Old people - sick people

[On this Sunday, may the Word of God turn the attention, love and prayer of all of us to the elderly and the sick, and especially to those who belong to our congregation but who, because of their old age or illness, cannot come to church here among us. The message of our word is not for them, the absent ones, but for us who are here, who are relatively younger and healthier. So, briefly, I would like to talk about the attitude of a Christian person towards old and sick people in his or her family and in society.It is remarkable how much the Word of God deals with this problem. The Old and New Testaments are full of exhortations calling for increased tenderness, love, care, appreciation and respect for the weak, the suffering and the helpless. Of the many such Scriptures, I have just read one, but it contains the rest. This is evidently because man has always been willing to treat his aged and sickly fellow human beings inhumanely, because the fate of the powerless among the strong can easily become lamentable, unjust, even tragic. Especially in such a fast-paced way of life as the world is today! The elderly and the sick cannot hurry and rush like the young: they are in the way of the rushing man, and are a burden on family life that is difficult to bear. Nowhere is the selfishness and cruelty of human nature perhaps more apparent than in this area. It is with the old and the sick that we discover how mean even our love can be: we can do no more than love someone as long as it is of use to us. We are polite, courteous and respectful to those from whom we have something to hope for. The elderly have become a burden on family life because they have given everything: youth, beauty, strength, material and spiritual goods. We needed them as long as we could use them. There is a lot of truth in the old saying that one mother has fewer complaints about supporting ten children than ten children support one mother. And so it is with the sick! Oh, how sad is often the situation in which they live: no wonder they become bitter, morose, unpeaceful, no wonder they become a real burden in the family, because their unloving environment has made them so! What would happen to the poor old and sick if God cared for them as much as we do, if God treated them as coldly as we do?
But look, God says: "Arise before the old man, and honour the face of the old man." God will take care of them. He takes their side, He protects them; woe to us, and woe to society, if God takes them into His protection and care against us, and not through us! If in a family there are unhappy relations between old and young, between the healthy and the sick: know that God is always on the side of the weak, the poor, the fallen, the powerless - always on the side of the old and the sick!
Behold, he warns us now: 'Arise before the old man, and honour the face of the old man.' Yes, sadly, it could even be taken in the literal sense that on a tram or bus, the younger people should stand up and give way to the older and weaker. But it should be so natural that one is almost ashamed to warn someone of such obvious courtesy. I would rather summarise the meaning of this Word: be understanding towards the old and the sick!
One of the great burdens of this condition is that the old and sick person is dependent on others. This is one of the reasons why almost all people instinctively fear old age and illness in advance. We all have a false pride in wanting to be dependent on no one. How many times have I heard people sigh: "God forbid that I should be dependent on the favours of others! It hurts our self-esteem if we can only get a glass of water with the help of others. And this feeling can be exacerbated to the point of despair, or even removed from the heart by those around us.
Well, God says to us, without doubt, "Arise before the grey man" - if you can help it, even rise from your bed at night, sacrifice your rest if necessary - "and honour the old man's countenance" if he turns to you for help in any way! Say to such a man: there is no such thing as depending on no man! For in every moment of our lives we depend on God first of all, but also on men! To pretend that we do not depend on anyone is self-deception. And tell them that now is the time for them to quietly accept with a good heart the care of God through people! It is the order of nature: for they have honestly contributed to the welfare of others in their bread-winning days, why should not others now contribute to their welfare when they are dependent on him? For they took care of the younger generation when they were helpless; it is natural that the younger generation should take care of them now that they are old and helpless! And we, the younger and healthier ones, can only benefit from sharing in the responsibility, because it helps us to escape from the uselessness and crippling of a selfish life of selfishness! Behold, it might even be said that God warns us, for our sake and for our good, that "Rise before the old man, and honour the face of the old man."
