Plan Ahead!

Grandparent’s Day 2014

Plan Ahead!

Ecclesiates 12:1-8                                  NOTES NOT EDITED

SIS – Plan now to end your life with no regrets

The Book of Ecclesiastes is considered by some to be the most “negative” book in the Bible.  It is not a “negative” book at all, but a painfully honest book.  Solomon, has come to the end of his life after a glorious career as one of the most significant kings in Israel – second only to King David, his father.

But, Solomon with all his fame and fortune was not without regret.  He had made many mistakes and had wandered some great distance from God’s intended purpose for his life.  Solomon had sought meaning in wisdom, in pleasures, and in accomplishments – all of which he had in great abundance.  His final evaluation of these ‘worldly things” is summed up in the phrase, “meaningless, meaningless” which is repeated about 34 times.

In this final chapter, this great man in his final days,  gives a final plea to all who would come after:  “Don’t Waste Your Life.”  Life, each breath is a blessing from God, we should not waste it.  As we read our text earlier, we saw the outline of Solomon’s departing words of wisdom.  In a three-part poem Solomon exhorts each of us to “be careful how we live.”  Today, I want to emphasize this message to our youth, but I want each of us to take thought of our ways in light of Solomon’s three part exhortation on how NOT to waste one’s life.

Let’s read this text together:  Eccl. 12:1-8

1.  The first part of our text is a RELECTION on what happens when old age comes upon us to reinforce the urgency to “remember our Creator.”  Verses 2 through 7 outline (in a rather unflattering way) what every person has to look forward to “someday.” 

I want to warn us all, if we live long enough we are going to get old—and life changes significantly.  I remember reading about an 85-year-old widow went on a blind date with a 90-year-old man.  When she returned to her daughter's house later that night, she seemed upset.
"What happened, Mother?" the daughter asked.  "I had to slap his face three times!" "You mean he got fresh?"  "No," she answered. "I thought he was dead!"

V2, the eyes:  The sun and the light and the moon and the stars grow dark, and the clouds return after the rain;

Solomon may have in mind the dreary days of the Palestinian winter, as a metaphor of the “winter season of life.”  The writer intends to show that old age is not as wonderful as some may naively believe it to be.  Old Age is a difficult time in life.  I read a bumper sticker once that said, Old Age IS NOT FOR SISSIES.  Just as one dreary day of winter clears, more clouds and rain follow.  Getting old, for most is a great challenge.

V3a when the keepers of the house tremble,

The “keepers of the house” refer to the hands – which are used to clean, dust, and keep a house.  In regard to the aging process the “trembling” refers to the general unsteadiness of age. For some the shaking is worse than for others, but we all lose a little dexterity with the accumulating years.

V3b “the strong men stoop”

This refers to the legs and back, but particularly the legs.  We get wobbly as the years go on and our ‘strong men’ bend and bow under the weight of many years.

V3c  “the grinders cease because they are few”

Age takes a great toll on the teeth.  Very few people end life with as many teeth as they had as teens, and some end with the same number they were born with – none!  There are less teeth to “grind our food.”

V3d  “and those looking threw the windows grow dim.”

We’ve all heard the statement:  “the eyes are the windows to the soul.”  I don’t know how true that might be but this is absolutely true:  as you get older, your vision gets dimmer. 

We’re not even halfway through the list of challenges associated with Old Age, and I’m depressed!  The only thing that gives me hope against the ravages of growing old is:  I like the alternative even less!

V4a  when the doors to the street are closed

Beyond one’s door lies all the daily activity of people coming and going, doing business, building stuff, and the like.  As we get older, we lose our hearing.  It’s like someone “shuts the door” to the outside world, like all the activity at the grinding mill.

V4b  “men rise up at the sound of birds.”

This is probably a reference to the time of day, not to the creatures themselves.  It probably refers to the fact that as we age, “we have trouble sleeping,” and we seem to awake before the crack of dawn when the first birds begin to sing.  The Preacher here shows the great irony of aging in this part of the verse.  Even though we wake at the slightest sound in the earliest of the day, because our hearing is not what it once was, we cannot even enjoy the sound of the birds.

An alternative interpretation of “all their songs grow faint” is “the daughters of song fail.”  This may refer to the fact that as we get older our voices get softer, to where our voice becomes little more than a whisper.

