C162 1/4/59
© Project Winsome International, 2000

A GREAT TIME TO BE ALIVE
Dr. John Allan Lavender
Mt. 13:24-30a

As a small boy one of my favorite indoor sports was day-dreaming about what it would be like to have been a pioneer. To have lived in one of history's stormy eras. Many a cold, damp wintery day (and we had them in California, don't be fooled about that!) was spent curled up before a crackling fire on the hearth reading Jack London's Call of the Wild or one of the many fascinating books about Christopher Columbus. Or the exciting stories of the taming of the west by the forty-niners.

Through the magic of a small boy's imagination I would transport myself back to those tumultuous times to trudge the plains with Davy Crockett. Or struggle through the snow-drenched passes of the Sierra Nevada with Kitt Karson or sweat out the blood-tingling cry of the Indians on the warpath with Daniel Boone.

On other days my fancy would take a turn toward the sea, and I would endure mutiny, misadventure, piracy and hardship with Magellan, Ponce De Leon, Christopher Columbus or Captain Kidd.

Sometimes I would spend the whole afternoon with Cortez as he struggled to conquer Mexico, fighting his superiors on one hand and Montezuma, the Aztec king on the other.

And of course, the extraordinary adventures of Napoleon and Wellington were sufficient to keep a small boy and his army of tin soldiers in a state of unrestrained excitement for hours on end.

It was great to dream about being a pioneer. Who among us has not longed at times to have been part of the Reformation or the American Revolution or some other of history's great events?

Well, if you have had such dreams, you needn't dream any longer. Today we are in the midst of the most revolutionary era in human history. At this very moment we are witnessing some of the most earth-shaking, precedent-shattering, awe-inspiring events mankind has ever known.

And, while there is no doubt but that these are times which try men's souls, that stretch nerves to the breaking, that stagger the imagination, and overwhelm the spirit with the cosmic implications of our recent acts, yet, this is also a great time to be alive and we must not forget it.

We must not allow disturbing headlines, complex problems and jangling irritations obscure the fact that we are privileged to be alive in what is unquestionably the most wonderful period in all of human history. I say this is a great time to be alive because --

The Present Is Better Than The Past Has Ever Been
We talk about the "good ole days" but just how good were they?

Health
Twenty-five years ago the average lifespan was less than fifty years. Today it is more than seventy. A century ago, nearly half of all children died before the age of five. Today, in the United State, 96% live to the age of twenty or better, and 68% live past sixty-five.

As late as the Civil War, surgical operations were ghastly ordeals. Patients were strapped or held down and, without benefit of anesthetics, were subjected to involve an extensive surgery. Most victims died on the operating table, and many of those who survived succumbed later on to post-operative infection because antiseptics were practically unknown.

Religion
And what about religion in the "good ole days?" Was it really as vital and vigorous as we are made to think? Well, judge for yourself. Cecil G. Osborne points out that --
"In 1792 there was only one professing Christian attending Princeton University.
In Yale the same condition prevailed because most of the students were open infidels.
Just a little over a hundred years ago a group of Harvard undergraduates blew the chapel to "smithereens" as a protest against compulsory chapel attendance.
Three hundred years ago they burned people at the stake for translating the Bible into English and thousands more were jailed for simply reading the Bible.
Little more than a century ago the observance of Christmas was prohibited by law, not in some far-off heathen country, but right here, in so-called Christian America, it was a crime to celebrate the birthdate of Christ.
In the early years of our nation's life, the Puritans issued a series of ordinances forbidding all church services and festivities on Christmas.
A law was passed making December twenty-fifth a market day, requiring people to work, and forbidding the making of plum puddings and mince pies. And, believe it or not, it wasn't until the second half of the nineteenth century that Christmas really began to flourish in America."

According to Dr. Osborne, just a hundred years ago, the First Baptist Church of Chicago was asked if they would permit a Sunday School to use their building. The board of Deacons replied that, in their opinion it was, "too worldly a purpose for a church." The request was denied.

In his book, Fifty Years With The Golden Rule, J. C. Penny relates how his father, who had been a devout member of the church for many years, was put on trial and expelled from membership for suggesting that ministers should be paid so they could devote full-time to the church, that they should have at least some education and that there should be a Sunday school.

World Conditions
And what about world conditions in those "good ole days" we are always hearing about? This weeks issue of U.S. News And World Report carries a series of headlines which were printed in the New York Times exactly one-hundred years ago. See if they don't have a familiar ring?

