea change in our country.  Three major decisions in a ten years span set the stage for last weeks blockbuster decision.

Beginning with Engel v. Vitale in 1962, followed by Murray v. Curtlett praying in school was out.  Abington v Schemp in 1963, tossed out Bible reading in schools. The castastophe known as Roe v. Wad came in 1972 and the sanctity of life was scuttled. These were major decisions bringing about the sea change in American culture we see manifested in the Supreme Court’s decision last week.

There was one lone dissenting voice in these battles.  Justice Potter Stewart recognized the sea change these types of decisions forebode.  Justice Potter Stewart wrote, "It [the decision on Prayer and Bible reading] led not to true neutrality with respect to religion, but to the establishment of a religion of secularism." Even the Wall Street Journal recognized the shift in American culture:  After the June 17, 1963 ruling the Wall Street Journal commented that atheism was now "the one belief to which the state's power will extend its protection." (Wikipedia). That’s it folks. The sea change began in 1962 and we see now that the recent decisions in regard to homosexuality and marriage are the logical ends of that change.

In 1972 we as a nation could not “define” what it meant to be alive.  In 2013, we cannot decide what it means to be married.  We can no longer define motherhood or fatherhood in any meaningful way.  If we can no longer identify a baby in utero as an innocent, living human being, should we be surprised that we can no longer “define” marriage as a union of a man and a woman?  As a nation we are as confused morally as a transgendered person, gay or lesbian is confused sexually.  The two issues:  political and personal are linked. The same spirit of confusion—the Devil—works in the political arena as he does in the personal arena.  We as a nation are simply, “confused,” because we have lost our foundations.

“Foundations” is plural in our text.  This Psalm is comprehensive covering the full range of the human experience:  political, economic, social, and most of all, spiritual.  Let’s read that text:  Psalm 11:1-7.

That the foundations are crumbling seems beyond dispute. One area in which the crumbling moral foundations are most evident are in the lives of our youth. For decades prior to 1962 teenage pregnancy had remained relatively stable, yet in every year following the courts decisions in 1962-63 unwed teenage pregnancy has gone up. In girls under 14 it has gone up 553%. Sexually transmitted diseases were extremely uncommon and rare. Following 1962 they have shot up over 220%. Pre-marital sex had even been declining before the removal of religious teachings, yet following 1962 they have risen 271%. For 15 year olds, since that time it has risen over 1000%.

Another area in which we see the foundations of society crumbling is in the area of families.  Divorce had been declining every year since 1948.  In 1962-63, we told God, we don’t want you in our lives.  Beginning in 1963, the divorce rate began to climb again until it has risen over 120%. The U.S. is now #1 in the world in divorce.  1/3 of all babies (33%) are now born out of wedlock. Prior to 1962 that number was around 4%.  Family foundations have crumbled.

Consider  Education.  Prior to 1963, the SAT had never risen or dropped more than one year in a row since 1946 (a revision of the SAT).  After prayer and Bible Reading were kicked out of school in 1963, SAT scores dropped for 18 consecutive years.

By the way, SAT scores for private religious school students are nearly 80 points higher on average. So what is the difference between the two? One system teaches God’s Way, one system rejects His Way.

Consider the economic foundation of our nation.  Our national debt is now measured in the trillions.  Unemployment is the highest it has been since the Great Depression.  Home foreclosure is common.  We were for most of our history the top “Lending” nation in the world.  Now, we are the largest debtor nation in the world.  We are staying afloat by printing money and selling our children’s inheritance to foreign nations.

The poor foundation for the Leaning Tower of Pisa has made it one of the most recognized and visited tourist spots on the planet.  The crumbling foundation of America is not so quaint.  We are seriously leaning and about to fall over.  America is in a dangerous lean toward enshrining godlessness in the laws of our nation.

America’s foundations are crumbling.  We were once a “shining city upon a hill.”  Our shine has been tarnished from years of weathering through the political process.  The recent Supreme Court decision is but on storm in a long string of storms that has eroded the Judeo-Christian foundations for our country.

And, do not buy the lie that we were NOT established upon solid, intentional principles of the Christian faith.  In common vernacular we were established as a “Christian nation.”  That does not mean we ever lived out a Christian theocracy, or were ever intended to do so.  But, the stones in our foundation as a nation were solidly, intentionally Christian.

