Ageless Wisdom

Reverend Debbie Cato

Psalm 71 & Matthew 20:1-16

Peace Presbyterian Church

Fifth Sunday of Easter – Older Adult Sunday

May 3, 2015

Ageless Wisdom

Our denomination recognizes this Sunday as the beginning of Older Adult Week and so today we are both thinking about and honoring the “older adults” in our church family. The deacons decided we would consider those who are 90 years young and above as our “older adults.” I hope we did not leave anyone out. Your long life deserves recognition. We have five individuals who are in their nineties – Pauline, Jack, Dorys, Mary, and Charlie. And of course Ralph - who is closer to 101 than he is to 100. There are a number of people under 90 who are missing on Sunday mornings; no longer able to get to church because of health problems. And in the last year, we have said good-bye to Phyllis, Bernice, and Pat.

You are the ones I think of when I read Jesus' story about laborers getting the same pay whether they had worked for the whole day or had worked just an hour. You are the ones who remind me of the men in Jesus' parable who labored all day long.

Some of you were founding members of this church. Some were here when this sanctuary was built. You helped build the Sunday school building; the fellowship building. Some of you painted the rooms; made the valances hanging over the windows. You planted the rhododendrons and the azaleas. The rose bushes. I'm willing to guess that you were the Sunday School teachers and the elders and the deacons. You worked the garage sales. In the life of this church, you have labored for many years. Some of you may have come to Peace later – after being founding members in other churches. Serving in other congregations.

And now others have come along who haven’t worked as hard or as long as you have. We have different ideas; new ways of doing church. And it’s hard.  We are the ones that the landowner hired later in the day. God called us to this church decades after you built it; and grew it; and loved on it. And the idea that those of us called here later receive the same as those who have always been here stings. But that’s the way God’s church works. That’s the way the church survives the generations.

Psalm 71:17-18 say:

     “O God, from my youth you have taught me,
          and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.

               So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me,

                     until I proclaim your might to all the generations to come.”

“Until I proclaim your might to all the generations to come.” You have had experiences that some of us never will. We lack your years of experiencing being on this journey of faith. You have wisdom to share. Experiences to teach. You have stories of God’s faithfulness to tell.

It’s too easy to think that when your physical strength fails or your energy is less or your hearing is gone; when your bones ache, that your usefulness diminishes; perhaps life even loses its meaning. But God does not love us for what we can do for him, or for our usefulness in society. God loves you because you are you. He created you in his image. He knows your name.  He calls you his beloved child. You have a purpose until you take your final breath.

You had a vigorous youth and now a reflective older age. Your long life is proof of God’s faithfulness. You are a testimony that following Christ is a life-long journey. You know that it is a journey whose road takes you through highs and lows. It takes you down paths that make it easy to believe; easy to trust; easy to see God's blessings around every turn.  At other times your journey probably felt like involuntary detours; taking you on uncharted roads full of potholes and curves and dangers that you didn't anticipate; that you didn't plan for; that you certainly did not want. And, as you hit the bumps and came up to an unexpected curve, your faith may have faltered. You wondered if you could really trust God. You stopped believing.

This is the journey of faith. It is not easy. It is not smooth. This journey of faith wavers between strong and weak. It's why faith is a journey and not a destination. You have walked it for many years. We would love to hear these stories – they would help us along our own journey. You can teach us. You can proclaim God’s might to the generations to come. To us.

Whenever I read this Psalm, I always think of my Grandma Potter. Many of you know that I grew up in a very small, rural town in southwest Minnesota. I was the sixth of nine children. My parents had a traditional marriage – Dad worked and earned the money and Mom “just stayed home.” Mom “just” stayed home with the kids. She was a perfectionist so she cleaned, and cleaned, and cleaned. Our house always looked perfect – even with 9 children.

What Mom didn't have was time to do was just sit and do things with us. We never baked cookies together (it made a mess), we never did crafts (yep– messy). She never just sat and talked with us or read books to us. Mom didn't have time or, I think, the inclination.

My Grandma and Papa Potter lived 3 or 4 blocks from us. We walked past their house to school in the morning and then again on the way home. They lived on the same block as the Methodist church we attended. I would go to Grandma's house every chance I got. I would spend the night in one of Grandma's big four-poster beds, upstairs by myself, as often as I could. Grandma's house was always messy, but Grandma had time to just talk.

She had a candy drawer in the kitchen and we were always invited to take a piece of candy out of the drawer. We were also allowed to have Mountain Dew. Grandma taught me to knit. She loved to do crafts. One time we melted a whole bunch of crayons and some wax and we made candles. It made a terrible mess but we had so much fun! We would go up into the attic and sit and look at trunk after trunk of Grandma's old pictures and she would tell me about her childhood and her parents and coming to the United States. She would teach me about the “old country”. We would sit for hours and look at those pictures.

Grandma would also read the Bible with me. She knew that I loved Jesus – even as a little girl. We would read Scripture passages and she would talk about them and she would explain them to me. She always told me how much Jesus loved me – just the way I was. When I was 9, Grandma bought me a thick Bible story book that still sits on my bookshelf.

Psalm 71:17-18 say:

     “O God, from my youth you have taught me,
           and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.

                 So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me,

                       until I proclaim your might to all the generations to come.”

Grandma grew up going to church. Her parents were church-goers, of course unlike now; everyone went to church on Sunday mornings in those days. And at least with me, Grandma took “proclaiming your might to all the generations to come” seriously. She never seemed to grow weary of telling me about Jesus. She loved to hear me read from the Bible story book she gave me. She never grew tired of telling me about the stories Jesus told and she never tired of telling me that God loved me. I don't know if Grandma did this with any of my other siblings but she spent time with me. I needed her.

I look around this sanctuary on Sunday mornings and in different ways, several of you remind me of my Grandma Potter. I imagine you spending time with your grandchildren and great grandchildren. I imagine you telling them stories, showing them pictures, making messes. Maybe you even tell them about God. Tell them about his faithfulness. Tell them how much he loves them.

I loved my Grandma Potter. She was a huge influence in my life. She was the one who gave me the love and attention and encouragement that I needed. She nurtured me. I still love to do crafts. I still knit. I still love old pictures. I love Jesus. And like Grandma, I would rather talk than clean, so my house is always a little messy too.

Much of who I am is because of Grandma. I absolutely believe that my faith came from her faith. What a gift she gave me. What a legacy she left behind. I like to think she’s proud of what I’m doing with my life.

God promises that he will not forsake us – even to old age and gray hairs. You Pauline; you Dorys and Mary; you Roger and Charlie and Ralph: you stand as witnesses before us of what a life of faith looks like. You are proof that God is faithful throughout the journey that he calls us to; faithful in the good times and the hard times. While the world is changing all around you and even life in this church is changing, you know by experience that God is with you; that God is with us.

What do you want your legacy to be here at Peace Presbyterian Church? What can your role be as we work and pray and follow where we think God is leading us today? Leading us to keep this church alive; to keep it open; to keep it a place of welcome and peace and worship and faith?

You may not know this but you remain an important part of the life of this congregation. We need you. You are loved by God and you are loved by us. Thank you for building this church that we now have the privilege of attending. Praise Be to God!