Title: Growing Older

"So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature
is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us
for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen
but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal."
(II Corinthians 4:16-18, NRSV)

Introduction

Today, we celebrate Senior Adult Sunday with appreciation and gratitude
to all those in our midst whose chronological age is advanced.
So, we celebrate the wisdom and strength and compassion and passion of the senior adults among us.

Did you know?
The number of people in the United States over age 65 is now larger than the entire population of Canada!
Two thirds of all the people who have ever lived to age 65 are alive today.
Every twenty seconds an American becomes 65 years of age. Over 5,574 people turn 65 every day.

Senior adults have over $1.6 trillion in spending power -- that's nearly twice the U.S. average.
They buy 41% of all new cars.
They purchase 25% of all toys (think grandkids).
They account for 80% of all luxury travel.
They spend $7 billion online annually.
They spend more time online than teenagers, and own more than three-fourths
of the nation's financial wealth.
The fastest growing age group in our society is the 85-100 group;
the second fastest growing group is 65-85.

It is interesting how some people view the aging process.
Here is how one person has described aging.
A man is walking down the street with his friend. He says to his friend, "I'm a walking economy."
His friend replies, "How's that?"
"It's like this: My hair line is in recession, my stomach is a victim of inflation,
and the combination of these factors is putting me into a deep depression."

Some years Julie Andrews sang the song "My Favorite Things" from the Sound of Music. 
It is rumored that they are going to change the words, to fit a AARP theme:
"Maalox and nose drops and needles for knitting,
Walkers and handrails and new dental fittings,
Bundles of magazines tied up in string,
These are a few of my favorite things.

When the pipes leak,
When the bones creak,
When the knees go bad,
I simply remember my favorite things,
And then I don't feel so bad.

When the joints ache, when the hips break,
When the eyes grow dim,
Then I remember the great life I've had,
And then I don't feel so bad."

From the moment we are born to the moment we die, we are aging.
Some of us just have been doing it longer than others.
We are fighting and losing a battle with aging.
We can't stop the physical effects of the ever ticking clock.
We try to protect ourselves against age. We exercise.
We take our vitamins. We try to eat right.
We take our pills!

Are you aware of how many pills some senior adults take?
Ester Stout wrote "Little Pills Where Goeth Thou?" (As seen in Pioneer Home)

"We take pink pills for old arthritis and green ones, perhaps, for the heart.
A blue one because you are dizzy--hope the stomach can tell them apart.
A white pill controls the blood pressure; a red one helps soften the stool;
A yellow one calms you down greatly so you won't be acting the fool.
There are two-toned, and gray and brown pills for relief from head-aches and gout,
Diabetes, ulcers and heartburn, sure hope each pill knows the right route.
What a terrible mess up there could be if your headache pill went to your toe,
And the laxative pill traveled upward 'cause it wasn't quite sure where to go.
If this should ever happen to you, you'd either laugh or you'd weep.
'Cause you'd probably run off at the mouth and your feet would be falling asleep.
How in the world could you stop the dilemma unless you stood on your head,
So the pills could all change directions before you wound up sick in bed.
What would happen if time released capsules forgot to do the right thing
And released all their pellets at once. A great upset they would bring.
So little pills of every kind, just wind your way thru us and find
The ailment that we take you for so we won't worry anymore!"

But in spite of all we can do, we will eventually succumb to aging
Our hair falls out. Wrinkles form around our eyes. Our energy fades.
We can't win because just like high tide, aging is inevitable.
There is nothing we can to do keep this from happening.
Jesus said in Matthew 6 : "Who of you by worrying can add one inch to your height ..."
and we can't add or subtract one day from our age?

So, we can look at growing older philosophically, like Jack Benny who said,
"Age is a matter of the mind. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter."
Or we can look at it sarcastically, like Bob Hope who said,
"You know you are old when the candles cost more than the cake."
Or we can look at it shrewdly like Agatha Christi, the great mystery writer, who said,
"I married an archeologist so that the older I get the more interested in me he becomes."
Or we can look at it as a responsibility, like the 105-year-old woman in Indiana who said,
"I am now ready to die for I have now successfully managed to get my children into nursing homes."

Or as one senior adult said: "Some people try to turn back their odometers.
Not me, I want people to know "why" I look this way.
I've traveled a long way and some of the roads weren't paved. "

I. Growing Older Has Its Moments

(1) Growing older has its moments of which are humorous

We are growing older, so how do you deal with the problem of growing old?
Maybe you don't deal with it at all. You try not to think about it.
You may even avoid old people as much as you can.
Or you may develop a sense of humor about it.