Another great burden of old and infirm condition is that they feel themselves useless. There is no more terrible state of mind than to feel oneself helpless, useless, especially if one is made to feel it! This feeling can weigh painfully heavy on one's heart and mood. There are so many things that he would like to do, that he would be happy to help out with, or that he would like to do some useful work! But his inertia prevents him from doing anything. This feeling is then overwhelming and despairing to the stagnant or sick person. Because of his helplessness, such a person then revolves around his own self and his suffering. He loses all self-confidence, self-esteem, boredom of life! But here too we could help such desperate people. Recently I was sitting at the bedside of a very sick old woman. She was complaining: 'I can't work, that's what's bothering me the most, and I need my help so much.' I tried to explain to her that she could not only be of use to her family by cleaning the rooms, cooking lunch and doing the laundry as she used to do, but also in other ways.
God has reserved a special task and work for the old and sick. For the old and sick have something that other people lack most of all: they have plenty of time and quiet! And that is a great treasure! It is a great opportunity for a service that other people today hardly ever have the chance to do: the service of praying for others. Every believer knows the importance of service. How many orphans, how many mourners, how many suffering people in the world, how many unsolved problems in the world among peoples! Those who can truly pray to God for these are doing a very blessed, productive work for the good of the world and other people! Tell them to consider it their duty to serve in prayer, to pray for our church, for the blessings of the preaching of the Word here, for our youth, for our revival, for God's reign to fill the earth! The weary hands that can no longer hold the tools of labour may, by joining together in prayer, bring to God untold great causes and human destinies - and thus even useless men excluded from physical productive labour may become blessed co-workers in the kingdom of God: if they cannot personally participate in the life of the church, they may count themselves as actually belonging to the church of Christ. For this world is in unspeakable need of the fervent supplication of souls praying for it. The Word of God says plainly, "Very profitable is the fervent supplication of the just." (Jas 5:16b) In God's opinion, He can do a very useful work for your good! Tell him that, and you will restore his confidence!
In fact, the point of old age is not that it is far from birth, but rather that it is near death. The earthly journey is coming to an end. The shadow of lurking death looms over the last stretch of the road. And if it is not surrounded by love, understanding, appreciation, it becomes even darker. And once such an old or sick person leaves this shadow world, the shadow of his death casts an almost unbearable darkness on the path of those who remain. I read someone's letter the other day. He describes an unpleasant altercation he had in the office with one of his unpleasant companions. He died unexpectedly a few days later. "I had no idea," he writes, "that I had attacked someone who was engaged to be killed. I could have given him at least a kind word! I had caused pain to a man who was near death. Death had already reached out his hand to him, and we criticized him, we were angry with him, we spoke uncharitably to him! Oh, if I had known...!" But, my brothers and sisters, we must know this. For we are all betrothed to death! We have never looked into eyes whose light was not once broken by death! Every man has a mortal wound. We are passengers between two worlds.
But the writer of the letter did not write well, for we are not the brides of death, but of Life, of Christ! Every man is the bride of Christ, who for him also walked the way of Calvary, for him also bore the crown of thorns, for him also broke through the darkness of death, entered heaven and made a place for himself in heaven! A faint ray of eternity's light shines on the white hair. As the child wears something of the light of paradise's glory, so the sick old face reflects something of the reflection of the coming salvation. He who is at the end of his earthly journey is approaching eternal youth, a new beginning, full redemption. If you see him in this way, if you relate to him in this way: instead of the pain of farewell, the impending joy of homecoming fills that old, sick heart - the looming shadow of impending death is pierced by the glorious light of opening eternal life. Oh, how right is the Word of God when it warns us to "rise before the old man and honour the face of the old man".
And this is not merely good advice - behold, the Word continues, "And fear your God. I am the Lord!" Behold, God is so concerned about the old and sick that He mentions respect for them as part of the fear of God. God identifies with them! Jesus invisibly stands behind every old and sick person and says, "I am here, love me, take care of me, visit me, feed me, honor me, until it is too late! For whatever you do to these little ones of mine, you do to me!
What Jesus asks of us, he always gives us the strength to do. He gives us strength through His redemptive resurrection and death and then we always have enough for love, patience and sacrifice for all! For the elderly and sick in your home or in your neighbourhood!
Amen
Date: 3 June 1956 (Old and Sick Sunday).