I'm Too Old
Rock My World • Sermon • Submitted
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· 15 viewsOne of my favorite Zig Ziglar proverbs is, “We all need a daily check-up from the neck up to avoid stinkin' thinkin' which ultimately leads to hardening of the attitudes.” This Sunday, we begin a new series studying some of the Bible stories telling how God often challenges our “stinkin’ thinkin’.” The very first story is also one of the first stories in the Bible. Popular wisdom assumes we get smarter about life issues as we age. In our story for the week some very old people have a very big issue with stinkin’ thinkin’, and not surprisingly, God gives them a check up from the neck up.
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“Yeah, right!”
“Yeah, right!”
So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?”
gen
75 and 65
75 and 65
And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
gen 12.
But....
But....
After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”
But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”
And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.”
And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.”
gen15.
And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
85 and 75
85 and 75
Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar.
And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.
Gen16.
So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife.
And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress.
gen16.2
And Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the Lord judge between you and me!”
But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.
99 and 89
99 and 89
And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.
I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.”
Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”
And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!”
God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him.
As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation.
But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.”
gen17.21
The promise - again
The promise - again
They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “She is in the tent.”
The Lord said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him.
Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah.
So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?”
The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’
Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.”
gen18.1
But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.”
gen18.
“I’m too old!”
“I’m too old!”
100 and 90
100 and 90
The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised.
And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him.
Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac.
And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.
Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.”
And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
Is anything too difficult for the Lord?
Is anything too difficult for the Lord?
And the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.
What? “I’m too old? What business are you in? Excuse me? What business are you in? I'm in the business of saving people for eternity, and shouldn't that be the business that you're in, too? Shouldn't that be the business that we're all in? We are the church.
Yes, we work in the church.
Some people think it's a terrible place.
It is a wonderful place.
It is a sacred place.
We live in a time and culture where people try to make sacred that which is profane, or to at least elevate the mundane. They make their pastimes their lifestyle, hobbies their religion, homes into cathedrals, minor offenses into major sins, and major sins into examples of self-expression.
The people of Jesus Christ are the only true cathedral.
People come to us broken - broken in so many ways, and the people of God summon powers beyond your imagination.
They alter space and time to make sure they heal, survive, and hear the Gospel of God’s love.
But I've learned something that might shock you.
I've learned that survival isn't the most important thing.
The most important thing is having something to survive for.
I'm in the business of saving people for eternity.
Just as God used a husband and wife, 100 and 90 years of age, to bear a son and birth a nation; so God can use anyone in this room to birth spiritual children. To save people so they may live in eternity with their God and Savior.
Just as Abraham set out at 75 and 65 on nothing more than a promise to be wanderers and strangers in a strange land; so too we must step out on God’s promise that we will do great things, greater even than what Jesus accomplished. But, we MUST step out. For 25 years they did not see the promise fulfilled, and they let human pessimism rule their hearts. Their solution created a problem for which the world continues pay a price. We must let that serve as warning. Too often we have settled for the mundane, we have called sacred that which is profane. Too many people have settled for the practice of religion and ended up doing church. We must BE the church – being what Jesus talked about, living what He dreamed about. For over 2,000 years she has tended to the broken, healed the hurting, loved the unloved, cared for the forgotten and saved the prodigal. The profane do get called sacred, but that is because they are sanctified by Christ’s blood and washed in the waters of baptism.
“I’m too old!?” That is NEVER uttered by those following on the heels of Jesus. Yes, lag a little distance, fall behind just a bit, let yourself slip to the edge of the pack where the wolves of doubt and despair seek to nab the weak and you can think such things. No, the God who could open the womb of a 90 year old woman and gives vitality to the seed of 100 year old man dreams bigger things for you. There is no such thing as retirement in the Body of Christ. John, ancient, feeble, still shared the Gospel of love over 60 years after he last saw Jesus in the flesh.
As for me, I’m in the business of saving people. I plan on doing it until I am called home by God. How about you?