Never to Old

Sooner or later you will have to Face up to it

You’re Getting Older

Americans have become Preoccupied with staying

young.• Weight lost pills• Weight lost Diets• Health Clubs• Cosmetic Surgery

– Face lifts– Hair implants– Tummy tucks (bottom tucks)

Americans have become Preoccupied with staying

young.• Specialty Products

– Face creams– Hair restorer– Hair color

• Nutritional ProductsProblem is

Most of these are Cosmetic (external)We Still Grow Old

We Have a ProblemWe try to stop something

that can’t be Stopped• Maybe the Real Problem Isn’t that we are

Getting Older• Maybe the Real Problem is our Attitude

about Old Age.• We Can’t change the fact that we are

getting older, • But we can change our attitude

about age.

Our Culture has convinced us that the Criteria for Happiness is physical health and external

beauty.• But if this is true As we age we loose both,

So, our pursuit of Happiness Fades with age.

The Bible has a different view on Aging, A view that can

excite us about getting older. I. True happiness comes thru the

inward development of character…II. Our Greatest Achievements can be

Achieved when we are olderIII. Age encourages respect for older

adults

I. True happiness comes thru the inward development of character which is gained by aging. A. 1 Samuel 16:7 7 But the Lord said to

Samuel, “Don’t be impressed by his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. God does not view things the way men do. People look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

I. True happiness comes thru the inward development of character which is gained by aging. B. Positive Characteristics of getting older:

1. Patience - Romans 5:3 Not only this, but we also rejoice in sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,

2. Perseverance – working thru obstacles to accomplish goals.

3. Discipline – the ability to work with focus toward a given goal.

4. Humility – recognizing limitations and depending on someone else.

I. True happiness comes thru the inward development of character which is gained by aging. B. Positive Characteristics of getting older:

5. Contentment –learning to be satisfied with, and making the most out of what we have (possessions, health, looks, intelligence, etc.)

6. Self-Control7. Skills8. Knowledge9. Wisdom and Discernment.

If you want happiness/joy, work at who you are, not just at

what you look like or what you have.

These qualities are gained with time and

seldom found in youth.

Not only does society look at the externals of beauty

and health for happiness, it also assumes that beauty and youth are needed for

accomplishments. Result – We often put our greatest Resources out to

pasture.

II. Our greatest accomplishments can be achieved late in life.A. Biblical Examples:

1. Caleb a. His past faithfulness and proven character

demonstrated that he qualified for what he asked for

b. His vision for the future was great even though he was 85 years old.

Joshua 14:6-14 (NET)6 The men of Judah approached Joshua in Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the Lord said about you and me to Moses, the man of God, at Kadesh Barnea. 7 I was forty years old when Moses, the Lord’s servant, sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy on the land and I brought back to him an honest report. 8 My countrymen who accompanied me frightened the people, but I remained loyal to the Lord my God. 9 That day Moses made this solemn promise: ‘Surely the land on which you walked will belong to you and your descendants permanently, for you remained loyal to the Lord your God.’ 10 So now, look, the Lord has preserved my life, just as he promised, these past forty-five years since the Lord spoke these words to Moses, during which Israel traveled through the wilderness. Now look, I am today eighty-five years old.

11 Today I am still as strong as when Moses sent me out. I can fight and go about my daily activities with the same energy I had then. 12 Now, assign me this hill country which the Lord promised me at that time! No doubt you heard at that time that the Anakites live there in large, fortified cities. But, assuming the Lord is with me, I will conquer them, as the Lord promised.” 13 Joshua asked God to empower Caleb son of Jephunneh and assigned him Hebron. 14 So Hebron remains the assigned land of Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this very day because he remained loyal to the Lord God of Israel.

II. Our greatest accomplishments can be achieved late in life.A. Biblical Examples:

2. Joshua was 80 years old when he started leading Israel.

3. Moses was 80 years old when he started his ministry and went to Egypt.

4. Abraham was 75 when he left Haran. He was 100 when he fathered Isaac.

5. Daniel served under four Kings.

II. Our greatest accomplishments can be achieved late in life.B. Examples outside the

Bible.Winston Churchill was

77 when he entered his second term as prime Minister of England and served until he was 81. He remained politically active until he was 91.

