History Sermon

Sermon Every youthful generation is going to have its own tastes in clothing and recreation, its own musical style, its own favorite musical artists, always in contrast to their parents and the previous generation. Adults should be patient and understanding, and good Christians should not condemn or condone a wild rock and roll star that sins, but instead pray for that person. Good morning my friends, my congregation, and my neighbors! I hope that you saw the Lord's brilliant handiwork this morning in that glorious sunrise.

If you were up as early as I was, you witnessed God's wonderfully multicolored landscape painting. Those high cirrus clouds reflected heavenly pink, orange, purple and red brushstrokes on the magical canvas that God shares with us each day. May we bow our heads for a moment and speak to our God: "Oh Lord, we are so grateful for this wonderful life we have been given, we are grateful for our parents, our brothers and sisters, our children -- all our neighbors and relatives.

Let us remember to praise thy name each morning as the sun rises in the east and the darkness fades away in the west. Let us be tolerant of each other -- let our young people be respectful and accepting of their elders' values, and let the older people in our community be understanding and patient with their youthful family members as well.

In Jesus' name, amen." My friends I said that prayer because part of my sermon today is about rock and roll music, which has been given a not-so-heavenly reputation in some circles. Let me say out front that I know there are adults in the congregation today who do not look with favor on rock and roll music. You can't turn on the radio for more than an hour without hearing Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley, Little Richard or a number of other rock and roll musicians.

Let's talk for a moment about Jerry Lee Lewis, because I know next weekend he will be in concert along with Little Richard, and I'm sure some of the young people in our congregation will be in attendance. I read an article today about Mr. Lewis, how he was a Christian at one time in his life but he turned away from Jesus. He said, "I know the right way, I was raised a good Christian. But I couldn't make it" (Amazing Discoveries). He couldn't make it he says.

Well, whether I approve of rock and roll or not -- and you can come to your own conclusions about that -- my job as a Christian is not to condemn Jerry Lee Lewis, but to pray for him, to forgive him if he is a sinner. Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to 7 times?" And Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times" (About.com).

We know Jesus was capable of forgiving those who had taken the wrong path. As for Mr. Jerry Lee Lewis, I say we should even follow some of his advice, and do "a whole lot of shakin'" for the brokenhearted boy whose father was killed in the war; we should do a "whole lot of shakin'" for the homeless and the poor of spirit; and a "whole lot of shakin'" for those hungry children in Africa caught up in Ethiopia's famine.

As for Little Richard, how many in our congregation know that he received a spiritual vision while flying over Australia in 1958? He thus became a preacher. And today he says he uses music to.