Serving Together: Young and Old (Jeremiah 31.11-14 and Luke 2.25-40)

Introduction

“Praying always and serving together, sharing Jesus’ love in our communities.” That’s what we’re about and that’s what we’re exploring together over these summer months.

Over the last four weeks we’ve thought about what it means to ‘pray always.’ Basically, it we want to place prayer at the heart of what we do; pray with faith, pray with perseverance, pray in unity and pray even in times of desperation.

We’re now delving into the second bit of our vision which is “serving together.” Serving, not being served. Together, not in isolation. Serving. Together.

In the next four weeks, we’re going to look at the way Jesus served because that is the best model there is. Jesus said “learn from me” so that’s what we’re going to do. We’re also going to look at what service looks like expressed in both practical and spiritual ways. And we’re going to see how spiritual gifts can make a church a serving church.

But today, the focus is on young and old. We serve together as people of all ages. I’ll tell you what I think; although there are times when it is natural for us to serve the Lord with people in own age bracket, something very special happens when young and old join forces to serve the Lord side by side.

I shared this story with you a couple of years ago I think but I think it bears repeating. Amy Orr-Ewing tells of her local MP, who is an atheist, and who came to one of her church’s services as a guest of honour. He was deeply touched by what he saw. “Wow,” he said, “this is the only place I know where such diverse people come together. You’ve got old people, young people, singles, couples, families, wealthy people and those of modest means, the well-educated and the barely literate, the able-bodied and disabled, people of every political persuasion and none. You just don’t see that anywhere else.”

Then he went on to say “It’s just a pity about the God bit.” What a shame he didn’t get it! The point is that “the God bit” as he called it is not some kind of optional extra. It isn’t the ketchup that you can leave on the side of your plate if you don’t like it. The God bit is what makes it what it is.

If the church is a cake, the God bit is not the cherry on top. The God bit is the eggs, the flour, the butter, the sugar, the mixer and the oven. And the cherry. We get to be the tin.

That’s basically what the Bible means when it says we’re just plain old clay jars holding priceless treasure. Ordinary people get to be something extraordinary together when Jesus is in the midst.

Nobody brings people together like Jesus does. Jesus shows the world what community can look like. As we serve together, the young and the old and those in-between, power is released, grace flows amongst us.

Young and Old in the Bible

We’ve got Bibles in the pews here. If we open them up we see immediately that the young are often used mightily by God.

Paul said to Timothy, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young.” He was probably in his early- to mid-20s when he was given responsibility for leading a church.

Jesus’ mother Mary was a teenager when God asked her to do the greatest thing that any human being had ever done up to that point; carry, care for, nurture and love the Son of God incarnate.

The patriarch Samuel and the prophet Jeremiah were both called to do extraordinary things for God when they were young – Samuel was certainly primary school age.

John the Baptist was even younger – he was filled with the Holy Spirit from birth.

In Psalm 8 it says that through the praise of children and infants God has established a stronghold against his enemies.

No wonder Jesus said the Kingdom of heaven belongs to children and that we should aspire to be like them. Never let it be said here that children are of no use to God until they get older.

I have also heard people say – even here - “Oh, I’m too clapped out and old now. What use has God got for me at my age?” As one veteran stand-up comedian said, “At my age I’ve seen it all, done it all, heard it all. I just can’t remember it all.”

And sure, one of the many things no one tells you about aging is that it makes such a nice change from being young. I get that.

But look, do we believe this book or not? In the Bible, the very old, as well as the very young, are used mightily by God.

Abraham was 75 when he left everything he owned; his wider family, his house, his country, his culture, his security, to pursue God’s call on his life. 75!

Moses 80 when he led Israel out of Egypt into the Promised Land.

In our second reading, Anna and Simeon were absolutely ancient. Had God finished with them when they got past their fifties?

Sadly, some liberal commentators I read on this said that Luke probably made this story up. Anna and Simeon were ‘a literary device’ they say. What rubbish! Luke was an observant writer, who claims that he went out his way to get his information first hand from eye witnesses. Some of the historical detail he includes, long doubted by sceptics, has recently been proved 100% correct by archaeologists.

