Growing Old - Blessing or Curse?
Some reflections on growing older in a 3-part series
PART 3
In Part 1 and Part 2 of this series we have looked at different aspects of ageing and the importance of the new body we will receive at the return of Jesus. In this section we will turn our attention to dangers and blessings.
5. Ageing holds dangers…
There are several dangers as we age. I will mention three.
a) I do not want to be a grumpy old woman. The Israelites grumbled against God and God was not pleased. Paul tells us that complaining dulls our witness to a world where we are meant to shine like bright lights (Philippians 2:14-15). It is so easy to trot out a litany of the way our bodies are letting us down. When someone asks us how we are going, why not answer with a comment about God’s kindness to us in the past week, or an observation about our confidence in God’s sovereign purposes for us?
Jeremiah, in Lamentations 3:22-24, encourages us to preach to ourselves:
“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”
b) Another danger is selfishness. As we get older and that intense time of working hard and caring for our children passes, we could be tempted to think that this is my time, our time. Four million babies were born in Australia between 1946-1964. These Baby Boomers now comprise 30% of the Australian population. If you read the research, we are a self-centred generation.
We like working from home, luxury retirement units, anti-ageing supplements and climate control (i.e., aircon!). We dislike wrinkles, social security and insecurity. Hobbies are low-impact sports, travelling, wining and dining and ticking off the bucket list. We have massive resources at our disposal (some trillions of dollars) that we spend on ourselves.
I heard of a wall hanging that a couple had in their living room. It used “R.E.T.I.R.E” as an acronym: Relax, Entertain, Travel, Indulge, Read, Enjoy.
What will it mean to grow old as a baby boomer in Australia when Christ is our greatest treasure? It will mean a radical break with the mindset of our unbelieving peers. Do we need to be more generous? Can we be gospel patrons, resourcing Christian work in our churches and overseas mission?
c) The third danger as we age is the threat of not persevering, that the trials we face obscure our vision of our Saviour. We want to be able to say, with Paul, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:7-8)
The reward of final rest with Jesus in eternity, and the crown of righteousness will come to those who have loved his appearing, that is, those who love him more than anything else and recognise that he is the answer to the desperate situation that we and the world find ourselves in. And if we turn our back on that, then our salvation is in jeopardy.
Not persevering looks like: becoming increasingly afraid as we get closer to death; not believing that our sin has been forgiven and wiped out by the death of Jesus; working franticly to make sure God looks favourably on us; or thinking that living a holy life is a waste of effort.
Do not let that happen. Let’s be clear-eyed about what Jesus has achieved for us, and stay the course.
6. … and blessings!
Getting old is not a reason to retreat into senile obscurity, but to get excited about the possibilities of what good works God may have prepared for us to walk in (Ephesians 2:10). Now is the time to serve with a greater freedom that comes with not needing to earn an income or to be involved in the more intense period of parenting. Here are some examples:
a) Passing on the wisdom you have amassed over many years. Titus 2:3-4 already gives us a template for older women to have a ministry to younger women, but the same also applies to older and younger men. Reflect on how you can exercise this sort of spiritual mentoring ministry to younger men and women in your church.
b) Find someone (older or younger) who would benefit from some focussed input from the Bible. Ask if they would like to meet and read the Bible with you. A good resource is One-To-One Bible Reading by David Helm (https://matthiasmedia.com.au/products/one-to-one-bible-reading)
c) Practise grace-filled hospitality. Invite mature single men or women (whether never married, widowed or divorced), or socially isolated or awkward people into your life and home.
d) Consider whether you are able to help mission agencies. Mission Seek is a ministry of Missions Interlink, the Australian network for global mission. Through Missions Interlink, organisations collaborate to support and assist Australian Christians to be effectively engaged in cross-cultural and global mission. They have a special interest in retired Christians. Check out their website: https://www.missionseek.com.au/christian-retiree-roles/
e) Do you have time to visit, write to or ring lonely shut-ins? Even an SMS text of an encouraging word and passage of Scripture can be enormously significant for someone.
f) Ministry to grandchildren is a wonderful privilege. Take them out for lunch, encourage them in their Christian faith or demonstrate your love for them if they are not walking with Jesus. If they will have you, just spend time with them!
g) Maybe now is the time to be trained as a Bible Study group leader - it’s never too late to learn a new skill!
h) And then there’s time—more time than you’ve ever had before to read the Bible and good Christian books and to pray.
What a blessing! In many ways ageing is a privileged time when our vision of the future gets clearer, we look forward to spending eternity with our Father and the Lamb, and we can serve the Lord with joy and wisdom.
Lesley Ramsay has been in local church ministry with her husband, Jim, for 47 years. After university she trained as a teacher and then raised four children. Over the past 30 years she has worked as a Bible teacher and evangelist across Australia and overseas. She has written and edited several books and training packages that are sold and used internationally. She now works at Moore College in Sydney, in pastoral care to the students. To relax, she enjoys a good coffee and a good book and hanging out with her grandchildren.