The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - Are You Tired of the World Changing?

Episode Date: October 30, 2020

How do we find peace in a world that is constantly changing? Today, Jeff offers us hope and wisdom in these unprecedented times from the document Gaudium et spes (GS) – Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World. This Second Vatican Council document reminds us that the true stability we seek is only found in the One who never changes, Jesus Christ. Snippet from the Show “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”- Hebrews 13:8 Email us with comments or questions at [e-mail] Text “jeffcavins” to 33-777 to subscribe and get Jeff’s shownotes delivered straight to your email! Or visit ascensionpress.com/thejeffcavinsshow for full shownotes!

You're listening to the Jeff Kavens show, Episode 190. Are you tired of the world changing? Hey, I'm Jeff Kavans. How do you simplify your life? How do you study the Bible? All the way from motorcycle trips to raising kids, we're going to talk about the faith and life in general. It's the Jeff Kaven show. Well, my friend, thank you for joining me again this week. where on the Jeff Kaven show, we talk about all things that are related to being a disciple of the Lord. Take a look at what's happening around the world and offer some helpful hints about how to be fruitful in walking with the Lord. I can't think of a topic that I love more than the topic of Bible reading mixed with discipleship and building this relationship with the Lord. But I got to tell you, things are really, really difficult out there. right now, and a lot of people are tired of the world changing. We are facing unprecedented times right

now, and our heads are swirling as we contemplate the changes in life with government, technology, the news dissemination process, and it goes on and on. And I want to offer you this week some words of encouragement, and before those words of encouragement, I want to review a church document with you that talks about the changing times of our life and what the results of those changing times could be. And maybe you are experiencing the result of changing times without a corresponding spiritual advancement. You know, when we when we experience all of these changes, especially if you are 40, 50, 60, 70 years old and you do remember, quote unquote, the old days, well, life is very different right now. And that's,

that can be good, but that also can be overwhelming, you know, as you navigate this new world and, and things aren't the same as they used to be. And deep inside you have a longing to just get back to the normal. Whatever that normal was in your life, you just want to get back to going to work, coming back home, doing things with your family, being a part of your local parish, but life seems out of control. And if that's true, then we want to do something about that. By the way, as we address this issue today, this week, we are going to be voting. We probably already have voted. I know I have, but November 3rd, 2020, that is the official voting day. And that's when all the votes will be cast. And I don't know how long it's going to be after that before we really know who's going to be the next president of the United States.

But anyway, that time is here. And I know that people are stressed. out. I hear it constantly, and we'll talk about a little of that today. But if you do want some show notes, and I do have some quotes today from a really good document in the Catholic Church called Godiam et Spez, the church in the modern world. It was one of the foundational documents of Vatican 2, which spoke back in the 1960s about a never-changing world and what will happen to Christians if they don't pay attention and have a corresponding spiritual advancement to that changing world. So all you got to do to get the notes is text my name, one whole name, Jeff Kavens, and you can text it to 33777. That's 3377. Okay, so I'm old enough to remember the 1960s, and in the 1960s,

there were a number of years where everything seemed like it was out of control, 1963, 64, 68. We had the assassination of the two Kennedys, and we had the assassination of Martin Luther King. We had Kent State. We had the Vietnam War. We had, at the tail end of the 60s, the beginning of the 70s, Woodstock, the sexual revolution. and technology really began to take off in an unprecedented way. My own father was a PhD in electrical engineering at Iowa State,

and after he graduated, he was a part of the Apollo Space Program with technology and a lot of technology that is used today with microchips and computers. He was involved in a lot of that, and things were really, really changing. But I got to tell you that as I think back to the 1960s, I think of a time that was certainly more peaceful than today, I think. And it was, I think we were more on the same page as a country. Technology wasn't nearly what it is today. When I was just a little kid, there was black and white television. There were no microwaves. There were no digital phones. And so I was, I was, as a when all these things started to develop. I had no idea that when I became an adult, we would

be living really a reality show that was similar to the Jetsons. And I was thinking of that earlier today as I put a couple of meals in the microwave, and four minutes later, they're all ready and we can serve. But things are changing. So I want to talk to you about a document that addresses the changes and kind of bounce off our lives, bounce off our lives. this document to see how we are doing today and how you're doing and then offer a few suggestions on what you can do if you feel like you are tired of the world changing. The document that I'm referring to is Gaudhium at Spes, the church in the modern world, and it really is a beautiful document that it talks about, it's unlike any other document, to be honest with you, whereas

most councils would be called together because of teaching or clarifying teaching in Vatican 2, John the 23rd called that council, not because of theological error or anything like that. He called it because he realized that the world was changing so much that if we as a church didn't get our act together and have a corresponding spiritual advancement, then we are going to be left in the dust. And this spiritual advancement will recoil upon us. And it can rule our lives and it even has the capability of destroying our lives. Well, Gaudi Mitzphe says in paragraph four, and I've got a few paragraphs, I'll put them in the notes for you.