V5a  “men are afraid of heights and the dangers of the street”

This probably does not refer to tall buildings, which were few in those days, but refers to the fact that even small hills become like mountains as we age.  The reference to “danger in the streets” is a reminder that as we age, we do not have the physical strength to take on even the simplest of daily tasks – referred to as the “streets.”

V5b:  “the almond tree blossoms.” 

This is a reference to the fact that one’s golden locks turn silver, then white as we age.  Obviously, this is a general statement about aging (as everything in this passage is) because:  for some our hair doesn’t turn white – it turns loose!

V5c:  “the grasshopper drags himself along”

Grasshoppers are common in Palestine are identified by their characteristic back legs that are like two giant springs.  A grasshopper in general (and there are over 11,000 different types) can jump 20 times the length of their body.  This is the equivalent of a man jumping 100 feet!

But, as age piles years upon us, we are like a grasshopper dragging its weak legs behind it.  You might say that as we get older, “we lose the spring in our step.”

V5d  “desire is no longer stirred”

Like many of the phrases in this poem, this one gives scholars a bit of a challenge.  As we age, we are less passionate about things we were once very passionate about – like food.  Age sometimes robs one of his or her desire for food.  Nothing seems to taste good anymore.

An alternative to this interpretation comes from a literal reading of the text:  “the caperberry fails.”  The word for caperberry comes from the root meaning “willingness or satisfaction.”  The caperberry is the fruit of a common, thorny plant in Palestine.  It was thought to increase sexual desire.

When “the caperberry fails” the term “hot date” refers to a weather report, not a night of romance.

To say that the “caperberry has failed” simply refers to the fact that when we get old we realize that we have reached that time when our ‘get up and go dun’ got up and went.”

V5e  Then man goes to his eternal home and mourners go about the streets.

As we get to the end of verse 5, the writing is on the wall as they say. The professional mourners have already been hired as death nears.  By this time in one's journey it is evident to all that death is near.

VV 6,7  Remember him—before the silver cord is severed, or the golden bowl is broken; before the pitcher is shattered at the spring, or the wheel broken at the well, ⁷and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

The process of aging has come to the end.  Verses 6 and 7 taken together describe the final step in the process as the "breaking of the cord that holds the lamp which gives light to the house."  The lamp hits the floor and the light is extinguished.  Death has arrived as it does for all.

Verse 7 describes what takes place at the moment of death -- there is a "separation."  The physical and the spiritual separate leaving behind the lifeless body like a discarded garment.

All this talk about the process of death is intended to cause us to reflect upon how fleeting life on this earth is for all of us.  Sure, some live longer.  Some live shorter, but no one lives forever in this body. 

Throughout the Bible we are encouraged to be mindful of our mortality.  Psalm 39:4 for example says:

Show me, O Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life.

The Book of James has something to say about the shortness and frailty of life:  (James 4:14)

What is your life?  You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes."

Solomon has lived a long life.  He has experienced having more than any man had ever had:  more wealth, more wisdom, more wine, more women, and more heartache.  God put it upon Solomon to write this great book of Ecclesiastes to give a warning.  Time is passing.

2. Part 2 gives us some important advice:  RESERVE YOUR YOUTH FOR  YOUR CREATOR (1)

Remember your Creator in the days of your youth,

before the days of trouble comeand the years approach when you will say,“I find no pleasure in them”

One man, visiting a psychiatrist, complained, "Doctor, I can't seem to remember from one minute to the next."  "And how long have you had this problem?" the psychiatrist asked.  The man replied, "What problem?"

Memory fades the longer we live. It is very frustrating to forget names, birthdates, or why you got up and went to the other room.  Memory loss is a big problem all of us face as we grow older.

Three sisters, ages 92, 94, and 96, lived together. One night the 96-year-old ran water for a bath. She puts one foot in and pauses. "Was I getting in the tub or out?" she yells.  The 94-year-old hollers back, "I don't know, I'll come up to see." She starts up the stairs and stops. She shouts, "Was I going up or going down?"  The 92-year-old is sitting at the kitchen table having tea, listening to her sisters. She shakes her head and says, "I sure hope I never get that forgetful", and knocks on wood for good measure. Then she yells, "I'll come up and help both of you as soon as I see who's at the door."

