A Sermon by Worth Green, Th.M., D.Min.
Preached at New Philadelphia on October 11, 2009
10 The years of our life are threescore and ten, or even by reason of strength fourscore; 2 yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.
Modern researchers will tell us that given the time and place in which the Psalmist wrote his observation as to the length of human life would hold up to scientific scrutiny. People of the ancient middle East did live long and healthy lives.
By contrast, the average lifespan of a typical Greek or Roman from the Classical Ages of those civilizations was between 20 and 30 years. Of course, as always, those who belong to the privilege classes—and had access to good health care, could easily live double that.
One wonders if the difference in lifespan between the Ancient Hebrews and the Ancient Greeks and Romans was affected by the laws of “commandments in ordinances laid down by Moses?
In the early 20th Century, the average citizen of the United States lived between 40 and 50 years. Today, we live much longer, approximating the lifespan idealized by the Psalmist.
African-American males of my generation live an average of 71 years. Euro-American males of my generation live an average of 78 years. Women live an average of 4 to 6 years longer than men.
Our lifespan is still increasing. According to a report recently published the popular medical journal “The Lancet,” babies born in the industrialized countries (Like the United States and Canada) since the year 2000 can reasonably expect to live to be 100 years old.
This longevity is the result from advances in medical technologies, improved eating habits, a healthier lifestyle, and improved habitation.
The good news is that people are aging more slowly, enjoying a more active, more productive, more enjoyable life than ever before.
The Psalmists says that we can lengthen our lifespan by a decade “by reason of strength.“
Or, by strength of reason! We can lengthen our lifespan by exercising our common sense. Studies by the American Medical Association suggest that proper diet and exercise is a key component of health. So is moderation in all things.
We can also exercise our bodies. One of my heroes is the late Dr. J.C. McPheters. He was the first president of Asbury Theological Seminary and at the same time the pastor of the once prestigious Glyde Memorial United Methodist Church in San Francisco, Ca. He wore out a new Chrysler every year just driving back and forth, sometimes making the two-way trip once a week. When I was in seminary in 1975 he was still living. He lived with his grandson who was one of my classmates. He told us that on his 85th Birthday Dr. McPheters celebrated by water skiing 85 miles. He said that Dr. McPheters used to get up every morning, sing “Majestic Sweetness Sits Enthroned Upon the Savior’s Brow,” and then drop down to do fifty push-ups. After than he went out for his morning walk. It doubled as his prayer time. Most seminary presidents spend all their time raising money for a chapel or a library. Dr. McPheters did that, but he also raised money for a student gymnasium that featured several full size basketball courts and an Olympic pool in the basement. Under his portrait at the seminary, Dr. McPheters had inscribed the words, “Be Wise, Exercise.”
Don’t limit your exercise to the body. Exercise the mind, too. In the Western World people with a serious mental illness die on average 25 years ahead of the general population. We know, too, that people with better educations tend to live longer, better lives. Some of this is certainly economic. Yet studies d show that people with an active mind and an interest in living and age more slowly and live longer than the general population.
The late Fred L____ is a good example. I was 28 when I went to the Little Church on the Lane in Charlotte, N.C., Fred was in his 80’s. When he retired, Fred made it his goal to read completely through Will and Ariel Durant’s multi-volume The Story of Civilization. When he finished that, he started a book of his own. At one time it was what he called, “a best seller in air ports.” It was entitled, What Every Woman Should Know about Finance . Fred lived into his 90’s.
Or take the case of then 95 year old Nola Ochs. In May of 2004 at the age of 95 Nola graduated from the Fort Hayes State University in Fort Hayes, Kansas. Her graduation was made a little sweeter by the fact that she started college at the age of 39, had to drop out, but never gave up on her dream. And by the fact that she graduated the same day as her21 years old granddaughter, Alexandra Ochs.
Some people will say, “I am too old for that!” But you are not too old to recommit to life and the adventure of living. I have a friend who is in business for himself. He is past 60. He recently told me that he was convinced that his best days in business were still in the future. One of my heroes was the late Vernon Thrift, one time owner of Chapel Organ Company. When I visited him on the day of his death he was going over drawings for an organ he had under construction.
Some people will say, “I am too old . I am retired.” But few are too old to read. Some say we only have one life to live, but we can live 1,000 lives in 1,000 places through books. Just by keeping up with the news—we show our continued intrest in the world.
While we are educating our bodies and our minds we should not forget the soul.
St. Paul wrote, “for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. “ (1 Tim. 4:8)
Isaiah wrote:
They who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. (Isa. 40:30)
H.G. Wells said that old men getting ready to die are like boys putting away their toys. Pope John 23rd was more optimistic. He said that “when the body wears out, the soul get into shape.”
We are never too old to read and study our Bibles. I am not crazy about Bishop Spong’s theology, but I was recently humbled to learn that he reads through the Bible on average once each year.
We are not too old to pray. My morning run has been my prayer and reflection time for many years. As I have grown older, I feel a need for even more intentional prayer time.
We are not too old to get involved. There are many opportunities here for service. Some churches talk about Senior Ministries and view the senior’s as recipients of those ministries Many of our Seniors are the doers, not the receivers of ministry. “It is better to give than to get,” and I hope I am never too old to give service to others.
The Psalmist says that our years are filled with toil and trouble.
