Lessons From Over the Hill

Thank you very much, Laura. It was always a pleasure.

I was just thinking, I don't often start off with a joke, although I was planning on today. It just dawned on me, I often start off with taking a drink of water. I'm not sure if that reflects very well. There's a joke, and there's lots of different versions of it, so I'm not worried about saying the ultimate. There's an older man visiting his doctor, and they're going over all these health problems he has. The doctor's saying, well, your knees are shot from playing basketball for years as a young man. Oh, and your lungs aren't working very well because you spent all those years smoking, and your liver, boy, it's just about worn out because you've drunk so much. All these other things, he keeps going on, and he's getting down on the fellow. Finally, the man says, well, Doc, if I'd have known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself.

And that sounds familiar somewhat. It makes me think of an old saying. It's a proverb that's true. It says, we're too soon old and too late smart. Or I've heard it schmart. I'm not sure if maybe it's a Yiddish proverb. I don't know. But they both stem from the idea that the time of our life goes by so much more quickly than we expect. When we're young, old age seems so far off, we don't even give it a thought. It'll never happen, it seems. But as we age, we start seeing differently. And we start wishing we'd spent our time a little more wisely, wish we could have some of those younger days back to use differently. And I know I see it that way. I think of myself sometimes. I think I'm standing up here and I say, how in the world did this happen? I'm just a kid. And then I look in the mirror and say, well, no, you're not. I've been noticing more. I might be getting to the point where there's more gray whiskers than dark ones soon. Of course, I could do... I remember when I first met Mr. McNeely, working with him at summer camp, he had a full beard. And after about three or four years, he shaved it all off and he looked ten years younger. So when I get to where I'm looking my age, I'll shave the beard off, and I can look like I'm young enough to date Sue again. Anyways, I'm getting off track again. I'm sure many of you in the audience feel that way, and some of you are looking at me like saying, no, no, you do look like a kid. And then we see the youngsters coming in, and I thought of this because I thought, they're going to say, oh, no, here they go again, talking about getting old, and it's easy for teenagers to start tuning out when we start talking about age and this and that. But I hope that those of you who are younger won't tune out this time, because you might be surprised how much a sermon that's focused on getting older has a lot to do with you who are younger. Because today I want to talk about our life cycle, the life cycle that God made in human beings, and how we should be aware of its different stages and appreciate the benefits and the responsibilities that are inherent in each one. Our society tends to emphasize and value youth, but not old age. And that's a shame. Really, it goes pretty strongly against what God tells us to do. While we're still in our introduction phase, let's turn to Leviticus chapter 19. Leviticus 19 will read verse 32. We'll look at a couple of scriptures in which God tells us how we should view those who are older among us. Leviticus 19 and verse 32. Remember, Leviticus has a lot of instruction about the sacrificial system, some about civil law, and some general practical points on how to live, and this is one of those. It says, So honor those who have a lot of years, gray-headed or not enough hair to be gray or one way or the other, but those who have spent a lot of time, it's part of how you honor God. Let's also turn to the book of Proverbs, chapter 16. We're going to spend some time around Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, so if you have something you like to mark, you can stick it in this general area. Proverbs 16 and verse 31.

It says, Now, there's an if, but we presume we're all working on living in that way of righteousness, and it talks about how the silver hair is a crown of glory. It's not something to be ashamed of.

I was thinking, and matter of fact, I commented this morning, now the halfway silver hair is something we're not always so proud of. I think of Sue's mom has a very pretty head of very silvery hair, and Sue's been debating for years whether hers would come in that way or something else-wise, and it looks like it is going to come in that way, but it's taking its time, which is good.

But that silver hair, or gray, and I was thinking, the old King James Version used the term the hoary head, which sounds really strange to modern ears, but it means gray, silvery hair, and that's good.

Now, we're going to focus on several of the blessings and honors of old age today, but it's important to realize they fully apply only when you're living God's way.

And I also don't want to give the wrong impression. I know, and the Bible acknowledges, that it's more enjoyable to be young than old. Let's notice in Ecclesiastes 12. Being old is more honorable and worthy of respect. It's not necessarily always a lot of fun. And I'm sure there are a lot of people here who could give me an instruction along those lines, although I'm learning as I go. Ecclesiastes 12, verse 1 tells the young in the audience, Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, for before the difficult days come and the years draw near when you say, I have no pleasure in them. Now, old age earns this degree of honor and it has benefits, but there are serious problems. You know, there are days when you don't have much pleasure. There are difficult days coming. And we might ask, why did God make it that way? What's the value of old age?

What can younger people learn? And those who are in between being young and old. So I like titles. I was thinking, what's a good way to phrase this? And I thought, well, how about lessons from over the hill? You're going over the hill, can you send back some important lessons? And can we learn? The Bible tells us a lot of that. So let's talk some about the various stages that God built into life. Briefly put, I wanted to break it down into three major ones.

You could break it down further if you wanted, but the basic ones are youth, adulthood, of maturity, and then old age. And I'm not going to draw any line of where you go from one to the other. But for youth, the Bible has considerable instruction, and we talk about that a lot. A lot of what we tell kids has to do with remembering your place and preparing for when you grow older.

We just read in Ecclesiastes 12.1, saying, okay, when you're young, remember, it's not going to be that way. But it also says, rejoice. Rejoice while you're young. There's nothing wrong with that. But one of the reasons you have to put them in perspective, if we back up a few verses to Ecclesiastes 11 and verse 9, here it tells us again, well, actually, yeah. Ecclesiastes 12 is when it's saying, remember. Here's where it says, Rejoice, O young man in your youth! Let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth.

Walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes. But know that for all of these, God will bring you into judgment. Therefore, remove sorrow from your heart and put away evil from your flesh. For childhood and youth are vanity. Now, vanity doesn't mean that it's a waste. In this case, it means they go by pretty quickly.

They're here and then they're gone. So put away the foolishness, but it's okay to rejoice in your youth. Let's go to Proverbs chapter 1. I'm going to go through some of the Proverbs because the question is then, what do you have to do?

What is a good way for a young person to spend his or her time? And in that, the Bible, I think, is pretty clear, and most of it's the instruction is centered in this part of the Bible. Proverbs 1 and we'll begin in verse 8. My son, hear the instruction of your father, and do not forsake the law of your mother.

For there will be a graceful ornament on your head and chains about your neck. So when you're young, listen to your parents. Learn from them. I'm sure the parents here are ready to elbow the kids, right? Let's go ahead a few chapters to chapter 3. Proverbs 3 and verse 1. My son, do not forget my law, but let your heart keep my commandments.

For length of days and long life and peace they will add to you. I like that it's sort of saying, if you want to know what it's like to get old, listen to me now. Keep these commandments and then they'll add those years so one day you will grow old. And let's go now to Proverbs chapter 4. I want to read several verses here because I love the way this is put. Here are my children the instruction of a father, and give attention to no understanding.

