WHO SAYS I AM TOO OLD
7-15-12 New Liberty Christian Church, Veedersburg, IN with Rich McQuinn, Minister
TEXT: II CORINTHIANS 4:15-18
INTRODUCTION:
Good morning to each of you and thank you for coming out today to worship the King of Kings. I hope you will receive a blessing from this service. For a couple of months now we have been planning for this date in time to celebrate our members who have served this congregation for over 50 years and are still enjoying life.
Today we say a special thanks to Marian Gustus, Ralph and Nadine Gulley, Louise Booe and Mary Lightle. Their joints may need oiling with creeks and sounds, but their Spirit goes unchallenged. They are faithful members of this congregation and we salute them all.
I do not know of many congregations who honor their aged. Most may be forgotten in the private home or nursing home with little or no visitation. Each one of these that are mentioned is visited on a weekly personal visit. We bring to each of them communion and our study pages---The Lookout--- in case they want to keep up their reading.
If you have your Bibles with you today, please join with me as we read II Corinthians 4:15-18. Paul writes to the church at Corinth about many subjects but today he centers attention on age.
All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal
Now you see, we all know what we mean when we talk about “Senior Moments”
It’s when you try to do something, or think of something, and you’re totally without a clue.
You can’t remember where you put your bifocals
• You know you’re getting older when the only thing you want for your birthday is not to be reminded of it.
• One Senior said: “When the doctor asked what I did for exercise, I said pushing ninety is exercise enough!”
• Another Senior said: “There are four advantages to getting old and forgetful: One, you meet new friends every day; two, every joke you hear is new; three, you can hide your own Easter eggs; and I forget the fourth thing.”
One precious lady said as she was being interviewed and was asked: “I see your birthday is April 12. What year?” Her simple reply was, “Every year.”
Uncle Doc was asked about his dating days. Can you remember the first girl that you kissed. No he said, I can not even remember the last girl I kissed.
Paul in our text here gives us something very powerful. He says that though the outward man perishes – Now that’s the “Senior Moment” Yet the inward man is renewed day by day – that’s the “God-filled Senior Moments!” We are alive each day and renewed!
Proverbs 4:18 The path of the righteous is like the morning sun,
shining ever brighter till the full light of day. II Corinthians 4:7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.
The truth of the matter is that while we move on, progress each day, age we get closer and closer to the time when God will call us home. It is important to be obedient to Him each day that we have left—Amen
For years, I've read that scripture in Matthew 8:1-4 when Jesus healed that leper and told him to show himself to the priest. I always wondered why Jesus, after healing the man, would then instruct him to go show himself to the priest. Then it dawned on me: The greatest miracle is not what happens to your body, but the greatest miracle is when you obey Him!
Why? Because this body will eventually get sick and die. When you look throughout the Word of God, you see that some of the most powerful people that God ever used were seniors.
Let’s look at a couple today.
1. ABRAHAM
It was not until Abraham was 75 years old that God even begins to call Abraham
It was not until he was a senior that he…as Hebrews 11:8-10 says—He left his home land and traveled looking for a city whose builder and maker was God. He was looking to obey God and to let Him lead in what ever direction God had in store for him.
And you know that story…God promised Abraham and Sarah a son, and it wasn't until Abraham was 100 and Sarah was 90 that they finally had their promised child
The book of Romans put it like this in 4:19-21Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead —since he was about a hundred years old —and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.
Even though the body was past child bearing age, they had the Faith in God to believe that God knew what He was talking about! They did not quit their beliefs because they were over 80 years of age.
Sometimes satan will tell you that you can’t produce; that you can’t contribute anymore and there is nothing you can do for the Kingdom of God. Phooey!
John the Baptist mother and father, Elizabeth and Zechariahs is another case of obedience to the will of God. Look up Luke 1:7 and see what it says about them being barren and well in years----yet they believed in God till their dying days.
They produced the forerunner of Christ
You can’t tell me that the longer we serve Him the sadder I get, or the hopelessness I feel, or the feeling of gloom and doom. No a thousand times no. The longer I serve Him the sweeter it goes. JOY is serving Jesus! There is Joy in serving Jesus!
Paul said that this was the way he wanted to finish out his life…Acts 20:24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me —the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.
II MOSES
It was not until he was 80 that he stood before the burning bush! It is found in Exodus 3. Because you are over 50, do not resign from the work of the Lord. Do not sit down on the job and think there is nothing that God wants me to do anymore. I will leave it to the young people. Many times they have no wisdom or experience. You do!
God took this mighty 80 year old and used him to move over 1 million slaves to the Promised Land and saved his people from slavery from the Egyptians.
