47 Sermon Illustrations on Aging

[For hard copy, see #903.]

Anxieties of growing old. It often involves suffering but hope can result.

Fundamental realities of human existence:

1. Our essential loneliness as humans - we need love and companionship.

2. Our freedom to choose.

3. Our limit as creatures.

4. Our anxiety of awareness.

Sadly, many believers eventually fall away from the faith. There are things

we can do to avoid being one of them.

I. You can keep walking with God throughout your life, like Enoch.

A. Walking with God.

B. Pleasing God.

1) Resist bitterness.

2) Avoid disobedience.

3) Banish pride.

C. Serving God.

II. We can never repay our debt to Jesus.

Sidebar: "Finishing Well" - a comparison of O.T. kings.

#3785

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Older adults have a wealth of gifts to offer the church, but too often they sit on the sidelines. We can encourage them to get involved. Examples of what some elderly are doing in different churches.

The contrast between how we think and how the Bible presents aging is like emerging from a tunnel into sunlight. We don't like to talk about it, because Americans view life like a Bell curve - you go up, up, up to the age of 50 and then you go down, down, down till you die. This views claims, "Life is accomplishing things. Life is looking good and feeling good."

The Bible, however, treats old age as a blessing (except for Ecclesiastes 12, perhaps). Old age is not a problem and to die "full of years" is the fondest wish. Zechariah's dream has Jerusalem filled with the elderly. Other ancient societies were not as optimistic. The meaning of life is to glorify God, to love and to pray, and the elderly can do this as well as anyone.

God doesn't make mistakes. He intends people to grow old, if only so that they can learn what life is, and what life is not. Old ages teaches that life is not doing things, even great things for God. Life is not activity and good looks. Life is not a Bell curve, but a continuous climb toward heaven. One old person put it, "They say we are going downhill, but they have it wrong. It is uphill. That's why it is such hard work!"

R.M. Cornelius identifies the "Seven Ages of Man"

6 weeks ... all systems go

6 years ... all systems "No!"

16 years ... all systems know

26 years ... all systems glow

36 years ... all systems owe

56 years ... all systems status quo

76 years ... all systems slow

While waiting for my first appointment in the reception room of a new dentist, I noticed his certificate, which bore his full name. Suddenly, I remembered that a tall, handsome boy with the same name had been in my high school class some 40 years ago.

Upon seeing him, however, I quickly discarded any such thought. This balding, gray-haired man with the deeply lined face was too old to have been my classmate.

After he had examined my teeth, I asked him if he had attended the local high school.

“Yes,” he replied.

“When did you graduate?” I asked.

He answered, “In 1944.”

“Why, you were in my class!” I exclaimed.

He looked at me closely and then asked, “What did you teach?”

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PAULandBARB76@webtv.net (Paul Edward Paulsen)

An elderly lady did her shopping and, upon return, found four males in her car. She dropped her shopping bags and drew a large hidden handgun from her purse and proceeded to scream at them at the top of her voice. She assured them that she knew how to use it and that she would if required. The four men didn’t wait around for a second invitation, but got out and ran like mad, whereupon the lady proceeded to load her shopping bags into the back of the car and get into the driver’s seat. Small problem though, her key wouldn’t fit in the ignition. Upon a closer inspection, she discovered her car, which was identical, parked four or five spaces farther down. Terribly embarrassed, she loaded her bags into her car and being unable to find any of the young men she pointed her gun at, she drove to the police station. The sergeant, to whom she told the story, nearly tore himself in two with laughter and pointed to the other end of the counter, where four pale white males were reporting a car jacking by a mad elderly white woman with a large handgun. No charges were filed. (Submitted by Ron Otto)

Holwick: mostly likely this is an urban legend. See http://www.snopes.com/crime/justice/grannies.asp

What age will you live to be?

What was the first number that came to mind? Why? Now that we’ve got you thinking I’d like to tell you a story.

This past weekend I saw something very interesting… something that flies in the face of typical thinking and says, “Na, na, na, na, na, na, you can’t catch me,” and then proceeds to stick out a tongue for good measure.

Kalamazoo, Michigan had their annual “Do-dah” parade which is basically a free-for-all parade anyone can participate in. It’s not held for any particular reason except to have fun… which is reason enough in my book.

First came the standard banner carriers which announced the beginning of the parade, and behind them Lester Weis, the Grand Marshall. The big deal is, Lester is 100 years young (he looks more like a healthy 75) and he’s not sitting on top of a float but riding a competition bicycle. He’s wearing shorts and his legs are in better shape than most 25-year-olds. Even more amazing is Lester’s sense of balance, as he’s crawling along at snail-like parade speeds which would cause more than a few people to fall over.