For I give you a good doctrine. Do not forsake my law. When I was my father's son, tender and the only one in the sight of my father, he also taught me. And he said to me, let your heart retain my words. Keep my commandments and live. Get wisdom. Get understanding. Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth. Do not forsake her and she'll preserve you. That's speaking of wisdom. Love her and she'll keep you. Wisdom is the principle thing.

Therefore, get wisdom. And in all of your getting, get understanding. That's saying, learn a thing or two. Get some experience. Learn while you're young, and it's going to benefit you through all the rest of your life. Now, this alone is enough to tell us much of what the role and responsibility of a young person is, and this shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone here. It's a time for learning, watching and listening to others who are more experienced. And I will add, though, as Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes, it's also a time for rejoicing.

There's that time for fun. And I guess that starts from a very early age, as Sue and I have been commenting on how much fun Connor has. He's learning just how things work in the world, that if you let go of something, it goes down. I'm still waiting to pull the trick on him. I read in one of the baby books, if you give him a helium balloon, they'll let go of it and they'll look down, because they don't know about that yet.

One of the things I was noticing is that he just rejoices now that he's learning to run. As he goes down the hallway, he has to add the sound effects. He's running, going, ahhhh! There's something attached from the legs to the mouth. Well, what I'm getting at is he's learning all these things, but he's rejoicing. I want to mention a couple of other examples.

We have the infallible Word of God to show us that that's a time for learning, but there are other ways to learn it. One of my favorite examples from history is Benjamin Franklin. Now, we know of him—you see the aged pictures of the man who's a statesman who helped guide the country through the war for independence and then helped negotiate the treaty with Britain.

He did a lot of great things, but we tend to forget he started off as a little boy, as a youth born into a very large family. And I'm kicking myself. I'm pretty certain it was 11 kids, and he was the youngest.

And his parents didn't have money. His father was a poor Chandler, which means candlemaker. And so Benjamin Franklin had almost nothing. The only way they had taken care of him is they apprenticed him to an older brother who was a printer. So Benjamin Franklin was learning the print trade, and he became an accomplished printer.

But one of the things that's noteworthy—and he wrote about this later—is when he was in that print shop, any spare minute he had, he would pick up anything that there was—any writing material or reading material—anything written down. And of course, a print shop has a lot of printed material. And he studied. He voraciously read everything to prepare himself. He was thinking even then, I'm not always going to be the poor son of a candlemaker. I'm going to make something of myself.

So he learned philosophy. He learned science. And of course, he continued learning throughout his life. Another example I like in history—Now, John Adams is one of my favorite founding fathers, and he's long been one of the ones that's not credited as much, although recently when—my mind just went blank—he wrote the book. Anyways, there's a recent biography about John Adams that's made a lot of people pay attention to him.

I'll think of it later. But John Adams is a good example himself of being educated and studying hard when he was younger. But later, as a father, he focused and worked very hard to make sure that his kids, especially his sons, but also the daughters, gained an education. And John Quincy Adams, his son, really excelled at that. Now, John made sure that he studied trigonometry and geometry, Greek, Latin, all kinds of legal things. Legal things. I should have thought of the right term for that. Doesn't sound very educated. John Quincy Adams studied very hard, and then at the age of 14, John Adams sent him overseas to accompany one of the diplomats so he could learn firsthand how government and state relations worked.

And John Quincy did. He learned from great men all around the world, and he traveled. So that when, by the time he was 30, he was one of the most qualified leaders in our government. And, of course, served as president on his own and was one of the best qualified presidents we ever had. It's a shame it was because of politics and just timing that he didn't have a very successful presidency.

But I'll give him credit, and this doesn't... this is getting off the track of the sermon, but one of the things I like about John Quincy, he's the only president in our history to serve in another office afterwards. He had one term as president, and then he said, well, I'm not too good to serve in Congress. And he served in Congress for years and years afterwards, putting that education to use. But now I've urged into what you do when you have the education. So let's talk about that next stage of life, adulthood.

Now, there's little mystery of what a person is expected to do upon maturity. It's a time for work. You have to provide for yourself and for your family. Now, I'll make a mention, though. That doesn't mean it's no time for pleasure. But let's turn to a couple of scriptures to establish what your primary responsibility is. Let's go to 2 Thessalonians. 2 Thessalonians 3, and we'll begin in verse 10. This is the Apostle Paul writing to the church at Thessalonika. And he's giving them some instruction on just basic living. And he says, here, for even when we were with you, so he's writing a letter and refers to it, even back when we were there present with you, we commanded you this, if anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but they're busybodies, they're just idling their time away. Now, those who are such, we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread. So get to work and eat your own bread, not someone else's. Let's turn ahead a few pages to 1 Timothy, that is. 1 Timothy 5. And these scriptures are fairly commonly known in the church, but it's good to go back and review and make sure we've put our eyes on them. 1 Timothy 5, verse 8 says, If anyone does not provide for his own, and especially those of his household, he's denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. That's interesting. You could hold that in the balance with the fact that we have to spend time studying. We should pray and fast and do all of these things, but the Apostle Paul is saying, if you're not providing for your family, it's just as bad as if you were an unbeliever. So we do have to go out and work and earn a living. I'd better slow down. The words are tangling up. But I want to throw in a counterpoint. It's easy to say, of course we have to work, and in a lot of societies you don't have much choice. It comes down to if you don't work, you don't eat. But we would do well to consider what the wisest man who ever lived, wisest other than Jesus Christ, of course, who was God in the flesh. But King Solomon, he had more wealth than a person could know what to do with. He enjoyed the finest things of life. He accomplished tremendous things. But when he looked back at the end of his life, and I believe the book of Ecclesiastes was written at the end of his life, and I like to mention that because we know if you read the account, Solomon started off, he gained great wisdom and did these great things, and then as he got older, he turned aside and stopped obeying God.

He married many wives from other countries and followed and started worshipping foreign gods. I suspect, though, that Ecclesiastes was written after that. When he looked back, maybe shortly before the end of his life, and he said, you know what?

That was stupid. And he came back to realizing what really mattered. And of course, at the end of Ecclesiastes, he said, the sum of the whole matter is fear God and keep his commandments. That's man's all. But along the way, he makes many good points about what makes for a happy life. While you're working, what is it that's going to make you happy? I say that because Ecclesiastes can be, I think, misinterpreted as a pretty depressing book.

He starts off saying, it's all vanity, you live and then you die, and it's all gone. But he also makes some good points about while you're living, what's worth doing. So let's start in Ecclesiastes 5, and we'll begin in verse 18. And what I want to do here is cull out some keys for what makes a happy life.

So in Ecclesiastes 5 and verse 18, he says, Here is what I've seen. It is good and fitting for one to eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labor, in which he toils under the sun, all the days of his life which God gives him for his heritage.

For every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given him power to eat of it, to receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor. This is the gift of God. Now, he said it a lot in a poetic way, but he's saying, God gives you the power to be able to work, rejoice in that labor, and then enjoy what comes from it.

