A little girl came home from Sunday school waving a paper for her mother to see. “Look Mommy,” she exclaimed, “Teacher says I drew the most unusual Christmas picture she ever saw!”
Her mother took one look and had to agree with the teacher. Hoping her daughter could explain her creation, the mother asked, “Why are all these people riding in the back of an airplane?”
“Well, Mommy, that’s the flight into Egypt.”
Accepting that, mother asked another question: “Who is this mean-looking man in the front?”
Her daughter answered quickly and knowingly: “That’s Pontius, the Pilot.”
Looking at the picture even more closely, the mother said, “I see you have Mary and Joseph and the baby. But who is this large man sitting behind Mary?”
“Can’t you tell?” the little girl asked, beginning to shake her head in disappointment. “That’s Round John Virgin.” (John Beukema, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania; www.PreachingToday. com)
Children have such a unique view of Christmas, but then so do the elderly.
Just a few years ago, Newsweek did an article on the aging Billy Graham. In that article, One of Dr. Graham’s daughters, Anne Graham-Lotz, recounted a conversation with her father on the subject of aging. “All my life, I’ve been taught how to die,” Billy told her, “but no one ever taught me how to grow old.”
She replied, “Well, Daddy, you are now teaching all of us.” (Jon Meacham, "Pilgrim’s Progress," Newsweek, 8-14-06, p. 38; www.PreachingToday.com)
That’s the question I want us to explore this morning: How do we grow old? Despite the pain that life can bring, despite the disappointments, despite the trouble we experience along the way, how do we grow old gracefully? How do we grow old without getting cynical and jaded? How do we grow old and still retain the joy and wonder of a child at Christmas?
This an important question whether you are nine or ninety, because all of us are growing old; all of us face disappointments and pain which can rob us of our joy at any age. So how do we grow old without losing that joy?
Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Luke 2,
Luke 2, where we see how a 103 year-old-widow did it, who was around that first Christmas.
Luke 2:36-37a There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four.
Or quite possibly, she was a widow for 84 years! The original Greek will allow both translations. One commentator suggested that if she had
married at the earliest marriageable age, 12 years, lived 7 years with her husband, and then been a widow for 84 years, she could not be less than a 103 years old at this time! (Jamieson, Fausset, & Brown)
Here is a woman that has experienced a long life with plenty of pain and disappointment. She had no family to take care of her. And in that day, widows did not have an easy time of it. They were often neglected and exploited, despite the requirements of the Old Testament Law (Exodus 22:22).
Even so, there is no evidence whatsoever that this particular widow in the temple ever grumbled or whined about it. In fact, her name itself, Anna, means “grace,” which I believe describes her character and her demeanor. Anna was not a cranky old woman full of bitterness over a lifetime of mistreatment. No. She was a woman full of grace!
The fact is Anna did not complain. And believe you me at 103 years old
she could have had a lot to complain about, but she didn’t. And neither should we. If we want to grow old gracefully like Anna, then…
WE MUST NOT COMPLAIN.
We must not moan & whine about our circumstances.
Former President, Dwight Eisenhower, once described his mother as “a smart and saintly lady.” “Often in this job,” he said, “I’ve wished I could consult her. But she is in heaven. However, many times I have felt I knew what she would say.”
One night in their farm home, Mrs. Eisenhower was playing a card game with her boys. “Now, don’t get me wrong,” said the former president, “it was not with those cards that have kings, queens, jacks, and spades on them. Mother was too straitlaced for that.” President Eisenhower said the game they were playing was called Flinch.
“Anyway,” Eisenhower continued, “Mother was the dealer, and she dealt me a very bad hand. I began to complain. Mother said, ‘Boys, put down your cards. I want to say something, particularly to Dwight. You are in a game in your home with your mother and brothers who love you. But out in the world you will be dealt bad hands without love. Here is some advice for you boys. Take those bad hands without complaining and play them out. Ask God to help you, and you will win the important game called life.’” Then the president added, “I’ve tried to follow that wise advice always.” (Norman Vincent Peale, This Incredible Century, Tyndale, 1991; www.PreachingToday.com)
And it’s good advice for all of us to follow, as well. When you’re dealt a bad hand in life, don’t complain. Instead, play it out with God’s help, and that will get you farther than complaining ever could.
How do we grow old gracefully? How do we grow old and still retain the joy and wonder of a child at Christmas? Don’t complain.
Instead CELEBRATE.
Worship the Lord. Praise the Lord in every circumstance. That’s what Anna did.
Look what the Bible says about her in verse 37: She never left the temple but worshipped night and day, fasting and praying.
Anna served God in the Temple. The word for “worship” here is often used of God’s people gathering together in a place of worship to express their praise to God. And that’s what we need to do, if we want to grow old gracefully. We must gather together with God’s people to praise the Lord as often as we can.
I came across some interesting research this last week that Newsweek magazine reported on some time ago. The article said that those who did NOT attend church at all lived an average of 75 years. Those who DID attend church some, but less than once a week, lived an average of 80 years. Those who attended church once a week lived 82 years. & Those who attended church more than once a week lived an average of 83 years. In addition, the research indicated that a person attending church weekly is less likely to become depressed and more likely to exercise, quit smoking, and stop drinking. (Josh Ulick, “Why Religion Helps,” Newsweek, 11-10-03, p.47; www.Preaching Today.com)
So go to church – it’s good for your health, but it’s also good for your disposition. Instead of complaining about your circumstances, get together with God’s people and praise the Lord, because in Christ we have so much to celebrate no matter how bad things are in our world.