II. Our greatest accomplishments can be achieved late in life.B. Examples outside the

Bible.Benjamin Franklin was

75 when he negotiated peace with Great Britain. He was 81 when he effected the compromise which resulted in the US constitution.

II. Our greatest accomplishments can be achieved late in life.B. Examples outside the

Bible.Michelangelo was 71

when appointed chief architect of St. Peter’s in Rome. He died at 89 still creating frescos on the walls of the Pauline Chapel.

II. Our greatest accomplishments can be achieved late in life.B. Examples outside

the Bible.Marion Rice hart

completed a solo transatlantic flight in a single-engine Beech craft Bonanza when she was 84.

II. Our greatest accomplishments can be achieved late in life.B. Examples outside

the Bible.Frank Lloyd Wright

(America’s greatest architect) was 91 when he completed New York’s Guggenheim Museum.

II. Our greatest accomplishments can be achieved late in life.B. Examples outside the

Bible.Yitzhak Shamir became

Prime Minister of Israel when he was 76 (1983). In 1991(84) the Shamir government took part in the Madrid peace talks and ordered the rescue of thousands of Ethiopian Jews, known as Operation Solomon.

II. Our greatest accomplishments can be achieved late in life.B. Examples outside

the Bible.Mother Teresa – was

still ministering in Calcutta and traveling around the world when she died at 87.

II. Our greatest accomplishments can be achieved late in life.B. Examples outside the Bible.Others: Albert Schweitzer, Florence

Nightingale, Alexander Eifel, Billy Graham, Vance havner, Dr. Criswell.

People I’ve known: Golf Committee with FCA, Chaplain Ray, Bernie Meltzer.

II. Our greatest accomplishments can be achieved late in life.B. So what? Application for our Older Adults

1. Don’t stop dreaming big dreams for God (Be a Caleb).

2. Don’t allow others to convince you that you’re past your usefulness (don’t sell yourself short).

3. Don’t retire from living because you’ve retired from a job. If God has given you another day to breath, give God another day of service.

4. Believe you have something worth contributing to the next generation – whether they know it or not, they need you.

II. Our greatest accomplishments can be achieved late in life.B. So what? Application for our Older

Adults5. Rededication, recommitment is not

just for the young.6. Be teachable. You’re not too old to

learn. Ecclesiastes 4:13 13 A poor but wise youth is better than an old and foolish king who no longer knows how to receive advice.

A Lesson to Young Adults

III. Have a Biblical attitude about older adults.I’ve Heard said in previous churches:Youth say, “I don’t like old people.”Young Adults say, “we are becoming a

younger church”, implying, “younger is healthier”.

But, there are some lessons for younger adults.

III. Have a Biblical attitude about older adults.A. Learn from older Adults.

1. Joshua spent 40 years under tutor of Moses (40-80 years of age). He lead Israel 30 years.

2. Put yourself under the tutor of an older adult (In Seminary I studied my teachers as much as I did the subject matter).

3. Read Biographies from men/women that have been where you want to go. Some principles transcend generations. Learn from the mistakes as well as the successes. Be careful of Fades.

III. Have a Biblical attitude about older adults.A. Learn from older Adults.

4. Give older adults a chance to serve. Don’t sell them short. They have allot to give.

5. Show respect for their experiences. Treat their age as a God given gift, not a burden.

6. Age with Grace. Consider it a trade: Physical health and beauty for inward character, experience and wisdom.

Proverbs 20:29 The glory of young men is their strength, and the splendor of old men is gray hair.

Don’t be fooled by the world’s standards of external happiness and it’s opinion on aging.If your older, don’t die early by allowing your goals and dreams to die. Live life while you have it.If you’re young, honor old age and you will be honored in your old age.