ABSTRACT: The world marvels at youth, and, in many ways, quite rightly - Christ is known to have spent time with children, and encouraged all to follow in their example with regard to the manner of their faith. But it is the fixation on the image of youth that seems so often unhealthy - our media is filled with people who will apparently stop at nothing in an attempt to preserve it, or find it once again. The world does not marvel so at old age. For want of a better example, picture the scene at pretty much any church on a Sunday morning, as proud parents bring their newly-born child to the service for the first time. Folks gather round, desperate for a look, to touch, to hold. Every expression greeted rapturously. Again, not wrong in and of itself, but isn't it amazing to consider the creation of humankind through God's eyes? Made in His own image. Not just the beautiful baby we all strain to see, but the age-ravaged old person who most of us (myself included, by and large) hardly even notice. They are just as beautiful, just as special, and just as sin cursed as the rest of us, in God's eyes. Their need of Him is no greater or less, their worth to him the same. Should we care less about children and young people, marvel less at the wonder of their very being, and desire less fervently that they each come to Christ? No! Should we care more about old people, marvel more at the wonder of their very being, and desire more fervently that they each come to Christ? Yes!
Say what you will about the merits of showing prolonged video footage in Church services (Index plugs notwithstanding, of course!), but I thought the film shown the Sunday morning before last, promoting the shoebox appeal, was affecting. Of course, seeing the children's faces light up as they received their small gifts is pretty much a given when it comes to charitable appeals, but what got to me was seeing the older folks receiving boxes too. It struck me, I think, particularly because it isn't a given at all; and it re-emphasised to me, perhaps paradoxically, some of the concerns I have with regard to how the elderly are viewed and valued in our media, our society and even our churches. Which brings us to the second part of this piece, which I hope may prove thought-provoking, even if not particularly enlightening.
Now, before I meander off down the pontification highway, some grounding. The Bible is perfectly clear on how we are to view and treat our elders (and specifically our parents, for that matter). Some examples:
Leviticus 19:32 - You shall rise before the grey headed and honour the presence of an old man, and fear your God: I am the LORD';
Proverbs 23:22-23 - 'Listen to your father who begot you, and do not despise your mother when she is old. Buy the truth, and do not sell it, also wisdom and instruction and understanding';
and Job 32:6-9 - 'So Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, answered and said: “I am young in years, and you are very old; Therefore I was afraid, and dared not declare my opinion to you. I said, ‘Age should speak, and multitude of years should teach wisdom.’ But there is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding. Great men are not always wise, nor do the aged always understand justice'.
These to name but three.
But do we? Do we, as a rule, value our older folks as we should, acknowledging them of course not to be above fault? The world, or at least our little part of it here in the 21st century first world, doesn't in my opinion. Our society is obsessed with youth, I would argue, to the point where the very status is to be idolised; a perhaps inevitable by-product of secularism. If the concept of eternity is one of no personal significance, then the initial few years of life will obviously be cherished and revered by all, the last few dreaded, feared and to a certain extent at least, conveniently ignored. Have a look at a newspaper - what is considered a true tragedy? Someone dying 'before their time'. Someone dying young. If an accident leaves many dead, the focus will be on the young or on those women with child. If a child is killed, an outcry follows and demands for a legislative response is immediate. Of course, the death of a young person is by it's very nature more shocking than that of someone who has lived to an age approaching that 'expected', and probably far more difficult for close relatives to deal with correspondingly. But why is it more of a tragedy? Is it more of a tragedy?
When an old person dies (under 'normal' circumstances at any rate), it is considered, generally, fair enough. 'They had a good innings'. Maybe 75, 80, 90 years. Fair dos. Very sad for the family, of course, but hey, they had a good life and now they're gone. That's life. Compare this to the reaction of a young person dying. Floral tributes. Newspaper articles. Ever the question asked - why? Suddenly left without answers, the secular society clings to vague ideas of a God and a heaven they do not know or understand (or, generally claim to have any belief in at all), and hence the person is said to be 'with the angels', 'looking down on us', 'in a better place' or something similar. Perhaps surprisingly, given how 'enlightened' we're all supposed to be now, rarely if ever is it said 'ah well, they've ceased to exist in any form now as they have no eternal soul so it doesn't really matter'.
Now, of course we know that loved ones will cling to any shred of comfort they can in a time of grief, as they must. But why is the death of older people (not that old, really - someone who lives to 100 has only lived for 36,500 days (give or take some leap years, the calendar has never been my strong point) which isn't all that long) any different? Why aren't they said to be 'with the angels'? Where have they gone? Death is horrific, and to those without hope or knowledge of what awaits afterwards, it should be a time of great confusion, soul-searching and, in the absence of any assurance, clutching at emotional straws. And to close family members and friends, the death of an older person will probably still be just that, but there can be no doubt that society certainly expects them to get on with things pretty quickly. It seems that, at least to me, our society's acceptable and even ideal outcome of life is for someone to see out their 30,000 days or so, and then die without too much pain (see any current discussion on the 'merits' of euthanasia if you wish a greater insight into this mindset, taken arguably to it's logical conclusion). If they can have they have contributed to society in some way in that time - maybe raised a family, done a worthwhile job, or just been a generally nice person, then so much the better. Wayne spoke about it in this morning's sermon (October 29, if you feel like listening to it online) - everybody's 'nice', pretty much - isn't that enough? Is this God's view of life? Should it be ours?
