Sometimes I Feel That I’m Too Old (Sometimes Series #6)
A Christian hero – Dr. J. Vernon McGee – Pastor and Bible teacher – died in 1988 at the age of 84 …still preaching and teaching on a daily basis
When Dr. J. Vernon McGee talked about the Bible, people listened. He was the most beloved Bible teacher of his generation.
In a sit-down conversation after he had preached what would be his last Sunday sermon he did not talk about the past
He did not mention the good old days and all that he had accomplished for the Kingdom – which was seriously substantial
The only subject that interested him was the future
He was fascinated by the technology of audio-tape and broadcasting
He was looking to the future and how to keep his ministry fruitful long after he was gone
He was correct about that
Fifteen years after Dr. McGee’s death (2003), the Wall Street Journal published an article about him
Writer Anne Wilde Matthews reported that McGee’s radio program was broadcast on 800 radio stations in the U.S. And Canada
His teachings were being beamed around the world via satellite and the Internet in more than 100 languages
Thru the Bible, his radio program, had added an additional 300 North American affiliates and dozens of new languages since his death…
A side note: The numbers are even greater today as every year his ministry grows in nations around the world
Dr. McGee’s wholehearted ministry has not stopped even in his death
A similar story could be told of another giant of that same era – Derek Prince – whose teachings and books are still read and listened to worldwide – especially in Eastern Europe and Central Asia
It’s fascinating to me that Dr. McGee foresaw this and carefully planted the seeds for it
In his final message, he was teaching from the verse: “By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts, and through it he being dead still speaks” (Hebrews 11:4 emphasis added)
In other words, the excellence of his gifts gave Abel a voice beyond the grave
That’s what Dr. McGee wanted, and again God has granted it!
He lived “Life Wide Open”
Some men leave monuments of stone – where I work in every city there is one or more monuments to Lenin and Stalin who were the key founding fathers of the nation of Russia
And the U.S.S.R. and now several economic unions involving former U.S.S.R. nations
But Christians are to leave living monuments that continue to impact people and change hearts so that the Kingdom continues to expand
Dr. McGee and others did just that and continue to do so today
Though he spoke of Cain, Dr. J. Vernon McGee reminds me more of Caleb – the less celebrated friend of Joshua
You’ll remember that the two of them brought the minority report from the Promised Land, which they described as an abundant land of milk and honey
They were ready to seize their inheritance in God’s name
Joshua and Caleb were, at that time, in the prime of their lives — Caleb was 40 years old
But the other scouts / spies – the majority party – counselled the Israelites to fear the giants in the land and keep away
The lack of faith cost Israel an entire generation of restless wandering before they finally claimed the land God had reserved for them
But it is the rest of Caleb’s story that is most fascinating to me
He was 85 years old when he achieved his peak accomplishment — a man living with wide-open faith right to the end – just like J. Vernon McGee
Slogan: Life Wide Open
Caleb was enthusiastic about life
He engaged life
He embraced life
He lived life with energy and excitement and anticipation
Always looking forward and never looking back — Life Wide Open
This is how Caleb described himself at age eighty-five
“Now look at me: GOD has kept me alive, as he promised. It is now forty-five years since GOD spoke this word to Moses, years in which Israel wandered in the wilderness. And here I am today, eighty-five years old! I’m as strong as I was the day Moses sent me out. I’m as strong as ever in battle, whether coming or going” (Joshua 14:10-11 The Message Version)
It’s clear that Caleb was passionate in his youth as well as his elderly years
And, of course, I am looking at this on a very personal level as I reach what today would still be considered old age … because “Sometimes I feel that I am too old”
So, the question would be: “Where did his passion come from?”