So how could a 100 year old man do this? The answer is right in front of us. He does it, and he does it often. At least from appearances it’s obvious Lester takes his health seriously.

The first clue are his legs. No one, especially a 100-year-“old” man has strong legs like he does unless they’re using them … a lot (my legs didn’t even look that muscular when I was riding 70-100 miles per week with 5% body fat!).

The second clue is his balance. Riding a bicycle is a serious test of one’s balance. After working with and observing hundreds and possibly thousands of elderly people, one of the things you notice is that balance and especially falling can be a big concern. Even young people in their 70’s (after working with the elderly for 12 years, my idea of “old” has changed ;o) ) can have difficulty with their balance.

The third clue Lester takes his health seriously is the quality of his equipment. Most people who aren’t serious don’t invest in the quality of bike he had.

What can we learn from this? Living to 100 isn’t a fluke, we all make choices every day that determine our quality of life and how long our life will be. Sure there are things like genetics and our environment that come into play, but we have far more control than most people would like to believe.

If we think others are “lucky” we’re giving up the control we have in our lives to do something about our health and happiness. Each of us make our own “luck” as we go, there’s no doubt about it. The more we do something in-line with our goals of being healthy, the “luckier” we’ll get.

99% of people do what they want, not what they need to do. People eat processed food because it’s quick and easy. They avoid exercise because “it’s too much work” or because they don’t like to sweat. They eat junk food that’s high in calories but has little if any nutritional value.

Nobody’s perfect, me included, I usually try to eat healthy but once in a while I’ve got to have some chocolate or some ice cream. The funny thing is I can tell right away when I’ve had it, because I feel like I get tired more easily.

The total opposite happens when I eat plenty of fresh fruits, vegetables, healthy food, and take *quality* supplements. When I eat healthy like this I don’t want junk food at all. It doesn’t even sound good.

We all have our weak moments now and then. The key is to make sure those weak moments don’t become life-long habits. After all I’d like to see you riding your bike in a parade when you’re 100 too.

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• Don’t let anyone tell you you’re getting old. Squash their toes with your rocker.

• The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting in line for.

• Some people try to turn back their odometers . . . not me . . . I want people to know why I look like this. I’ve traveled a long way and some of the roads were not paved.

• You know you’re getting old when everything either dries up or starts to leak.

• Life would be infinitely happier if we could only be born at the age of 80 and gradually approach 18.

• Within I do not find wrinkles and used heart, but unspent youth.

• One of the many things no one tells you about aging is that it’s such a nice change from being young.

• One must wait until evening to see how splendid the day has been.

• Age seldom arrives smoothly or quickly. It’s more often a succession of jerks.

• Being young is beautiful, but being old is comfortable.

• Growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional!

• I finally got my head together, and my body fell apart.

• Old age is always fifteen years older than I am.

• Men are like wine — some turn to vinegar, but the best improve with age.— Pope John XXIII

• Age is a question of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter. — Satchel Paige

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Some ways of thinking young:

• Give yourself a gold star for everything you do today.

• Dot all your i’s with smiley faces.

• Sing into your hairbrush.

• Grow a milk mustache.

• Smile back at the man in the moon.

• Read the funnies — throw the rest of the paper away.

• Dunk your cookies.

• Step carefully over sidewalk cracks.

• Change into some play clothes.

• Try to get someone to trade you a better sandwich.

• Eat ice cream for breakfast.

• Blow the wrapper off a straw.

• Refuse to eat crusts.

• Watch TV in your pajamas.

• Eat dessert first.

• Wear your favorite shirt with your favorite pants even if they don’t match.

• Sneak some frosting off a cake.

• Hide your vegetables under your napkin.

• Stay up past your bedtime.

• Whatever you’re doing, stop once in a while for recess.

• Make a “slurpy” sound with your straw when you get to the bottom of a milkshake.

• Put way too much sugar on your cereal.

• Play a song you like really loud, over and over.

• Find some pretty stones and save them.

• Walk barefoot in wet grass.

• Count the colors in a rainbow.

• Fuss a little, then take a nap.

• Take a running jump over a big puddle.

• Eat dinner at the coffee table.

• Giggle for no real reason.

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You’re a grandparent!!!

Having so many grandchildren means the same as having many children — only now you’ve learned from your mistakes and can enjoy the little ones freely because you know you did the best you could with your children when they were small.

So enjoy the numbers of your family — whether they be small or great. Unless the Lord builds the house, you labor in vain to maintain.

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If you can relate to this, you may be getting old — I believe in the hereafter. Every time I walk into a room, I say, “What did I come in here after!”

