Advent is a season of preparation, of getting ready for something exciting or important to happen. A season of expectation and anticipation. Sometimes though we end up so weary, fed up with unfulfilled promises. We are on the verge on a General Election and we are being promised so much. We remember the promises of the Brexit campaign and our ability to trust these promises is fractured. How do we know what is truth and what is spin?
Sometimes we end up old – in age, in mindset, in attitude. We know that old age doesn’t come itself. Over the years the niggles in joints become regular events, the pace of the walk slows down, the mind that held multiple thoughts now stands in the middle of the room and asks what did I come for? We look at younger people in their 20s and think they are 12 and should still be in school. We look at younger people with a pang of jealousy. Yet with age comes wisdom, experience and knowledge. For example, I wish I knew at 20 what I knew at 40, for then I might have made some kinder choices in my life.
Sometimes we end up old in mindset or attitude. I can’t do something because I’m old. Rather than approach a situation from a different perspective we write ourselves off because we are old. The minister encourages us to build the church and we think to ourselves – well I’m too old for that. And immediately we write ourselves off, as if there is nothing we can contribute. Yet your experiences of this in the past can inspire and encourage the church of today. We think the secular world is a huge problem, and yet many in the Church today come from the hard days post war pain and loss and ‘where was God in the wars?’.
Younger generations are without time – giving them the gift of wisdom and knowledge that would help their time be used efficiently. Or you have the time to pray for vision and God’s blessings…and of course every family needs the recipe for Granny’s apple pie! There are equivalents to that in the Church – sharing the legacy of the church that was passed down to you and so on.
Elizabeth and Zechariah were old, and felt that their time had passed. They were still faithful, good people of faith, fulfilling their role and worshipping God. Zechariah was a priest but not one of the super duper variety. Rather he was from a priestly line and was most likely just a simple country man with basic education in his field. An ordinary old man, past the age of having children. He is picked by lots to be in the Temple that day to burn the incense. Probably a once in a lifetime opportunity but it is the right time. An angel appears and tells him that his prayer has been answered. I wonder if his first thought is – which prayer?
The angel tells him that he will become a father, and Elizabeth a mother. To be fair to Zechariah he wasn’t expecting to meet an angel never mind become a father. When we are old there is a risk that we stop expecting God to do anything in our lives. Yet in scripture, time and time again age is not a barrier to God. Moses was 40 when he ran away and hid, 80 when he took the Israelites into the desert, and 120 when they found the promised land.
Elizabeth hid during her pregnancy, perhaps to protect the child given her age. Perhaps because she didn’t want to answer lots of awkward questions. Perhaps because Zechariah couldn’t say a word, and that added its own issues to the situation. But when Mary comes she is encouraged and enabled to accept and feel blessed by the pregnancy. And perhaps she comes to believe that truly this child is of God. When the baby is born she says his name is John. It causes a reaction because normally the child would be named after its father or family, but she is adamant. And so is Zechariah and as he confirms his belief publicly that this child is of God by writing down his name, he is given the power of speech back.
Old age doesn’t have to silence us. Old age doesn’t have to make us watch from the sidelines whilst others do the work. Old age doesn’t make us dispensable. But sometimes like Zechariah and Elizabeth we need to have our expectations challenged.
If you have been silenced, ask yourself if you have silenced yourself? Zechariah silenced himself by doubting the angel’s message. Despite where he found himself, in a holy place, he could not process the moment. And his doubt in God, in himself, silenced him.
And only his faith that God was in the gift of this child, in obeying God was he able to speak again. How might you find your voice? What doubts are holding you back from participating fully? You might not be asked by God to have a child with a special mission, but you are asked to be part of the family. Are there ways you can support, encourage, enable, build up, make paths smooth for others? There are plenty people pulling down the church and people of faith. We need an army of encouragers and enablers, wisdom givers and legacy holders to keep God’s people on track. Proverbs says that grey hair is a sign of wisdom. Generational characteristics say that the Millennium Generation get on better with their grandparents than their parents.
Old age doesn’t come itself – it comes with wisdom, knowledge, experience, scars, and faith. What are you doing with your old age? Use it to bless others, and you will find it becomes less of curse for you.
Amen