It says that today, the human race is involved in a new stage of history. Imagine that in 1960s. A new stage of history. Profound and rapid changes are spreading by degrees around the whole world, triggered by the intelligence and creative energies of man, these changes recoil upon him, upon his decisions and desires, both individual and collective, and upon his manner of thinking and acting with respect to things and to people. Hence, we can already speak of a true cultural and social transformation, one which has repercussions on man's religious life as well.

Pause there for a moment. Have the changes in technology over the last 10, 15 years, and the changes politically, have they had an impact for good or for bad on your religious life, on your faith life, on your walk with the Lord? Do you feel like you're lagging behind? Do you feel like your family is lagging behind. Do you feel like your children are slipping away in the midst of all these changes? I can tell you, I've been talking to a lot of people, and I would say that a lot of people would concur, that there are repercussions on their family life because of the technological advances, the political talk today, and there's a pandemic. Did I mention pandemic? COVID-19. You put all of that.

together and you've got a soup that if we drink of it, it can result in a swirling of our soul and a confusion and a discouragement. It goes on in paragraph four and says, finally, man painstakingly searches for a better world without a corresponding spiritual advancement. Pause there. That is powerful. That is powerful. Now think about this in terms of your own life, your marriage, your friendships, your job, your children, your free time, the way you spend money. Think about this for a moment. In our search, just painstaking search for a better world, are we doing this? Are we trying to advance without a corresponding spiritual advancement? are we spending more time trying to get that newest phone or trying to take in all the news every night about what's going on with the election and what's going on with COVID-19?

And are we finding new ways of communicating with each other, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, go on and on, without even considering how we are advancing spiritually? You see, if we go forward with all of these ingenuities and all of these advancements and we forget about our spiritual life, there are a number of things that can happen. There's a number of things that can happen. One is that it totally recoils upon us, and we don't know how to deal with life given this new technology. It can be spending. You today can get on Amazon and you can order anything you want. as long as you have those key digits on your credit card, and tomorrow it'll be at your front

door. You can get on the internet and you can indulge in pornography or relationships with other people that can have a very, very negative impact on your life and your family's life. And if you're not thinking about a corresponding spiritual advancement, in light of these technological advancements and social and communication advancements, then you could be set up for trouble. You could be set up for a sinkhole in your life. It's hard for many to stay up with technology. Somebody told me just yesterday, they said, if you turn in your smartphone to this given carrier, then they will give you a brand new iPhone 12. And I thought, huh, wow. Yeah, well, Yeah, yeah, because my current iPhone 11 is lagging behind a little bit with that 512 gigs.

And it's funny, you start thinking, well, really, the new one? The new one? Well, what can the new one do? Well, it's got three cameras. And that's what you've been waiting for, right? You've been waiting for the three cameras. And it will allow you to play download movies quicker and allow you to do this and this. And you can take it, you can measure your table with your phone.

It'll give you the measurements of your table. as opposed to having to get a measuring stick or tape to do it. And so all of a sudden, you're thinking, well, maybe I should do that. Maybe I should get that new phone. And so I went into my provider and asked about it. And they gave me about a 20-minute explanation as to how each phone in our family could be advanced to the next level. And by the end of that presentation, I was worn out. And I said, you know what?

My iPhone 11 is just fine. So once we stay up with technology, once we do this, we realize that we're open to all kinds of things that woo us. And Christianity takes, this curiosity, rather, takes us to areas that might not be healthy for us. The more advanced we seem, this is one of the other results of this. The more advanced we, quote unquote, seem, the less credence we put on the faith. Our ingenuity has left our faith behind, not only in terms of our attention, but validity as well. We start to really get full of ourselves, that we are so smart, so clever, so creative, so powerful that when we hear the gospel, it seems so simple and some would say childish that we don't

consider it anymore. Our britches are too big. And before you take your next steps into a deeper and more complex technology, let me ask you this question. Do you have a plan? Do you have a plan? As you continue to watch news and the elections and deal with COVID and technology changes and social communication changes, do you have a plan that corresponds with all those changes? If you don't, then most likely your children don't. And if you don't and your children don't, then we will be overrun. Because we are so caught up in the technology and feel that we can answer all the problems of humanity with our own cleverness that we never really get.

to the heart of the problem. In other words, all the advancements and all the quantity of news and so forth gives us a false sense of security. Sooner or later, it starts to cave in. It's like those sinkholes in Florida. One day, everything looks normal. The next day, three cars are 14 feet down underneath the ground. No one saw coming, but the weight just got bigger and heavier, and it fell apart.