There are perhaps few areas of Christian life which better demonstrate this preoccupation with youth than evangelism. It seems everyone is determined to try and win the hearts and minds (and souls) of children. Youth clubs at Church. SU groups in schools. Summer camps. Who are evangelistic 'praise nights' primarily aimed at? Again, this has to be qualified - of course we are to 'suffer the little children'. But should we not also have the same fervour in our witness to those older? You may have heard of the 'lost generation', a rather unfortunate term given to those folks in this part of the world who the church apparently 'missed'- the generation before us Indexers. It's a typically hyperbolic distinction, but there is truth in it. For whatever reason, the end of the second world war brought with it an (at least statistical) decline in the Christian church in the UK, which continues today. It's also been said however that our generation (the Christians in it anyway) has, perhaps resultantly, emerged with a fervour and passion for our faith which harks back to old times, and manifests itself largely in our witness to others. Is this true? Is it true in our case? Well, if it is, (and even if it's not) then we must surely be seeking to reach this 'lost' generation. God knows His number, God knows His names - we don't. We cannot hide our lights under the collective bushels of our respective peergroups, we must not just live for Christ in our CU's and with our friends and at Index. God has placed folks around us our own age, yes, (thankfully), but the world is bigger than that and so too is the body of Christ.
We are blessed in many ways at Carrubbers. One of those is that we have an abundance of students and young people. There are many Churches lacking in the energy, drive, optimism and passion which young people (allegedly, I can't speak for myself here) bring. We don't have so many older folks though; resultant, hopefully, in us not taking them for granted, as I have seen done in my past Church lives. In so many places of worship, it seems, the older members of congregations (who do generally make up the majority of their number) are ridden over roughshod by those younger, particularly if the minister himself has an 'agenda for change' and sees the 'traditionalists' as obstacles to it, with little if any thought given as to how they can best be served. Old people are living in the past, they're afraid of change, they stifle God's work and make church an unwelcoming place, it's argued - well maybe sometimes they do but I think more often than not we'd be better off listening to what they have to say before we sweep up the carpet from under their feet. Why do many of them dress differently for church? Why do many of them prefer certain forms of praise over others? Why do so many make the effort to attend prayer meetings? Is it all just vacuous tradition? I don't think we can take them for granted - ideally, I think we at Carrubbers would have more of them - but those that are part of the fellowship are, to put it horribly crassly, a resource that we must tap for all it's worth. We, and especially those of us living apart from our families, need the input of older people in our lives, need their wisdom, need their experience, need their discernment. There's nothing new under the sun, and there's very few problems and difficulties which we face that haven't been faced by others before.
And we should not have any misgivings about approaching our older brothers and sisters either. The student lunches are a good idea, and can be fruitful times, but they shouldn't be stand alone events; the only time we interact with some of the church families. The gift of relatively long human life brings with it, in my opinion, an accompanying responsibility - a responsibility to lend their experience, wisdom and discernment to those younger both in life and in the faith. The Bible demands it, and we would be foolish not to insist upon it. Maybe you haven't been at Carrubbers long, maybe you've been coming for years: who do you know to speak to? Are their older people who are investing in your life, and vice versa? We've got three pastors, you've got pastoral and home group leaders maybe, you've got (good grief) an Index core team - there's some people who have to respond favourably for a start, and maybe they can point you in other directions. I'm not necessarily speaking of elderly people here, just people who've more life experience than us who can encourage, challenge, and teach us. In the final part of this post, by the way, I'll look at what perhaps some of our responses to these issues might be.
In the meantime, keep an eye on folks, learn from their example, don't get trapped in that aforementioned inward-looking bubble of your own peers - as the children are encouraged to do in Sunday school, and as we are warned at each dedication service the babies will do, so we should too. Many of you will have known Peggy, who faithfully attended pretty much every service and Tuesday prayer meeting until her death this past year - what an encouragement she was, in life and in death! It always struck me just how much of an interest she took in the church, and particularly it's younger folk - seemed we were as much of a blessing to her, interestingly. How wonderful to think of where she is now, the home she long looked forward to. That mindset, an acute awareness of our own mortality, and dependence upon God for each breath, is perhaps a blessing which comes with age - all the more reason to spend time learning from those older if it is - but it should not be exclusively theirs.
The world marvels at youth, and, in many ways, quite rightly - Christ is known to have spent time with children, and encouraged all to follow in their example with regard to the manner of their faith. But it is the fixation on the image of youth that seems so often unhealthy - our media is filled with people who will apparently stop at nothing in an attempt to preserve it, or find it once again. The world does not marvel so at old age. For want of a better example, picture the scene at pretty much any church on a Sunday morning, as proud parents bring their newly-born child to the service for the first time. Folks gather round, desperate for a look, to touch, to hold. Every expression greeted rapturously. Again, not wrong in of itself, but isn't it amazing to consider the creation of humankind through God's eyes? Made in His own image. Not just the beautiful baby we all strain to see, but the age-ravaged old person who most of us (myself included, by and large) hardly even notice. They are just as beautiful, just as special, and just as sin cursed as the rest of us, in God's eyes. Their need of Him is no greater or less, their worth to him the same. Should we care less about children and young people, marvel less at the wonder of their very being, and desire less fervently that they each come to Christ? No! Should we care more about old people, marvel more at the wonder of their very being, and desire more fervently that they each come to Christ? Yes! go to main page
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