Growing Older Gracefully
Ecclesiastics 12:1-7
It seems to me that one of the things that some people joke about most in life is aging...One way we do this is by comparing our lives to our children’s lives.
All of us have had our parents say things like:
• In my day I walked to school up hill---both ways....or...
• In my day all 12 of the children in our family slept in the same bed....we took turns using one pillow...
We also joke about our increasing age with the ever popular, "you know you’re old if" statements....You know you are old...
• if most of your dreams are re-runs...
• if your knees buckle but your belt won’t...or
• ..if you try to straighten the wrinkles in your socks and you find you aren’t wearing any....
Like it or not, all of us grow older...all of us age.
Some enjoy joking about aging....but deep down inside growing old is something many dread....and fear.....and are willing to do anything to avoid. Cosmeticians have built multimillion dollar businesses telling people how to do it. Exercise enthusiasts have sold millions of dollars worth of books and equipment, showing people how to do it. Health food manufacturers have built huge businesses producing special foods that promise it. Genetic scientists are researching ways to prevent it.
But…age still happens and since it is coming...and there is no avoiding it...what can we do to prepare ourselves for the onslaught of old age?
What does God expect of us as we age? What does He desire?
1. The first thing we need to realize is that this battle of AGING is not just a matter of good arteries... but of having a Godly Attitude.
You see, it isn’t a tragedy to grow old physically....it’s an inevitability.....it is a normal part of life....all of our bodies grow old! Our text from Ecclesiastes says as much...
The passage we read goes on to list the attitudinal characteristics of old age....what happens when a person gets old in mind and spirit.
a. This text says that one mark of old age is this: "The grasshopper becomes a burden"....in other words a grasshopper lands on the shoulder of a man and its minute weight is a burden. This phrase hints that one psychological characteristic of old age is that we are burdened down with trifles, little things bother us...there is an increased sensitivity to the trivial things of life.
You and I know a lot of people who are this way....little things bother them...the "grasshoppers of life" are a burden to them...They are always fussing and com-plaining...cranky and irritable...upset about insignificant things...they are already "old"---- psychologically....they are constantly bugged by the small things of life.
b. In verse 5 the prophet of Ecclesiastes says that another psychological characteristic of age is that men "are afraid of heights".
This means that mental aging is characterized by fear of risks in life....fear of challenges and new things. So, we are “old” when we want to keep things the same...to play it safe...when we are afraid to take chances ...afraid of the future....afraid that tomorrow will be filled with dark days. And the scripture says that to people like this “fears shall be in the way.” Some old people always look at life with anxiety and fear.
This is opposite to what God wants for us-He wants us to have faith and an expectancy of life and an abiding confidence in the future.
c. One more characteristic of old age attitude is glorifying the past at the expense of the present and the future.
People like this think that the best times are all behind us. The greatest days of a church were 30 years ago....in the “GOOD OLD DAYS”.
But, people who have God’s attitude should believe that the best can happen now and can in the future. They don’t let the victories of the past limit the victories of the future.....
So....these are the psychological characteristics of old age....
*Little things are a burden....*Pessimism and fear about the future...*Living in the glories of the past....
According to these attitudes, How old are you?
Now it is certain that we are all going to grow old in body....but we do not have to grow old in spirit.
I have known people in their 30’s who have all the mental characteristics of old age...they are crabby, bitter, hostile...
Then there are others who are frail in body from the passing of years with hair that has either turned white or turned loose all together....but their attitudes are young....they are excited, optimistic, friendly....They are not old! They are not bored nor are they boring…
To win in our battle with aging you and I must know that aging is not just a physical thing...and then we must also know a second thing....
2. The greatest achievements of our lives don’t
have to be limited to our younger days.
History is full of examples of this...
Tennyson wrote "Crossing the Bar" when he was 80.
Benjamin Franklin rendered his greatest service to our country after he passed his sixtieth birthday.
Winston Churchill, the savior of Europe would have been a failure if he had died before he was sixty-five.
Thomas A Edison was busily seeking out new inventions when he died at 85.
Michelangelo was still producing masterpieces when he was 89.
But my favorite example of this principle is found in the Old Testament character, Caleb.
His life is beautifully summed up in several verses of Joshua 14.
When Caleb was 40, he was one of the 12 spies that Moses sent into the promised land....only Caleb and Joshua returned saying that they felt they could conquer this land by relying on the power of God. All the rest of the spies thought it was beyond them.....that they should return to Egypt.