On her 95th birthday, my fiancé introduced me to his grandmother, Gladys Attwood. Her eyes twinkled, as I pulled up a chair to sit beside her, just as one of her three daughters prepared a video for us all to enjoy. Helen explained that the video was a compilation of the three television commercials that Gladys starred in the year before for a local car wash. Larry Dahl, owner of the Wash n’ Well Car Wash had telephoned the minimal care facility where Gladys resided to see if there was a “spunky old lady” there with the charisma to pull off what he had in mind. Marge Siegfried, co-manager at the Royal Oaks Retirement Home, didn’t think twice. They had “just the right person!”

“Just give me the works, Sonny!” she’d say as she pulled up to the attendant. Out of the car, she’d race around with her cane (the film was accelerated), kicking the tires, and tapping the attendants, as they scrubbed and buffed and shined. At the end she’d exclaim, “Well, I sure gave those boys the works!” and she’d smile and wink, the wink that won her recognition all over the town of Medford, Oregon. How she laughed when the video was over!

Once the crowd of family members around us thinned, and the flood of compliments slowed, I found myself listening intently to Gladys. A breast cancer survivor, she was active in the American Cancer Society’s local cancer support group. “You know the young people that have had cancer, if they can see that you can have it and live to be 95, it does something for them,” she said.

Our conversation continued and soon she shared her thoughts on the latest happenings in politics and world affairs. I was taken aback with the acute sharpness of this former champion college basketball player and teacher’s mind whose knowledge and complex thought processes of current affairs put me to shame. It wasn’t long before I was left far behind in awe.

Partly in an effort to save myself and partly because I was so amazed, I asked, “Tell me, Grandma, how ever did you manage to grow so old yet stay so young?”

Gladys leaned her warm, wrinkled face in closer to mine, her gray eyes shining behind her metal-framed glasses. “I’ll tell you, Diane. A long time ago, a nurse told me that if you laugh a lot, you live longer, so… I laugh a lot… and my four boyfriends keep me going!”

“Your four boyfriends?!?!” I exclaimed.

“Haven’t I told you? Well… every morning I get up with Will Power. Then I go for a walk with Arthur Itis. I come home with Charlie Horse. Than I go to bed with my favorite… Ben Gay.”

Said the little boy, “Sometimes I drop my spoon.” Said the old man, “I do that too.”

The little boy whispered, “I wet my pants.” “I do that too,” laughed the old man.

Said the little boy, “I often cry.” The old man nodded, “So do I.”

“But worst of all,” said the boy, “it seems grown-ups don’t pay attention to me.”

And he felt the warmth of a wrinkled old hand, “I know what you mean,” said the old man.

The Washington Post had a contest wherein participants were asked to tell the younger generation how much harder they had it in the old days.

• Kids today think the world revolves around them. In my day, the sun revolved around the world, and the world was perched on the back of a giant tortoise.

• Back in my day, ‘60 Minutes’ wasn’t just a bunch of gray-haired liberal 80-year-old guys. It was a bunch of gray- haired liberal 60-year-old guys.

• In my day, we didn’t have virtual reality. If a one-eyed razorback barbarian warrior was chasing you with an ax, you just had to hope you could outrun him.

• Back in my day they had not invented electricity. We had to watch television by candlelight.

• In my day, we didn’t have mouses to move the cursor around. We only had the arrows, and if the up arrow was broken and you needed to get to the top of the screen, well, you just hit the left arrow a thousand times. — Kevin Cuddihy, Fairfax

• In my day, we didn’t have fancy high numbers. We had “nothing,” “one,” “twain” and “multitudes.” — Elden Carnahan, Laurel

• In my day, we didn’t have days. There was only “time for work,” “time for pray” and “time for sleep.” The sheriff would go around and tell everyone when to change. — Elden Carnahan, Laurel

• In my day, people could only dream of hitchhiking a ride on a comet. — David Ronka, Charlottesville

• In my day, we didn’t have dogs or cats. All I had was Silver Beauty, my beloved paper clip. — Jennifer Hart, Arlington

Titus 2:3 (NLT) — Similarly, teach the older women to live in a way that is appropriate for someone serving the Lord. They must not go around speaking evil of others and must not be heavy drinkers. Instead, they should teach others what is good.

Nature’s livestock here in Florida may be different from yours. We see Fox, Armadillos, Bobcats, Coyotes, Alligators and all sorts of birds including about four varieties of pretty woodpeckers. I just looked out of my office window and saw a Pileated Woodpecker going to work on a dead Pine tree.

If it weren’t for the fact that God gave woodpeckers a uniquely insulated brain, Pileated Woodpecker’s would have the world’s worst Excedrin headache. They make wood fly so that it looks like an Oregon wood chopper at work. It’s fun to watch.