It certainly wasn’t the product of an easy journey
You could summarize Caleb’s life at eighty-five in three D’s: Desert, Death, and Discouragement
All of his contemporaries and friends were dying
You might remember that a condition for entering the Promised Land was that all of the unfaithful generation — the one that shied away from giants — had to die before God would permit the crossing of the Jordan into the Promised Land
These were Caleb’s friends and neighbours; family and friends
It took 38 wilderness years for that to happen
Caleb grew older as he waited through the decades
Checking the obituaries every day and seeing the last of his old friends die
A generation of funerals would make the best of us gloomy and depressed
But not Caleb
We see in these verses that his engines are still reviving
The fire in the furnace of his soul was still lit
He was living life wide open for God!
He was not enjoying retirement
He was not just waiting to die – coasting downhill
He was passionate about God, about his calling as a believer, and about life
He was engaged with life – embracing all and every opportunity
He was excited about the future
He was living with a vision of what could be
In a discussion recently with nine secular leaders who had distinguished themselves by their vision… the moderator wrote:
“While their contemporaries groped at the present to feel a pulse, or considered the past to discern the course that led to the moment, these nine squinted through the veil of the future. Not that they were mystics … For most of them, reality was pure and simple. What set them apart was the conviction that a greater reality lay a number of years down the pike.”
No one questioned Caleb’s pulse as he too looked to a greater future and had a vision of what could be
Forty years earlier he had done reconnaissance work in hostile territory
He and Joshua had seen opportunity where the others had seen opposition
He based his recommendations not on the problems but on the provision and power of God
Listen to the boldness in his declaration:
Numbers 13:30; 14:7-8 “But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it … and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. If the LORD delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey.”
If only the people had listened to the voice of faith instead of the voice of fear
In listening to and believing the ten spies who brought a negative report, they doomed themselves to a generation of emptiness and wandering
And, we do the same when we listen to the wrong internal voice
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- It is just too difficult – I can’t do it
- I will never be smart (strong, fast) enough to manage that
- There is no way I can overcome my past – scared for life
- I am getting too old for this type of challenge
- This is just who I am
- I was always told I would not amount to anything
- No one cares what I think
- No one ever listens to what I am saying
- God could never use me…
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Caleb waited out the time though the punishment wasn’t his to endure
He kept his heart young and his faith active – and at 85 years old he told God what he wanted:
Joshua 14:12 “So now give me this hill country of which the LORD spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the LORD will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the LORD said.”
What would most of us ask for at eighty-five?
“Lord, giver me a nice mountain cabin in one of the fortified regions, where I will be safe. Just give me a nice place to rest these tired bones.”
No one would have criticized Caleb for being ready to sit back, relax and take it easy
We expect people to be broken down and sick and living in quiet despair at that age
To live life with “little energy and no spirit”
But in fact Caleb was living life wide open (to the future) … embracing and engaging in God’s plan and purpose
With tremendous energy and a strong spirit
In our world today … many who are in their 30’s and 40’s are already living like they are in their 70’s and 80’s…
Life shut down and not life wide open
Disengaged and not embracing the challenges
Waiting for the weekend so they can relax or go drinking or watch the game on cable television…
A survey of people in the business world… but findings speak volumes about the church world as well…
“People enter business as bright, well educated, high energy people, full of desire to make a difference. By the time they are 30, a few are on the fast tracking; the rest put in their time and do what really matters to them on the weekend. They lose the commitment, the sense of mission, and the excitement with which they started their careers. We get … little of their energy and almost none of their spirit.”
Why is this true in life and in the Christian faith?
I believe it is because, unlike Caleb….
Most adults have little sense of real vision
We have goals and objective, but these are not vision
When asked what they want, many adults will say what they want to get rid of
They’d like a better job – that is, they’d like to get rid of the boring and demanding job they have
They’s like to live in a better neighbourhood
Not have to worry about crime
Being finished putting their kids through school
They would like their mother-in-law to return to her own home
It would be great if their back stopped hurting
These are “negative visions” and really not visions at all – but common among believers and non-believers as well
Real vision allows you to live life wide open and is looking to the future
One bright teenager looked at those over thirty and said:
“We shouldn’t call them ‘grown ups,’ we should call them ‘given ups’
They are not living life wide open – embracing opportunities and celebrating life
They lack passion and drive
And so live life with little energy and no spirit
Caleb had both passion and drive
He did not use his grey hair or his age to beg off the heavy lifting
He asked for a worthy challenge that he could embrace and engage in
The alternative that many settle for – old and young alike – is to “retire” from life – doing as little as possible to get by … not challenging themselves – in essence, already retired
Since I retired from life’s competition,
Each day is filled with complete repetition.
