2 Samuel 19:31-39      Grow Old Along With Me

Rev. David Holwick   Y                                Family Concerns #7

First Baptist Church

Ledgewood, New Jersey

August 17, 2008

2 Samuel 19:31-39


GROW OLD ALONG WITH ME



  I. Age is popular.

      A. More and more people are getting old.

          1) In the next 30 years, the number of Americans over the

                age of 65 will double.

          2) The biggest increase will be the number of people over 85,

                which will see a 143% increase.

             I will not be one of them - but I won't miss by much.

          3) As long as you are alive, you are getting older.

              a) Are you ready for it?


      B. Old age doesn't just affect old people.

          1) Their children and grandchildren may be called upon to care

                for them and make important decisions on their behalf.

              a) We may take them into our homes.

              b) We may have to put them in nursing homes.

              c) Important decisions like living wills.


           The Bible challenges us to honor and provide for our elderly.

             1 Timothy 5:4 tells Christians, "learn first of all to put

                [your] religion into practice by caring for [your] own

                  family and so repaying [your] parents and grandparents,

                    for this is pleasing to God."


           2) In many ways, we must do for our parents in their old age

                 what they did for us in our young age.

               a) They gave us warmth, security and nutrition.

               b) We are obligated to make sure they have the same.


      C. Older Christians are not limited to being needy.

          1) They can do things the younger ones cannot.

          2) We can all serve God until our number is called.


II. The challenges of age.

      A. Loss of esteem.

          1) Being old isn't cool.

              a) Current presidential race.

                  1> My Josiah, who turns 18 in time for the election,

                        will vote for Obama "because he is young."

                  2> McCain has to joke about his age.

                       (It worked for Reagan...)

          2) These attitudes are even reflected in the Bible.

              a) Wisdom of the old was mocked.  1 Kg 12:6-14; Job 32:4-10

              b) Sometimes old were neglected.           Psalm 71:9-12,18

                 "Do not cast me away when I am old; do not forsake me

                    when my strength is gone."                 Psalm 71:9

              c) Few writings on ravages of age are as powerful as

                    Ecclesiastes 12.  He describes losing his eyesight

                       and hearing and taste and joy.


      B. Health.

          1) You can't do what you used to do.

          2) Limitations and pains can be frustrating.

          3) Hospitalizations get longer and don't give great results.


      C. Independence and finances.

          1) Elderly cherish their independence.

              a) If you don't believe this, try putting one in a nursing

                    home.  Or taking their driver's license away.

          2) Money is not something to flaunt, but preserve.

              a) Elderly are more financially secure these days.

              b) But they fear it will all disappear.


      D. Loneliness and discouragement.

          1) Outliving friends and family.

              a) Or, family moves away.

              b) We don't realize how much we need people until we are

                    all alone.

          2) Depression is one of the greatest problems.

              a) Fear of feeling worthless, being a burden on family.

              b) For the last 50 years, the highest suicide rates have

                    been for those over 85 years old.

          3) Loss of faith can occur.

              a) Many drop out of church life.

              b) Undergirdings fail - friends, church relationships,

                    health?

              c) Neglect and crises can draw you away from God.


III. The advantages of age.

      A. Bible usually presents old age in a bright light.

          1) Bible is full of old people, with the usual infirmities.

              a) David can't get warm in own bed.

              b) Isaac unable to tell his sons apart by sight or touch.

          2) Old age is treated as a blessing.

              a) The elderly are to be honored.      Lev 19:32; 1 Pet 5:5

              b) Fondest wish is to die "full of years."         Gen 25:8

              c) We are to number our days, not seek to escape them.

                                                                 Ps 90:12


      B. Emotional maturity.

          1) Researchers have found that older people are better at

                handling conflicts.

          2) We often say the elderly are grumpy, but in reality they

                tend to be nicer!                                  #29537


      C. Spiritual maturity.

          1) God's promises seem more certain because tested by life.

              a) Make note of how God has helped you in past.

              b) Be careful not to become stagnant in Lord.

          2) Pass a spiritual heritage down to your grandkids.     