You’d expect a family doctor to be interested in what is, after all, the only surgical procedure Jesus underwent, as far as we know. So it is that Luke alone makes reference to Jesus’ circumcision. Mark, Matthew and John never mention it.

Would Luke invent incidental details about Anna’s age and how long she had been a widow? Of course not. This passage clearly is a carefully investigated report. I believe it is inspired by the Holy Spirit and true in every detail.

Anna and Simeon, old and wrinkly, served faithfully and prayed steadfastly decades into their retirement years that God would send a Saviour. And… then… he… did.

Never let it be said here that people are of no use to God when they get past a certain age.

Young and Old in Church History

It’s not just people in the Bible who serve the Lord in old age.

The founder of the Salvation Army, William Booth, at age 81, the year before he died, then virtually blind, led extensive campaigns in the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. On his return to England he toured the country for months serving the Lord and reaching out to the poor.

John Wesley was still going at age 87. Roy Hattersley (who is an atheist) says in his biography of Wesley “John Wesley’s robust constitution – fortified by a careful diet, regular exercise and constant prayer – meant that he did not go quickly to meet his Maker.” He was still preaching ten days before he died at 87. Even on his deathbed he tried to get one last sermon out before he finally popped his clogs.

Someone once said, “You don't stop laughing because you grow old, you grow old because you stop laughing.” I think that applies to the life of faith as well. Christians don’t stop serving God because they grow old. Christians grow old because they stop serving God. Not once in the Bible is the word ‘retirement’ used.

It’s not just in the Bible that children like Samuel and Jeremiah do amazing things for the Lord either.

In 1995 or 1996, I was at a Christian conference near Macon in France with my family and a few dozen others from my church. There was a lovely outpouring of the Spirit there at that time and an amazing atmosphere of faith and excitement. One morning, our son Nathan, who must have been about 8 just spontaneously offered to pray for a little girl he was playing with. I guess she must have been two or three years younger than him. She was 5 or 6.

Now, we knew her parents well and we knew that this little girl had been a victim of sexual assault a couple of years earlier. Anyway she said to Nathan, “Yes, you can pray for me.” He laid a hand on her shoulder and started to pray and – bam – she fell to the floor and stayed there for over an hour. She looked totally at peace, with a big smile on her face. We asked her if she was OK and she said, “Yes, I am in the arms of Jesus.”

That’s not the church of the future is it? That’s the church of today.

There is something about the winsomeness and audacity of children that I think God loves very much. Here’s a couple of funny little stories to show you what I mean.

A little girl is talking to her teacher about whales. The teacher says it is physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even though it is a very large mammal, its throat is very small. The little girl says “Yeah, but Jonah was swallowed by a whale.” The teacher repeats that no whale could possibly swallow a human. The little girl says, "Well when I get to heaven I will ask Jonah about that." The teacher says, "What if Jonah went to hell?" The little girl says, "Then you can ask him." 

The next day, the school photographs come out, and the teacher is trying to persuade them all to buy a copy of the group picture. "Just think how nice it will be to look at it when you are all grown up and say, 'There's Amber, she's a lawyer,' or 'That's Daniel, he's a doctor.' The little girl calls out from the back, "And there's the teacher, he's dead." 

Young and old are used mightily by God both in the Bible and in our experience. You are never too old and you are never too young to serve the Lord.

Young and Old Together

But we are very used to thinking as generational clans in our culture. In 21^st Century Britain, the different generations often don’t communicate well with each other. We don’t understand each other’s worlds. Often, we don’t really want to.

Robert Warren in his Healthy Churches Handbook makes the same point: “Our society today” he says, “is much less connected between the generations. People relate more within fairly narrow age bands. The gospel calls us to reach out across those divides. Certainly churches that do so engage are significantly more likely to be churches to which people are attracted.”

In Bible there’s no estrangement of the generations here, it’s much more integrated and healthy.