One lady reveals her humor in this poem:
"The reason I know my Youth has been spent,
Is my get-up-and-go has got-up-and-went!
But really I don't mind, when I think with a grin,
Of all the places my get-up has been.
I get up each morning and dust off my wits,
Pick up the paper and read the obits.
If my name is missing, I'm therefore not dead,
So I eat a good breakfast and jump back into bed.
The moral of this as the tale unfolds,
Is that for you and me, who are growing old.
It is better to say "I'm fine" with a grin,
Than to let people know the shape we are in."

Older adults also have their own hymns:
It Is Well With My Soul (But My Back Aches a Lot)
Nobody Knows the Trouble I Have Seeing
There's Something About That Name (But I Can't Remember What It Is at the Moment)
Just a Slower Walk with Thee
Count Your Many Birthdays, Name Them One by One
Give Me That Old Timer's Religion
Blessed Insurance
Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah (I've Forgotten Where I Parked)
And the favorite hymn for people older age is…Nearer, My God, to Thee.

(2) Growing older has its moments which reveal some are just old

Some of those growing older moments reveal that some are just old:
"You are getting old when you get the same sensation from a rocking chair that
you once got from a roller coaster.
It's frustrating when you know all the answers, but nobody bothers to ask you the questions."

How do you know you are growing older:
"Everything hurts and what doesn't hurt doesn't work.
You feel like the morning after the night before and you haven't been anywhere.
Your little black book only contains names ending in MD.
You decide to procrastinate, but you never get around to it.
You know you're getting older when most of your dreams are re-runs.

You know you're getting older when for you the best part of the day is over
when your alarm clock goes off...your back goes out more than you do.
You know you're getting older when you say, " Forget the health food,
I need all the preservatives I can get. "
If God wanted me to touch my toes, he would have put them on my knees.
I don't know how I got over the hill without getting to the top."

The late George Vanier, Governor-General of Canada, once said:
"People do not really age by living a number of years.
I am convinced that we grow old only by deserting our ideals.
We are, in fact, as old as our doubts and despair...we are as young as our faith and hope."
And this is from a man who became Governor-General of Canada at the age of seventy-one!

Christopher Plummer in the play "Barrymore" quoted:
"A man isn't old until regrets take the place of dreams."
We grow old by living in a past that cannot be changed or by...a future that will never arrive. 
 
The sign of oldness in a Christian is a spirit that lives as if it had never been united with Christ. 
Old people are those who live as if they had never been reconciled to God. 
The old people in the church are not the people who are 90 or 100 years old. 
Old people can be 16 or 36 or 56 or 96.
Old people are those who refuse to let Christ renew them with His forgiveness
and reconciling love.

People grow old only by deserting their dreams.
People grow old when they allow their hearts be covered with the snows of pessimism
and the ice of cynicism. ( 5 "C's" -- five emotional cancers: comparing, competing,
criticizing, complaining, and contention)
Years wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.
The way to keep young is to keep our faith young, our self-confidence young, and our hope young.
We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing.

I believe that aging is largely a matter of our mind, not of our age.
We're only as old as that little mental picture that we carry around in our head.
It is attitude, not arteries, that determines our age.

Those who are always fussing and complaining...cranky and irritable...
and get upset about insignificant things ...are already "old".

Old age is not the time to become discourteous or rude.
We must treat others with Christ-like kindness.
We must pray that we don't become grumpy old men or women.
We may plant roses to bloom about our doors to pour their perfumes about us,
or we may sow weeds and briers to flaunt others as we sit in our doorways.

II. Growing Older Has Its Fears

It is understandable to see why so many older people have fears about their future
There is no mistaking what happens to our bodies and our minds.
They just don't work like they used to.

Many often fear growing old because they identify it with being useless,
mean and nasty, or in the way of others.
Many fear that being old means no longer being needed by their family or by the company
where they worked for many years.
These fears are very serious and very real.

(1) Those growing older may face the fear of being devalued
Those growing older could have the fear of being devalued.
If you could survey men and women who are in their 60's, 70's and 80's,
you would find several issues that concern them.

Devaluation is one of those fears.
Look at it like this..
If a teenager forgets something, we think nothing about it.
But if an older person forgets something, we say "Well, it's because of their age."

If a 30-year-old man has a spot on his tie we never give it a passing thought.
But if an older man has a spot on his tie we say, "He must be deteriorating."
It is as if older adults were all stamped with some kind of expiration date, like milk or meat,
and should be discarded after a certain age.
We must stop looking at older people and immediately thinking
– walker or wheelchair, basket or casket.  

Seniors often ask, "Do I matter any more? Am I of any real value to anyone?"
It's not difficult to see why devaluation is a concern for many seniors.
When some older adults feel rejected or feel like failures, they tend to be more cautious
and withdraw from the larger community to avoid making mistakes that might seem to confirm
their sense of inadequacy.
This could lead them to erect barriers that make them appear stubborn and inflexible.
Resentment and distrust may drive them into deeper despair.
In a throw-away society, they themselves feel tossed aside as obsolete,
and feel that their years of experience, their service and wisdom count for nothing.

