Good
Morning! Back in the spring when Bruce
said he was going to be away today, I asked if I could preach. I thought it would be a great way to spend
this day for two reasons, first because I truly love being here and second, at
Harold Kushner quotes the following line from
a poem on aging. It says:
“I look at the young in all their grace and
beauty/and all I can think of is brown-and-serve rolls/before they are
cooked.” It is true that I have reached
that half-century mark – and I may not be as young as I used to be, but I’ve
grown, grown to realize that I am
not
at an end, but at a new and different beginning. I choose to call it, “My Second Middle
Age”. The promise of a different kind of
breakthrough in life, to find the ‘Fountain of Age’.
Whether
I want to raft down a river, volunteer to mentor a young person, or widen my
knowledge in any number of new ways, my life course has great prospects for
continued vitality. So, when I started hearing all the ‘old age’ jokes, I just
decided to sit back and enjoy them.
Comments like: “Better not buy
any green bananas” or “Everything is downhill after 50” (but I don’t remember
reaching the top of the hill!), and this is the best one, “I heard happy hour
is now a nap”. I told them they can say
all they want, but I’m here to tell you now – I’m not cooked by any means, a
least not yet, any way!!!
Ultimately
it’s just another season of life. I appreciate more and more that time passes
very quickly and to savor it. As some
of you know, a while back, I was diagnosed with cancer. It will be nine years ago next month. As I look back upon that experience of nine
years ago, I would not exchange what I learned from it, for all the things in
the world. If affected my outlook on
life. I’m VERY happy to be 50! Would I have said that if not for my
experience? I really can’t say for sure,
but I have chosen to positively look forward.
Sometimes though, as I look back, as we all look back to those different
times in our lives, 5, 10,15, 20 years ago and see how those experiences
affected us, I’m sure we can many a time find that God’s hand has touched our
lives – trusting our future to Him.
That’s the value of true faith.
Being
50, though, feels different – maybe it is supposed to because of all that has
preceded it. What we learn – the changes
we make. We have weathered many of the
ups and downs that life offers, which now can bring a better perspective to
what can realistically be expected in the coming years. A future in the ‘Second Middle Age’ may even
be more fun than the first one. It’s a newly constructed stage that’s been
discovered by everyone from automobile designers to travel agents to
manufacturers of exercise equipment. We have also reached a stage when the
children are out on their own, (yes, it does happen – to some extent any way),
and thanks to new techniques we can compensate more for health losses than in
the past from corrective surgeries, joint
replacements, to more aids in
vision and hearing and newer drug therapies.
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The list goes on and on. One of the things I’ve discovered for myself
is that now that I’m 50 – I’m more inclined to speak my mind – some say, it’s
finding your voice. Not afraid to speak up – to say what we’re feeling,
thinking and believing. We have learned
a ‘boldness’ -energies, better skills,
better judgments, creative ideas we didn’t realize we possessed - those latent
powers within us that now can be unleashed.
There is a fairly new ‘society’ that has come about in the past several
years and is gaining great momentum.
It’s a group of women who are living out this ‘Fountain of Age’. It’s called the ‘Red Hat Society”. These women wear red hats with purple dresses
in public. They wear white shoes after Labor Day. They laugh loudly in public. These 50 – something and older, much older
women, have organized 3000 chapters now in
WHEN
I AM AN OLD WOMAN I SHALL WEAR PURPLE
WITH
A RED HAT WHICH DOESN’T GO, AND DOESN’T SUIT ME.
AND
I SHALL SPEND MY PENSION ON BRANDY AND SUMMER GLOVES
AND
SATIN SANDALS, AND SAY WE’VE NO MONEY FOR BUTTER.
I
SHALL SIT DOWN ON THE PAVEMENT WHEN I’M TIRED
AND
GOBBLE UP SAMPLES IN SHOPS AND PRESS ALARM BELLS
AND
RUN MY STICK ALONG THE PUBLIC RAILINGS
AND
MAKE UP FOR THE SOBRIETY OF MY YOUTH.
I
SHALL GO OUT IN MY SLIPPERS IN THE RAIN
AND
PICK THE FLOWERS IN OTHER’S PEOPLE’S GARDENS
AND
LEARN TO SPIT.
YOU
CAN WEAR TERRIBLE SHIRTS AND GROW MORE FAT
AND
EAT THREE POUNDS OF SAUSAGES AT A GO
OR
ONLY BREAD AND PICKLES FOR A WEEK
AND
HOARD PENS AND PENCILS AND BEERMATS AND THINGS IN BOXES.
BUT
NOW WE MUST HAVE CLOTHES THAT KEEP US DRY
AND
PAY OUR RENT AND NOT SWEAR IN THE STREET
AND
SET A GOOD EXAMPLE FOR THE CHILDREN.
WE
MUST HAVE FRIENDS TO DINNER AND READ THE PAPERS.
BUT
MAYBE I OUGHT TO PRACTICE A LITTLE NOW?
SO
PEOPLE WHO KNOW ME ARE NOT TOO SHOCKED AND SURPIRSED
WHEN
SUDDENDLY I AM OLD, AND START TO WEAR PURPLE.
I
can just imagine what those meeting are like!
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So,
maybe for me, as a woman and for that matter, the same for a man- finding and
using our voice is one of the things we all, sooner or later, need to do. For some it may require being 50. But not for Peter.
In
today’s reading from the Gospel of Mark, Peter found his voice– voicing his
declaration of faith – declaring loud and clear that Jesus is the Christ. Jesus now says it’s time. He chooses this to
be the time requiring his disciples to step up to and say what they believe, what
the true Messiah is all about, and what to expect. First he tells them they
can’t tell anyone who He is. Second, He
tells them he is the Son of Man and that he is to suffer many things. He continues on and tells them He must be
killed and then He will rise from the dead after three days. Tough things to
hear and even tougher to understand – but Peter still stepped forward –
blurting out “You are the Christ” and not caring what others thought.
