In the book, “Chicken Soup for the Golden Soul,” Nardi Campion says, “ We true prime-timers were here before the pill, the population explosion and disposable diapers. We were here before ‘senior citizens.’
We were here before Ann Landers, Grandma Moses and the Kinsey Report. We were here before facelifts, tummy tucks, Liposuction and hair transplants. We thought cleavage was what butchers did. We were here before sex changes. Before Viagra. We just made do with what we had.
We were here before computers. A mouse pad was where the mouse hung out. To log-on was to add wood to fire. Hardware meant hardware and software wasn’t even a word. A hard drive was a long, grueling journey. A CD was something you invested in. Windows were for looking out of. A virus was a flu bug that people caught. Backing up was something you never wanted to happen to your toilet.
We were here before vitamins, Jeeps, Pizza, Cheerios, instant coffee, decaffeinated anything, light anything, and McDonald’s. We thought fast food was when you ate during lent. If we had been asked to explain VCR, CIA, NATO, UFO, PMS, GNP, MBA, BMW, SDI, NFL, PSA and ATM, we’d have said ‘alphabet soup.’
We prime-timers are a hardy bunch when you think of how our world has changed, all we have learned and the adjustments we have made. I’m pretty proud of us.
Let’s keep in touch. Just e-mail me, send a fax, leave a message on my answer machine or call me on my cell phone. If I don’t answer, tell my voicemail you called – after the beep leave your name, your number and a brief message and I’ll get back with you as soon as I can. If you need me quickly, call me on my pager .If all else fails, come on over to my house, take a seat in one of the rockers on my porch and we’ll visit the old fashion way – face to face and in person – and let the rest of the world go by.” (Used By Permission)
In the churches today the above 50 crowd is referred to as: West of 50, prime–timers, keenagers or hill- toppers and a whole assortment of other names.
According to a George Barna release, the 50-up crowd will be the largest in our churches. They’re coming! Get ready, church, to minister to them. Don’t discard them and relegate to them to the past. Motive them, love them, and be sensitive to them. They may not know what a floppy disc is, but they do know how to pray.
Let me talk with a person a while and I’ll ask them questions about their attitude toward the elderly.
I will know immediately their spiritual maturity. If they chuckle or make light of an elderly person’s grammar or speech, I will know their attitude is sick.
Let me talk with a deacon. I will ask, “Have you been ministering to the needs of our elderly, our widows, our sick, our dying?”
Being a deacon has nothing to do with prestige or power. It has everything to do with service and ministry.
Today I want to challenge this church to open its heart even wider to our elderly.
I want to challenge our West of 50 crowd to know that life before 60 is nothing but a warm up.
Barzillai is the Senior Adult in our lesson today. We are introduced to him in II Samuel 17 where he was a part of a group who helped supply David with food and supplies in the war with Absalom.That group looked at David’s rag tag army and said, “ The people are hungry, and weary, and thirsty, in the wilderness.”
He had a big heart and freely gave. He must have been a very wealthy man.David never forgot this kind deed. Later on, David met him and offered to bring him to his palace and let him serve there.What a golden opportunity for Barzillai! But he did not seem to be interested in this new venture.
II Samuel 19:35 records his answer to David. Barzillai said,“I am this day fourscore years old, and can I discern between good and evil? Can thy servant taste what I eat or what I drink? Can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? Wherefore then should thy servant be yet a burden unto my lord the king?”
Basically, he’s saying, “ I’m too old. My discernment is gone. My taste is almost totally gone. My hearing is bad. I would just be in the way. I would be a liability and not an asset. I don’t want to be a burden.”
Many Senior Adults feel this way. You feel you have lost your cutting edge.
You feel that your best days are behind you.
You can relate to Barzillai. But you know today that with God’s touch you can again do the work and service of God more effectively than ever.
You have the wisdom of your impact to our youth.
Maybe somebody made you feel that you shouldn’t be in any kind of a leadership role in the church because of your age.
You’ve kind of taken on the Barzillai attitude. You say, “ I just won’t get involved anymore. If I do, I might get hurt again.”
No! God is restoring Senior Adults to ministry.
We say we want revival. But God is speaking today to the 50-and-up crowd. Get on fire. You will add a dimension of maturity and stability to our church that no one else can.
Caleb was the exact opposite of Barzillai in his attitude toward personal effectiveness.
He was 85 and counting. But wait a minute. We gauge age by the body’s age. Why don’t we gauge age by a man or woman’s spirit? You’re as young as your faith and as old as your doubt. A 70-year old might out-spirit a 30-year old.
Caleb still wants a piece of the action.
In Joshua 14: 11, 12 he says, “ As yet I am strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in. Now therefore give me this mountain.”
I believe the Caleb spirit can sweep this place today. I close with this story.
A young golfer began his career with a great bit of excitement. Though he didn’t have the money, some of his friends got together and paid his way so that he could play in Australian Open.
They arranged for him to stay with a rancher. He arrived early and the rancher began showing him around the old home place. When they got out to the barn the golfer noticed an old set of golf clubs in the back of the barn. They were discarded and old and covered with dust and cobwebs.
Like any golfer would do, he reached into the bag and pulled out a club. It was the putter. He said, “ Hey, this feels pretty good.”
The rancher said, “ That old putter has seen its days. It’s no good. You can have it if you want it.”
So the golfer put it in his bag and forgot it.
On the next day on the first green his caddy accidentally pulled out the old putter. It was a difficult putt, but he decided to try it. He sank that putt and another and another and won the Australian Open. And then he won the British and many more tournaments with that old putter. He named the putter, “ Calamity Jane.” The golfer’s name was Bobby Jones.
So today, you dear senior saints may feel like the putter… old and discarded.
Allow the Master to put his grip upon you today. You will be thrilled with how much He can do through you.