Why did God make them that way? Add that to your list of things to ask in Heaven. Why did He make me a perfect 5-B — bald, bifocals, bridge, bay-window and bunions?

We need to thank God for the person we are and be determined to make that person the very best example of God’s creation that we can. Go with what you have and polish it for God.

Col. 1:9 & 10 (NLT), “… We ask God to give you a complete understanding of what He wants to do in our lives, and we ask Him to make you wise with spiritual wisdom. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and you will continually do good, kind things for each other. All the while, you will learn to know God better and better.” That is going with what you have and polishing it for God. Read these verses again, then start shining!

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You are getting old when rock is something you do in your chair…

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Everybody can make mistakes but fools practice them…

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For Long Life … Life expectancy for weekly churchgoers is 82; for those who attend more than once a week, it’s 83. Non-churchgoers live an average of 75 years. – USA Today [I think that these figures are suspect — RGH]

A five year old was discussing Noah’s Ark with Grandma. Grandma asked, “How many animals went into the Ark?” Youngster’s reply — “one mail and one e-mail.” It’s a different age, I guess.

Betty is nearing the completion of a chrocheted tablecloth. She’s been working on it for several years. It’s gorgeous. I can tell by her countenance that progress is a good feeling. She always has her mind and hands busy with some project — she’ll never grow old.

Still water gets stagnant, so does a still brain. Regardless of our physical condition, we need to keep our minds active and always yearning to learn. That’s why a computer is so valuable for someone with a handicap — it keeps the mind active. The opportunities for learning are endless.

The opportunities are also unlimited for the Christian who wants to grow deeper roots of faith. There are 100’s of Christian sites filled with learning programs — and they’re free. So, there’s no longer any excuse for being ignorant about God’s Word. There’s a good reason for knowing God’s Word as found in Psalm 119: 11 (NIV), “I have hidden your word in my heart (why?) that I might not sin against you.” Good reason!

[But there are thousands of quasi-Christian web-sites out there filled with regurgitations of almost every imaginable heresy ... so know your Bible first and foremost, and pray for the Spirit and for the wisdom to discern the truth from falsehood. RGH]

The concept of “shelf life” intrigues me. It is an expression that describes exactly what it attempts to define. Twinkies have a shelf life of twenty-five days, after which, their existence on the shelf as something edible expires. But it is also an expression that is metaphorically full. In their heyday, “Cabbage Patch Kids” were a phenomenon. Shoppers were injured as the dolls were pulled off the shelves and seized by anxious crowds. The craze was short-lived, however. As far as fads go, their shelf life was relatively brief.

In high school chemistry we took in the ponderous thought that everything has a shelf life. And in fact, in many substances this is an incredibly important number to watch. A variety of compounds, particularly those containing certain unstable elements, become more unstable as they approach their shelf life. Chemical explosives grow increasingly dangerous over time and with exposure to oxygen and other factors in the environment, becoming liable to explode without warning.

There is a tendency to view ideas and thoughts as having a similar aging process. When something is deemed ancient or even slightly “behind the times” it is accordingly considered obsolete. As if it had become out-dated like a loaf of bread or a gallon of milk, the aging thought, in many minds, grows more unusable with time. And in many cases, history has shown this to be an accurate picture. Marxism and communism come to mind as philosophies that rendered themselves useless over time and exposure to the world. Like compounds approaching their shelf life and eventually exploding without warning, their collapse was inevitable.

Ideas undeniably have consequences and some approach their shelf lives more dangerously than others. While some have not fully burst at the seams, signs of instability appear. Grumbles of discontent from within their own camps hint at incoherence.

But the noticeable shelf life of specific ideas should cause us to question the cause of their expiration, rather than assume it is time alone that moves an idea to expire. It is no doubt a well-studied question in science. Factors that increase and decrease the shelf life of a product move well beyond time itself. When certain compounds are stored at decreased temperatures their shelf life is increased significantly. Likewise, the development of preservatives dramatically set back the expiration dates of food upon our shelves. Like compounds and breakfast items, ideas do not expire equally. We are gravely mistaken by dismissing a thought solely because it is old.

The psalmist declares in Psalm 119, “Your promises have been thoroughly tested, and your servant loves them” (119:140). Extending through generation after generation, the laws of God stand untouched and unphased by a changing environment. How often I have learned the hard way, thinking that surely modern thought has improved the idea, only to find myself returning to words commanded generations ago. Again and again his servants discover a reason to love the laws and promises of God: “I learned from your statutes that you established them to last forever” (119:152).