But years of government schooling, especially since the 60’s has erased that history and substituted a secular revision.  America’s heritage can still be seen in frescos and engravings on walls and monuments in Washington.  Faint echoes of Christian truth can be heard in our courts and common places, but increasing less so every year.  America is in a dangerous lean toward godless secularism.

The Judeo-Christian stones of our foundations are nearly gone.  They lie broken in a dusty heap.  This is a fact.  Yet, we cannot go back to any former “glory days.”  We are here, and we need to move forward.  That is what this Psalm teaches as we watch our foundations crumble.  We must understand three absolute and incontrovertible truths.  I’ll only cover them briefly for they are largely self-explanatory:

1.  Truth has not changed.

For all the jubilation and dancing in the streets of gays waving rainbow flags; for all the throngs of same-sex couples lined up at Jerry Brown’s courthouses to get a marriage license; for all the liberal pundits pontificating about the “new age of civil rights in America,” one would think that something significant has changed.  But, for all that might have changed, one thing certainly has not changed:  “truth has not changed!”

Homosexuality was wrong before this recent Supreme Court decision, and it is still wrong today.  Truth is not subject to majority opinion, whether it is 5-4 on the Supreme Court, or whether it is 100 to 1 in the court of public opinion.  Truth does not change.  Notice verse 4a:

⁴ The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven.

We constantly hear the talking heads on T.V. declare, “Well, the polls say.”  But let me assure you that when every man, woman and child stands before God in judgment, God is not going to be swayed by polling and pundits.  God is going to look at the “truth.”  How does one’s life line up with truth will be the only thing that matter, not whether one’s life lined up with what is politically correct.

We live in an age where many, even most people, think that truth is subject to public opinion, cultural exigency, or subjective feelings.  Not so, truth is eternal.  Truth emanates from the very Person of Almighty God.  Jesus, God Incarnate, said,

“I am the Truth!”  Not “a” truth competing with other truths.  Jesus said, “I am the Truth.”  Truth is embodied in Jesus Christ, Almighty God in Human Flesh.  The Bible declares, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8).

Let me say this as concisely as possible.  As we see the foundations of this nation crumbling around us.  As our nation sinks in the quagmire of moral confusion; as the tide of reprobation rises, and the stink of rebellion reaches God’s nostrils, and every man goes his own way, be assured of this:  TRUTH NEVER CHANGES. 

Isaiah 40:8 declares:  The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of our God remains forever.

Man’s rebellion does not annul God’s Sovereignty .  The puny court of public opinion cannot raise a challenge to God’s Sovereignty.  God has not descended His throne nor abrogated  His authority.  God’s Truth, is not subject to the majority opinion of men in black robes.  Though the vote be “All Against, but God For,” His vote is the only one that matters. TRUTH NEVER CHANGES because God is still sitting on the throne.

As we watch the crumbling foundations of a nation leaning toward self-destruction, consider also that

2.  God’s Providence for His people has not changed.

Throughout the Founding documents, and those writings of the Founding Fathers from which the principles of our Founding Documents were derived, a favorite designation of Almighty God was, “Providence.”  It was always capitalized.  The last line of the Declaration of Independence, America’s birth certificate, says:

And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Benjamin Franklin, a signer of that Declaration, would again reference Providence in a letter in 1784 when he wrote, “"If it had not been for the justice of our cause, and the consequent interposition of Providence, in which we had faith, we must have been ruined." – Ben Franklin (to William Strahan).

Providence is a theological word that does not itself appear in the Bible, like the word “trinity.”  It does however represent a great doctrine found throughout the Word of God.  Providence refers to the divine care of God for His people.  It is related to God’s divine foresight to see what His people need, and act as His sovereign will dictates to meet that need.  The key elements of Providence are divine care and a divine plan.

Please mark this down:  just because a nation abandons God, does not mean God has or will abandon His people.  God always keeps to Himself a remnant.  This has been the case throughout history as Israel, God’s chosen people, illustrates.  As Israel endured a time of affliction, oppression, and captivity by foreign powers—a situation faced many times in Israel—and there future seemed very uncertain,

Isaiah declares: ^10:20 On that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no longer depend on the one who struck them, but they will faithfully depend on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. ²¹ The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the Mighty God.