That's a gift. And in verse 20 it says, He will not dwell unduly on the days of his life, because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart. I read that as saying, time's just going to fly by. You won't dwell unduly. You won't be sitting there, and they say, okay, how's the clock?

But it's not like near the end of the day of atonement, where you're looking and it's like, boy, the time's... You won't be paying attention to the time if you're enjoying your work, and enjoying the food and drink you were, and say, the days will just go right by. And then you'll be saying, what happened? So I've got two of the keys to a happy life right here. Take joy in your work. It doesn't say what that work is. Solomon did a lot of different things, but whatever it is, take joy in it.

Make the most of it. And then... I already turned the page, but... Enjoy the benefits of that work. The food, the drink, the home and things that you can enjoy from it. One of the things it brought to mind... A famous line by Abraham Lincoln, and I don't have it memorized exactly, but during the Lincoln-Douglas debates, when Lincoln was first running for the Senate before he went running for the presidency, he was debating with Stephen Douglas in Illinois.

And one of the questions that came to Lincoln is, do you believe that a black slave is equal to a white man? Now, this could be political fire, because slavery was a big hot topic at the time, but Lincoln said, in this, I believe that a slave is equal to me, and that he has the right to put the bread in his mouth that he's earned with his own work, and that he's the equal of me and any other man. And that's always stuck with me. The bread that you've earned, however your work is, you get that food and you can put it in your mouth and go, ah, you know, I earned that.

Now, some bread tastes better than others, but you can rejoice in that and in the work that went into it. Let's go also to Ecclesiastes chapter 3. Ecclesiastes 3 for a couple more... or another key. We'll begin in verse 12. As I said, even in the midst of what could be seen as depressing, Solomon's...

when he says, there's nothing better than this... this is the guy who's seen it all. When he says, there's nothing better than this, he means, this must be pretty good. And here he says, I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice and do good in their lives. And also, that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all of his labor. It's a gift from God. Now here he brings back the eat and drink and enjoy your labor, but he also says, do good.

That means living God's way of life. There's nothing better than to rejoice and do good. Obey God. So let's turn a page to Ecclesiastes 4. We'll begin in verse 8, and we'll add another key. This is a lengthier section, but it's an important one. And of course, this is one that I like to read when I was single, reminding me of what my goal was.

It says, there is one alone without companion. He has neither son nor brother, yet there's no end to his labors. Nor is his eye satisfied with riches. But he never asks, for whom do I toil and deprive myself of good? This is vanity and a grave misfortune. Because two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. If they fall, one will lift up his companion.

But woe to one who is alone when he falls. Now that applies certainly, we think of physically, when you fall down and you need someone to help pick you up. But it can apply in other ways. How about emotionally? We all have those times where we're just down.

But isn't it nice when you got someone there to help lift you up? As I said, mentally and emotionally? Again, if two lie down together, they'll keep warm. But how can one be warm alone? Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a three-fold cord is not quickly broken. So to me, that fourth key of happiness is family. Or at least close friends. But having companions. People you trust and love and can enjoy spending time with. I want to go to Ecclesiastes 9. This is a section that I think sums all these up and puts it together in an easy package. Ecclesiastes 9, and we'll begin in verse 7.

What is it that makes a happy life? And remember, in the background, this is when you're mature. You're grown up and you're responsible for working. You gotta work. You gotta earn a living. So you have to be down and say, boy, I can't wait till I can retire. No, you can be living like this.

You say, go, go. Eat your bread with joy. Drink your wine with a Mary heart. For God has already accepted your works. I could add, God's accepting your works if you're living his way of life. Let your garments always be white and let your head lack no oil. So don't deprive yourself all the time. Live joyfully with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life, which he's given you under the sun.

I need a comment. That means live with the wife you have, not going looking for another one that you might like better. For that is your proportion in life, and in the labor which you perform under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might. For there's no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you're going. Say, you think you don't like your work now, wait till you're dead and you can't.

Of course, that makes it sound like you'd be laying there saying, I wish I could work, but you won't know anything. I think there's a good principle there. Solomon is saying it's these simple little things in life that make you happy. Going out and doing today's work and coming home knowing that you did your best at it. And then having a meal, and whether it's gruel and cornbread, or it's a filet mignon, either way, it's going to be pretty good if you've worked hard and you know you've earned it.

You haven't stolen it or gotten by devious means. These things, the simple things, and spending time with the ones you love, that's what makes a happy life. I was commenting this morning at the Athens Church because I was saying earlier I spent years working fast food. And a lot of people thought I was odd, but I liked it. I enjoyed the work. I took pleasure in seeing if I could do it.

I loved, you know, if there's a crowd waiting in line, could I cook those hamburgers fast enough and get them done just right? And then keep the floor clean at the same time. And, you know, not every... I'm talking fast again. I even considered making a career of it. Now, it doesn't pay well and the hours are really bad, so I didn't make a career of it.

But the work itself, I could find pleasure in. And we could do that with a lot of things. Before we moved, Sue and I had a garden out back. And I found when I could make the time to go out there and just be pulling weeds and doing stuff in the garden, I took pleasure in that.

Now, I should say, I realize it can be a simplification. You know, the song that said, Don't Worry, Be Happy. It's easy to say, not always so easy to do. But as long as we realize the key to being happy is not in getting something that we don't have but we think we need. You know, it's not that. It's not in having some amazing, unusual experience. And then the next one's got to be even and better. It's not in finding just the right person that's out there somewhere. You know, it's in appreciating the blessings that you have and making the most of them. Happiness in life comes from obeying God, living righteously, working hard at the work you have to do, and enjoying whatever you get from it. You know, your food, your home, clothes, car, and such, and living happily with your family. Solomon said, if you're doing that, you won't think unduly about the days of your life. As I said, it's not that you won't know at all, but you won't spend too much time thinking about them. And that's in my way of thinking, because they're just going by so fast. You're not spending time thinking about them, you're thinking about the things you're doing. And of course, then the next thing you know, you do have to deal with that next stage of life. We talked about youth, adulthood, and then old age. I'm going to spend considerably more time there if you're thinking we're going to get out of services real early. Not that early. We've already noticed, though, when we're young, we should focus on learning from those who are older. Well, then part of the responsibility of those who are older must be in helping to teach those who are younger. But I want to spend more time delving into how that might work, some of the things we can take to practice and look at our own life. And I want to start off by looking at one particular example the Bible gives us. And that's the life cycle or the stages of work in the Levites. We're going to go to the Book of Numbers, not Leviticus. I'm going to talk about the Levites. Remember, they were descended from Levi, one of the twelve sons of Jacob. And after God brought ancient Israel out of Egypt, he ended up choosing the tribe of Levi to work for him, so to speak. Now, there's a story to that. And, of course, we know Aaron and Moses were Levites, and Aaron and his children were chosen to be the priests. So all of the priests were automatically Levites. But there were a lot of Levites who weren't priests. But they were called by God to work with the priests. They had a special calling of a job to do. They were going to be devoted to working in the temple. And before the temple was built, at the tabernacle, the tent that served the same purpose. Now, you stop and think, what type of work do you have to do at a temple or tabernacle? Well, okay, there's going to be maintenance, cleaning, and things like that.