Truth is the ultimate preservative. God's words were not spoken without meaning; his laws are filled with the intention of life. His promises have been thoroughly tested and have yet to expire.

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Copyright © 2004 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. "A Slice of Infinity" is a radio ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.

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When we are young, we can’t wait to grow up. When we are old, we look back longingly to former years. But God intends that we joyfully take each season of life as it comes. Whatever our age, He imparts what we need to be all that we can be. He asks us to commit our way to Him and accept the struggles He allows and the strength He provides.

A woman who was facing the difficulties of aging asked Bible teacher J. Robertson McQuilkin, “Why does God let us get old and weak?” McQuilkin replied, “I think God has planned the strength and beauty of youth to be physical. But the strength and beauty of old age is spiritual. We gradually lose the strength and beauty that is temporary so we’ll be sure to concentrate on the strength and beauty that is forever. And so we’ll be eager to leave the temporary, deteriorating part of us and be truly homesick for our eternal home. If we stayed young and strong and beautiful, we might never want to leave.”

Are you in life’s springtime? Trust God’s timing to fulfill your dreams. Are you in life’s summer or autumn? Face your daily challenges head-on. And if you feel winter’s chill, draw close to the Lord. His presence can make every season of life one of strength and beauty. — Dennis De Haan

Only this hour is mine, Lord-

May it be used for Thee;

May every passing moment

Count for eternity. — Christiansen, © Renewal 1965 Singspiration Inc.

Whatever the season of life, attitude makes all the difference.

In recent weeks, “NBC Nightly News” has begun a series of reports entitled “Trading Places: Caring for your Parents.” The series began with the personal stories of NBC reporters like Brian Williams, Tim Russert and Ann Curry, each of whom is dealing with an increasingly common question: What should I do with my aging parents? Baby boomers are beginning to experience sleepless nights as they worry about their mothers and fathers, and legislators should start to worry, too. The fact is that eldercare is already a national problem, and soon will become a national crisis.

The plight of elderly Americans is a top concern for the Center for a Just Society because this population is at significant risk of abuse and neglect. In my law practice, I have spent decades representing elderly men and women who have endured unspeakable nursing home abuse and neglect. Avoidable pressure ulcers, falls, fractures, infections, malnutrition, dehydration -- all are common problems among the institutionalized elderly.

Short staffing characterizes the operation of too many nursing homes, and many corporate predators operating facilities put profits over people and revenue over residents. The care of the institutionalized elderly is becoming a national disgrace. If these conditions prevailed at Abu Ghraib or in our nation’s daycare centers, members of both parties would be foaming at the mouth, calling for reform. However, because the abused and neglected victims are elderly and frequently “out of sight,” the problem is all too often ignored.

As I have written in the past, three factors will soon place aging Americans at even greater risk in long-term care facilities. Those factors are demographic, economic, and cultural.

DEMOGRAPHICS

In the next 30 years, the number of Americans over the age of 65 is expected to double. More specifically, there will be an 83 percent increase in the number of men and women between the ages of 65-74. There will be a 119 percent increase in those aged 75-84, and there will be a whopping 143 percent increase in people older than 85. A majority of these men and women will require long-term care. Because most Americans are having fewer children, there will be far fewer young people around to take care of the older generation. Therefore, the demand for institutional care will rise sharply. Today there are 16.5 million people living in nursing homes; by the year 2035 that number is expected to double.

ECONOMICS

America is on the threshold of a national crisis when it comes to its old age social assistance programs. In its first year, Medicare had a budget of $1 billion. According to the most recent budget, the cost is now $394 billion. Likewise, the budget for Medicaid has gone from $1 billion in its first year to its current $276 billion annually. With the graying of America, these budgets will only grow larger in the coming years. All of this leads to the year 2018, when Medicare will likely run out of money. This will be far more than an economic crisis; it will be a human crisis. When government funds dry up, what will happen to millions of dependent elderly Americans?

CULTURAL

In addition to the “age wave” and the economic shortfall, there are also cultural changes in America that will put the elderly at increased risk. As we have discussed in many other contexts, our culture is shifting from a “sanctity of life” to a “quality of life” ethic. Increasingly, we are calculating the net worth of human beings based on cost-benefit ratios and quality-of-life calculus. The elderly -- who cost more to maintain than they produce, and whose functional capacities have deteriorated because of old age or illness -- do not score well under these standards. In the next 20 or 30 years, when the elderly are taking up valuable resources and are no longer deemed “useful,” one shudders to imagine what “solutions” might be devised to deal with the growing problem of eldercare.