We get forgetful as we age, but forgetfulness is not only a problem for seniors.  Solomon begins this chapter with the word, “remember.”  He tells us “Who to remember,” and more importantly, “when” to remember Him.  We are to remember God, the Creator, and we are to remember Him when we are young – the younger the better. The word, remember in the Hebrew (and also usually in the English as well) does not refer to the mere mental exercise of being able to recover facts, but remembering refers to doing something about those facts.  What is it we are to do when we remember our Creator:  RESERVE our youth for service and devotion to Him.

To “remember the Creator” is to “set yourself aside for His exclusive use.”  For example, when a teacher tells you, “remember there will be a test on Friday,” it is not just to mark Friday as a special day, but to encourage the students to “take some action – that is, to study.”

The command to “remember” is a warning.  To “remember the Creator” is a call to RESERVE yourself for Him alone.  The great tragedy of life is to waste your best years chasing after the world.  I have often said that this idea of pursuing worldly success is like climbing all the way to the top of a ladder only to realize the ladder is leaning against the wrong wall.

To remember the Creator is a call to examine your life to see if you are living in such a way that you will escape the wrath of in the judgment that is coming.  The beginning of this poem is a ‘warning’ that God is the Creator and we as creatures have a responsibility to live in a way that pleases Him, and the sooner we get started on that quest, the more strength we will have for the tasks God puts before us.

We should not waste one moment of our lives living in a way that does not please God, our Sovereign Creator.  This is an “urgent” warning.  It is “urgent” because life is like a “vapor” and will soon dissipate in the moment of death.  We must reserve ourselves for our Creator” each moment of every day before – as the preacher says here in verse 1 – old age robs us of our youthful strength and vigor which may lead us to say,  “I find no pleasure in life.” This is regret!

A great American writer, George Bernard Shaw, spoke of the great tragedy of youth by saying, “youth is wasted on the young.”  This meaning of course, that when we are young, we don’t plan ahead.  We don’t realize that life will not always be as it in our youth where we are full of strength and wonder.  Another wise native American reminds us:  “The tragedy of life is we get old too soon and wise too late!”  Solomon gives us a remedy for this tragedy:  “Reserve your youth for your Creator!”  Don’t wait until your life is wrecked by sin and weighed down by the consequences of bad choices—“Reserve yourself for God from your youth!”

Proverbs reminds us:  “The glory of young men is their strength” (20:29).  Paul reminds us in the Book of Timothy:  “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity” (4:12)

It is perhaps the greatest failure of all failures in the church that we have made church about what “old people” want and think is right.  I want to tell you that we need to embrace, empower, and engage our young people if our church is to have any future at all.  We need the strength of the young, the imagination of youth, and the sense of adventure that characterizes the young.

Blaise Paschal was only 12 when he worked out the first 21 propositions of Euclidean geometry, by himself.  Joan of Arc was 13 when she felt inspired by God to lead France against England in the 100 Years War.  She would lead them to victory before she turned 17 years old.  Scholars believe David was no more than 14 or 15 when he defeated Goliath.  Charles Shultz published his first drawing of a dog—later to become Snoopy of Peanuts fame—when he was 14.  Marine PFC 1^st Class, Jack H. Lucas, earned the Medal of Honor for his valor on Iwo Jima.  He was 17.  Steve Jobs was 19 when he began making Macs in a garage.  Mark Zuckerberg was only 19 when he developed FaceBook.  I could go on and on and on about how Young People have changed the world.  The great tragedy is not that we expect TOO MUCH of our youth these days, but that we expect TOO LITTLE.  Jesus was only twelve when they found Him teaching the religious leaders God’s Law in the Temple.

If you want to finish life with no regrets—Reserve the strength and passion of your youth for Your Creator.  Young people:  if you never hear another word I ever say, hear this:  DON'T WASTE YOUR LIFE LIVING FOR FUN, FAME OR FORTUNE.  Take thought of God and focus on Him like a laser.

Wow! That gets the juice flowing just to think of how much strength, and passion, and sense of adventure I had as a youth.  I took a dare at Don Ruch’s Sunoco that took me halfway around the world and allowed me to experience things I could never have imagined as a young hillbilly growing up in the hollars of West Virgina.