But primarily, the work they were called on to do was what was required for a ritualistic worship system that involved animal sacrifice. And that is heavy and hard work. It's easy when you read through these sacrifices, okay, you're cutting, draining blood, doing...

But until you've done it, you don't realize, how much does a bull weigh? Daniel's smiling, you've done it. Or I guess if you've gutted out a deer sometime recently, and some of you probably have. My experience goes back to working at a restaurant called Fuddruckers. I don't know if some of you are shaking your head. It's a weird name. But one of their boasts is that they have the freshest hamburger. Because what they do is they get in what are called four quarters of a cow.

So they have these big hunks of cow that they bring in, and somebody's got to take that and carve it up and grind it to hamburger. Well, I worked for them for about a year, and that was my job.

And I learned, wow, this isn't even a whole cow. This is one quarter of a cow without all the guts in the middle. But it weighed two hundred and some pounds. I'd have to take a hook and lift it up, throw it on this table, and then get out these knives and start carving. And you get gunk all over you. I mean, I was working in a cold room, but I was working up a sweat. So what I'm getting at is these Levites were doing some serious work. Now, there might have been some other less laborious tasks that fell to the Levites.

There were choirs as part of the worship system. I figure, Mr. Schumacher might know more about this, but the Levites probably made up the choirs. There was probably administrative work, paperwork and records to keep. And of course, well, some of this probably fell more to the priests as far as teaching, keeping records and even making new copies of the Bible. Before there were printing presses and Xerox machines, you had to copy by hand.

So let's look a little bit, though, now that we're... Maybe you're in Numbers. I'm in Leviticus. Let's go to Numbers 1. I want to establish what the Levites were set aside for. Here, at the start of Numbers, of course, they were... The children of Israel were instructed to take a census, but there's a different... Different standard applies to the Levites. Numbers 1 and verse 47. But the Levites were not numbered among them by their father's tribe. For the Eternal had spoken to Moses, saying, Only the tribe of Levi you shall not number, nor take a census of them among the children of Israel.

But you'll appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, over all its furnishings and over all the things that belong to it. They shall carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings. They shall attend to it and camp around the tabernacle. And when the tabernacle is to go forward, the Levite shall take it down. And when the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levite shall set it up.

The outsider who comes near shall be put to death. Now, with all this work, I neglected even to mention when the tabernacle was being moved, they're the ones that had to pack it up and carry it around. And no one else was allowed. There's one provision. If you wanted to become a Nazarite, you could take a special vow to do it temporarily, but it was the Levite's job.

Let's go to Numbers 8 to see a little more. Numbers 8, and we'll begin in verse 18. And I'll mention, he talks about the Levites instead of the firstborn. It's worth remembering that God went through Egypt and slew all the firstborn, but He spared the Israelites. But at one point He said, well, then you owe Me. I spared your firstborn. You owe Me those firstborn. And here He says, well, I've taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn of the children of Israel.

And I've given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the children of Israel to do the work for the children of Israel in the tabernacle of meeting and to make atonement for the children of Israel, that there be no plague among the children of Israel when the children of Israel come near the sanctuary. That's a lot of saying children of Israel. And you see, they're assigned to do this work, but now let's look at verse 24 and see something. They had very particular regulations about when to do it. Verse 24, this is what pertains to the Levites.

From 25 years old and above, one may enter to perform service in the work of the tabernacle of meeting. This is that heavy work I was talking about. And at the age of 50 years, they must cease performing this work and work no more. They may minister with their brethren in the tabernacle of meeting to attend needs, but they themselves shall do no work.

Thus you shall do to the Levites concerning their duties. Now, isn't that interesting? That's why I wanted to talk about how heavy and hard the labor could be, because God puts a cut off there. Now, the way I look at it, it doesn't say what they do before age 25, but I would interpret it as getting an education. They have to get a general education as people, and then probably had years of specialized training. You don't just walk in knowing what a Levite does, so they probably had specialized training to do these sacrifices and to do the work of the temple exactly right.

Because remember, God was not cavalier about how things were done in the temple, so they had to learn to do this job. And then, with the trainings complete starting at age 25, start doing the work. And those years, from 25 to 50, correspond very well with when a typical man is in his prime, his peak of strength and ability. And then, of course, it starts to decline, hopefully gradually, after that.

And this reminds me to note here, a few years ago, I was having a discussion with a friend of mine up in northern Ohio. He was asking if the Bible sets a date for when someone should be considered an adult. And we know in the United States, at 18, you can vote, and in some states, you can buy beer, but not others. And at 21, you can buy liquor. The Bible doesn't say anything about that, but it does set 25 as a particular age. So I don't know if the teenagers here wouldn't like to hear that. I don't know, 25 could make a good date for saying, now you're an adult, you can vote and do these things. But anyways, then they'd have 25 years of doing physical labor. But after that, they had to stop doing the physical labor. But they could continue to serve. Interesting. It's that they could do service. They could minister, which means service, and take care of attending needs. So I presume, after that point, they're still useful, their mind is still sharp. They might have started taking care of administrative duties, perhaps copying the Scripture, serving in the choir, and teaching. Teaching is probably a great duty that they had. Teaching of the Levites, training them for the future work, and perhaps also teaching the general public, teaching them about God's way of life. The work of the Levites was a special and unique profession, to be sure. I'm not saying that that's the way we should set up all of our professions, because they don't all involve such heavy labor. Although it's interesting, Mrs. Grounds works for the police department in Athens, and I didn't realize that she said that the police in Ohio have a 25-year period that they do, and then they can retire. So a lot of them are hired near the age of 25 and retire at 50, and then they go and they teach in community colleges or things like that. So, hmm, that's interesting. So I say, you know, but still, we can't apply that to most professions, and certainly we don't have control over the way, you know, the labor force works or the labor laws in our country. But it makes sense that, you know, older people should devote less of their time to doing physical duties and work and more time to supervising and teaching. I think in a lot of trades, that's how the apprenticeship program was supposed to work. You work as a journeyman through a lot of your adult years, and then as you reach the stage of being a master, you can take on apprentices and start teaching them. Let's look at the book of Job. This spring brought to mind a scripture there that I think also shows how it should be. Job 32.

Job 32, and we'll begin in verse 6.

As you may remember, of course, in the book of Job, God removed his protection from Job so that Satan was able to cause all kinds of plagues and harm to him. And then three of Job's friends came to comfort him. But instead of comforting, they ended up arguing about whether or not he deserved these. I think I commented on this in my sermon last week. But I want to focus in on what another person there.

There's a fellow named Elihu who listened to them argue back and forth, and now he reaches a point where he says, it's time for me to say something. So in Job 32, verse 6, Elihu, the son of Barak, held a buzz-eyed, answered, and said, I'm young in years, and you are very old. I wonder how they thought about that. He didn't say you're old, or he said, you're very old.

