"The Norm" 3-2-25

Overview

The Great Morality Shift

Just as the Great Vowel Shift gradually reshaped how English speakers pronounce nearly every word—through cultural mixing, the desire to be fashionable, and the standardizing pressure of the printing press—a far more serious shift has been underway since the Garden of Eden. Call it the great morality shift. It happens slowly, by the same forces: we mingle with the values around us, we want to fit in with the "cool kids," and we conform to whatever the surrounding culture formats as normal. God warned Israel about this very dynamic in Deuteronomy 7:1-4, cautioning them not to intermarry with the surrounding nations lest their hearts be turned away to other gods. What everyone else is doing is not the measure of what is right. The world's norm is not God's norm.

This launches a series called Acceptable Sins—and the honest answer to the question "Which sins are acceptable?" is: none. Anything outside of God's holiness is not okay, even when it feels unavoidable, even when it has become the cultural baseline. The first such "acceptable sin" to examine is anxiety. Anxiety is a nervous unease about what is to come; we don't fret over yesterday's hurricane, but we work ourselves into a tizzy over a future we cannot see. The deeper problem is that anxiety turns our eyes away from the God in whom that future rests. Yet Jesus tells His disciples plainly not to worry Matthew 6:25-34, and Paul urges us to rejoice always and hand every worry over to the Lord Philippians 4:4-7.

The remedy is not willpower but a redirected gaze. In Isaiah 35:3-4, the prophet calls leaders to "strengthen the weak hands and make firm the feeble knees" and to say to the fearful in heart, "Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God." Israel was hemmed in by enemies—Assyrians, Babylonians, Philistines—and yet God promised redemption and return. Who can be weak when God is God? Who can worry when God is God? That promise reaches its fullest expression in Revelation 5:5-6, where the announced Lion of Judah appears as a Lamb who was slain. The God who comes with vengeance and recompense comes first to save by laying down His own life John 10:17-18.

When the disciples watched Christ die, they hid in fear, ringing their hands over what was to come—just as we retreat into our minds and homes when anxiety presses in. But death did not have the last word. Christ rose victorious over your sin and mine, including the sin of every anxious moment when we forget who God is. He has lifted that burden from your shoulders and placed it on His own. As a baptized child of God, claimed in the water and redeemed by the blood, you are called to a different norm—an eternal one. Cling to Jesus. Do not take your eyes off Him. The world's norm is not your norm. Here is your God.

Transcript

I would call me a conversation with a lovely young lady and she shared with me a major, major 2s

controversy. 12s

And this is a controversy that has affected every single one of us that speaks the English 13s

language. 19s

It is the great vowel shift. 21s

And the great vowel shift. 25s

And this took place over the time period between the 15th and the 18th centuries. 28s

And it affects the way that we pronounce our words even today. 35s

What we know as the English language, the norm of our speaking, is because of the great 42s

vowel shift. 50s

It happened in steps over hundreds of years. 51s

And there were three main causes that the literary folk will attribute to the great 56s

vowel shift. 64s

The first cause was the influence of mixing cultures. 65s

The black death had taken place. 71s

And so there was a lot of migration happening. 73s

And so there was this intermingling of cultures which affected the way that people would 76s

pronounce or pronounce different and various words. 82s

Second reason was to be fashionable. 87s

They wanted to fit in. 90s

People wanted to sound like the cool people. 92s

We know what it's like to want to fit in to be one of the cool kids. 96s

So they would change the pronunciation of words and their vowels in order to be fashionable 100s

and to fit in. 108s

Also with the advent of the printing press. 112s

All of a sudden there was a formatting of the English language. 116s

And so you would see various vowels that would be written out when you look at Chaucer 121s

as opposed to Shakespeare. 128s

The way that it is written is different. 130s

And the way that really it was pronounced would be different. 134s

Anyone who spoke in the old English of Chaucer would be lost in the Shakespearean 138s

old English just as we often times can find ourselves lost when trying to decipher through 144s

the English of Shakespeare. 151s

It was a great controversy. 154s

And it affects the way that we speak the norm of even today. 156s

When we were studying or thinking about this great vowel shift, one commentator said, 163s

we made a real mess of it. 172s

We made a real mess of it, the English language. 175s

There's another controversy. 180s

Another controversy that has been brewing for centuries for thousands of years. 182s

And we're going to call this controversy the great morality shift. 192s

The great morality shift. 199s

Just like the great vowel shift, the great morality shift did not happen overnight. 203s

In fact, it's been happening since Adam and Eve and continues even into today. 211s

It took several thousands of years from the time that Adam and Eve ate of the fruit, 221s

shifting from perfection, shifting from complete community with God to what we experience today. 232s

It's always been shifting. 246s

It's always been changing. 248s

And it has always been driving us further and further away from God. 251s

It's interesting in the time of Moses. 258s

God warned. 262s

God warned of the possible or the imminent morality shift in due to ronomy chapter 7. 263s

Moses under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit writes, 271s

when the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are about to enter an occupy. 275s

And he clears away many nations before you and he goes on to name the nations. 280s