(2) Those growing older may face he fear of being deserted.

Some of those growing older may fear the possibility of being deserted
by friends and family members
Many seniors live with the reality that they never get to see or even talk to their grown children.
One of the most pressing questions for those in their "Good as gold years" is:
"Will I be alone?"  
If you are married, and you're a senior citizen, you've probably wondered what you would do if your spouse dies.
But that fear of being alone isn't just limited to spouses.
This is the stage in life when we begin to experience the loss of family, friends and acquaintances on a regular basis.
The possibility of being deserted by others in this world becomes a very real fear.

Those growing older need the compassion of the younger.
if you're among the "young and the restless" or in the "middle years",  then pray
to understand more about the older people around you and to know how to encourage them. 

This is a poem Faye Greenhill wrote while in the Nursing field for 27 years.
She worked with the elderly and saw the attitude some had about helping the elderly:

"If I am blind and cannot see,
Just lead me along and take care of me.
If I am deaf and just can't hear,
Be patient with me to show that you care.
If I am forgetful and don't remember your name,
Just love me a lot and treat me the same. If I can't walk or eat alone,
Just help me a little and try not to groan.
Please try to assist me all that you can,
And be glad that you can help your fellow man.
Be sure to follow the Golden Rule true,
And do unto me as if I were you."

So, I speak to those who are younger.
There may come a time in your life when you begin to notice that the person who gave you life
is beginning to lose control of their body or their mind.
That will be the most painful experience you could ever experience.
Those moments are when you need to depend even more on Jesus.
Let Jesus Christ hold you as you hold them.

One of the best ways that we honor Christ in this life is to honor those who are older.
In their book You and Your aging parent, the authors retell an old Pakistani story:
An ancient grandmother lived with her daughter and family in a comfortable house not far from the village.
As she got older and frail, the grandmother would lose things and drop silverware and plates.
Finally, after she had broken yet another precious plate, her daughter sent her son into town
with the instruction: "Go to the village and buy your grandmother a wooden plate,
At least we will have one thing in the house she cannot break."
The son did as he was instructed, but with a heavy heart.
For he knew that a fine lady like his grandmother did not eat on a wooden plate like a peasant or servant.
Sometime later he returned, bringing not one, but two plates.
"I only asked you to buy one," his mother scolded him. "Didn't you listen to me?"
"Yes", said the boy, "But I bought the second one so there will be one for you when you get old."

To all who are younger -- your parents, your grandparents and other older adults
are those to whom you can give them your love and incredible hope.
They value and delight in your presence more than you know.
They need the gift of hope that you can give.
They need you who are young adults.
They need you, middle-aged adults.
They need you to be near them and to value them.

Older people, there are younger folks that need your blessing.
Don't hold it back because you have some other agenda.
Give your blessing generously.
So just as I have called on the younger amongst us to respect all their elders,
I call for the older amongst us to meet the challenges of life and give back what you have gained.

We who are growing older should listen, and consider innovative ideas
and young people should listen to the wisdom and concerns of the older.
That will be an amazing give and take that will build bridges between the age gaps,
and incredible blessings will result.

III. Growing Older Has Its Possibilities

Growing older does have wonderful possibilities.
As we get older, we are not as strong physically, and we're not always as quick mentally.
However, we have experience that no young person can match.
All the qualities of the spirit can continue to mature and many have matured.
As Paul said in our Scripture passage, "So we do not lose heart, for our outer nature is wasting away,
but our inner nature is being renewed."

(1) We can flourish even when growing old.

Getting older doesn't necessarily mean becoming obsolete.
It can mean growing, maturing, serving, ministering, venturing, enjoying ourselves to the end of our days.
There is still service to be rendered and victories to be won.
"Have a blast while you last,"

Listen to these amazing feats, and remember that:
Two-thirds of the world's most creative people are over 60 years of age.
More than two-thirds of the men and women in medicine, education, science, government,
and the arts are over 60.
Roughly 10 percent of those attending college are over 50.

Notice now these amazing achievements:
David Ray of Franklin, Tennessee learned to read at the age of 99.
Paul Spangler completed his 14th marathon at age 92.
At 91, Hilda Crooks climbed Mount Whitney, the highest mountain in the continental United States.
Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel lying on his back on a scaffold
when he was almost 90.
Will Durant finished his five-volume History of Civilization at age 89.

"Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.
They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing:
to show that the Lord is upright." (Psalm 92:13-15)

Growing older can be the start of something bigger and better.
As our outer life slows down our inner life can become stronger and energized.
When we become unable to do some things, we can learn to do new things.
In all the circumstances of our life God is with us, enabling us to develop new skills
that we have never dreamed possible.
God is not finished with us yet.