And we know that. Older people don't always have all this wisdom, but that's the way it should be. That's our standard. Age should speak.

And those of you who are older, who sometimes hesitate, think, oh, maybe I shouldn't speak out. Well, you know, here the Bible is saying, if you're older, you should speak. Now, you should put thought behind it, of course. But you have wisdom, and of course, it's your job to share it.

And as I said, we can't control the labor laws in the country, but we do have a lot of control over what we do here in God's Church. And I asked the question, you know, how are we doing at that?

It made me think, you know, for many years, I'd say probably for the last ten years, I've been hearing leaders in the home office say, our ministers are getting old, we've got to train some younger fellows for this.

But as time went by, I noticed what they thought of as younger kept rising.

And I think that's natural. You know, I've been serving at the summer camps for years and years, and I remember the first time I was a counselor, I was 22 years old, and I was teaching these kids. Now I see a 22-year-old, and I think when I first see him, I think they're a camper, because 22 looks like just a little kid. And I don't mean insults to any of you in your 20s.

And I'm sure a lot of you, you know, you look at me and say, boy, this guy's just a kid.

But we're being forced now, as the Church hasn't taken the action. We are taking action now.

Well, I'm one of the examples. They hired me, but I'm still one of the youngest pastors in the Church, and I'm pushing 50. And I think by the time Mr. Luecker and Mr. Holiday were my age, they were experienced well-seasoned men.

But I don't mean this... I don't mean to say this to criticize or complain.

One of the things I noticed in the latest ministerial journal that they've hired a ministerial trainee... Actually, I think a couple, but I noticed one in Cincinnati that they specifically said he's 39 years old.

And that's moving the bar down, and he's going to have that training period, so he doesn't come and learn on the job like I've been doing.

Fortunately, I have the best congregation in the country to learn in.

And I'm saying that to butter you up, but it's also true.

I've come to a place where everything runs smoothly, and I can say, how have you been doing things? That's a good way to do it. And maybe I'll think of some adjustments, but I don't have to come in and fix a big problem.

At the ministerial conference we had in Cincinnati recently, we discussed this, and we took it very seriously. And so we need to take it seriously as Church members. We can talk about the ministers and the pastoral staff, the home office will take care of that.

But are our older members, some of you older members, who serve without even giving it a thought? It's built into you to serve. But do you give thought to making sure you're teaching someone younger to do that service? I know many of you are, you do that, but it's good to make sure we think of that. No one...well, it can be tough because no one wants to think they're training their replacement. And I think, you know, in the old days we never gave it a thought because we're going to serve like crazy because Christ will return in a few years. We never thought about being this old. Am I right? How many of you, if you never thought you'd be old enough to be drawing Social Security or, you know, having great grandkids and things like that? And for me, I thought, I wondered at one point if I'd ever be old enough to get a driver's license before Christ returned.

Funny, I didn't think of that to put in my notes, but it's a funny thought.

But, you know, it should happen automatically, and it does in a way. Sue and I have talked a lot of times, and she talks about how her mother, who is a deaconess and served for many years in the South Cincinnati congregation, she was often in charge of the social setup. You know, when they have potluck and stuff, she just would take charge and start doing things, but she made it a habit of grabbing younger girls, including her daughter, and young ladies, and say, okay, you need to do this. Now, take care of this, and starting to teach them so that they would know and be able to do it.

And I think most of our older church members don't have a problem doing that. You know, glad to teach other people. Where the problem sometimes comes in are the difficulty. I don't want to say problem, because I don't want to say, like, we have a problem, but it can be tough sometimes then to step back and let the younger person do it, because they're going to do something wrong. They're going to make a mistake, but there's the value. Young people will make mistakes, so it's better if they make the mistake while the older person is still around to help them fix it and give them some advice. And that's how the Levitical system worked. A lot of those Levites who had to stop doing the work at 50, I wonder, it's like the day after your 50th birthday, if they were like, what do I do? But I'll bet you they loved it when one of the 25-year-olds did mess up or start to, and they'd say, hey, let me show you how this is done. Step in and help get it done.

And I've got a note in red ink on my notes. Of course, I wanted to say, this sermon is in no way intended to put everyone over age 50 on notice that you're going to get dumped out of service. Not at all. We need you, and we want you to continue.

But, as I said, think about making sure some of the younger people are learning as they go. And for those of you who are younger, we don't have a lot of them here. I think a lot of them are Cincinnati for a dance today.

Keep in mind, don't necessarily wait for an older person to come and grab you. Look them up. Watch what they're doing. Ask, can I help you out with that, or can I learn from you? It's a lot easier for an older person to take someone under their wing if the young person is there and available.

I want to go to an example to help show this or illustrate this. It's an example from one of my favorite stories in the Bible and also one of the most dramatic.

We're going to go to 2 Samuel chapter 15, and we'll go through several chapters, but I'm not going to read all of those just to let you know. But the stories contained in 2 Samuel chapters 15 through 19.

And the story I'm speaking of is the Treason of Absalom, King David's son Absalom, schemed to take the kingdom away from his dad and have himself anointed and take over as king. And of course, it led to this great crisis in the kingdom. I've often thought, boy, this would make a great movie. I don't know if any of you thought about that. It's got all the elements. It's got a really great basic plot.

There's this family conflict and political intrigue and grasping for power. And then you've got great characters. The protagonist is King David, one of the greatest protagonists ever.

And he's, towards the end of his life, he's not as sharp as he was. And then the antagonist is the young-gun Absalom, who wants to seize power.

And then there's all these wonderful supporting characters. You've got Joab, the long-time general of the army, who's a little corrupt at times or power-hungry.

And you've got Zadok and a BFR, the priests, and Hushai, the Archite and...Hushai...well, anyway, I'm remembering the name but not where they're from and that doesn't matter.

And then there's the Phibishath and Zebah, which sounds kind of like a fruity drink. That's Zima. Did they make that anymore? No, I don't know.

But I want to focus on one of these supporting characters. We'll go through the whole story because his role is important. It's Barzilii the Gileadite.

If you've never heard of Barzilii, then you're going to see a little bit about him now. He's quickly become one of my heroes, as I've studied in this. So let's summarize the start of the story so we don't have to read all of this. David is ruling and things are going along. He's paying attention to those keys of happiness that we discussed, so he's not paying attention to the days going by. But Absalom is. Absalom is noticing time going by and he's thinking, I don't think I'm ever going to get to be king. So he launches a plot, a long-term conspiracy, to win the hearts of the children of Israel. And he works at this making friends and glad-handing.

And then he pulls his coup. He launches a surprise. He's going to be proclaimed king and he'll swoop in and seize power. But word leaks to David first. And so that's where we'll come in. In 2 Samuel 15 and verse 13.