But . . . somehow, I got old.  My “git up and go has sorta got up and went.”  My mind can write checks that my body can’t cash.  I don’t want to be an old, washed up hobo in a beat up car with all my best years in the rear-view window!  I have too much I want to do for the Lord to quit!  I’ve already wasted too much of my best years.  What about me?  What about all you other pa’s and grandpa’s (ma’s and grandma’s).  Is it lights out, the party’s over for us?  NOT AT ALL!

3.  We can REDIRECT our lives while there is still time.

The Poet declares in Verse 8:  “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher.  “Everything is meaningless!”

This is the theme of Ecclesiastes -- life that is lived without complete and total surrender to God will end up "meaningless and empty."  34 times the Poet of Ecclesiastes uses this term to describe a godless life.  Solomon looked back over his life and the many mistakes he made and he penned the Book of Ecclesiastes so we need not make the same mistake.  Ecclesiastes shows that life without a passion for God is absolutely “meaningless”—empty, void, without purpose or satisfaction.  But, the beauty of Ecclesiastes is:  it does not have to be that way.  We cannot avoid getting old, but we can avoid falling into despair. 

Go back to verse 6.  This is after Solomon begins to outline the physical decline that comes with age.  It would be hopeless, meaningless, vain except he repeats what he said to the youth—this time to everyone:  “Remember your Creator!”

This is where we need to hear a bit of wisdom from that old man behind the plate, Yogi Berra:  “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over!”  If you surrender your life to Jesus, it doesn’t matter how much life you have behind you,  you always have the same amount ahead of you:  forever!  One of my favorite verses (especially now that I’m older) is from the prophet Joel (2:25):

And I will restore [to you] the years that the locust hath eaten,

Another verse that gives me great comfort now that I’m a grandpa is Paul’s encouragement in 2Cor. 4:16:

⁶ Therefore we do not give up.  Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person  is being renewed day by day.

Anna Mary Robertson Moses is one of the most beloved American painters in our history.  She painted memories of her life in rural America—she said, “art is something I like to do.”  She could not imagine people paying high prices for paintings.  She sold her paintings for about $5.00.  She had a rather long career painting—over 25 years.  She did get a bit of a late start at almost 75 years old.  Those paintings she sold for 5 bucks, one just sold for 1.2 million.  Grandma Moses didn’t just shrivel up and die when a few years piled up on her life.  She REDIRECTED her interests and became a world renown painter.

Grandparents Day is a good day to reflect upon our lives—whether young or old.  If you are young, you must RESERVE your life for your Creator.  If you are not so young, the time is now for you to REDIRECT our lives and put ourselves in better alignment with the will of God for our lives—before it is “too late.”

Plan now to live a life without regrets.  Don’t end your life saying,  “I shoulda, coulda, woulda.”  Decide today to follow Jesus fully.  REMEMBER. RESERVE.  REDIRECT.

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A POEM FOR OLD PEOPLE

There's nothing the matter with me,

I'm just as healthy as can be,

I have arthritis in both knees,

And when I talk, I talk with a wheeze.

My pulse is weak, my blood is thin,

But I'm awfully well for the shape I'm in.

My teeth have had to all come out,

And my diet I hate to think about.

I'm overweight and I can't get thin,

But I'm awfully well for the shape I'm in.

The arch supports I need for my feet.

Enable me to get off my seat.

My memory's failing, my head's in a spin.

But I'm awfully well for the shape I'm in.

Old age is golden I've heard it said,

But sometimes I wonder, as I go to bed.

With my ears in a drawer, my teeth in a cup,

And my glasses on a shelf, until I get up.

And when sleep dims my eyes, I say to myself,

Is there anything else I should lay on the shelf ?

I get up each morning and dust off my wits,

Pick up the paper and read the obits.

If my name is missing, I'm therefore not dead,

So I eat a good breakfast and jump back into bed.

The reason I know my Youth has been spent,

Is my get-up-and-go has got-up-and-went!

But really I don't mind, when I think with a grin,

Of all the places my get-up has been.

The moral of this as the tale unfolds,

Is that for you and me, who are growing old.

It is better to say "I'm fine" with a grin,

Than to let people know the shape we are in.

Diamond C Aloes, “I’m Awfully Well for the Shape That I’m In”