For a multifaceted crisis, we will need a multifaceted solution. First and foremost, however, Christians should start seeing eldercare as one of the great moral problems of our generation. Sometimes it is easy to think of Medicare reform as an economic problem and abortion and marriage as moral problems. However, more often than not, economic problems have real social impact. Christians should start working to convince the culture that the elderly -- no matter how disabled or helpless -- are fully human and entitled to be treated with dignity and respect. Our elders should have the same rights as everyone else. They ought not be victims of a sliding scale of dignity that erodes their protection as their faculties diminish. We need to be prepared to uphold the rights of the elderly as vigorously as we uphold the rights of the unborn.

The Bible is quite clear on this point. Of course, we already know that we are called to honor our mother and father (Exodus 20:12). As Scripture says, children and grandchildren “should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God” (1 Timothy 5:4). The Apostle Paul is quite adamant: “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Timothy 5:8).

Christians must not ignore the needs of our frail elders. Surely they are to be counted among the “least of these” to whom we owe a duty of care and concern (Matthew 25:40). Paul declares, “Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity” (1 Timothy 5:1-2). While our first priority may be to our immediate family, we should treat all older men and women as fathers and mothers.

Translating this into the public sphere, Christians should be at the forefront of ensuring justice for the infirm and the elderly. We should be in the vanguard of making and enforcing laws that protect the dignity of older men and women, especially those who are languishing in long-term care facilities. The pro-life movement has done an incredible job establishing pregnancy care centers across the country to help women with crisis pregnancies. In a similar way, Christians should start thinking about how they might create an infrastructure to help protect the elderly in the coming years. It is our duty as Christians -- and as citizens -- who were nurtured and cared for by those who now need our help.

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[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #22239]

One fall afternoon in 1994, as a not-new but newly serious believer, I wandered into a small Christian bookstore in a small town in Tennessee, and a book caught my eye. Actually, the title of the book caught my eye: Knowing God, written by someone who, at the time, I’d never heard of ... J.I. Packer.

However, the name of almost every Christian leader I did know (like Chuck Colson, Joni Eareckson Tada, Chuck Swindoll, Elisabeth Elliot, Billy Graham, and others) was on the dust jacket, offering their endorsement of the book. Each was along the lines of: “This is one of the most important books I’ve ever read other than the Bible itself.” So, I picked it up, read it, and I’ve been recommending Knowing God ever since.

The book is best described as a work of “devotional theology.” For many Christians, “devotional” and “theology” are two incompatible words, as if diving deep into theological truth is the stuff of the “head,” while walking with God is more a matter of the “heart.” Packer, in a thoroughly biblical way, destroys that false dichotomy in Knowing God.

Two statements which this Oxford-trained theologian made in the second chapter of the book hit me like a ton of bricks. First, “One can know a great deal about God without much knowledge of Him,” and second, “One can know a great deal about godliness without much knowledge of Him.”

In Knowing God, Packer describes four characteristics of those who truly know God. First, they have great energy for God. Second, they have great thoughts of God. Third, they show great boldness for God. And finally, those who know God have great contentment in God.

Throughout the book, Packer clarifies that God must be known on His own terms. Too often, the God Christians claim to know is One made in our own image. We must know the God revealed in Scripture and clarified by proper theology.

That’s why I recommend this book, even for those who have studied theology deeply. Even though Packer was one of the brightest theological minds of our time, he never forgot what theology was all about. And if you’ve never studied theology, or even think that theology gets in the way of personal devotion to Christ, I’ll wager that Packer’s classic will convince you otherwise.

A few years ago, Dr. Packer announced the end of his public ministry. The eminent pastor-theologian - who authored more than 300 books, book reviews, journal articles, dictionary entries, and forewords, and preached and lectured around the world - was losing his vision. He was sustained during the last several years not by his feelings, but by what he knew to be true about the God he knew.

On The Gospel Coalition website, Dr. Packer told interviewer Ivan Mesa that “in the days when it was physically possible for me to do these things I was concerned, even anxious, to get ahead with doing them. Now that it’s no longer possible I acknowledge the sovereignty of God.”

Describing what he called Christian realism, Dr. Packer continued, “God knows what he’s up to. And I’ve had enough experiences of his goodness in all sorts of ways not to have any doubt about the present circumstances. Some good, something for his glory, is going to come out of it.”

That’s a good word for all of us. Aging is one of the stages of life that our youth-fixated culture doesn’t prepare us for. Years ago, Dr. Packer wrote, “How should we view the onset of old age? The common assumption is that it is mainly a process of loss. But here the Bible breaks in, highlighting the further thought that spiritual ripeness is worth far more than material wealth in any form, and that spiritual ripeness should continue to increase as one gets older.”

That kind of perspective comes not merely from knowing about God, or knowing about godliness, but only comes from truly knowing God.