And then, the education, the learning began. Peter and the other disciples had to learn what the meaning of the Messiahship is. No wonder He has to re-educate His disciples what the meaning of the Messiahship is. No wonder they would have to crucify Him in the end – there is no room for a cross and there is little room for suffering and love in a picture like that. So when Jesus connected Messiahship with suffering and death – they were astonished and resistant. But that did not get them off the hook. It was time to speak up, but not stop learning and growing - And it always involves a choice we make. To believe this, rather than that. To think this way, rather that that way. To act in this manner, rather than that manner. To say that we love but not sure of where our limits are. “Choices” – to choose the way of the cross rather than the way of privilege and power. To choose the narrow gate rather than the wide gate. To build on rock or build on sand.
But let’s face it, most of our choices are not written out on paper or etched in stone or even spoken aloud. Some are well planned while others are sprung on us at a moment’s notice. “That Moment of Choice” as they say. What do I do now? Either way, the potential is there for them to have significant impacts on our lives and other’s, as well.
In Max Lucado’s book “I
Chose the Nails” he writes the following story about the choices we make- how
they can affect our lives and the lives
of others.
Meet
Edwin Thomas, a master of the stage.
During the latter half of the 1800’s, this small man with the huge voice
had few rivals. Debuting in Richard III
at the age of fifteen, he quickly established himself as a premier
Shakespearean actor. In
When it came to tragedy in life, the same could be said as well. Edwin has two brothers, John and Junius. Both were actors, although neither rose to his stature. In 1863, the three siblings united their talents to perform Julius Caesar. The fact that Edwin’s brother John took the role of Brutus was an eerie forerunner of what awaited the brothers – and the nation – two years later. –3-
For
this John who played the assassin in Julius Caesar is the same John who took
the role of assassin in Ford’s Theater.
On a crisp April night in 1865, he stole quietly into the rear of a box
in the Washington Theater and took the life of Abraham Lincoln. Yes, the last name of the brothers was Booth
– Edwin Thomas Booth and John Wilkes Booth.
Edwin
was never the same after that night.
Shame from his brother’s crime drove him into retirement. He might never have returned to stage had it
not been for a twist of fate at a
Edwin,
however, didn’t recognize the young man he’d rescued. That knowledge came weeks later in a letter,
a letter he carried in his pocket to the grave.
A letter from General Adams Budeau, chief secretary to General Ulysses
S. Grant. A letter thanking Edwin Booth
for saving the life of the child of an American hero, Abraham Lincoln. How ironic that while one brother killed the
president, the other brother saved the president’s son. The boy Edwin Booth yanked to safety? Robert Todd Lincoln.
Edwin
and John Booth. Same father, same
mother, same profession, and same passion – yet one chooses life, the other
doesn’t. How could it happen? I don’t know, but it does. Though their story is dramatic, it’s not
unique.
Abel and Cain, both sons of Adam. Abel chooses God. Cain doesn’t. And God lets him.
David and Saul, both kings of
Peter and Judas, both deny their Lord. Peter seeks mercy. Judas seeks death. And God lets him.
In
every age of history, on every page of Scripture, the truth is revealed: God
allows us to make our own choice. And no
one portrays this more than Jesus. Peter
is the only one with the guts to speak - to call Jesus the Messiah but then
stumbles over its interpretation and meaning, but at least he spoke up and
declared his faith.
And
that’s what is important for us too – we must not hesitate saying yes with our
own voice. Not worried about how the
world hears us or what people think or whether we have everything right! God’s love for us and the freedom He gives
us to make choices in our lives is one of the greatest gifts He has to give. In
today’s world, we see people every day who appear broken. Some may seem beyond repair: the homeless,
the inmate, the greedy business executive who always wants more. We have the
opportunity each and every day to show our co-workers, friends and family what
we choose to believe and to whom we commit ourselves and to follow that “YES”
with an openness to Christ’s suffering and pain and the world.
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Tony Campollo, a spiritual writer known for
many humorous stories, also writes wonderful insights and he writes this
definition of Christianity for us: He says and I quote, “We have to allow God
to become a living presence in our lives.
To be possessed by Christ in such a way that feelings, thoughts and
attitudes are all changed. Loving
becomes a spiritual exercise. God wants
to infect your consciousness but above all is His desire to be able to reach
other people through you. By choosing
Him to dwell in your heart, you will little by little begin to relate to other
people as He would relate to them.”
And
that’s the life Jesus was calling his disciples into – there, on that day when
Peter stopped him. Jesus wants us to
relate to and care for one another just as He would! It’s time for us to say yes and begin!
Let
me finish up with a cute story:
Many
years ago a preacher decided to sell his mountain trail horse. A prospective buyer was impressed with the
animal’s skill and obedience. Before
they agreed on a price the preacher said, “I must warn you he only responds to
spiritual commands. To get the horse moving
you say, ‘Praise the Lord,’ and ‘Stop’ is Hallelujah.
“I’ve
been around horses all my life,” said the buyer.” And I’ve never heard of such
a thing.” Mounting the horse, he said
skeptically, “Praise the Lord.” And the
horse broke into a gallop. Suddenly the
buyer realized a cliff was dead ahead.
Frantically he yelled, “Hallelujah,” and they came to a stop a foot from
the edge. Wiping the sweat from his
brow, the buyer said, “Praise the Lord!”
Let
us say “Hallelujah” and “Praise the Lord” in our lives. Stopping to reaffirm
from time to time that Jesus is our Christ and with a “Praise the Lord” – take
that leap of faith - getting on with living as He calls us.
Amen
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