August 27, 2006

Forgotten Lives - Caleb

Give Me This Hill

Joshua 14:5-14

Opening Words: There are sixty-six books in the Bible, thirty-nine in the Old Testament. The New Testament is dominated by Jesus, himself, our Lord and Savior. The Old Testament consists of a variety of lives. Each one played a small part in God’s plan for the salvation of the world. Most of those lives are forgotten. So what I have been doing this summer is looking at some of those forgotten lives. It is for this reason that I have called this sermon series Forgotten Lives. This weekend we look at Caleb.

Perhaps, it is for personal reasons that I wrote this message. On May 9 of next year I will turn fifty years old. It doesn’t really bother me. All my body parts still work. I look forward to being eighty. H.B. Rhoads was a parishioner of mine in a previous appointment. He said he liked being eighty because he could say whatever he wanted. However, he added, the problem was no one listens to you when you are eighty. In our scripture lesson this weekend Caleb is eighty-five years old. He must have liked being eighty-five years old. He has a great attitude about his age. He doesn’t see it as his life being almost over. He sees eighty-five years old as a good time to take on a new challenge. Let me call this message Give Me This Hill. Let us hear this lesson together.

I love the story of the famous mystery writer Agatha Christie. She was married to the equally famous archeologist H.E. Mallowen. Christie said once there are tremendous advantages to being married to an archeologist. She said, “For one thing, the older I become the more fascinating I become to him.”

The reason we laugh at that story is that we have bought into the lie. The world tells us that being young is everything. The world tells us that the older we are the less we can make a viable contribution to the future. The advertising industry has tapped into that root fear. How many products are on the market today that promise to keep you young? So this morning I want to talk to you “youngsters” about aging gracefully. Your attitude about aging is important because it affects the way that you live and the way that you look at yourself. I am going to use Caleb as our Biblical model and look at three timeless statements. He was eighty-five years old. He wasn’t looking for a peaceful ending in his golden years. He was looking for a new challenge. So if you youngsters are ready for my three timeless statements say, “Amen!”

Timeless Statement #1: “Old Age” is a matter of perspective.

We are in the fourteenth chapter of Joshua. So much has happened. Moses led the people in the wilderness for forty years. He never set foot in the Promised Land. That was Joshua’s job. Joshua had some amazing military victories. He conquered that land and the promise was fulfilled. In this scene Joshua has the difficult job of determining which tribe will receive what parcel of land. Caleb steps forward to state his case. Everyone else wants valley land, where life is good and easy. Caleb wants the hill country because he wants a new challenge in life. Eighty-five year old Caleb wants a challenge. He goes out of his way to receive a challenge. His mind, body and spirit are still strong. He just isn’t going to sit back and wait to die. He knows God is not done with him yet. He knows old age is a matter of perspective. What is old age to you?

One of the really wonderful people in this church was Florence Hird. I really enjoyed visiting her because she had a wonderful attitude. She was in her upper nineties but she seldom talked about the past. She was more interested in the present and the future. Near the end of her life I would visit her in the nursing home and she would ask about everything. She wanted to know about me and my family. She wanted to know about my opinion about the latest news story. She wanted to know about the church. She wanted to know about new members. She wanted to know about church finances and upcoming events. She wanted to know about her old Sunday school class, the Christian Fellowship Class. She would call them the kids. Most in that class have been retired for years but when you are in your nineties someone who is retired is still a kid. “Old Age” is a matter of perspective. In my home someone said to me, “Dad, in ten years I will be twenty-six! I don’t want to be that old!” “Old Age” is a matter of perspective.

Our perspective of old age is changing in America. The reason is we are living longer. Did you know that the fastest growing group in our society is men and women over the age of 85? Did you know that second fastest growing group in our society is men and women between the age of 65 and 85? Did you know that the average life expectancy in America in 1900 was 47 years old? The average life expectancy in 1940 was 60. That is why Social Security benefits begin in your 60’s. That is why the system is strained today. We are just living too long. By 1980 the average live expectancy was 70 and in 1996 women lived 77 years and men 72 years. It is estimated that by the year 2010 the average woman and man will live to be 82 and 88 respectively. We are redefining old age. Some have suggested that middle age is between 50 and 65, your later adulthood is between 65 and 80 and your senior adulthood begins at 80. Our perspective of old age is changing in America. Timeless Statement #1: “Old Age” is a matter of perspective. If you can agree with that say, “Amen!”

Timeless Statement #2: Celebrate every stage of life!

As Caleb stands there and states his case before Joshua and he remembers past events. We should never worship the past but we should learn from the past. Verses seven, eight and nine tell us he remembered how he visited that hill country years ago. He reported on that land accurately and Moses was pleased with him. The great law giver promised him that land forty years early and he had come that day to claim that promise. Caleb made a direct connection between the then and the now. Neither then nor now is better. They are of the same value. Caleb reminds us to celebrate every stage of life! Are you celebrating every stage of your life?

I want you to consider these people. You're never too young or too old if you've got talent. Let's recognize that age has very little to do with ability. Are you celebrating every stage of your life?

Ted Williams, at age 42, slammed a home run in his last official time at bat. Mickey Mantle, age 20, hit 23 home runs his first full year in the major leagues.

Golda Meir was 71 when she became Prime Minister of Israel.
William Pitt II was 24 when he became Prime Minister of Great Britain.

George Bernard Shaw was 94 when one of his plays was first produced.
Mozart was just seven when his first composition was published.

Benjamin Franklin was a newspaper columnist at 16
and a framer of the United States Constitution when he was 81.

Pablo Cassals was 93 years old and he was still practicing his cello. His friends asked, “Why?” He said, “I think I am making some progress!” Are you celebrating every stage of your life? Are you getting the most out of every stage of life or are you just waiting to die? If you are ready to start being the person that God intended say, “Amen!”

Timeless Statement #3: Develop an eternal prospective.

The story ends by saying that Joshua gave Caleb the hill country. He got his challenge. Verse fourteen says not only did Caleb receive the hill country but his descendents have lived in that country ever sense. The story reminds that we need to develop an eternal prospective.

Shortly before Hubert Humphrey’s death he was visited by Jesse Jackson. The visit was short because the former Vice-President was very weak. He only did things that were really important to him. One of the things Humphrey he did was call Richard Nixon on the telephone. Jackson was surprised to find out that Humphrey had called Nixon; they were always on the opposite side of every political issue. Jesse Jackson just asked, “Why?” Humphrey said, “Jesse, when you get to my stage of life you look at things differently. You don’t see enemies, opponents and sides. We are all on the same side. I have learned there is nothing more valuable in life than to forgive and move on. So I called Dick Nixon and asked him to sit next to my wife, Muriel, at my funeral. I told him Washington missed him. Isn’t it time you came home?”

If you knew you only had a short time to live how would you change? What would you say then that you can’t say now? Who would you forgive? What would you do with that valuable slice of time? Caleb story reminds us to develop an eternal prospective. And all of God’s youngsters said, “Amen!”

Let me end by saying this. I hope Agatha Christie discovered that you don’t have to be married to an archeologist to be interesting at any age. I hope you have discovered the same thing. Don’t ever forget it! And all of people’s youngsters said, “Amen!”