So before you take your next steps into a deeper, more complex technology, think about what is the plan going forward? How are you going to keep pace with your relationship with the Lord? Just this morning, I was sitting downstairs, and you know me by now that every morning my wife and I have a time of prayer, reading scripture, spent about an hour, an hour and a half together. And I thought as I picked up my Bible and my hands ran across the smooth pages of Ephesians. I was so grateful for the simplicity of my Bible, which contains actually deep, deep truths, but to sit down with a book, a cup of tea, and to contemplate the God who created the universe and his plan for my life, it suddenly became so much more attractive than getting on the

internet, turning on Fox or CNN. We're watching one more series. on Netflix. And so I want to remind you again, before we go on any further, that the key here that Gaudi Mitspez was trying to get across is that the world is changing and that if you don't have a corresponding advancement, you don't keep up with your faith in the midst of the change, then you will be over-overrun. The document goes on in paragraph four and says, influenced by such a variety of complexities, many of our contemporaries are kept from accurately identifying permanent values. Isn't that true? Isn't that true? That is so true that influenced by such a variety of complexities today for our young people, they are kept from accurately identifying

permanent values and adjusting them properly to fresh discoveries. If that was true back in 1965, it's true in spades today. The document goes on as a result buffeted between hope and anxiety and pressing one another with questions about the present course of events, they are burdened down with uneasiness. This same course of events leads men to look for answers. Indeed, it forces them to do so. So pause there. So in the midst of all this complexity, people are looking for answers. And we turn on the news and we hear all kinds of, quote unquote, goofy answers and answers that are diametrically opposed to our faith. And we want to pull our hair out and say, how can this be? How can this be? What have we become? Right. But I got good news for you.

we do have answers. Jesus Christ has answers. And then it moves on and says, as we search for a better world, what does the document tell us? We don't have a corresponding spiritual advancement. And as we grow technologically and socially, our spiritual growth, it just hasn't kept up. It's not the little train that could. And consequently, these changes recoil upon this. They bite us. We have information overload. We have technology overload. We have relational overload. We don't know how to apply all of this to our lives. We don't even have a way of adequately synthesizing all of this together. Paragraph 8 of the same document says within the individual person, there develops rather frequently. Maybe you have fallen into this. I know I have at times. There develops rather frequent. an imbalance between an intellect, which is, yay, modern, modern in practical matters, and a theoretical system, a theoretical system of thought, which can neither master the sum totals of its ideas nor arrange them adequately into a synthesis. Another words, listen, we do not

have something that ties all of this together and can adequately keep up with the changes. We don't have a theoretical system or a way of synthesizing all of this together to make a life it recoils upon us. It's too much. When will it end? Well, if you feel that way, I get you. I do. And when we come back from the break, we're going to continue to talk about this. And I've got some words of encouragement for you. You're listening to The Jeff Kaven Show. 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ chose corrupt, broken, imperfect, sinful men to be the foundation of his church. And because these broken and perfect men chose,

to remain in relationship with Jesus, they became saints, and they were used by Jesus to transform hearts and minds 2,000 years later. I invite you to check out my book, Broken and Blessed, where you'll find practical tools to overcome habitual sin, to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and to walk with an imperfect church toward a perfect God, who is calling all of us to perfection, Over time.

To order the paperback book or audiobook, broken and blessed, visit ascensionpress.com or Amazon. Okay, we're coming up again to every four years. We kind of go through this dance, don't we? The big votes coming up. And there's a lot on the line. There really is, and there's going to be repercussions one way or another. There's going to be results down.

