MELVIN M. NEWLAND, MINISTER RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK
(PowerPoints used with this message are available at no charge. Just email me at mnewland@sstelco.com and request #413.)
TEXT: 2 Samuel 21:15 17; Romans 8:28
A. As some of you know, most preachers spend quite a bit of time praying, meditating, planning, & preparing the sermons they preach. For me, personally, I often consider & work on several messages that I finally lay aside before choosing what I believe would be best to preach on a particular Sunday.
Today’s message is not what I originally began working on. Yet as I did, for some reason King David of Israel kept popping up in my mind. But over the years many of you have heard a great deal about David.
As a child in S.S. you heard about David as a shepherd boy tending his father’s sheep; & how brave he was fighting the giant warrior, Goliath. You may even have memorized the 23rd Psalm which David wrote.
In some of my sermons we looked at young David as an officer in King Saul’s army, a national hero, best friend of Prince Jonathan, the insane jealousy of King Saul & his attempts to kill David, & David having to go into hiding to escape.
Yet during those years David still maintained his faith in God, his loyalty to Israel & to King Saul himself. He even had an easy opportunity to kill King Saul & end Saul’s attempts to kill him. But he refused to do so &, instead, appealed for reconciliation. But Saul would not.
Then after both King Saul & Prince Jonathan died, the tribes of Judah & Benjamin chose David as their King. And later. all 12 tribes united to make David King of all Israel.
David was King for 40 years – 40 years of victories over foreign enemies, & establishing Israel as a nation to be reckoned with in the world of that day. It was the beginning of a golden age for Israel!
But with success came temptations & trials – his sin with Bathsheba & its bitter aftermath: The Prophet Nathan pointing his finger at David & saying, “You are the man!”; David’s anguished repentance; & writing of the 51st Psalm, pouring out his heart to God.
Then came conflict within his own family, son against son, with one son even starting a civil war, trying to seize the throne, & David’s obvious anguish at that son’s death.
Yes, David’s life was a long & eventful one! He made mistakes. He sinned! And he truly repented! Looking into David’s heart & actions & reactions, God’s Word proclaims that David was “a man after God’s own heart.” And God declared that one day a descendant of David would be the promised Messiah.
B. This morning we're looking at David as an old man, the Lamp of Israel. Turn with me to 2 Samuel 21:15 17, & listen as I read: "Once again there was a battle between the Philistines & Israel. David went down with his men to fight against the Philistines, & he became exhausted.
“And Isbi Benob … whose bronze spearhead weighed 300 shekels (about 8 lbs.) & who was armed with a new sword, said he would kill David.
“But Abishi … came to David's rescue; he struck the Philistine down & killed him. Then David's men swore to him, saying, 'Never again will you go out with us to battle, so that the lamp of Israel will not be extinguished.'"
ILL. If I asked you, "Who is Donald Trump?" or "Who is Kamala Harris?" what would you answer? Probably you would answer, "Donald Trump was President of the U.S., & Kamala Harris is the current Vice-President."
Those answers are not wrong, but people are much more than the job or title they happen to have. Yet today we associate people with what they do so much that when a person retires, & they cease doing what they have been doing, we tend to treat them as if they aren't anybody much anymore, & that's tragic.
We need to recognize there are things that we do to earn a living. There are other things we possess for a brief period of time. And then there is who we really are, our character, our inner being.
SUM. So we look at David, & if we had to introduce him, we would probably say, "David was a mighty warrior, & the King of Israel." But that's just what he did. To help us understand that, let's look at David's retirement.
I. DAVID'S RETIREMENT PARTY
A. David has been king for a long time. His kingdom is still growing, money is coming into the treasury, the army is strong & defeating one enemy after another. Everything is going David's way, & in the passage of Scripture I just read he is probably about 60 years old.
One day the bugle blows & the call to war is sounded. The army of Israel must once again battle the Philistines. Without hesitation, David grabs his sword & marches off to war.
Now you need to remember that David was a great warrior. He goes down in history as one of the greatest fighting men ever to hold a spear & sword. He had 30 mighty men beside him, & the Bible says that they had the strength of a hundred. But David was the greatest of all his warriors.
Now as David went off to war, he probably recalled some of his victories, of defeating Goliath, of killing the lion & the bear. Maybe he remembered how agile he was when Saul threw his spear at him, & he was able to dodge it not once, but 3 times.