(2) We can grow older without growing old.

Paul, "So, if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away;
see, everything has become new!..Though outwardly we are wasting away,
yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day" (2 Corinthians 4:16).
As believers in Jesus Christ, a part of us is forever new…a part of us will live for an eternity.

We can grow older without getting old when we stay focused on what God is doing in our lives.
We can make every day count.
We should say every day, "This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!"

We can grow older without growing old by keeping a positive attitude.
A great attitude is seen in the "Senility Prayer." 
You've probably heard of the "Serenity Prayer"...
"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."
But, have you heard of the "Senility Prayer?"  It goes like this:
"God, grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked any way,
the good fortune to run into the ones that I do, and the eye sight to tell the difference."
-- Copied
Now, that's a positive attitude!
Attitude makes all the difference in life; but especially at this stage in life.
And maintaining a good attitude in the "good as gold years" may be more difficult
than in any other season of life.

We can grow older without growing old by believing the best days are ahead.

Our final years can be the best!
As older adults, we must live in anticipation of joys yet to come, rather than dwell upon joys that are past.
God's storehouse is not exhausted.
For those who love and follow Jesus, the best is yet to be.
Those who keep looking backward instead of forward are likely to stumble and miss the joys
that spring up round about them.
When we individually, or as a church, become pre-occupied with looking back
at the so-called "good old days," we are on a road that leads to death.
But those who believe that their best days are yet ahead find long life and vitality.

Wherever the Christian stands, in any day of his life, in any age, in any circumstance,
always there is a better day tomorrow.
The best song has yet to be sung.
The best sermon has yet to be preached.
The best race has yet to be run.
The best game has yet to be played.
The best work is yet to be done.
As Christians, our best days are yet to come.

God has prepared better things for us.
Day by day, we're getting nearer home. Day by day, we're drawing closer to Jesus.
The best is yet to be!

1 John 3:1-2: ...Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be:
but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is."
The best is yet to be!

Rev.21:1-5: "...And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven,
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

" heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,
he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them,
be their God.
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow,
crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new."
The best is yet to be!

"There is coming a day when no heartaches shall come,
No more clouds in the sky, no more tears to dim the eye;
All is peace forevermore on that happy golden shore --
What a day, glorious day that will be!

What a day that will be when my Jesus I shall see,
And I look upon His face -- the One who saved me by His grace;
What a day, glorious day that will be."
The best is yet to be!

"I have heard of a land on the faraway strand,
'Tis a beautiful home of the soul;
Built by Jesus on high, where we never shall die,
'Tis a land where we never grow old."
The best is yet to be!

"Friends will be there I have loved long ago,
Joy like a river around me will flow;
Yet, just a smile from my Savior, I know,
Will thru the ages be glory for me."
The best is yet to be!

Conclusion
A woman was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
The doctors told her that she had three months to live.
She called her pastor and said, " Please come over. I want to put things in order. "
He came over, and they sat down and they planned her funeral.
She tidied up all of the loose ends.
He promised her that he would make sure that all of her wishes would be carried out.
Everything was now in order, and he got up to leave.

She stopped him before he walked out the door and she said, "I forgot.
Two more things that are very important.
When I am buried, I want to be buried with my favorite Bible in the casket with me."
The pastor said, "No problem."
And then she said, "The second thing, is also very important.
I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand."

The pastor was kind of stunned. He did not know what to say.
And then she said, "All my life I have gone to so many church pot luck suppers;
and when the main course was over and they came to clear the table, inevitably someone
would lean over and say to me, " Keep your fork."

She said, "That was my favorite part of the meal. I knew there was something better coming.
It might be a velvety chocolate cake, it might be a deep dish apple pie.
I knew it would be wonderful, and that it would be wonderful."
And she said, "I want to be laid out in my casket at the viewing with a fork in my right hand,
because I want people to come by and look and wonder, 'What is with the fork?'
And then pastor, you will have the opportunity to tell them,
' Keep your fork because the best is yet to come.' "

And sure enough, she was laid out in the casket with her best dress,
her favorite Bible, and a fork in her right hand.
At the viewing people came by.
The pastor overheard countless of them asking the question, " What's with the fork? '

And then at the funeral he was able to preach, Keep your fork. The best is yet to come!."

This afternoon when you sit down to lunch.
This evening at dinnertime when you pick up that fork, may it be a gentle reminder to you,
that in Christ, with Christ, like Christ, the best is yet to come.
That is what heaven is all about.

Only those who have received Jesus as Saviour and Lord are going to heaven.
There are many Christians who will go to heaven when they die, but are not living
a life in which God is pleased.

Since we don't know when God will call us home, don't you think we ought to be ready?
Now is the time to make our lives right with God.

Sermon compiled by Dr. Harold L. White