Don't ever think that God hasn't got a call on your lives! And don't ever think that it's too late!
A 60 year old woman wrote Dear Abby and asked her advice on going back to college and getting her degree. She wrote to Abby and said, "When I get finished, I'll be 64!" Abby wrote back and asked her, "Well how old will you be if you don't get the degree?"
We need some seniors who will claim…
--the promises
--their children
--the power of God in the church of God
Napoleon and his soldiers overcame an island in the Mediterranean Sea. They had fought for many days to take the island and finally succeeded. After the capture of the island at the price of many lives, Napoleon and his generals gathered for a celebration. As they were sitting around a great table, talking about the victory, they were interrupted by a young officer. Napoleon looked at him and said, 'What do you want?'
The young man looked at Napoleon and said, 'Give me this island!' The generals began to laugh. They could not believe he was forward enough to ask Napoleon for the island that they had fought so hard to win. They thought to themselves. Who does he think he is? Anyone with the audacity to make such a request of Napoleon was certainly putting his own life at risk.
But then Napoleon turned to one of his aides and asked for a pen and paper. He wrote out a deed to the island, signed it, and gave it to the young man, leaving his generals stunned and amazed. 'How could you do it?' one of the generals asked Napoleon. 'What made him worthy to receive this great island?'
'I gave him this island,' Napoleon replied, 'because he honored me by the magnitude of his request. He wasn’t afraid to come to me and ask. When is the last time you had a heart to heart talk with God and asked Him what He wants YOU to do for the rest of your life.
READ This is US poem
senior citizens are constantly being criticized for every conceivable deficiency of the modern world, real or imaginary. We know we take responsibility for all we have done and do not blame others.
HOWEVER, upon reflection, we would like to point out that it was NOT the senior citizens who took
The melody out of music,
The pride out of appearance,
The courtesy out of driving,
The romance out of love,
The commitment out of marriage,
The responsibility out of parenthood,
The togetherness out of the family,
The learning out of education,
The service out of patriotism,
The Golden Rule from rulers,
The nativity scene out of cities,
The civility out of behavior,
The refinement out of language,
The dedication out of employment,
The prudence out of spending,
The ambition out of achievement orGod out of government and school.
And we certainly are NOT the ones who eliminated patience and tolerance from personal relationships and interactions with others!!
And, we do understand the meaning of patriotism, and remember those who have fought and died for our country.
Just look at the Seniors with tears in their eyes and pride in their hearts as they stand at attention with their hand over their hearts!
YES, I'M A SENIOR CITIZEN!
I'm the life of the party..... Even if it lasts until 8 p.m.
I'm very good at opening childproof caps..... With a hammer.
I'm awake many hours before my body allows me to get up.
I'm smiling all the time because I can't hear a thing you're saying.
I'm sure everything I can't find is in a safe secure place, somewhere.
I'm wrinkled, saggy, lumpy, and that's just my left leg.
I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
Yes, I'm a SENIOR CITIZEN and I think I am having the time of my life!
Listen, your life will be judged not by how you start, but how you finished. When Vincent Foster, adviser to President Clinton, committed suicide in 1993, Clinton said, "It would be wrong to define a life like Vincent Foster's in terms only of how it ended." Nonetheless, that's how Foster will be remembered—by how he finished the race.
There are some who've come down to the last and have made a ship wreck
It's not how you start, but how you finish that counts!
There are many exciting stories that come from every Olympics. When the world watches the best in sports to compete with each other. At the 1968 Olympics, an hour after the marathon's winner crossed the finish line; Tanzania's John Stephen Akhwari limped across the finish line, injured in a fall early in the race. Asked why he didn't quit, he said, "My country did not send me 7,000 miles to start this race. My country sent me to finish."
It was Billy Sunday that said…I'm against the devil. I'll kick him as long as I've got a foot, and I'll fight him as long as I've got a fist. I'll butt him as long as I've got a head. I'll bite him as long as I've got a tooth. And when I'm old and fist less and footless and toothless, I'll gum him till I go home to Glory and he goes home to hell!
So today we pay special attention to those who are in their 80’s and 90’s they still continue to lead this congregation in their leadership of faith and their willingness not to quit. Life brings to our doors many a hardship battles. Look to these giants who have withstood the battles of life and had the faith to stand and keep on keeping on.
It is not important how each of these spiritual giants started out or what they did in life it is how they are finishing their race--------and they are doing it right in front of our eyes.
May God continue to bless them and you as you run this race no matter how hard it is.
AMEN and AMEN
Parts of this came from notes in Sermon Central