And as he remembered, he may have said to himself, "I'm just as good as I ever was. I'm as strong, & my mind is just as keen as it has ever been. I'm ready for battle anytime!"
B. So David led his men off to war. But the Bible says that in the heat of the battle, David became exhausted, & some translations add that he stumbled & fell.
As he was lying there on the ground, a cousin of Goliath came at him with a bronze spear & a new sword, ready to finish him off. If it had not been for Abishi, David would have been killed.
But Abishi came to his rescue & killed the Philistine, picked David up, & helped him back to camp. I imagine that as they walked together, David said, "I just don't know what happened. I lost my footing. I know I could have taken him. I'll do all right tomorrow."
C. But that night, as David & his mighty men sat around a campfire & talked over the events of the day, there must have been a long silence. One after another his men cleared their throats.
Finally, someone said, "David, my king, I think you need to go home. It's time for you to retire from fighting. You're too valuable to the kingdom to stay out here & risk your life in battle. It's time for you to go home."
Maybe there was a long pause, & then David said, "Go home? Well, maybe someday, but today?" "Yes, David, it's time to go home today."
And as you watch the scene unfold, you see an old warrior climb into the chariot, muscles that once were strong & taut, now growing weak, hair that once blazed in the sun, now is silver. A face once ruddy & handsome, now is etched with the long lines of old age.
You see a man with slouched shoulders ride off to a place of safety. A mighty warrior going into retirement. Kind of sad, isn't it?
ILL. There is an old newsreel that features the 50th birthday of Cassius Clay. Now some of you may not know who I'm talking about because he is called Mohammed Ali today. But I remember him as Cassius Clay.
I remember when he fluttered like a butterfly & stung like a bee. I remember when he dodged & bobbed, & his left hook & his right jab were so awesome that some of the greatest fighters were afraid of him. I remember when he was the fastest thing on two feet in the ring, shouting, "I’m the greatest. I’m the greatest!"
But by the time of this newsreel he was slow of speech & step. Some say he took too many punches to the head, or maybe too many years had come & gone.
SUM. A mighty warrior, but the party was over. And like so many today, David did not schedule his own retirement party. It was planned by someone else, & he was not quite ready for the event when it happened.
II. LET IT SHINE!
A. David was told, "Never again will you go out with us to battle. That part of your life is over. But you will still be the lamp of Israel, & that will not be extinguished." So David began another chapter in his life, & I've called it "Let it shine!"
What did David do once he got home? Did he vegetate? Did he go fishing? Did he just drift off into oblivion?
B. Not David! He is the lamp of Israel, & some of his greatest contributions were done in the latter years of his life.
You know the first thing he did? He started buying ground on which to build the Temple of God, a place to house the Ark of the Covenant. He started calling in architects & drawing plans. He bought materials & made arrangements with contractors. That was one of his retirement projects.
David never got to build it. That was left to his son, Solomon. But the groundwork was laid by David in those golden years when he was a Sr. citizen.
David also got busy writing some of his greatest psalms. When people become discouraged, when people are in mourning or facing hardships, when they're depressed & stressed & can't see the end of the tunnel, where do they go?
They don't go to the writings of Samuel or Ezra. They don't read about David & his success as a warrior. They read his psalms. One of the most beloved books in the Bible is the Book of Psalms, much of it written by an old man who was too old to fight any more. He was no longer a warrior, but he was still the lamp of Israel.
C. All of us go through phases in life, times when our energy is at its peak, times when we have courage & strength, times when we can fight the battles & be on the front lines.
But there also comes the time to go home & start the next chapter of life. David didn't vegetate, he made his greatest contributions in the last part of his life.
III. OLDER PEOPLE IN THE CHURCH TODAY
A. Now think with me for a few moments about older people in the church today. I'm sure you realize that we're experiencing what many are calling "the graying of America." And while the older population is increasing, the youth population is shrinking.
In fact, for the first time in history the fastest growing age group in the U.S. is the group over 80 years of age, & I’m a part of that group of Senior Citizens or “Golden Oldies.” Now I realize that old people can be hard to work with. In fact, one of my prayers is, "God, please save me from being a grouchy old man."
So let me list some characteristics of being old. If you have these characteristics you're old whether you're 25 or 85 or anywhere between.
1. First of all, old people may make mountains out of mole hills. Old people may have a "can't do" complex. They're convinced that it won't work even before you suggest it, because old people are often thinking about what can go wrong, & not what can go right.