*You may remember that God punished the nation of Israel by turning them back from the promised land at this point....they were to wander in the desert for 40 more years....until an entire generation died off.....only Caleb and Joshua of that older group would be allowed to enter the promised land.
*Imagine what it must have been like to be the only senior citizen in a group of young people, all of them at least twenty years his junior, as they wandered in the wilderness, complaining about the weather, complaining about their leadership, complaining about circumstances.
What was it that sustained Caleb’s life? I think it was the fact that Caleb wanted God’s very best and knew that God was going to give it to him.
He wanted what God wanted....perhaps this is the secret to internal eternal youth...to want what God wants?!
Look at Caleb’s words in Joshua 14:7-9,
Caleb is 85 here....and he has lost none of his enthusiastic zest for life.....he is still YOUNG mentally....
In verses 10-13 he says…
And Caleb succeeded! He conquered those mountains! His greatest accomplishment was in his later years.
When Caleb was nearly a century old he did not follow the example of others his age by saying, "Leave me alone, I’m tired. I deserve a comfortable, shady spot. You owe me some benefits for all those years I’ve worked and fought. I’ve done my part, now its’ their turn."
No-He followed the Lord fully....not half heartedly and so his greatest achievements were in his later years.
We must also know that....
3. There is no retirement from the Christian life....
We will retire from our careers...I’m already looking forward to my retirement....but we never cease our main job in life which is to be a 7-day per week 24-hour per day employee of Heaven. We never retire from the Lord’s service....and the more we realize this, the younger we will be.
Charles Swindoll shares the story of an older couple who attended a Bible conference in Colorado several years ago. Their children were raised and they were facing the sunset years of their lives. Both were Christians, but neither had ever come out of the closet spiritually.
The conference theme was "Looking Unto Jesus" and that became the emphasis of the week. While attending the conference and coming to grips with the message of wholesale commitment to Christ, each one decided to place Jesus on the throne of his or her life.
Like Caleb they decided that no matter what, they would follow the Lord fully, not half heartedly. They prayed before starting that long drive back to their home:
“Lord, we give you first place. We have lived too many years for ourselves. No longer. We have decided to spend the balance of our lives for You. No matter what happens, the rest of our days are in Your hands.”
En route to their destination late that evening a car swerved over onto their side of the highway, heading straight toward them. The man jerked the steering wheel to the right, slammed on his brakes, and skidded down into a ditch, finally coming to a stop in the middle of a shallow ravine.
As water began to pour into their car, the wife pulled herself out of the window on her side and her husband did the same on his. They stood on top of their car as the water flowed over their ankles...
They were stunned, but so grateful to be alive that they embraced tightly then began to sing, spontaneously and softly: “Praise God from whom all blessings flow; Praise him, all creatures here below; Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen”
After singing they looked up to the bridge above them and saw a large number of people staring down in silent disbelief. A highway patrolman was there and he had placed his hat over his heart.
Nobody knew what to say.
Suddenly the elderly husband was seized with the realization that even THIS could be used as a testimony to the glory of God.
With a twinkle in his eye, a smile on his lips, and with a trembling voice he began, "You might have wondered why we called this meeting here today..."
And then instead of complaining and succumbing to fear, the two of them spoke openly of the Lord their God, whom they now followed fully, not halfheartedly.
Are we getting older?
Yes, we all are. But one way to do it Gracefully...one way to stay young...one way to enjoy life is to commit to never retire from the Christian life.....
Then I think there is one more thing we need to know...
4. We need to realize that how you finish a race is
more important than how you start it.
How something ends is crucial. People tend to remember how someone finishes their life better than they remember how they lived them it up to that point...
Examples:
King Saul of the OT…
What about Judas Iscariot....He walked with Jesus...He heard our Master speak. He did three years of ministry as a disciple but he is remembered not for that but for how he ended his life.
Contrast these life-endings with the life of the Apostle Paul.........as he sat in a Roman Jail...knowing martyrdom was just around the corner...very aware that the end of his life was quickly approaching could say with all confidence, “I have fought the good fight..I have finished the race...I have kept the faith...
([2 Timothy 4:7]
He ended his life well –He is one of our spiritual heroes!
You see, the way you end your life is more important than the way you begin it.
Isaiah 40:30-31 says, "Even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."