I get up each morning and dust off my wits,
Go pick up the paper and read the “obits.”
If my name isn’t there, I know I’m not dead,
So I get a good breakfast and go back to bed.
We might call this a life shut tight …
Going through the motions with no emotions
Dead fish float downstream …
A life shut down … for all intents and purpose – dead but still living
Caleb lived a life wide open as did J. Vernon McGee
Why is it that we fear growing old?
We fear getting old either in age or in our approach to life
In the Bible – old was good!
Proverbs 16:31 tells us, “The silver-haired head is a crown of glory”
In our youth-possessed culture it seems to be consider a crown of thorns
Here’s a thought:
As soon as we stop living (engaging in life; living life wide open), we literally begin dying
We find the words “old and advanced in years” six time in the Bible
It means exactly what it says
But, five of the six times this phrase crops up in the Bible, the “old and advanced” person is about to experience something astonishing
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- Abraham (100) and Sarah (age 90) are “old and advanced in years” as they are about to give birth to Isaac
- Zacharias and Elizabeth are “old and advanced in years” before they give birth to John the Baptist.
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- Joshua was “old and advanced in years” before he gave the marching orders to enter the land of God’s promise
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The Israelites were given specific instructions about dealing with the region’s inhabitants
But at the age of 85, only Caleb fully carried out his orders
As we read through these chapters of the book of Joshua, we see the words “did not drive them out” over and over – failure to do as commanded
Joshua 13:13 Yet the people of Israel did not drive out the Geshurites or the Maacathites, but Geshur and Maacath dwell in the midst of Israel to this day.”
Joshua 15:63 “But the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the people of Judah could not drive out, so the Jebusites dwell with the people of Judah at Jerusalem to this day.”
Joshua 16:10 “However, they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites have lived in the midst of Ephraim to this day but have been made to do forced labor.”
After the glorious crossing of the Jorden, the Israelites left unfinished business in their wake
If they had driven out the various tribes who were enemies of God, their future would have been peaceful and secure
Instead, the Canaanites remained a thorn in Israel’s collective side for many years to come
But then there was Caleb…
Joshua 15:14 “And Caleb drove out from there the three sons of Anak, Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai, the descendants of Anak.
No unfinished business there
Caleb did exactly what he was told, and he did it immediately
He is one of those success stories whose secret is not a secret
There is a distinctive that sets him apart from the others
Caleb’s entire life story is told in 30 verses in the Bible
Six times in those 30 verses we see a recurring theme – the secret of success
- “”But my servant Caleb—this is a different story. He has a different spirit; he follows me passionately. I’ll bring him into the land that he scouted and his children will inherit it (Numbers 14:24 MSG).
- “None, except for Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua son of Nun; they followed me—their hearts were in it’” (Numbers 32:12 MSG)
- “Not a single person of this evil generation is going to get so much as a look at the good land that I promised to give to your parents. Not one— except for Caleb son of Jephunneh. He’ll see it. I’ll give him and his descendants the land he walked on because he was all for following GOD, heart and soul” (Deuteronomy 1:35-36 MSG)
- “My companions who went with me discouraged the people, but I stuck to my guns, totally with GOD, my God. That was the day that Moses solemnly promised, ‘The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance, you and your children’s, forever. Yes, you have lived totally for GOD’” (Joshua 14:8-9 MSG).
- “Hebron belongs to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite still today, because he gave himself totally to GOD, the God of Israel” (Joshua 14:14 MSG).