the road as to, you know, how we voted. And either way, we're still responsible for giving our life to God and walking according to his plans. Well, Vatican II, Godi Mitspez, actually gives an answer to all of this, in the searching, in the technological advances, and all the news and the crushing weight of complexity and disagreement in the public square. It says in paragraph 10, it says that she, the church, likewise, holds that in her most benign lord and master can be found the key, the focal point, and the goal of man, as well as of all humanity, the church also maintains that beneath all changes, there are many realities which do not change, and which have their ultimate foundation in Christ, who is the same yesterday today and forever. Hence, under the light of Christ, that's key, under the light of Christ,

under the light of Christ, the image of the unseen God, the firstborn of every creature, the council wishes to speak to all men in order to shed light on the mystery of man, and to cooperate in finding the solution to the outstanding problems of our time. My friend, I would argue that what Vatican is saying here is that, yes, we have outstanding problems in our time. And we are not going to find the answer under the light of the Republicans or under the light of the Democrats or under the light of all the scientists in the world or all of the social media companies in the world. That's not where the solution is. And we have to start living like that's true. Oh yeah, these things can help and these things can aid or they

be a tremendous problem and a trap, but it is under the light of Christ. This is the most important thing that we can do as Catholics. Yes, we must vote. Yes, we must be informed. Yes, we must pray. Yes, we must cast our vote for the one that we think will do more for the kingdom of God than anybody else. Period. But the answer is under the light of Christ. You see, the first paragraph of the catechism tells us that the plan that God has is called a plan of sheer goodness. Now, how much of what we are listening to in the debates, how much of what we're hearing in the news, and how much from social media, how much from news. How much from news and agencies and scientists are thinking about the plan of God, which certainly entails the human

person, the physical aspects, their health, their rights, and justice, but also their eternal salvation. The problem to this ever-changing world finds its solution under the light of Christ. And that is what I'm trying to say today is that, my friends, Jesus Christ is the answer to this sense of being tired of the world changing. If we're feeling that way, there's a chance that we are putting too much, too much hope into the things of this world and not in Christ, because I'm hopeful. I'm hopeful that God's purposes will be fulfilled. I'm hopeful that God will raise up a family that will bring hope to people and will proclaim the corigma, the truth, and walk in a boldness of love and mercy, kindness, hope, and healing.

It's under the light of Christ. And so if you're going to spend three hours in the nighttime listening to Fox or CNN or MSNBC or whatever it might be, my word, can't we spend a few minutes with Jesus? Can't we spend some time with Jesus? by the way, go to my website, jeffcavens.com. If you haven't been there, when you get there, you'll have an opportunity to sign up for being a part of the team here. And I will send you automatically a PDF that tells you how much time it takes to read each book of the Bible. And you can trade in, you can trade in news shows and all these worries for time with Christ.

Beautiful exchange there, I would say. So God has a plan of sheer goodness. And Gaudium at Spes says one more thing that I want to share with you, and that's paragraph 43, because Paul the 6th, Pope Paul the 6th said that there's one thing that is a very serious error of our age today. And he's speaking to Catholics here. He's speaking to Christians. He's speaking to followers of Christ. He says, there's one thing that is a very, very serious error of our age. You know what it was? He said, the split between faith and everyday life. The split between faith and everyday life is one of the more serious heirs of our age. You see, the everyday affairs of our life, they must have a corresponding spiritual advancement.

We must bring our faith to all of these issues. And so as I get ready to conclude, I want to encourage you today that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is the anchor of our soul. And I want to, I want you to think for a moment in the midst of all of this crushing news and the angst that it all brings into people's lives with COVID-19 and social media and politics and everything else. Is there anything to the structure of your day that can combat the negative aspects of all of these changes in the world? Is there anything in the structure of your day? Is there time in the morning? is there time in the evening? Do you read God's word every day? Do you put your heart in his hands?

Do you see life through his eyes? If not, I encourage you to restructure your day. Taking in all the problems of the world in a moment on your phone is not going to help. If you are overwhelmed, you have to hit this head on, hit it head on, this idea of spending so much time in the, the tornado of information and not being with Christ, it can be overwhelming. And I'll tell you, as I conclude here, I'll tell you this, if you'll lead your family down this road of putting their trust in Jesus and their hope in Jesus, and understanding that he doesn't change, it can make a big difference in your life. I want you to know, my friend, that I love you, and I do care for you, and I do understand the changes of the world today, but I know him who doesn't

change. And I know he's got a plan. And that's what we need to learn more about than anything else is his plan. Yes, we need to be involved. Yes, we need to vote. Yes, we need to be part of the discourse. Yeah, but all under the light of Christ. All under the light of Christ. Let's pray. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Lord, I lift up my friends to you. And I ask you, Lord, to bring a peace to their life that passes all understanding. I thank you, Lord, for holding out a hope that goes deep and eternal. I thank you, Lord, for giving people a confidence in their heart that you are on the throne and you are leading your people, and you do have a plan of sheer goodness. We give you all the praise and all the glory today in Jesus' name. Amen. I love you,

my friend, and I ask you to pray for me. I will pray for you as well. And God bless you. You have a marvelous, marvelous week. And God be with us. in the midst of all the election this year.