And when the Lord your God gives them over to you and defeat them, 286s

then you must utterly destroy them. 293s

Make no covenant with them and show them no mercy. 296s

Do not enter Mary with them giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons. 300s

For that would turn away your children from following me to serve other gods. 307s

Moses warned the Israelites people who had been set apart, 316s

who had been chosen as God's people not to mix with those who were not part of God's people. 322s

He said, don't mix with them because you will be tempted. 334s

You'll be tempted to stray away from me. 339s

Your children will be tempted to turn away from me and turn to false gods, false idols, 344s

and worship not me. 351s

Throughout Scripture, we see sin prevailing. 357s

We see sin constantly, constantly overcoming the Israelites people, 363s

even overcoming the Christian people. 371s

As we look at the world around us throughout the centuries, we see that sin continues to creep in. 376s

Continues to wage war on the people of God, and sometimes the people of God as well as those that are secular. 386s

Our influence, our influence by the sin around us, and we seek to fit in. 401s

All the cool kids are doing it. Why can't I? 409s

We also seek to format to what is around us. 415s

We seek to format to what we see because it feels more comfortable to just go with the flow. 421s

It feels better to be part of the norm of society. 431s

Today we look around us and we think because everyone else is doing it, it must be the norm. 440s

It must be normal. 448s

But is it? 452s

Is it? 454s

Is what the world and our culture tells us is normal, make it normal? 455s

Is because some people say it's okay or some people say it's the norm, does that mean automatically? 461s

That it is okay or that it is normal? 472s

In this next sermon series that we're beginning today, where it's entitled Acceptable Sins? 477s

We're going to look at this great morality shift. 484s

Has there been a change? 492s

Is sin now or some sin? 493s

Okay. 497s

I was talking with a preschool parent on Friday, and I was sharing with her the upcoming sermon series, 497s

Acceptable Sins, and she said, 504s

So what sins are okay? 507s

I said, none. 509s

None. 514s

There are no acceptable sins. 515s

Sin. 520s

According to God, all that is other than God, all that is outside of his holiness is not acceptable. 522s

Is not okay even if it feels like it should be or is the norm. 534s

Today, the acceptable sin that we're going to study is anxiety. 542s

Anxiety, the accepted sin of anxiety. 549s

And you may ask, why is it a sin? 554s

I mean, after all, anxiety is very, very real. 557s

Almost every single person at one time or another is affected by anxiety. 563s

It affects a lot of us. 571s

We have so much to worry about. 572s

There is so much in the world that we can be fearful of. 576s

Think of the political fervor that is always around the chronic disease that we face on a daily basis. 582s

Our children being raised in an age of technology. 589s

There is so much looming that we can be worried about. 594s

That we can find ourselves in a state of anxiety over. 601s

We have mortgages to pay or rent to meet. 608s

We have angstabai and those prices are crazy. 612s

We have places to be. 617s

We don't spend enough time with our loved ones, 619s

but then we also don't give enough time to ourselves for that self-care. 622s

There's just so much to do. 629s

There are so many pressures and it's swirling around us at all times. 635s

And we get worked up into a state of anxiety, into a state of fear. 644s

There's a lot to worry about. 654s

And so we share our anxieties. 657s

And as we share our anxieties, we start to get worried about our friend who is so worried. 661s

And we take on extra anxiety. 670s

And we write it off as the norm. 677s

It's okay. 680s

It's part of the human condition. 681s

It's part of the human experience. 683s

It's okay. 687s

It's okay. 691s

But the Lord never tells us it's okay. 693s

In fact, he tells us the exact opposite. 698s

Jesus tells his disciples and Matthew don't worry. 701s

Don't worry. 708s

In our Philippians reading, Paul Paul says, 710s

rejoice, always turn all of your worries over to the Lord. 716s

Turn to the Lord, don't worry. 723s

Well, everyone else is worrying. 728s

It's the norm. 731s

So it must be okay. 733s

Anxiety is a nervousness of feeling of unease about what is to come. 740s

It's feeling uncertain about the outcome in the future. 752s

One author said, notice this feeling isn't about something that has already happened. 761s

You don't feel anxiety about yesterday's hurricane. 768s

But there was a really, really great point. 776s

We don't feel nervous. 784s

We don't feel anxious about yesterday. 787s

We work ourselves into a tizzy about what we have no idea about the future. 795s

And the problem is that it turns our focus away from our future. 807s

It turns our focus away from God in whom our future rests. 816s

It turns us away, draws us away from Jesus. 825s

If you would please open your Bibles to the prophet Isaiah the 35th chapter. 832s

If you're using a Pue edition of the Bible, you can find this on page 622 in the Old Testament. 838s

In chapter 34, the prophet Isaiah is sharing a word from God and God delivers a word of indictment for the people, the nations that are against Israel. 847s

You see, Israel faced opposition consistently. 862s

They always had enemies on the outside. 867s

And those enemies would overcome them. 872s

The Assyrians would overcome them. 874s

The Babylonians would overcome them. 876s

The Philistines would overcome them. 878s

So they always had opposition. 881s

But God sends a word through the prophet Isaiah that there would be an indictment on those people. 883s