"FROM WASHINGTON -- THE FILIBUSTER QUESTION"
"TERRIBLE DISASTER -- PUBLIC SCHOOL FIRE -- CHILDREN SUFFOCATED"
"PLAN ON FOOT FOR SEPARATION OF NORTH AND SOUTH"
"FROM WASHINGTON -- THE PRESIDENT'S HEALTH"

And listen to this --
"The most infamous outrages have been perpetrated for months past in New Orleans with perfect impunity . . . gangs of scoundrels have filled the streets day and night, assailing, robbing and stabbing peaceable citizens. Washington, D.C. 'is' not a safe place for pedestrians after dark. Luxurious gambling places flourish in the capital city."
Sound familiar? Those are clippings from newspapers from 100 years ago today.

Or how about this --
"It is a gloomy moment in history. Not in the lifetime of most people has there been so much grave apprehension. Never has the future seemed so uncertain as this time. In France the political caldron seethes and bubbles with uncertainty. Russia hangs as usual like a cloud, dark and silent upon the horizons of Europe. All the resources and energies of the British Empire are sorely tried . . . in coping with vast and deadly problems, and with disturbed conditions in China. Of our own troubles in the U. S. no man can see the end."
Sound familiar? No, that was not written in 1958, but in 1858 and appeared in an editorial in Harper's Magazine!

So you see, the "good ole days" were not nearly so good as they have been made to seem. In contrast, your chances of living to a ripe old age are more than ten times as good as they were a hundred years ago. Everyone here this morning lives on a standard that exceeds that of kings of a century or two ago. Public libraries are in every city, town and hamlet while just a few years ago only the wealthy could afford books. By means of jet aircraft we are able to fly coast to coast in less time than it took grandpa to crank up the old model "T" and drive to town and back in the "good ole days."

While our forefathers required weeks on end to cross the Atlantic it is now accomplished in a matter of hours.

And most important of all, a quiet spiritual awakening is taking place in our country. More young people are involved, deeply involved, in Christ's cause than ever before.

Magazines and newspapers are laden with articles about Christ and the Christian faith. In the last decade--
More new church buildings were erected,
More new people were saved,
More missionaries were sent,
More money was given,
Than ever before in the two-thousand year history of Christendom.

What a great time to be alive! For the first time in history the Christian witness is being heard consistently in this and nearly every land. For three-hundred years after Christ, Christians were persecuted, hounded like dogs, subjected to humiliation and tortured to death. Today this is certainly not the case. Today it is easy to talk to people about Christ, whether it be in their homes, or over the phone, or at their office desks. There is, on the part of nearly everyone, an unabashed expression of religious hunger such as we have never seen before. Surely, this is a great time to be alive for the present is better than the past has ever been. It is also a great time to be alive for --

The Future Is Brighter Than It Has Ever Been
The word "impossible" has almost been dropped from our vocabulary as the watchword has become,
"The difficult we do immediately, the impossible would take a little longer."

Recently I read a brief description of what we can expect to achieve in the next decade or two. Many of the things mentioned are already in the works.
Nuclear energy will be used in industry, planes, ships, trains and automobiles.
Atomic energy will be converted directly into electricity and atomic batteries will supply energy for industry and the home.
The power of the sun will be effectively harnessed and in world-wide use, bringing untold blessings to the under-developed areas of the world.

Color television will be completely global. People will not only be able to speak and hear all around this planet, but also see the entire world in natural color.
Jet propulsion and rocket-type vehicles will travel at speeds as high as five-thousand miles an hour and with greater safety and comfort than today's aircraft.
Guided missiles will transport mail and other freight over vast distances.
Automation will increase production, decrease cost, expand employment and provide more and more leisure for the working man.

Famine will be practically eliminated. Through striking developments in solar energy, electronics, new biological and chemical discoveries, irrigation and flood control man will enrich the land and "farm" the oceans. We will have all the food we need despite population growth.

Preventive medicine, diagnosis and treatment of human ills will reach undreamed-of heights.
The housewife's hope of a completely automatic home will be realized, as the day's chores are pre-scheduled and then performed electronically.
About the only similarity to our present way of life is that we will continue to do our own eating!

