My Birthday Gift To You

Last Sunday I heard a sermon that touched me deeply. The Pastor spoke about how we all like to compare ourselves to others. They have this, but I don't. They are recognized and praised, but I am not. Or the other way around. I'm so very happy that I have this or that I am better than him. And so forth. Yes, I realized, this is indeed how I am. I'm forever comparing myself to someone else, someone who is better than me, who has what I want and so forth.

At that point he changed gears and asked all of us hearers to turn to Psalm 139.

O LORD, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. ... 

If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night," even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you. For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. 

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! - Psa 139:1-2, 11-17 ESV

My LORD Jesus knows everything about me. He knows how my pride-filled heart urges me to be jealous of others or to boast about how wonderful I am in comparison to them. He knows how I love to make myself out to be what I am not or how I beat myself down because I am not applauded as this one or that one is. . . He knows my sin and my sinful nature.

And yet He loves me, forgives me and has formed all these days for me, days in which I may receive His forgiveness and mercy, days in which I may praise and thank Him, days in which I may serve others in His name. He had this all worked out long before I was formed in my mother's womb, when as yet there was not a single day in which I lived.

All this is so precious, so wonderful, so vast. And it comes to me from the living and active Word of God. This is the Word that gets to the very bottom of my being, dividing even my soul from my spirit, just as if I were slicing up a side of beef or pork for a meal. My God discerns every thought and intention in my heart, knows them better than I do. Not a single one of my thoughts is hidden from Him. I stand naked and exposed before Him. . . and yet He loves me. This is what Jesus has come to reveal to me. This is what the Hebrews letter tells me—and you as well (Hebrews 4:12-13).

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. - Hbr 4:14-15 ESV

Jesus, my high priest, understands me. He knows my weakness. He knows how I fall into the temptation to boast one day and then the next fall head-long into the ditch of despair and doubt. He sympathizes with me. He can relate, because He too faced these temptations, along with all other kinds. But He did not sin. Instead He assumed responsibility for my sin.

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. - Hbr 4:16 ESV 

Because Jesus has identified with me, because He understands what I'm going through, I can draw near to Him unafraid. He is praying for me. He is pleading my case before His Father. He is asking the Father to forgive and bless me—all because of His perfect obedience and His suffering and dying upon the cross for my sake. So He is always there with His undeserved yet complete grace. In my time of need I always have Him.

As I said, I needed to hear that last Sunday. I want you to know about it today. Today is my birth-day. And on this day I want this good news to give you new birth, new life, a new beginning. It is my birthday gift to you—in the name of Jesus.

Does Old Age Have Meaning?

The question of meaning has increased for me as I entered old age. So many of my age fall into the despair as they struggle to find meaning in their lives. In the book of Ecclesiastes Solomon uses poignant images to describe the breakdown of our mortal bodies and warns us to make our peace with our Creator before these days come.

Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, "I have no pleasure in them"; before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain, in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those who look through the windows are dimmed, and the doors on the street are shut--when the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low-- they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and desire fails, because man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets-- before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. - Ecc 12:1-7 ESV

If you have ever been to a nursing home you have seen those whom Solomon describes, sitting, tied to their wheel chairs, white heads hanging low, eyes dull, toothless, trembling, groaning and staring out at nothing in particular. It can be a most disturbing spectacle. 


But even before reaching this stage in life, many in old age ask about the meaning of life. A white paper on old age and meaning by Sage Publications suggests there are two significant questions to ask:

1. Does old age have a meaning for society? 
2. How do individuals actually experience their lives as meaningful in the last stage of life? 

I'd like to rephrase the questions:

1. Does anyone feel that we old people are important?
2. How do I personally make sense of this final stage in my life? 

So often people talk about what a wonderful thing it must be to be retired and have time to do things you really want to do. "Yeah, right," says a friend. "I tried that and in two years I got bored to death with three or four games of golf every week. Now what do I do? Watch TV? This retirement thing really stinks."


The Sage white paper points out that we're not all alike by any means. Broadly speaking, people over age 65 tend to do the same sorts of things they did in their middle years. Some things slow down however. For instance one study of leisure found that after age 65 only about 17% go to movies. Travel among people over 75 also diminishes. Other activities, such as outdoor gardening, TV watching, watching sports and just talking with friends remain strong.


One interesting fact for business is that Americans over 50 command more than half of all discretionary income and account for 40% of consumer demand. The young-old are much more likely to travel than the old-old. All in all, as noted, people continue to do the sorts of things they are familiar with and find meaningful as long as they can. Of course, as Solomon points out, the body doesn't stay healthy and whole forever. So elderly find themselves limited by illness and weakness and eventually forced to stop altogether.


Another friend of mine spent much of his life traveling the world to present seminars and training for people in his profession. Now he has heart disease and cancer. He struggles to continue, but his medical problems are raise big barriers. He talks about his final keynote speech at a conference in London. But will his health allow it? And what then?


Does God offer any help to those who are in old age or approaching it? Personally, I've never found the Solomon's words of much help. They fill me with anxiety, despair and hopelessness. They are meant to do that, of course. Don't forget your Creator, he warns. You won't live forever. Make your peace with God "before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it."


There's much more in Scripture beyond these somber words. In the next couple posts I'll take a look at many other passages that do provide meaning, hope and encouragement to seniors. 

Teen Suicide and Faith

When my cousin Eloise and I were children growing up on our families' farms, we'd often play cowboys and Indians while our twin mothers chatted on the front porch. We were always partners in those imaginary battles, saving one another from many imaginary foes.

As I entered my teens I began to realize a different kind of battle and prayed for a different kind of partner. Many teens fight the same battle as I did, a battle for self-esteem, recognition by peers, a growing sense of meaning and purpose. Many continue to lose that battle to suicide.

Suicide is the third leading cause of death for 15-to-24-year-olds, and the sixth leading cause of death for 5-to-14-year-olds.

I still remember the despair I felt when I tried out for the basketball team and found out that I was not on the roster. The athletes in our school were the heroes, the people admired and applauded. Sure I was allowed to play on the B-team, but was even more ashamed and humiliated when I realized I was to spend most of my time on the bench of even that team. I wanted to run away to some place where no one knew me, some place where I could hide, some place where I would never have to feel the rotten feelings broiling inside.

Teenagers experience stress, confusion, self-doubt, pressure to succeed, financial uncertainty, and other fears while growing up. For some teenagers, divorce, the formation of a new family with step-parents and step-siblings is the cause of anxiety and doubt.

I grew up in a farm community and went away to a church boarding school when I was but 13 years old. During the first semester of my freshman high school year I contracted pneumonia. My parents brought me home and enrolled me in our local public high school for the second semester of that year. While there the feelings of isolation and loneliness increased as I spent week after week with kids who shunned me. They knew I was only there for that one semester and would then return to my "private school." It was a wretched experience.

To an adult these hardly seem like reasons to take your own life. Sadly, this is not always so for a teen. The strange reality is that some irrationally believe that death is only temporary, like when Eloise and I pretended we were killed in one of our mock battles. In a few seconds we would rise up again with the words, "I'm a new man," and the play would continue.

From a pastor's viewpoint, I would strongly suggest that we do whatever it takes to keep in touch with our children and to encourage them with the words based upon what the Apostle says in 1 Corinthians: "God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful." In other words, you can always count on Jesus to guide you through all this stuff. And again in his letter to the Romans he reminds us, young and old, that no matter what comes along, we will always taste victory through Him who loved and still loves us (Rom.8:31-39).