The famous American actor, Bette Davis (1908–1989), is reputed to have said, “Old age is no place for sissies.” Old age definitely has a downside with the loss of memory, a hobbling gait, diminished sight, impaired hearing and endless medical appointments. Even the Psalmist presents a gloomy view of old age: “The days of our life are seventy years or perhaps eighty, if we are strong; even then” . . . it’s just more “toil and trouble” (Psalm 90:10).
However, on the other hand, in biblical times the aged were revered and were a welcome part of the extended family, which gave them companionship and a sense of worth in their final days. A long life gave the grey-haired a reputation for wisdom that was widely respected: “Stand up in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly” (Leviticus 19:32); “grey hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life” (Proverbs 16.31); “the beauty of the aged is their grey hair” (Proverbs 20:29).
As we near the upper rungs of the ladder of life our faults and failings seem to loom large and a profound sense of unworthiness takes hold of us. Some of my contemporaries confess to me that they feel unworthy. Of course in one sense we are all unworthy. Our assurance cannot be in ourselves; it must be in Jesus and only in Him and no-one else: “So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith [trust]” (Galatians 3:26). “And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring [seed], heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:29).
Notice that it was “while we were still helpless” (Romans 5:6); “while we still were sinners” (v8); and “while we were enemies” (v10) that “Christ died for us” (v8).
The fourth-century celebrated preacher, Chrysostom, brilliantly captured Paul’s meaning when he said: “Since God gave the greatest thing [His own Son] for his enemies, how will he not give the least things for his friends?” If God gave His own Son for the sake of the weak, sinners and enemies and thus reconciled them to Himself to become His friends, will He not therefore now be even more generous to them? God does not abandon His friends because they’re old.
Chrysostom probably had Romans 8:32 in mind when he made his comment. “He [God] who did not withhold his own Son but gave him up for all of us, how will he not with him also give us everything else (italics added)?” God not only “put forward Christ as a sacrifice of atonement” (Romans 3:25), but also “Christ loved the community and gave himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:25). Who then can bring any charge against us because we are old? God? Not God.“It is God who justifies” us. Christ? Not Christ.“It is Christ who died” for us, “who was raised, who is also at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us” (Romans 8:34).
God assures us “I will be your God throughout your lifetime—until your hair is white with age” (Isaiah 46:4, NLT). It looks like God doesn’t desert the aged, so why would we desert Him? Our confidence is based on what God in Christ has done; not on what we do. Is there nothing for us to do? Of course there is: in response to God and Christ’s love for us we ought to love God with our whole heart, life and mind (Matthew 22:37).
We also ought to love our neighbour for “love does no wrong to a neighbour [the other]; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law” (Romans 13:10). We ought to love one another within the community “since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:11). We ought to love our enemies and do them good (Luke 6:35), which I think refers to those outside of our culture, class, code, country, creed, colour or gender category. “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). “Those who love God, whom they have not seen, must love their needy brothers and sisters, whom they have seen” (see 1 John 4:21).
Lovers try to please one another, as is demonstrated in the story of the wife who sacrificed her beautiful auburn hair to attain the funds to buy her husband a wrist-band for his precious watch. Unknown to her he had sold his much-loved watch, so as to afford to buy a head-band for his wife’s lovely long hair. Come Christmas Day, she had an expensive head-band but no long hair and he had an expensive wrist-band but no watch. What they did have was a beautiful manifestation of their love attempting to please the other. That is what love does, so we “ought to live and to please God” (1 Thessalonians 4:1).
I was a good walker, not fast but steady, and I enjoyed it especially with the late Chris Akroyd at my side, or in front, setting the pace and stimulating the conversation. Even after Chris’s passing I continued to walk; that was until last year when a few falls and arthritis brought my walking days to a halt. Mercifully my physical abilities have little to do with my spiritual walk, so I can still heed Paul’s challenge: “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to walk in him” (Colossians 2:6); “what does the LORD require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8)?” “And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us” (Ephesians 5:2). Love is always undeserved and unearned.
Even at the human level love stimulates the deeds—whether washing the dishes or ironing the shirts, deeds can result from love but they cannot procure it. Of course, we should show our appreciation for acts of kindness and not just with words, though they’re important too.
In the classic play, Fiddler on the Roof, Tevye, after 25 years of marriage, asks his wife, Golde, whether she loves him. She responds by reciting all the things she does, from cooking his meals to milking the cow, but Tevye is not satisfied and persists with his question until they both confess their love for each other.
“Love” implies a reciprocal relationship, a gift from the heart. Tevye knew this—hence his dissatisfaction with Golde’s recital of all her household chores. The umbrellas open up as the rain comes down and never the reverse, so the gift of a relationship, such as friendship, stimulates acts of affection, but never the reverse.
“Grace”, like “love”, is a free gift; it cannot be earned, for as Paul says if it is earned, then it becomes one’s due, as in the case of wages (Romans 4:4,5). However, we all “are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24). Two of Paul’s strongest usages of the term “grace” occur in Galatians: “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing” (Galatians 2:21); “You who want to be reckoned as righteous by the law have cut yourselves off from Christ; you have fallen away from grace” (Galatians 5:4).
Therefore, the terms grace and love combine very comfortably together as in 2 Thessalonians 2:16: “God our Father, who loved us and through grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope.” A well known example occurs in the benediction in 2 Corinthians 13:13: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.” Paul used the word “grace” frequently in his letters, about one hundred times. In fact, every one of his epistles begins with a greeting containing the word “grace”. “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philemon 1:3). The aged would do well to heed what Barnabas and Paul urged upon some of their hearers, that is, “to continue in the grace of God” (Acts 13.43).
Dr Norman Young lectured at Avondale College (now University) for 31 years (1973-2004). In retirement, he still enjoys studying and writing the occasional article.