Caleb’s passion breaks through so we can’t miss it
He had a “different spirit” and followed God will all his heart (passionately)
The Great Commandment* was embedded deep in Caleb’s soul in his early life
And it guided him throughout his days
- “Love GOD, your God, with your whole heart: love him with all that’s in you, love him with all you’ve got” (Deuteronomy 6:5 MSG)
*”‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’” (Matthew 22:37 MSG)
By the time he was 85, while most of his generation had given up hope and died
Caleb was still a bright fire burning
He still wanted to leap on the greatest possible task that God could give him
In his biography of Bob Pierce (Founder of World Vision), Dr. Graham’s son Franklin tells about Dr. Charles McCoy, a pastor from Oyster Bay, New York
Dr. McCoy was a tall, distinguished man with seven university degrees
His church expected him to step down at age seventy-two and move into a retirement home
But Dr. McCoy was an explorer at heart, and to everyone’s surprise, he sold his possessions and travelled to India, where a man had invited him to preach.
His friends tried to dissuade him, saying, “You might die in India.”
But he replied, “It’s just as close to heaven from there as it is from here.”
During his trip, his luggage was lost
And he no sooner arrived than his billfold and passport were stolen
The man who had invited him had returned to the States, and Dr. McCoy knew no one else in India.
A group of missionaries took him in but were not sure what to do with him.
Dr. McCoy never missed a beat
He travelled through Asia for 16 years, having unusual opportunities to share Christ before political leaders, military academies, educational institutions, and large crowds of people
He planted churches in Calcutta and Hong Kong.
When he passed away at age 86 at the Grand Hotel in Calcutta, a friend said, “He had come to the end of his great adventure. He was as close to heaven as if he had never left New York. He had been faithful.”
The truth is that if you are being moulded into the image of Christ every day
And if the Holy Spirit is doing His ongoing work in you
And if you are doing all that you can to serve God as the days and months and years are piled upon one another
Then you are going to shine
Think of what the Spirit of God can do within someone who has lived half a century or more and still wants to grow and mature
Living life wide open
Swimming up stream
Embracing and engaging with life – every day, every opportunity
Think of the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) continuing to blossom in that person’s life
In your life…
Think of that fruit coming into season as you reach your ripening years
We should cal, those years harvest years when the best, sweetest things in your life become ripe and delicious
One of the most pervasive and cynical lies of our time is that all the good stuff comes in the first half of life
That after you reach 60, it’s all downhill
Bruce Larson (Christian author with 23 books still in print …died in 2008) wrote:
“A life of safety is no life at all, whatever your vocation. Still, we are programmed from an early age to start providing for a safe and desire future. Through pension funds and retirement benefits, we work towards removing all risk from our lives by the time we are 65. Yet in the three societies sociologists have studied where people normally live to 100 and frequently to 120, there is no special treatment for the aged … Scientists who have studied these societies have found they have nothing in common in terms of climate, diet, geography, or lifestyle. But in all three places, the inhabitants are expected to live normal lives with no cushion for safety. They continue to work, tend fields, and keep shops until they die at 100 plus. I am convinced that God never invented old age. Death is a gift, but old age is man’s invention. It is a cultural blight in our lifetime.”
George Bernard Shaw – not a believer – came close to the essence of the man I want to be in these words he wrote:
“This is the true joy in life — being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one, being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy … I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me. It is sort of a splendid torch which I’ve got a hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.”
No matter what age you are – young or youngish…
Embrace each day of life as a gift from the Lord
Engage in that day fully living life wide open – eyes on the future
Encounter each situation or problem as an opportunity to see God work on your behalf
Encourage everyone you speak with to consider Jesus
Experience life fully – don’t shut your life down as you hit the upper years
You know, when I first moved out west – a young wise man from the east – I discovered something that is unique to this part of the world
During the many pot-luck, blessed pot suppers I was honoured to attend … just before dessert was brought in some one would say, “Save your fork — the best is yet to come!”
No matter how old you are – “save your fork – the best is yet to come”