Now a messenger came to David, came into the palace and says, the hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom. Now this is a way of saying Absalom's seizing power and David knows what it means. So David said to all of his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, arise, let us flee or we shall not escape from Absalom. Make haste to depart lest he overtake us suddenly and bring disaster upon us and strike the city with the edge of the sword. So now we move forward through the story. They start packing up. And of course various of the supporting characters come in. Some are supporting David. Some want to come with David and he says, no, no, you're just not physically strong enough. And he has some of them stay behind and plants them as spies. You stay here and send word to me what's going on. And they're struggling for control. And the fibisheth doesn't show up, but his servant does and says that he's trying to take power.

Where am I going here in this? Now let's move forward in chapter 15 verse 30.

They do flee. Next page. So David went up by the ascent of the Mount of Olives and wept as he went up. And he had his head covered and went barefoot. And all the people who were with him covered their heads and went up weeping as they went up. This is the sad scene in the movie where it sort of shows in slow motion and there's this sad music playing as you see them trekking out and they're weeping. And you wonder, is this the end? Could it be this way? And we'll fast forward through what happens next. They do leave the city and then Absalom and his supporters come in in triumph and they take control and they start discussing various things to build their power. And David and his men are so weak that they actually go through a discussion of what's the best way to go out and crush them. One side says, send me just a few thousand men and I'll kill David alone and take the others back. And the other says, no, let's gather a great army and go and wipe them all out and that'll encourage everyone.

And then, of course, the spies get word and send out to David. So David and his followers, they're fleeing for their life and they have nothing, but they're going to receive help. Let's skip ahead a couple chapters to chapter 17. David and his men get the warning to go ahead and cross the Jordan River over into the area of Gilead. But as they go, they've got nothing. They're hungry and weary and thirsty. They're out in a wilderness land. Everything seems lost, but help arrives. So 2 Samuel 17 and verse 27.

Now, it's not stated here, but we're going to learn later that this is Barzilii. And I gather from what happens that he takes the lead among these three men. He's wealthy and he's 80 years old, but he steps up saying, we've got to take care of this. And they do. They bring in the supplies. So David and his men are sustained. They don't die or fall apart in the wilderness. And then they start building an army. And we'll move on then to the climax of the story in the second chapter, or the next chapter. 2 Samuel 18 verse 6.

So the people went out into the field of battle against Israel, and the battle was in the woods of Ephraim. The people of Israel were overthrown there before the servants of David, and a great slaughter of 20,000 took place there that day. For the battle was scattered over the face of the whole countryside, and the woods devoured more people that day than the sword devoured. So we have the great climax, and the men of David, God gives them the victory. And he works that out. And Absalom himself will actually get trapped in hanging in a tree, and Joab comes and kills him. And we go on to some other of the high points of drama. The battle is won, but some of the other things come up. David starts mourning for his son. He still loved his son. And he almost loses all the political support he'd gained. Until Joab comes and points out, David, if you don't stop this and go out and show yourself to the people, it's going to be worse than if you'd lost. As I said, that's one of the sub-points, but it's still really interesting. And then there's political wrangling. Now that David's won the battle, can he come back and reassume power as king? And so there's political intrigue that goes on. We'll pick up in 2 Samuel 19, verse 11.

Oh, there we go. No wonder I was looking in the wrong chapter. So King David sent to Zadok and Abiathar the priest, saying, Speak to the elders of Judah, saying, Why are you last to bring the king back to his house? Since the words of all Israel have come to the king to his very house, You're my brother, and you're my bone in my flesh, Why are you then the last to bring back the king, speaking to his own tribe of Judah?

And say to Amasa, Are you not my bone in my flesh? God do so to me, and more also, if you're not commander of the army, before me continuing the place of Joab. This is David playing smart politics. And he swayed the hearts of the men of Judah, just as the heart of one man, so that they sent this word to the king, Return, you and all your servants.

So they sent a word to him to come back. And in verse 15, Then the king returned, and he came to the Jordan, And all Judah came down to Gilgal to go and meet the king, To escort the king across the Jordan.

So this is a great triumphal return, And they're going to cross the river back into the main part of the kingdom. And several of those recurring characters, or supporting characters, show up. And the Phibish eth comes up, and they're arguing over who was right or wrong, Him or a servant. And Shimei the Benjamite, who'd been throwing stones and cursing, Comes and begs for his life, and David shows mercy. And I want to pick up here in verse 31 with, once again, my favorite character in this, Well, my favorite supporting character, Barzilii.

Then Barzilii the Gileadite came down from Rogelim, And went across the Jordan with the king, to escort him across the Jordan. He'd earned the right to have this place alongside the king, Escorting him as he went back in triumph. Now Barzilii was a very aged man, 80 years old, And he had provided the king with supplies while he stayed at Mahanaim, For he was a very rich man. And the king said to Barzilii, Come across with me, and I'll provide for you while you're with me in Jerusalem.

Now, if you read over that very quickly, it might sound like David just inviting him to come over for dinner. Now, come on over with me, and I'll provide for you. But I'm pretty sure it was much more than that. For one thing, Barzilii was very rich. He didn't need David to feed him dinner. David was saying, come back to Jerusalem. He was inviting him to join the government.

I'm going to give you a post in my court. Similar to if Barack Obama called and said, come to Washington and I'll give you a cabinet position. That was a high honor, saying, you've earned this, I want to have you come and serve me. But Barzilii wasn't interested in that in particular. Let's continue. Barzilii said to the king, How long do I have to live that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem?

I'm today 80 years old. Can I discern between the good and the bad? Can your servant taste what I eat or what I drink? Can I hear any longer the voice of singing men and singing women? Why then should your servant be a further burden to your king? Now, he's saying, I don't have what it takes anymore for that type of work.

I'm not that sharp anymore. Why should I go up there? He said, your servant will go a little way across the Jordan with the king. Why should the king repay me with such a reward? He's enjoying his place in the sun. I'm happy to have this acknowledgement. I'm going to enjoy riding with the king for a little ways. And then, he said, please let your servant go back again, that I may die in my own city, near the grave of my father and mother. Then something interesting happens. He says, but, here's your servant, Chimham. Let him cross over with my lord the king and do for him what seems good to you.

Barzillia, I was saying, look, I don't want to come and serve in your government. I'm old, I'm not that sharp anymore, I want to enjoy my retirement. But, hey, here's this young fellow. Why don't you go and do what seems good to you? Notice he didn't say, give Chimham the position in the government that you would have given me. He says, do what seems good. In other words, give him a chance. Maybe let him start out as a clerk or have a lowly position learning the ropes.

And David answers. King answered, okay, Chimham will cross over with me. I'll do it for him what seems good to you. Whatever your request for me, I'll do. And, of course, we're coming to the conclusion of what I think would make this great movie. The main plot points are tied up, but there's some tantalizing unanswered questions that at least have happy hope. And what about this chim—well, we know Barzillia. What happened the rest of his days? Hopefully he was happy and continued serving there in Gilead. Chimham, we don't know much about him.