In Jeremiah 31, our first reading, it says the young women dance and are glad, young men and old as well. It’s a vision about what happens when the Lord delivers and redeems his people; a prophecy that finds ultimate fulfilment in Jesus. Celebration, praise and worship bring together the youngest and the oldest, and everyone in between.

In Joel 2, which is a vision of the Holy Spirit coming in power, it says “your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions… I will pour out my Spirit in those days.” When the Holy Spirit comes in power, one of the distinguishing features is that there are gifts released that bring together the youngest and the oldest and everyone in between.

Three weeks ago, I was talking about praying in desperation. We remembered the time when King Jehoshaphat gathered all the men of Judah with their wives and children and little ones to stand before the Lord. Facing calamity in faith and prayer brings together the youngest and the oldest and everyone in between.

In Psalm 145 it says, “One generation shall tell of your works to another” and I think that goes in both directions; youth can glean wisdom from older people and the very elderly can learn from the very young.

Examples of Serving Together as Old and Young

But what today is about is when old and young come together and serve together. Something very special is released when that happens.

Kathryn Belmont chatted to me a few years back now about research that has been done amongst young people in church who leave their home town and go off to study at university.

What happens is this:

·         there is the buzz and excitement of being independent

·         there are ample opportunities to sample the temptations of youth

·         there is the inconvenience of having to look for a good church

·         there is, sadly, the reality sometimes of being able to find only a very dreary one

So understandably, many young people drift away. But here’s what the research found; where young people had formed meaningful friendships in church with people not their own age, when they had not been in a youth bubble, the dropout rate was noticeably lower. In other words, young and old serving together is vital to young people becoming mature and committed disciples of Christ.

That is a very, very good reason for you and me to take an interest in young people. Don’t be scared; say hello to them. Pray for them. Tell them you prayed for them. Ask them how they’re doing at school and college. Don’t be offended if they just grunt a monosyllabic reply – that’s just hormones and it will pass.

Keep loving them, keep affirming them. Bust a gut to break out of your own friendship group from time to time and show an interest in young people and children.

When we read that research, we started to encourage our young people and even children to be on the welcome team, with people older than them. We roped them into serving coffee with people they don’t know.

We started to get them involved in leading mixed-age services, even from primary school age with giving notices and being part of the prayer at Holy Communion. We got them involved in the band, the projection and the sound desk from time to time.

We have now linked our young people up with adult mentors just so someone outside their group can send the occasional text and say “how’s it going?”

We asked our children to design Christmas cards to give to the retired people who come to the December Lunch Club.

These are a few examples of value added to ministry when old and young serve the Lord together.

Ending

A church where young and old never interact, never talk, never do anything together is like a dysfunctional family. That’s not the kingdom of God.

But by serving together, young and old side by side, our generation will hear the message of 21^st Century Jeremiahs and Marys and marvel at the stories of modern-day Annas and Simeons. And that is our vision.

Let’s pray…

Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 28th June 2015

Praying Always - Desperation (2 Chronicles 20.1-23)

Introduction

There’s a story about a vicar on a funeral visit, who became more and more desperately desperate to find a parking space. Eventually he parked his car illegally because he was already 5 minutes late. So he quickly wrote a note under the windscreen wiper, and this is what the note said: “I have gone round this block ten times. I’m really sorry but I couldn’t find a space by a meter. But as the Lord’s Prayer says, Forgive us our trespasses.”

When he got back an hour later, he found a parking ticket for £70 and a little note attached. This is what the note said; “I have been a Traffic Warden on this block for ten years. If I don’t give you a ticket I lose my job. As the Lord’s Prayer says, Lead us not into temptation!”

“Praying always and serving together, sharing Jesus’ love in our communities.” That’s our vision - and I have a hunch that even the most strident atheist might be tempted to mutter a quick prayer when he or she is late and desperate for a parking spot.

What we are doing between now and September is exploring what our vision actually means for us as a church. What difference is it going to make to the way we live our lives?