On July 17, 2020, Dr. J.I. Packer, aged 93, died. When asked for his final words to the church, Packer said: “Glorify Christ every way.” He has now entered his eternal rest, and I join with thousands and thousands of others and thank God that his faith is now sight. Now, at last, he truly and fully knows the God he faithfully studied, and taught so many of us about, for many years.

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“J. I. Packer, 89, On Losing Sight But Seeing Christ,” by Ivan Mesa, The Gospel Coalition, January 14, 2016

“Knowing God,” by Dr. J. I. Packer.

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Copyright (c) 2020 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with permission. "BreakPoint" is a radio ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries.

For decades, the solution to aging has seemed merely decades away. In the early nineties, research on C. elegans, a tiny nematode worm that resembles a fleck of lint, showed that a single gene mutation extended its life, and that another mutation blocked that extension. The idea that age could be manipulated by twiddling a few control knobs ignited a research boom, and soon various clinical indignities had increased the worm’s life span by a factor of ten and those of lab mice by a factor of two. The scientific consensus transformed. Age went from being a final stage (a Time cover from 1958: “Growing Old Usefully”) and a social issue (Time, 1970: “Growing Old in America: The Unwanted Generation”) to something avoidable (1996: “Forever Young”) or at least vastly deferrable (2015: “This Baby Could Live to Be 142 Years Old”). Death would no longer be a metaphysical problem, merely a technical one.

The celebration was premature. Gene research is tremendously complicated even for simple creatures and humans are far more complex.

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Adapted from Tad Friend's article, "The God Pill."

Ray Kurzweil wants to eradicate natural aging and death. If his plans don’t advance as quickly as he expects and he ends up dying, he will be frozen in liquid nitrogen with instructions to reawaken him once science has figured out immortality.

“People are daunted when they hear of these things,” Kurzweil once said. “Then they say, ‘I don’t know if I want to live that long.’” For Kurzweil, who has two children, the acceptance of inevitable death is no saner than the acceptance of early death. “It’s a common philosophical position that death gives meaning to life, but death is a great robber of meaning,” he said. “It robs us of love. It is a complete loss of ourselves. It is a tragedy.”

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Adapted from Tad Friend's article, "The God Pill."

Ray Kurzweil wants to eradicate natural aging and death. If his plans don’t advance as quickly as he expects and he ends up dying, he will be frozen in liquid nitrogen with instructions to reawaken him once science has figured out immortality.

“People are daunted when they hear of these things,” Kurzweil once said. “Then they say, ‘I don’t know if I want to live that long.’” For Kurzweil, who has two children, the acceptance of inevitable death is no saner than the acceptance of early death. “It’s a common philosophical position that death gives meaning to life, but death is a great robber of meaning,” he said. “It robs us of love. It is a complete loss of ourselves. It is a tragedy.”

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Adapted from Tad Friend's article, "The God Pill."

In recent weeks, “NBC Nightly News” has begun a series of reports entitled “Trading Places: Caring for your Parents.” The series began with the personal stories of NBC reporters like Brian Williams, Tim Russert and Ann Curry, each of whom is dealing with an increasingly common question: What should I do with my aging parents? Baby boomers are beginning to experience sleepless nights as they worry about their mothers and fathers, and legislators should start to worry, too. The fact is that eldercare is already a national problem, and soon will become a national crisis.

The plight of elderly Americans is a top concern for the Center for a Just Society because this population is at significant risk of abuse and neglect. In my law practice, I have spent decades representing elderly men and women who have endured unspeakable nursing home abuse and neglect. Avoidable pressure ulcers, falls, fractures, infections, malnutrition, dehydration -- all are common problems among the institutionalized elderly.

Short staffing characterizes the operation of too many nursing homes, and many corporate predators operating facilities put profits over people and revenue over residents. The care of the institutionalized elderly is becoming a national disgrace. If these conditions prevailed at Abu Ghraib or in our nation’s daycare centers, members of both parties would be foaming at the mouth, calling for reform. However, because the abused and neglected victims are elderly and frequently “out of sight,” the problem is all too often ignored.

As I have written in the past, three factors will soon place aging Americans at even greater risk in long-term care facilities. Those factors are demographic, economic, and cultural.

DEMOGRAPHICS

In the next 30 years, the number of Americans over the age of 65 is expected to double. More specifically, there will be an 83 percent increase in the number of men and women between the ages of 65-74. There will be a 119 percent increase in those aged 75-84, and there will be a whopping 143 percent increase in people older than 85. A majority of these men and women will require long-term care. Because most Americans are having fewer children, there will be far fewer young people around to take care of the older generation. Therefore, the demand for institutional care will rise sharply. Today there are 16.5 million people living in nursing homes; by the year 2035 that number is expected to double.