I want to come back and focus on that in a little bit. But it seemed that he was given at least the opportunity. Would he make good on it? Now, without going there, if you're taking notes, you might want to note down Jeremiah 41 and verse 17, the only other place the name is mentioned. And it's hundreds of years later. But there's a mention there of the estate of Chimham near Bethlehem. So it makes the impression that Chimham made good. He became accomplished and had a family estate where the name was carried on near David's hometown.

That's somewhat speculation, but it fits for me, and I think it fits my story very well. So let's consider a couple of the lessons from the story of Barzillia. I went through the whole story. Like I said, it's fun. It should be a movie. And if anybody knows if it's been made a movie, let me know. It might be an older one I missed. Well, let's consider first, he served when there was the need. He saw what the need was, and he stepped into it. He was 80 years old. He had a very good excuse for staying home. He could have just said, hey, there's danger, there's trouble.

I'm an old man. I don't have what it takes. Don't bother me. But he had what God's work needed in a crisis. And I'd like to point that out. Now, we think of God's work now as preaching the gospel, working through the church. But in that day and age, God's work was the kingdom of Israel.

And the kingdom of Israel was in a great crisis. Its king was being hounded and threatened with being killed. Barzillia had what the work needed, in that case, food and supplies. And he stepped forward with it. Think of what we went through 16 or 17 years ago. God's work was in a crisis.

And several older people in the church had what the church needed. Wisdom and faith and instruction. And a lot of older people stepped up and provided what was needed at that time. And of course, we could look back within this past year. A lot of older, especially local elders, stepped up when pastors left and left a congregation in need of service. A lot of older men, who some of them, like Mr. Hargrove up in Columbus, was retired. And had worked in the ministry for over 50 years and had earned his retirement.

And he said, okay, I'll come back and do the job. You know, it makes me feel like what I'm doing is no big deal. You know, because we've got men like, I think, David Mills down in North Carolina, who's in his 70s and pastoring five or six churches.

But what I'm saying is, men and women, in many cases, have stepped up and done what needed done at the time. Now, it might sound like I'm contradicting myself, because I was talking earlier about how older people need to step aside and let younger people take over.

And that's important. It's important to train people for the future. But when there's a crisis, those who can handle the crisis need to step in and help. But Barzillia did both. You know, he stepped up and served in a crisis, but he was also looking to the future. He'd provided training for the future by helping this younger leader. And I'm talking about this Chimham fellow. We don't know a lot about him. Or even if I'm pronouncing the name correctly. I'm not sure if it could be Kimham or... But do you suppose when they were riding along going back to Jerusalem and David said, Come with me to Jerusalem, he said, Oh, no, I don't want to go. And how about that guy? And it was the first time he'd laid eyes on him? No, probably not. He knew Chimham well enough to, in an instant, recommend him. He's the one you can take. He'll do well. Give him a chance. So I suspect he'd been working with Chimham for years. I looked into some of the commentaries, and the Bible doesn't tell us. They speculate maybe Chimham was his grandson, or a nephew or great-nephew, or maybe just a young lad from the village or somebody that he'd known and he'd taken an interest in and started teaching. We don't know the exact... We know, Barzillia, I was 80 at this time. How old was Chimham? I'd like to just engage in some speculation. And this is all me just speculating, but let's just say Chimham was 30 years younger. That would make him about 50 at that time, a good time to go serve in the court. And let's speculate, though. What if Barzillia had been ready to serve from the time he was that age or even younger? What if at the age of 45 Barzillia was ready to go to Jerusalem and serve in the court? He's prepared, he's sharp, he knows a lot of things, but he never got the call. Nobody... King Saul didn't call him, and then King David never called him. So did Barzillia just sit around and mope and go, ooh, I don't get to go to Jerusalem? No, he did the work that he'd done in Gilead. He provided leadership and service there. And perhaps made it a special effort to work with younger men. If Chimham was 30 years younger, just think, when Barzillia was 45, Chimham was 15. But how many... 45-year-old could take an interest in a teenager and say, hey, I want to spend some time, just be a good influence on you. I'm not good at doing the math in my head, I've got it written down here. When Barzillia was 60, Chimham would have been 30. Perhaps at that point it's more of a mentor. Chimham's come along great. Barzillia is an older man who can still give him good advice when he needs it. And when Barzillia was 80, now, in his own mind, too old to go serve in the government at Jerusalem. But he'd had a man that he'd been working with for years, who is now 50, at the prime age, to go and serve in that administrative role. He was ready, partly because maybe he'd been learning from Barzillia for 30 years. Again, that's all speculation on my part. I don't know if that's how it worked.

But what's not speculation is that we've had a lot of adults in the Church of God who have been serving for years and not been called to Pasadena or Cincinnati. Now, many capable people who could have, if they've had the opportunity and would have done well, but who, in many cases, served in their local area and did what needed done, and also took interest in the younger generation, saying, I'm going to help have this fellow get ready if he ever gets called to go to Pasadena or Cincinnati. And one of the reasons I know that's true is because I've been one of those younger fellows. I've had older men in the Church take an interest in me when I was a teenager and sometimes just talk, how are you doing, what have you been reading, things like that, giving me a chance as I get a little older, saying, hey, let's go to Spokesman's Club and learn some things like that. It makes a big difference.

And although I'm not old yet, not even 50 yet, so I can officially say I'm not old yet, but I prepared the sermon partly talking to myself, saying, okay, Frank, are you going to follow through? Are you going to practice what you preach? Are you going to pay attention to the younger people? And I've had opportunity to do that at summer camp, but it's even more important now working in a congregation, three congregations, saying, work with the young people, make sure they have opportunities to serve. We don't know when Christ will return. As I said, I didn't think I'd be old enough to get a driver's license. A lot of you never expected to be this age, so maybe it'll be that much longer. Perhaps sometime in the future we'll have pastors by the name of Ethan Call or Caleb Shoemaker or Josiah Warren. You know, it could happen, but it'll mostly happen, or most likely, if we're taking an interest now in helping people to get ready. Good. I've got time. As exciting as the thought of the movie is, I do want to stop and say the role of older people in the church, though, isn't just to train the younger ones. Now, that's an important thing and be an example, but it's worth us stopping and considering what has been attained already for those who are up in years. Let's take a few moments to consider those accomplishments, what they've already achieved.