2. Secondly, old people are often resistant to change. They like ruts, where everything is predictable. Old people may say, "We never did it that way before. And if we didn't do it that way before, it just stands to reason that we can’t do it that way now."
The problem is, the world will change whether we want it to or not. We can get into our rut & say, "I want to keep it this way," but the world will go ahead & change. So are we going to live in it, or stay in our rut?
ILL. A preacher tells about a lady in his congregation who is in her 70's. She travels with the youth group. Wherever they go, she is there. They affectionately call her "Grandma." Whenever the youth choir gives a concert, grandma is on the front row, tapping her foot & clapping her hands & encourag¬ing the kids.
One day someone asked her, "Grandma, do you really like their loud music?" "No!" she said. "I don’t like it." "Well, why in the world do you subject yourself to it?" She answered, "Because I love those kids."
3. Thirdly, old people glory in the past. They're always wishing that things were like they used to be - the best people, the best churches, the best music, all belong to the past. That kind of remembering is a characteristic of being old.
ILL. The poet said it well, "The lightning bug is brilliant. But he has no mind. He blunders through existence with his headlight on behind." If you're an old person, you're constantly looking to the past & wishing things are as they used to be.
B. But you don't have to be old. Whatever your age, you're young if:
1. You accept your age. Whether you're 40 or 80, you're proud of every year, every gray hair, every wrinkle. You accept who you are, & are thankful for the years God has given you.
2. Secondly, you're still young if you're not always living in the past, but are engrossed in what is going on around you today.
3. Thirdly, to be young, you're still learning to wait upon the Lord. Things don't always work out the way you think they ought. But when you allow God to lead the way, you'll find that "…in all things God works for the good of those who love Him." (Romans 8:28)
C. Some of the greatest things in our world were started by people who were retired, or should have been because others thought they were too old to work.
ILL. Abraham left his home in Ur of Chaldees to follow God to the Promised Land when he was 70. Aaron was 83 & his baby brother, Moses, was 80 when God called them to lead His people out of Egyptian slavery.
Edison was 83 & still working in his laboratory. Benjamin Franklin was 79 & governor of Pennsylvania. Winston Churchill was 76 & Prime Minister of England. Albert Schweitzer was 90 years old, still practicing medicine in Africa.
ILL. Leroy Lawson, who preached in Phoenix, AZ, had a lot of retired people in his congregation. He told about some of the ministries that those retirees started in his church. He said, "We have a crew of people who do volunteer work in the church office. They call themselves 'The Not Too Old to Fold Group.'" Isn't that great?
"We have a lady who is called 'The Reminder Lady.' Her job is to call up every-body who is on the Sunday morning program, whether they are serving as ushers or serving the emblems of the Lord's Supper, or working in the nursery. She calls them up on Saturday, just reminding them of their part in the service."
"We also have one retired gentleman who used to be a construction worker, a big guy who is our 'Water Deacon.' Our Water Deacon's job is to get people back up after I get them down when they are baptized."
You see, Leroy Lawson is small. And when he gets them down he can't always get them back up. So the Water Deacon stands at the end of the baptistery & helps Leroy get them back up.
And what about the “Stew Crew” who fixes meals for shut-ins & helps prepare church dinners? By the way, they’re trying to come up with a new name because the meals they prepare aren’t limited to stews.
SUM. Folks, no matter where you are in life, even if you can't go to the battle front any more, you can still be a lamp that shines. What an important responsibility falls on the shoulders of those who are older. We need desperately to leave a legacy for those who are coming after us.
We need to teach them to be committed, how to work, how to give, & how to serve. These are tremendous legacies that we need to leave to the younger ones who will come after us.
So don't pull over & park. Roll up your sleeves & get busy. Some of the greatest things you can do for the kingdom of God are yet to be done. And you can do them now.
You see, when people vegetate, everybody loses. The individual loses. Society loses as well. We lose the wisdom, the knowledge, the help that person can give.
CONCL. I pray that as Christians we can be a family where old & young learn from each other, where the old learn about energy & enthusiasm & excitement, where the young can learn about listening & hearing the voice of God.
If you're here outside of Jesus Christ this morning, then we offer His invitation to you, because in Christ we have an eternal inheritance where people will never be sick or grow old or die, where we will live forever with God.
INVITATION: If you're here & you do not have that inheritance as your own, we extend the invitation of Jesus & pray that you'll respond as we stand & sing.
(This message is adapted from a message by Dennis Slaughter, former minister at Valley View Christian Church, Dallas, TX.)