Leigh C. Bishop, a psychiatrist and military reservist, was stationed at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan on Christmas Eve last year (in 2008). He writes about his experience in the latest issue of Christianity Today and talks about what he saw in the dim light of dusk. He said he watched as a procession of military vehicles approached the airfield, came to a stop, and carefully unloaded a flag-draped steel casket. He knew that somewhere in the United States, a family was going to suffer a Christmas homecoming that no one wanted. It was a heartbreaking scene for Bishop to take in – and one all-too-familiar in war.
But then he recalls another scene from that same Christmas Eve. Bishop writes, “[After seeing the flag-draped casket], I find myself walking along … the main avenue of Bagram Airfield. All is different … Soldiers holding candles are belting out Christmas carols with gusto. Down the street, luminaries brighten the walkway into the clamshell-shaped auditorium, where cheerful groups of uniformed men and women enter for a Christmas concert. Two blocks away, the chapel is filling for the six o’clock Christmas Eve service.
“War, writes C.S. Lewis in the essay ‘Learning in War-Time,’ reveals a hunger in human beings for joy and meaning that will not be set aside for even the most difficult of circumstances…
“Jesus did not come just to provide an occasion to sing carols, drink toasts, feast, and exchange gifts. But we are right to do these things, even as soldiers die and families grieve, because he came. And in his coming, he brought joy and peace – the joy that overcomes our sorrows, and the only kind of peace that ultimately matters. It’s the peace of which the end of all wars, terrible as they are, is merely one token. It’s the peace that means the long war between the heart and its Maker is over. It’s a peace treaty offered in Bethlehem and signed, in blood, on Calvary.
Bishop concludes: “So joy to the world, and to every celebrating or grieving or hurting soul in it. The Lord has come. Let heaven and nature – and even those who stand watch with lighted candles in the land of the shadow of death – sing.” (Leigh C. Bishop, “Christmas in Afghanistan,” Christianity Today magazine, December 2009, pp. 36-37; www.PreachingToday. com)
What will you do this Christmas (and all winter long)? Will you choose to complain about the snow and the ice and the isolation you feel? Or will you choose to sing? Will you choose to get together with God’s people as often as you can to praise the Lord? Will you choose to worship God, because Jesus has indeed come and He is Immanuel – “God with us?”
It’s a choice, you know. You can complain or you can celebrate. What will it be for you this season?
My friends, if we want to grow old gracefully, if we want to grow old and still retain the joy and wonder of a child at Christmas, then let’s choose to celebrate. And then let’s get out there and tell somebody how wonderful He is.
SPEAK OF HIS REDEMPTION.
Declare His grace, and tell the story of His love. That’s what Anna did.
Luke 2:38 Coming up to them (i.e., to Mary and Joseph with the baby Jesus) at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
The news was too good to keep to herself. She had to tell somebody that Christ had come to redeem His people, to set them free from the ugly bondage of their own sin.
In Bible days the word for “redemption” was used for the act of freeing a slave after a price was paid. Well, Christ had come to pay that price!
A little girl was sitting on Santa’s lap where she gave him a whole list of expensive toys she wanted for Christmas. Then without a word of appreciation, she jumped off Santa’s lap and started towards her mother.
Her mother spoke quickly: “Honey, haven’t you forgotten something?”
The little girl thought for a moment and said, “O yes.” Then turning back towards Santa, she shouted, “Charge it!”
In essence, that’s what God did for us when Jesus died on the cross. God “charged” our sin debt to Jesus’ account, and Jesus paid that debt.
On the cross, Jesus cried, “It is finished!” – tetelestai in the original Greek language. It was a word that was scrawled across tax receipts indicating that the bill had been paid. In other words, when Jesus cried tetelestai, “it is finished,” he was saying, “PAID IN FULL!”
Our sin’s account is settled. We don’t owe God anything for our sins, because Jesus already paid the debt for us and then He rose from the dead!
Now, we are free from the fear of condemnation and death. Now, we are free to live for Him! All we need to do is trust Him with our lives. All we need to do is commit ourselves to His care and His plan for our lives. That’s the good news Anna had to tell, and that’s the good news we can tell, as well.
I like what the Robynson family does every Christmas. In his book, Crazy Love, Francis Chan tells their story: This family of five, with three kids under the age of ten, chooses to celebrate the birth of Christ in a unique way.
On Christmas mornings, instead of focusing on the presents under the tree, they make pancakes, brew an urn of coffee, and head downtown. Once there, they load the coffee and food into the back of a red wagon. Then, with the eager help of their three-year-old, they pull the wagon around the mostly empty streets in search of homeless folks to offer a warm and filling breakfast on Christmas morning. It’s a tradition all three of the Robynson kids look forward to every year. (Francis Chan, Crazy Love, David C. Cook, 2008, p. 159; www.PreachingToday.com)
Now, we may not have any “homeless” people living on the streets here on Washington Island, but we can still reach out to those in need. Instead of complaining about our own pain, we can try to alleviate some of the pain others feel. Why not visit someone who is hurting this Christmas, perhaps share a plate of cookies with him or her, and if God gives the opportunity, share a little of what Jesus has done for you in your pain.
After all, good news is always better when it is shared.
How do we grow old gracefully? How do we grow old and still retain the joy and wonder of a child at Christmas? It’s really quite simple. With God’s help, let’s choose not to complain about our own problems. Instead, let’s choose to celebrate what God has done in sending us His Son, and let’s share it with as many people as we can.
One unknown writer shared it with these words:
More light than we can learn,
More wealth than we can treasure,
More love than we can earn,
More peace than we can measure,
Because one Child is born. (www.PreachingToday.com)