What will it mean for us to ‘pray always?’ Basically, it means that we want to place prayer at the heart of what we do. We believe in the power of prayer. We think prayer changes things and in fact prayer changes us.

We saw last week that prayer is evidence of faith. People who don’t think prayer really makes any difference won’t bother with prayer. People of prayer are people of faith.

I had to think of four aspects of biblical prayer for this series – ‘faith’, ‘perseverance’ and ‘unity’ are three. I just felt, surprisingly perhaps, that the fourth should be ‘desperation’.

Why desperation? Why didn’t I choose something a bit more moderate, a bit more restrained? We don’t really like desperation. It’s a bit sweaty, a bit intense isn’t it? Anglicans like things a bit more middle of the road and stoic. Desperation is not terribly Church of England.

But sometimes, in real life, desperation is where we are. Especially if we’re Frank and Betty Spencer. We can all sympathise with the desperate but doomed prayer of the schoolboy who was coming out of his exam and was heard to pray, “Oh, God, please make Madrid the capital of Turkey!”

When our children were young, Kathie and I were both involved up front in a church service one morning. We were busy setting everything up when we noticed that Nathan, who was one year old and only just walking, was nowhere to be seen. I thought Kathie had him. Kathie thought I was looking after him. We both looked around. Nothing. We started searching the building – he was nowhere.

Those of you who are parents know this - there comes a tipping point when you go from trying to look calm to being unable to appear anything other than terrified. A visceral feeling of dread and panic comes over you. You pray under your breath maybe, but it’s the prayer equivalent of an alarm bell - you can’t really string words together.

What if he’s been abducted? What if he’s wondered out onto the road? That’s desperation. We looked in the side rooms, we checked the toilets and he wasn’t there. All the possible places our son might be in that church were exhausted.

We burst out of the church, looked up and down the busy street and found a car with its driver’s door wide open and hazard lights on, and the driver, in the middle of the road, looking around confused, holding our little boy, wondering who on earth he belonged to.

I expect all of us, at some time, have experienced something like that feeling of dread, of absolute desperation.

Jehoshaphat’s Plight

I think that’s exactly how King Jehoshaphat would have felt in the reading we had just now.

Jehoshaphat was a good king: his heart was devoted to the ways of the Lord. The Bible says that the Lord was with him because he followed in David’s footsteps.

But in 2 Chronicles 20 God permits his enemies from the south and east, Moab and Ammon, to conspire against him. It is a national emergency. It’s a crisis.

Jehoshaphat has that feeling of dread, of panic, of alarm - and he sets himself to seek the Lord. He proclaims a fast throughout the land and representatives from the entire nation come together to ask God to intervene.

Where else can we go in an emergency?

• when our lives are endangered
• when our families are threatened
• when our faith is failing
• when our marriages are at risk
• when bad teaching worms its way into church and undermines God’s word

Whenever Satan attacks, I want us to be people who, in sheer desperation, earnestly seek the Lord in prayer and fasting.

I want us to pray like Jehoshaphat prays in v6-12.

He starts by standing his ground and declaring truth about God’s might and sovereignty. Even when we are most desperate, and fear is churning up inside us, I want us to be people who confidently ascribe greatness to God like Jehoshaphat does.

• You are God in heaven
• You rule over every nation
• No one can withstand your awesome power

If you nourish your minds with truth about who God you will be armed to the teeth with spiritual strength in the day of desperation.

Jehoshaphat calls to mind God’s amazing acts in days past.

•  You drove out depraved and evil nations as you said you would

It’s really faith-building to remember the times God has answered prayer before and speak that out.

Jehoshaphat is completely honest about the plight they are in with their enemies coming against them.

Imagine a Jeremy Paxman interview with Jehoshaphat:

“Tell me Jehoshaphat, what do you make of the build-up of troops in Ammon and Moab?”

“Well, I’d say that our neighbours are absolutely intent on driving us out of our land. I’m hoping that God will judge them for it.”

“Hoping? Is that all? And what message do you have for the nation you’re supposed to be in charge of?”