ECONOMICS

America is on the threshold of a national crisis when it comes to its old age social assistance programs. In its first year, Medicare had a budget of $1 billion. According to the most recent budget, the cost is now $394 billion. Likewise, the budget for Medicaid has gone from $1 billion in its first year to its current $276 billion annually. With the graying of America, these budgets will only grow larger in the coming years. All of this leads to the year 2018, when Medicare will likely run out of money. This will be far more than an economic crisis; it will be a human crisis. When government funds dry up, what will happen to millions of dependent elderly Americans?

CULTURAL

In addition to the “age wave” and the economic shortfall, there are also cultural changes in America that will put the elderly at increased risk. As we have discussed in many other contexts, our culture is shifting from a “sanctity of life” to a “quality of life” ethic. Increasingly, we are calculating the net worth of human beings based on cost-benefit ratios and quality-of-life calculus. The elderly -- who cost more to maintain than they produce, and whose functional capacities have deteriorated because of old age or illness -- do not score well under these standards. In the next 20 or 30 years, when the elderly are taking up valuable resources and are no longer deemed “useful,” one shudders to imagine what “solutions” might be devised to deal with the growing problem of eldercare.

For a multifaceted crisis, we will need a multifaceted solution. First and foremost, however, Christians should start seeing eldercare as one of the great moral problems of our generation. Sometimes it is easy to think of Medicare reform as an economic problem and abortion and marriage as moral problems. However, more often than not, economic problems have real social impact. Christians should start working to convince the culture that the elderly -- no matter how disabled or helpless -- are fully human and entitled to be treated with dignity and respect. Our elders should have the same rights as everyone else. They ought not be victims of a sliding scale of dignity that erodes their protection as their faculties diminish. We need to be prepared to uphold the rights of the elderly as vigorously as we uphold the rights of the unborn.

The Bible is quite clear on this point. Of course, we already know that we are called to honor our mother and father (Exodus 20:12). As Scripture says, children and grandchildren “should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God” (1 Timothy 5:4). The Apostle Paul is quite adamant: “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Timothy 5:8).

Christians must not ignore the needs of our frail elders. Surely they are to be counted among the “least of these” to whom we owe a duty of care and concern (Matthew 25:40). Paul declares, “Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity” (1 Timothy 5:1-2). While our first priority may be to our immediate family, we should treat all older men and women as fathers and mothers.

Translating this into the public sphere, Christians should be at the forefront of ensuring justice for the infirm and the elderly. We should be in the vanguard of making and enforcing laws that protect the dignity of older men and women, especially those who are languishing in long-term care facilities. The pro-life movement has done an incredible job establishing pregnancy care centers across the country to help women with crisis pregnancies. In a similar way, Christians should start thinking about how they might create an infrastructure to help protect the elderly in the coming years. It is our duty as Christians -- and as citizens -- who were nurtured and cared for by those who now need our help.

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[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #22239]

Should humans live forever? Amy Wagers, a researcher at Harvard, says, “Part of the meaning of life is that we die.” The Greeks warned about the danger of grasping for godlike powers. It didn’t work out well for Asclepius or Achilles, and it worked out even worse for Tithonus, whose lover, Eos, begged Zeus to grant him eternal life but forgot to request eternal youth as well. Decrepit, senile, and miserable, Tithonus eventually shrank into a cicada who stridulated ceaselessly, calling out for release.

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Adapted from Tad Friend's article, "The God Pill."

Actor Nick Nolte, 74, has found getting old to be a painful experience, said Dave Rothbart in GQ. “I cry every day,” he says. “It’s nothing tragic or anything -- it’s just life. I cry when I try to get out of bed, because I’m in my 70s and my body hurts like hell. Once my joints are moving, I’m all right, but those are my first tears in the morning.”

Nolte’s acute sense of morality is reinforced every time an old friend dies. “That’ll always bring on a good cry. Last summer, it was screenwriter and director Paul Mazursky. His wake was classic. I saw faces I hadn’t seen in years. Mel Brooks. Richard Dreyfuss. “It was a great wake, but then you can’t help but think about your own funeral.”

But Nolte says that perhaps the most painful consequence of growing old is seeing your children become involved in their own lives and slowly drift away. “My son is 28. We’ve had a close relationship all my life, but now that he’s gotten married and had his own family, he’s much more secretive. He’ll say, ‘That’s none of your business, Dad. Leave me alone.’ And that’s a sad one -- letting go of your children. They have to put their own family and responsibilities first. There are no longer yours; they never really were.”