             Psalm 71:18--

             "Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God,

                 till I declare your power to the next generation,

                    your might to all who are to come."


IV. The opportunities of age.

      A. There are many advantages in being elderly.

           Robert Browning wrote the poem "Rabbi ben Ezra" back in 1864:


           Grow old along with me!

             The best is yet to be,

           The last of life, for which the first was made;

             Our times are in his hand

             Who saith, "A whole I planned,

           Youth shows but half; trust God; see all, nor be afraid!"

                                                                    #1738


      B. Older people can risk more.

          1) They have resources to invest.

              a) In 2 Samuel 17, King David has been forced from his

                    capital by his own son.

                 Almost everyone abandoned him - except Barzillai.

              b) Barzillai was rich enough to feed David and hundreds of

                    his men for several weeks.

              c) Barzillai put his trust in God's promises to David.

              d) How faithful are you with the resources God has given

                    you?

          2) The elderly have a balanced perspective.

              a) Barzillai knew what he faced and had sense of peace

                    about it.                                 2 Sam 19:37

              b) He did not seek honor from David but was content to

                    let God's will be done in his life.


      C. Older people have love and time.

          1) Older people may think they have little time left, but

                they actually have more time than anyone else.

              a) Volunteers staff hospitals, missions, churches.

              b) Older members do more visitation in our church than

                    anyone else.

          2) Use your opportunities to serve.


  V. We are never too old to grow.

      A. Make new relationships as old ones fade or pass on.

          1) (Our JOY club lunches for older members)


      B. Do something new.

          1) Sarah Holwick made this comment on old age when she was

                around 6 or 7:

             "It is better to be young than old."

                "Why?" her father asked.

             "Old people are a lot closer to being dead."

          2) Old doesn't mean dead.                        Psalm 92:14-15

             "They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay

                 fresh and green,

              proclaiming, 'The LORD is upright; he is my Rock, and

                 there is no wickedness in him.'"


      C. Never too old to learn and grow.

          1) Rather than diminishing us, age can bring us to deeper

                spirituality.

          2) Abraham and Moses did most of their learning after age 80.


      Ben Patterson writes in "The Grand Essentials":


      "I have a theory about old age...

      I believe that when life has whittled us down, when joints have

         failed and skin has wrinkled and capillaries have clogged

            and hardened -

      - what is left of us will be what we were all along, in our

         essence.


      "Exhibit A is a distant uncle...

         All his life he did nothing but find new ways to get rich.

      When he was old he was very comfortable, drooling and babbling

         constantly about the money he had made...

      When life whittled him down to his essence, all there was left

         was raw greed.

      That is what he had cultivated in a thousand little ways over a

         lifetime.


      Exhibit B is Patterson's wife's grandmother Edna...

      When she died in her mid-eighties, she had already been senile

         for several years.

      What did this lady talk about?


      The best example Patterson could think of was when we asked her

         to pray before dinner.

      She would reach out and hold the hands of those sitting beside

         her, a broad, beatific smile would spread across her face, and

           her dim eyes would fill with tears as she looked up to heaven.

      Then her chin would quaver as she poured out her love to Jesus.


      That was Edna in a nutshell.

         She loved Jesus and she loved people.

      She couldn't remember their names, but she couldn't keep her hands

         from patting them lovingly whenever they got near her.


      "When life whittled her down to her essence, all there was left

         was love:  Love for God and love for people."

                                                                    #1914


VI. Endings mean more than beginnings.

      A. Will you be faithful in your older years, and at the end of

            your life?

      B. Trust in Christ now.



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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:


# 1738  "Grow Old Along With Me," from the poem "Rabbi ben Ezra" by Robert

           Browning, in the book "Light From Many Lamps," edited by

           Lillian Eichler Watson, 1951, p. 273.


# 1914  "Ambitions," by Ben Patterson, Leadership magazine, Spring 1989,

           p. 44.


#29537  "Research Dispels Myth of the Old and Grumpy," by Nicholas Bakalar,

           America Online News, June 7, 2005.


These and 30,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be

downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html

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