God never takes His eye off His people, even when at times He lifts His hand of blessing from them.  Even though a nation can and they do abandon God, God will never abandon His people.  Look at v4b-6:

His eyes watch; He examines  everyone.  ⁵ The Lord examines the righteous and the wicked.  He hates the lover of violence.  ⁶ He will rain burning coals  and sulfur on the wicked; a scorching wind will be their portion.

We set our course in life by the stars of heaven, not the circumstances of the sea.  Our course in life is set by God, and nothing will ever stop His people or change His plans.  Job faced tremendous and greatly adverse circumstances.  He lost everything.  Life was against him.  His friends were against him.  Even his wife suggested Job, “curse God and die!” But, what did Job declare: 

^42:2 I  know that You can do anything
and no plan of Yours can be thwarted.

I must say that when I first heard the Supreme Court cast their lot with the homosexual agenda, it was like a punch in the gut—even though it was no surprise.  It is the final nails in the coffin of traditional marriage.  The slide into the full embrace of homosexuality as mainstream in American society will not be stopped.  I felt despair well up inside of me.  But, it did not last long.  I know the Word of God, and I know the God of the Word.  I had committed Job 42:2 to memory long ago.  I knew the truth and when the Supreme Court appeared to change everything, I realized that God’s Providencial Plan for His People Has Not Changed.  God’s watchful eye is still on His people:  He will reward the righteous and He will punish the wicked.  A Supreme Court decision cannot change God’s Providencial Plan for His people.

And, this leads us to the main point of consideration this morning:

3.  Our mission as the Church has not changed. 

Our mission as the Church of God is not dependent upon a court decision or a public vote.  We do not get our marching orders from legislators or judges.  We get our marching orders from Almighty God.  Look at verse 7

⁷ For the Lord is righteous; He loves righteous deeds.

The Supreme Court’s decision has not changed our mission.  We are to be about the business of “righteous deeds.”  This phrase casts my mind upon Matthew 5:16:

let your light shine  before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

In a sense, we should not be reviling the Supreme Court, but we should be thanking them.  They have thrust our nation even further into darkness which will only serve to make our lights shine all the brighter.

The hungry still need fed.  The poor still need clothing.  The homosexuals and all other manner of sinners still need the hope of salvation found only in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

A desert makes water all that more precious and darkness makes a light all the more priceless.  Our mission has not changed.  The Psalmist said, “do righteous deeds.”  Jesus said, “do good works.”  Jesus outlined how we do the gospel in Matthew 25.  He said, good deeds were caring for “the least of these in society”.  Jesus said,

³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty

and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; ³⁶ I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you took care of Me; I was in prison and you visited Me.’

Let me ask, how is the Supreme Courts decision about marriage, or about anything, preventing us from doing the things outlined by Jesus Christ?  OUR MISSION HAS NOT CHANGED.  The Psalmist said, “do righteous deeds and you will one day see God’s face.”  Our mission has not changed one iota since Jesus commissioned us over 2000 years ago:  meet the needs of those around you.  And, the greatest need of all, is the need to hear and receive the message of the Good News that Jesus Saves.  Our mission has not changed.  It is still,

⁹ Go, therefore, and make disciples  of  all nations,  baptizing  them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember,  I am with you always,  to the end of the age.”

The Supreme Court’s decision has not changed our mission.  In fact, it has highlighted just how “urgent” our mission really is.  Our mission has not changed, though how we do things must certainly change; but not what we do or Who we are doing it for.

Now, the Psalmist asks a straight-forward question:  “When the foundations are crumbling what must the righteous do?”  Do what we should have been doing all along:  “practice righteous deeds.”  Practice “righteous deeds” in your personal life.  Practice righteous deeds in your family life.  Practice righteous deeds where you work,
where you shop, and where you play.

Some talk as if the recent Supreme Court changed everything.  In reality, it has not changed anything that really matters—that matters eternally.  It has not changed Truth.  It has not changed God’s Providence.  It has not changed Our Mission. 

If the Supreme Court’s decision changed anything, may it have changed us.  May it have strengthened our resolve and emblazoned our passion for righteousness.  If we let God change us, God will let us change the world.

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