I Wish I Was Young Again
Notes
Transcript
Today, I am going to preach about Old People. This could get interesting! Seriously though, we live in a time when elders are no longer respected. We talk about his. We live in a time when old people are treated like they are in the way. We treat them like they are a burden. There is an expectation for them to go home and stay in their houses. They should never come out because they drive slow, they walk slow, they read cans in the grocery store aisle slow. They take forever at the register and don’t know how to use their debit cards. Haven’t you seen people get annoyed about these things? Whats more, don’t you think our elders see this as well?
Today, we are going to look at a couple of chapters where an elder felt these same things. Turn in your Bibles to Job 29.
Moreover Job continued his parable, and said,
Oh that I were as in months past,
As in the days when God preserved me;
When his candle shined upon my head,
And when by his light I walked through darkness;
As I was in the days of my youth,
When the secret of God was upon my tabernacle;
When the Almighty was yet with me,
When my children were about me;
When I washed my steps with butter,
And the rock poured me out rivers of oil;
When I went out to the gate through the city,
When I prepared my seat in the street!
The young men saw me, and hid themselves:
And the aged arose, and stood up.
The princes refrained talking,
And laid their hand on their mouth.
The nobles held their peace,
And their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth.
I. Job Longing For Yesteryear
A. When he was blessed by God
B. When people respected him
C. When his body worked like it was supposed to
Job did not need anyone to tell him that his body did not do what it used to do.
Job did not need anyone to tell him that his mind did not do what it used to do.
Job was very aware that age was taking its toll.
Job realized that he did not have the same influence in society that he once had.
Job was at a point in his life where he wasn’t necessarily longing for 20, 50 would have been nice.
Age takes its toll on us. We remember things we used to do, but cannot seem to do them anymore. There are food that quit being eaten because they are more work than they are worth. Tasks that we used to think nothing about become impossible because of balance, strength, and endurance. Memories are often not as sharp as they once were.
All of these things can lead someone to feel like they have lost their place and purpose in the world.
II. Job was disrespected for his age
But now they that are younger than I have me in derision,
Whose fathers I would have disdained
To have set with the dogs of my flock.
Yea, whereto might the strength of their hands profit me,
In whom old age was perished?
For want and famine they were solitary;
Fleeing into the wilderness
In former time desolate and waste.
Who cut up mallows by the bushes,
And juniper roots for their meat.
They were driven forth from among men,
(They cried after them as after a thief;)
To dwell in the clifts of the valleys,
In caves of the earth, and in the rocks.
Among the bushes they brayed;
Under the nettles they were gathered together.
They were children of fools, yea, children of base men:
They were viler than the earth.
And now am I their song,
Yea, I am their byword.
They abhor me, they flee far from me,
And spare not to spit in my face.
II. Disrespected for his age
A. He was in the way
B. He was talked about by younger men
C. He was looked down upon by those who were lesser than he.
Just as discussed in the introduction, young people often treat elders like they are a burden. This was true in Job’s day as well. A big difference is that Job’s culture taught respect for elders. Even in such a culture, Job felt the disdain of the younger generation. How much more in a culture like ours that does not teach respect?
I can only imagine what it must be like for someone to already feel out of place in society because of their perceived inabilities and then to have people confirm their feeling by the way they treat them.
I knew an elderly woman who was treated in such a way. She had a stroke that left her paralyzed on one side. Since she was in her 80’s, this made her bedridden. Her family left her in her bed for days at the time. She could not help but use the restroom on herself. Then, when they discovered this, they would get mad at her for doing so. She was completely dependent upon her family who told her she was a burden. They spoke where she could hear about wishing she would go ahead and die. While she was able bodied she cared for them. She buried two husbands and two children. She took care of all of them in their illness. She constantly bailed out her grandchildren financially. They took advantage of her and yet, because of her love for them, she still took care of them. Even her great grandchildren took advantage of her. Our great Department of Family and Children’s Services did nothing when this was reported. The family put on a good show for them. She understood exactly what Job was feeling.
Just like Job, she was a Christian and had faithfully served God throughout her life.
III. Job’s greatest Spiritual Accomplishment was Yet to Come
And it was so, that after the Lord had spoken these words unto Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath. Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job. So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went, and did according as the Lord commanded them: the Lord also accepted Job.
A. Job was an picture of Jesus
1. The picture of Salvation
Sinners in need of a sacrifice
Sinners in need of an intercessor
2. A man to intercede
3. Accepted by God
Just like Job, you can be a person of prayer. It may not seem like much, but that could not be further from the truth. If prayer is pointless then why is it Jesus’s full time Job? When we pray for others, we are partaking in the Job Jesus is doing. We are not taking his Job, nor are we doing the exact same Job. Yet, we get to be a picture on earth of what he is doing in heaven. That is important. I am not saying that prayer is all old people are good for. What I am saying is that, even when you feel like you cannot do anything else, prayer is still a vital role in the church and in the world. Prayer does not mean we are incapable, it makes us more capable. Prayer allows us to reach beyond that which any of us are physically able to do. Sadly, it is often when everything else is taken away that we realize the value of prayer.
Though Job felt too old and though people told him he was too old, God saved his greatest purpose for this season of life. Other than his suffering, this is perhaps what Job is best known for. He is known for being a picture of Jesus. Isn’t that what every Christian should want for their life?