“To be honest, it looks like our national defence is not up to the challenge. We are clueless and we don’t know what we’re doing.”

“What are you actually going to do about this crisis that has blown up on your watch?”

“The country will be reassured to hear that, as Moab and Ammon point their weapons at us, our eyes are firmly on God.”

God Can Do It Here

2 Chronicles 20 is not just a fairy story from 860 years before Christ. It illuminates the profound truth that God, sovereign over the affairs of nations, is able to do extraordinary things when people come before him in sheer desperation and terror, faced with absolute calamity, and ask him to rend the heavens and intervene.

I want to show you that similar things are occurring in our lifetime. Did you know that there has been a national-scale move of God in Uganda in the last four decades?

In the 1970s, Uganda was ruled by a man called Idi Amin. Under his rule, violence prevailed, churches were closed, the suffering of the people was immense, and no one came to their rescue. It was brutal and relentless. There was political repression, ethnic persecution, widespread assassinations, rampant nepotism, systemic corruption, and gross economic mismanagement. Apart from that, it was great…

The number of people killed as a result of Idi Amin’s regime is estimated by Amnesty International to have reached as many as 500,000..

John Sentamu, Archbishop of York, was imprisoned by Idi Amin but he escaped in 1974. His wife Margaret once said, “As Christians during the Amin regime, we continued to pray the Lord’s Prayer. But… when we prayed ‘your will be done’ [we weren’t just saying whatever will be, will be], we were asking that God would intervene in this dreadful situation we found ourselves in, which lasted nearly ten years.” “Your will be done” means “Let heaven invade earth.”

Well, during the 1970s, a community of believers gathered in underground caves. In desperation they prayed, “Lord, we don’t know what to do. We have no power to face what has come against us. But our eyes are on you.” They prayed round the clock. They prayed desperate, deep, groaning prayers that would not take no for an answer.

Jackson Senyonga, an amazing man of God in Uganda today, gives this testimony about what happened afterwards:

“Today… Uganda is one of the most transformed nations on the face of the earth.

At 8am in the State House, people pray. The Parliament doesn’t want to discuss things until they pray. The judges don’t want to hear cases until they pray. The police are faxing prayer requests. The crime rate is dropping - down by 70% in some communities. A major bank in the capital city Kampala plays praise and worship music on all 11 floors of its head office.

People are dreaming dreams. We’ve had Muslims and witch doctors come to our church saying, ‘I have never been to church in my life, but I had a dream. In my dream, I was putting on rotten rags. Somebody was saying that I should come to church to get clean, white clothes. So I am here to find out if you give out clothes.’ They don’t understand the dream. When you tell them the meaning of it, they burst into tears and give their lives to Jesus.

At one point, AIDS in Uganda was at 33.3%. The World Health Organization predicted that Uganda’s economy would collapse because there would be only widows and orphans left. So people sought the Lord and prayed. Today, AIDS has dropped to 5%.”

All that started out as prayers of desperation in the 1970s. Can God move that way in our nation? Of course he can. Our vision is serving together for the transformation of our communities by sharing the love of Jesus, but we have put ‘praying always’ at the beginning because no spiritual harvest has ever before been reaped without months or years of watering the ground in prayer.

The Office for National Statistics a few years ago published data which showed how badly our country needs Jesus Christ. Here are some highlights from that research: Every day in Britain at least 27 schoolgirls become pregnant, 2 under the age of 13. 20 women are victims of rape. 75 children are added to child protection registers in England alone. At least 90 children are taken into Care. 280 children run away from home. At least 470 babies die through abortion. 150 people are convicted for drug offences. This is every day. Somebody calls The Samaritans every 2 minutes and there are 2 burglaries and 3 car crimes every 60 seconds. Crime costs more than £5 billion every year. And so the list went on....” 

That’s our country. How does that make you feel? Jehoshaphat cries to the Lord: "O God, we are helpless. We do not know what to do.” Desperation. “But our eyes are on you."