These are but a few of David Sarnoff's predictions for the future as published in Time magazine. It is his studied opinion that mankind stands at the beginning of a golden age of unbelievable proportions. If we can keep from blowing ourselves to bits in the next twenty-five to fifty years we shall enter into a way of life that will make the milk and honey of the land of promise seem like dregs in a stale and sour cup. Indeed, this is a great time to be alive, an exciting time to be alive, for the future is brighter than the past has ever been. But most important of all, this is a great time for Christians to be alive for --

The Gospel Of Jesus Christ Is More Clearly Essential Than Ever Before.
"For what shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul."

Of course, Christ has always been essential. From the moment he arrived on the scene there has been no other name given among men whereby we must be saved but the name of Jesus. There have been times in history when men doubted that. When they cast aspersions upon Christ's claim that, "no man cometh unto the Father but by me."

For the most part all of that has changed. Science and education, which a decade or two ago where heralded as "gods" which would solve all of our ills, have been denuded of their deity and have been discovered not to be gods, but mere tools which mankind can use for good or ill The voices that speak most loudly and clearly for a return to religion are no longer the theologians and the pulpiteers, but the scientists and educators, the men and women who are most intimately aware of the indescribable implications of the knowledge which man has stumbled upon in recent years.

Awhile back the Chicago Sun-Times reported that one of the scientists working on our space program was asked what he did to keep himself occupied. "I work all day at the lab," he replied, "and most of the evenings I spend with the Association of Engineers and Scientists. This is a society made up of atomic-energy experts." "And what else?" "After that," he replied with a smile, "I pray!"

Earnest C. Manning, one of Canada's most thoughtful leaders commented recently --
"My many years in public administration have only served to strengthen my conviction that man cannot solve the problems of the world by passing laws or engaging in social reforms. Unless we turn back to the Bible, turn back to God, turn back to Jesus Christ, we are headed for our own self-destruction."

Harry Emerson Fosdick, who would hardly be called a fundamentalist, wrote in one of his last books that this is a time for us to get back to fundamentals!
"We have pared down the gospel, shrunk it and reduced it," he says, "until in our churches, preachers have sometimes seemed to be playing a game to see how little a man can believe and still be a Christian. Under no circumstances is that an adequate approach to religion."
Then he told the story of how, one of our popular artists drew a cartoon showing a group of men around a conference table attempting to organize a new world. At the head of the table sat the president. There, too, were the familiar portfolios: Secretary of War, Secretary of State, and all the rest. But a new figure was at that council table. There sat Christ with his portfolio! And Fosdick adds, "Until something like that happens, I see no hope for the world."

I tell you, my friends, this is a great time to be alive! Never before has the world needed the message we Christians have to give like it needs it now. Never before has it been so clearly evidenced that Christ is the only hope of the world. Mankind has suddenly discovered that, along with a right and a left, there is an above and below. And, if we are to avoid the latter, we must turn to Christ who alone can lift us from the miry clay of our sin and set our feet upon the solid rock of his salvation.

I happen to be one of those preachers who believes in the second coming of Christ. I believe that Christ's parable of the wheat and the tares makes it clear that, as history progresses, both good and evil will grow. In a sense, the world will get better and better while simultaneously it grows worse and worse. But finally, the harvester, even Christ our Lord, will come, and with one mighty, sweeping, cataclysmic stroke will bring history to a close.

But, until that glorious moment, what a wonderful day to proclaim the gospel of his redemption and the hope of his return. As never before, the fields are white unto harvest. Open doors of opportunity are everywhere. For the first time in history we have the means at our command to literally win the world for Christ in one generation. We have the press, the radio, the television, the automobile, the airplane, the telephone, and in Christ, we have the hope the world is seeking. We have the message it wants to hear. It needs to hear. It must hear if it would experience peace. We have the money and we have the people to do the job. It remains for each of us to put the trumpet of the gospel to our lips and proclaim his power to save. The poet Angela Morgan put it this way --
To be alive in such an age.
To live it, to give to it!
Fling forth thy sorrow to the wind,
And link thy hope with humankind.

Breathe the world thought, do the world deed,
Think hugely of thy brother's need.
And what thy woe and what thy weal?
Look to the work that times reveal.

Give thanks with all thy flaming heart,
Crave but to have in it a part
. Give thanks, and clasp thy heritage --
To be alive in such an age!

What a great time to be alive. What a great time for evangelism. For witnessing. For Christian growth. For spiritual maturity. God grant that we will have the courage and faith and wisdom to be equal to our opportunities.