As a matter of fact, let's go to Proverbs 22. Proverbs 22, verse 6. We call this a memory scripture. I don't usually remember where it's at, but what it says we all have had in our heads. But I want to notice something else about what it says that we don't always think of. Proverbs 22, verse 6 says, Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he's old, he will not depart from it. Now, we're usually thinking of this as, okay, you've got a parent and a child, and you've got to train them right, so that they'll stick with the truth. But the other part of this is when he's old, not necessarily grown up, but when he's old, he will not depart from it. Solomon is making a statement about being trained up, getting ready, so that you are something special when you're older. And that's where I want to focus on here a little bit. And to be honest, let's be blunt about it. When we get older, our memories don't work the way they used to. An aged brain just can't seem to recall the information the way we want it to and the way it used to. But the question is, is recalling that information the most important thing? Let's go to 1 Corinthians, chapter 8, and look at a couple of scriptures in the New Testament. That I think will show us that while it's important to have information and to be able to teach and all that, recalling that information isn't the most important thing. 1 Corinthians, chapter 8 and verse 1, I'm taking this a little out of context, but it's worthwhile. Now, as a matter of fact, I just want to read the last part, where the Apostle Paul said, knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. Now, knowledge isn't bad, but it can puff up. It can make you feel full of yourself. But knowledge edifies, which means builds up with substance, something that's substantial. Or did I say not love? Knowledge puffs up, love edifies. It builds up. Let's also go to Matthew 23 and verse 23. That knowledge is good, but love is more important. And the question I'll ask is, is loving dependent on being able to remember very well? And my answer is not entirely. Matthew 23, verse 23, here Jesus Christ was discussing things with the Pharisees and correcting them quite a bit. But he says, Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You pay tithe of mint, ennest, and common, and have neglected the way to your matters of the law. Justice, mercy, and faith. These you ought to have done without leaving the other undone. Justice, mercy, and faith. That's the way to your matters. How much information do you have to recall for those things? I think what he's getting at is character. This is speaking more about what you are, what you've become, more than what you know or what you can say. And I thought of this particularly as I was writing this, I was thinking of my grandmother. And I've mentioned her several times here about she was the first one in my family that came in the church and began teaching me. Now, she wasn't a scholar, but she went through the correspondence course and she knew her Bible and helped me learn memory scriptures. And, you know, it was good. She knew what she needed to know.

But as she passed through her 80s and into her 90s, she lived to be 95, she started having trouble recalling things. She just couldn't remember, and it frustrated her a great deal. You know, she wanted to find a certain scripture or remember what the Bible said. But I have to say, she might have lost track of certain things the Bible said or where to find it, but she never lost judgment, mercy, and faith. Because they weren't things in her memory, they were just what she was. She'd spent decades of building that character, of becoming judgment, mercy, and faith.

Now, I'm not saying she was perfect, because she was a... As a matter of fact, Sue and I would say sometimes we got rather frustrated at her for a lack of perfection, but everybody's like that. But, you know, and I mean, I know it here, there are times when she didn't recognize members of her own family, but she recognized God's Spirit, and she recognized love, and she was trying to be that way.

Now, I think that's an accomplishment worth honoring and celebrating. That's what we're trying to build and what some are already at. Now, I'm biased here because I'm talking about a family member, but you know people like that or you have at times, and it's worth us knowing that that's a special role in God's church that shouldn't be slighted or think, oh, it's too bad, you know, such and such is in their old age, and they can't think as well as they used to, because really it's a high honor. Let me talk about another family experience, and it's closely related. My grandmother's second husband, his name was Arlie York, and I'm giving them by name because, you know, they're both gone by now.

But he was a devoted Christian, worked hard all of his life, and it's interesting, they were in their 60s when they met and got married, but they still were married nearly 25 years, because they both lived so long. He died at the age of 90, so a few years before Grandma. But he'd worked hard all of his life, and even as his health started to decline, he focused on taking care of her more than anything else.

He gave all of his energy, and there was a time, I remember, when he was needing to be served somewhat, and he was laying in bed saying, I should be up helping her, not having somebody come and help me. Now, towards the end of his life, his health declined dramatically. He developed lung cancer, and it was one of those things he'd smoked for a while decades earlier, briefly, and then quit. So I don't know if it was related to that or just one of those things where they say, if you live long enough, you're going to develop a cancer of some type.

But his end came fairly quickly. He went from serving to just getting weaker and weaker and declining. Hospice began helping us towards the end. First people coming in, and they provided medicine to help manage the pain, and sometimes one of those oxygen machines he could use when he needed. But even through all that, he was most concerned to not want to be a bother. You know, I don't want people to go in any extra trouble for me. In the end, he became unable to do even the simple things, like getting himself dressed or go to the restroom on his own.

And he suffered the height of indignity. I mean, when you can't even get up to go to the bathroom, that's...you know, no person wants to be in that state. But as I saw that, I thought of this scripture, 2 Corinthians chapter 12. 2 Corinthians 12 verses 9 and 10. I think it wasn't until I watched, you know, my step-grandfather, Arlie, go through this that I really began to learn what this means. I wonder if even the Apostle Paul knew it as fully at the time as some of us are able to learn now through our experiences.

But this is, you know, Paul was going through some infirmity. He doesn't say exactly what, but he kept appealing to God to heal him of it. And God gave him an answer. In my Bible, this is written in red. It's God's words. And he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you. My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. God is saying, my strength is made perfect in your weakness. And I saw that in my grandfather. He was getting as weak as a person could be, but I saw him growing stronger and stronger spiritually.

He was becoming more and more like God. Therefore, most gladly, I will rather boast in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities and reproaches and needs and persecutions and in distresses for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. When I'm weak, then I'm strong. Now, weak physically, but strong spiritually. And it was... I look back, it was an honor for me.

I sat by Arleigh's bed when they moved him into a hospice facility. It was attached to Riverside Hospital. And they came and moved him. And, you know, grandmother stayed at home. And I said, well, I'm going to go home. I'm going to stop by and sit with Arleigh for a little bit. And he had been asleep. He woke up and he ate a little...

we chatted a little bit. And then he went back to sleep. And it became apparent to me this was going to be his last night. And it turned out it was. It was a few hours later I got the phone call that he was dying. They said, if you want to see him, you'd better hurry. And as it was, I was a little too late.

But that's not the point. The point is, as I was sitting there watching him as weak as a person physically can be, it struck me.

He's that close to becoming born into the family of God. He might be so weak, but he's about to... and of course I know he's in the grave waiting to be risen, so he's not in heaven now. But in his next moment of consciousness, he'll be raised with a spirit body, with incomparable power. He's not going to be weak at all then. He's going to have all the power and health and vitality. And he was that close to it. He was sitting there with someone that was hours away from what we're all striving for. And that's inspiring to me. Now, it's not easy to be in that position. It wasn't easy for him, and we have some older members in the church that are close to that, at least. They're not doing well. They're very weak physically. But we shouldn't... well, we should feel bad for them. Nobody wants to go through that. But we should remember and honor their position. They are nearly at the finish line that we're all striving for. And they're setting an example that we all want to be able to do what they're doing. They're not burdens, they're leaders. As I said, they're at the forefront. So it's good for us to remember that God made this cycle of human life. It's temporary and physical, but each of its stages are important, and we can't skip any of them. We start as children, devoted to learning and growing. And then we spend much of our adulthood working. But still learning and growing spiritually. And if we do it right, it can be a time of great happiness. And then as older people, we turn more of our focus to teaching and guiding, and also to making the final preparations for moving into that great next stage of our existence. And that's something to leave you with. Just think, when we reach the pinnacle of age and achievement in this life, then we're really only ready to just begin the life that God has planned for us.

Thank you.