Two weeks ago I gave our young people a little advice. I told them that in settling on a vocation they ought to avoid two extremes. On the one hand, I told them that they ought to avoid anything that is too easy. If we accept work that is too easy, we will soon regret it. Something in us insist that we do our best, and live up to our potential, to be all that we can be. On the other hand, I told them that they ought not to do anything that chafes. God gives us gifts that are suitable for certain tasks, and under the best of circumstances our gifts and tasks align. I told them that their vocation should not be a hair shirt. God does not intend for anyone to be miserable.
I still regard that as good advice, but I fear I was overly optimistic. I was painting a best case scenario. Many a man and many a woman in the history of our world has accepted work they found too easy, or work for which they are ill suited, simply because it provides them with a source of income, income they need to provide for themselves and their families.
Much of humankind has toiled and labored without enjoyment.
The Genesis Story affirms that work—sometimes back breaking, mind numbing work, is a condition of the fall. In Genesis 3:17 God speaks to the first pair saying, “cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life.”
It is against this context that Thomas Carlyle speaks when he says, “Blessed is he who has found his work, let him ask no other blessedness.”
Few of us can say with Mark Twain, “What work I have done I have done because it has been play. If it had been work I shouldn’t have done it.”
I am grateful that much of my work has been play. I simply enjoy it. Even the so-called “hard stuff” carries great meaning. People tell me that it must be hard to visit with the dying, yet I believe that the Catholic Author was right when he said that the dying are a sacrament among us. My prayer for each of you is that you enjoy your work as much as I enjoy mine. Yet, in this life—especially, in the present economic climate; we often have to do things we don’t like.
The Psalmist—who is said to be Moses, says that our days are filled with trouble.
He writes at a time when trouble affects him and his peers, perhaps during the period of the Exodus. In verse 13 we read, “13 Return (to us), O LORD! How long (Will you delay) ? Have pity on thy servants! “
The Psalmists makes two perfectly understandable and typically human requests: In verse 14 he asks:
14 Satisfy us in the morning with thy steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
In verse 15 he adds:
15 Make us glad as many days as thou hast afflicted us, and as many years as we have seen evil.
He prays that God will bless his nation “Early and Often.” Who can argue with that?
And yet, we know that into every life a little rain must fall. As F. Scott Fitzgerald once said, “Show me a hero and I will write you a tragedy.” All of our lives eventually take on a tragic aspect. Yet it is that aspect that gives us the chance to rise.
In one of his books, James S. Stewart the late great Scottish Presbyterian Pastor, tells the story of a gigantic Aurelian harp rigged at a castle on the Rhine. It consist of two sounding huge sounding boards as a series of steel cables many hundreds of feet long. He says that on a day of moderate winds, the harp produces only a slight hum. He says that it is only when the wind howls, and the thunder explodes, and the lightning crashes that it produces a veritable symphony. He says “so it is in a human life.” It is only the hard times “the trouble” that reveals our true character and makes us more than we are. “It takes a world with trouble in it,” he says, “to make us into the men and women God intended us to be.”
The Psalmist says, “Life is short.” The years of it are soon gone, and “we fly away.”
When we hear that we are tempted to think of the old gospel song written by Hank Williams and made popular again in recent years by Alison Kraus:
Some glad morning when this life is o’er,
I’ll fly away;
To a home on God’s celestial shore,
I’ll fly away (I’ll fly away).
That is not its meaning. Every text must have its context. According to John Wesley the Psalmist views the slow steady progress of life, toward the grave, and then, the suddenness of death. Suddenly, life is over, and we fly away.
One minute we are there, the next we are gone.
This takes some getting used to. It was Emily Dickinson who wrote, “The distance that the dead have gone does not at first appear, their coming back seems likely for many an ardent year.”
If the author of Psalm 90 was Moses, I doubt he was as optimistic about his fate “beyond death” as Alison Kraus. In John’s gospel Jesus said, “You search the scriptures because in them you think you will find eternal life, and they are they which testify of me.”
The Jews differed on what they found.
The Sadducees accepted only the First Five Books of the Bible, the Law of Moses. They found little hope for life after death in the Law. The clearest reference—and it is pretty muddy is in Genesis 5:24 where we read that “Enoch walked with God and he was not for God took him. “ The Sadducees believed that “When you are dead you are dead.” They thought that the blessing of God consisted in a long life and prosperity. They surely pointed out that Moses lived 120 years, and when he died, “his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.” (Deut. 34:4)
Jesus corrected their reading of scripture when he pointed out how God said to Moses, “I am the God of Abraham, and Isaac and Jacob,” adding that “God is the God of the living.” (Mark 12:36)
The Pharisees accepted both the Law and the Prophets and they had a better hope. By the time of Jesus, based upon their reading of the scriptures, they looked for a two fold resurrection at the end of history, in which the righteous dead would be raised to life, and the unrighteous to judgment. We Christians have believed from the first that Jesus is the fulfillment of this hope. In him the final resurrection to life has begun. He is the first fruits, and we the harvest. We look at life with hope, because we believe that God has not abandoned us in our little world of time and space, but, in the Eternal Son God has penetrated our world, shattered it, and begun its transformation. We live our lives in the confidence of knowing that there is a better life to come. As St. Paul has said:
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed every day. 17 For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 because we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
Life is short, 70 or 80 years, the chance of 100; but Eternity is long, and we live our lives not just under the shadow of death—though death is real enough, and terrible, but under the shadow of God’s Eternity.
Finis