That is how the children in George Müller’s Ashley Downs orphanage in in Bristol must have felt. It is time for breakfast and there is no food on the table, only plates and empty mugs. The kitchen cupboards are bare and there is no money in the orphanage bank account. This is desperation isn’t it?

Müller prays a simple prayer. “Dear Father, we thank you for what you are going to give us to eat. Amen.” The children all say “Amen.” They look down at the empty table and hear a knock at the door. When they open the door it is the local baker. Mr Müller,” he says, “I couldn’t sleep last night. I felt you had no bread for breakfast, so I got up at 2 o’clock and baked some fresh loaves. Here they are.” Müller thanks the baker and gives praise to God.

Not long afterwards, there is a second knock at the door. It’s the milkman. His milk float has just broken down right in front of the orphanage. He has to empty the float to repair it, so he offers to give the children the whole lot if the orphanage can use it.

Desperation: "O God, we are helpless. We do not know what to do. But our eyes are on you."

The Battle Is the Lord’s

In response to Jehoshaphat’s amazing and desperate prayer the Spirit of God falls on a prophet named Jahaziel and this is what he says in v15:

“Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the Lord says to you: “Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.”

‘Do not be afraid.’ What are you desperately afraid of?

• Losing your job?
• Your spouse walking out on you?
• Getting medical test results back?

Sometimes, God prevents an attack from getting anywhere near us.

Sometimes, God allows an attack, but leads us to victory over it.

But even in death, and we will all taste death unless the Lord returns first, even then, God can defend us from fear and unbelief and hopelessness.

Listen to Mary’s story:  “I had just returned from the UK to an African country in 2008 when there was an attempted coup. The expatriates were gathered together in a school and we dived under tables as the fighting and shelling came very close to the school. French soldiers were on the roof.

We shared any Psalms we could remember with each other and then started singing “In Christ Alone”. The line that really resonated was “No fear in death…this is the power of Christ in me”. We realised that it was true – despite an unexploded grenade landing in the school!

Those of us that knew Christ had a sense of peace that couldn’t be explained by the circumstances. It wasn’t just the absence of fear, or wishful thinking, denial or an adrenaline rush. This was a state of peace for the situation.”

Verse 17: You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you.”

We’ve had a real encouragement recently about our detached outreach in Preston Park. We thought there would be a battle. We didn’t need to fight at all. The battle is the Lord’s. Read all about it in In Touch.

Ending

Jehoshaphat responds to the prophetic word about not having to fight by falling facedown and worshiping. Verse 18: "Then Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord, worshiping the Lord.”

I wanted to sing “My Jesus My Saviour” today for two reasons. Firstly, because I love it and I’m leading the band this morning so I can choose the songs I want! Secondly, because it’s a song, like at the end of our Bible passage, that came out of desperation.

It was written by Darlene Zschech during a difficult time in her life. Her parents were going through a divorce, she was battling with bulimia, she was recovering from a miscarriage, she was weighed down with financial worries and struggling with the stresses of raising a young family.

One desperate day, she just sat on a piano stool, played a few notes and started to sing out some truths from the Psalms that she was hanging onto by a thread.

This is what she said about that experience: "I wrote “Shout to the Lord” when I was feeling discouraged. I felt I could either scream and pull my hair out, or praise God. The line ‘Nothing compares to the promise I have in you’ was something I clung to when our circumstances seemed so bleak. I think that rings true with anyone going through tough times."

Nothing compares to the promises you have in Jesus.

So let me end by reading out a tiny selection of those promises. As I read them, especially if you find yourself in the place of desperation today, receive them in faith and hold them fast to your heart:

• The water I give will be a fountain springing up to eternal life
• I will acknowledge you before my heavenly Father
• I will never send you away
• You will know the truth and the truth will set you free
•  I will give you rest
• Nothing will be impossible to you
• You will have treasure in heaven
• I give you authority over snakes, scorpions and all the power of the enemy
•  I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to answer
• Your faith will not fail
• You will do the same kind of things I do and even greater works that these
• My joy will abide with you and your joy will be full
• You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you
•  I am with you always until the end of the age

Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 7th June 2015