An indictment on those nations. 893s

And in chapter 35, God gives a beautiful word for Israel, a word of hope, a word of redemption, a word to strengthen them. 896s

And keep their eyes focused on him. 908s

He tells of the future redemption of Israel. 913s

There return of Israel both physically and spiritually to the Lord. 916s

God would never abandon his people. 925s

He promised this. 929s

And God does not go back on his promises. 932s

There was no need for them to worry. 936s

There was no need for them to be anxious or to fear. 938s

But to focus on God, to focus on who he is, what he had done for them and what he will do for them. 943s

Look with me, please, at verse 3. 956s

Strengthen the weak hands and make firm the feeble knees. 959s

Say to those who are of a fearful heart, be strong and do not fear. 964s

This is a word from God to the leaders of the Israelite people. 970s

They are called to redirect the people's eyes toward God. 976s

They are called to give them strength through his word, through his promise. 983s

They are to remind them the leaders are to remind the people who they are in. 992s

God, they are not weak in God. 1000s

They are strengthened in God. 1003s

They are not feeble in God. 1007s

They are strong in God. 1009s

Who can be weak and who can worry when God is God? 1014s

Who can worry when God is God? 1023s

Say to those who are of a fearful heart, be strong and do not fear. 1031s

Here is your God. 1037s

This reminds me of Revelation, the fifth chapter. 1042s

Where it is announced behold the lion of Judah and in verse 6 we hear from John. 1048s

Then I saw between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders, a lamb. 1055s

Standing as if it had been slaughtered. 1063s

The prophet says, here is your God. 1068s

He will come with vengeance with terrible recompense. 1071s

He will come and save you. 1076s

And at the throne as the lion of Judah is announced, the one who would come victorious comes as a lamb. 1081s

Slottered, slain. 1100s

When Christ entered into creation, when God took on flesh to be as one of us, he did not appear as one coming with vengeance and recompense. 1105s

He did not appear as one all powerful and mighty. 1121s

When Christ, the lamb of God, was hanging on the cross. 1130s

Beaton, naked, breathing his last. 1139s

He didn't appear as mighty. 1146s

He didn't appear as one who could save. 1153s

Those who gazed upon him, they were probably filled with fear, 1162s

filled with anxiety. 1171s

They probably were held heavy with the burden of anxiety and the burden of seeing their hopes dashed. 1177s

Their dreams destroyed and wondering what would happen to them next. 1187s

Be strong. 1197s

Do not fear. 1201s

Do you think those words rang in the ears of the followers of Christ as they watched him give up his spirit? 1204s

They hid after his death. 1219s

In the fear of what was to come, they are no different than you and I. 1227s

When we are under the burden of anxiety, when we feel the weight of the fear of what is to come, what will happen to us, we can retreat. 1238s

Retreat into the hidden places of our minds, where we stew, we can retreat to the physical hiding place of our homes, 1257s

where we are able to ring our hands and worry that much more. 1274s

Be strong. 1282s

Do not fear. 1286s

Here is your God. 1289s

When Jesus Christ hung upon the cross, death did not have the last word. 1295s

In the gospel of John, Jesus reminds us that it is him who lays down his life. 1304s

No one is taking it from him. 1310s

Christ was, is and always will be God. 1313s

God with everlasting and unconquerable righteousness. 1319s

On the cross, the righteousness of God and sin met, and they struggled and Christ laid down his life upon the cross. 1326s

He defiled himself with the sin of the world. 1339s

He took upon himself our sin, the sin of every moment that we fear, the sin of every time that we ring our hands, 1344s

wondering what is to come, every time we forget who God is and take our eyes off of Jesus. 1357s

Christ defiled himself for our sin upon the cross, but he rose victorious. 1373s

While the disciples rung their hands in fear and in hiding for three days, they awakened to a new morning. 1387s

Easter morning, when Christ rose victorious over their sin, rose victorious over your sin, over my sin. 1399s

He was and is the conquering hero because he was and is and always will be God. 1410s

Holy righteous, holy victorious, the God who will come with vengeance with terrible recompense who will come and save us. 1420s

This means that it is God who has conquered your need of clinging to your anxieties and fears. 1436s

It is God who has come to show you and remind you and proclaim to you who he is and what he has done, that he has made you righteous, that he has purchased you with his own blood and that he has freed you to live victorious. 1444s

Not in anxiety, not in fear, but in the triumph of Christ himself. 1468s

Kling to Jesus, do not take your eyes off of Jesus and who he is and what he has done for you. 1478s

He has lifted the burden of anxiety from you. He has lifted the burden of fear from you and placed it on his own shoulders. 1491s

The norm of the world around us is not your norm. There is no need to fear or have anxiety over what is to come because we have seen who has come and who is yet to come again. 1506s

And it is Christ who has already claimed you as your own. 1527s

You baptized child of God. You have been claimed in the waters. You have been redeemed by the blood and you are called to a different norm. 1534s

An eternal norm in the presence of Jesus Christ. 1552s

Here is your God. 1563s