Pilgrims in time: us
Despite the inevitable truth that everyone in the room knew more about the subject than I did, the talk I gave to our retired clergy, spouses and widow/ers was well received, so I am putting my notes up here in case they are of use to others. They follow the story of Abraham in Genesis so could be used as the basis of a bible study.
A Jewish birthday blessing is that you live to 120: blessing or curse?
Jacob at Gen 47.8: Pharoah said unto Jacob, How old art thou? And Jacob said unto Pharoah, The days of my pilgrimage are 130 years: few and evil have the years of my life been, and have not attained into the days of the years of the life of my fathers in their pilgrimage.
Reactions vary!
What does it mean to decide to see later years deliberately as a good pilgrimage to be on?
Going to take the story of Abraham: 10 snippets from his story; 5 then discuss, and repeat
But first a little bit of important research:
HOW OLD WOULD YOU SAY YOU WERE IF YOU WOKE UP WITH AMNESIA IN A PLACE WHERE NO ONE KNEW YOU?
(NB All those present chose a younger age than that implied by the birth certificate…)
1: Moving away, from where we lived and worked
12 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. 2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.[a]3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”[b] 4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran.
In control at last and a great release? Or … a journey into loss of control?
New roles and relationships, tricky times of adjustment
So many people still speak of going to help “the old people”
What is God’s purpose? Transforming backward disappointment to future hope
Hope on the move
A tourist visited a famous rabbi and was shocked to see how simply he lived, in a single room. “Where are all your things?” he asked. “Where are yours,” the rabbi replied. “Oh I’m just visiting,” said the tourist.” “Me too.”
2: Family troubles (Abraham and Lot)
13 5 Now Lot, who was moving about with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. 6 But the land could not support them while they stayed together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together. 7 And quarreling arose between Abram’s herders and Lot’s. The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land at that time.8 So Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herders and mine, for we are close relatives. 9 Is not the whole land before you? Let’s part company. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.”
Anxieties about money and property: ours and our children’s
Effect on us of quarrels: blessings of family time and friendships remade
Being peacemakers: taking on the patriarchal mantle
Lev 19.32 You shall rise before the aged and defer to the old. What happened to change it?
You can still inhabit that authority.
3: Finding faith in a new way
15 After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:“Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield,[a] your very great reward.[b]”2 But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit[c] my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”4 Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring[d] be.”6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
Now not in front-of-house role (Remember learning? Now unlearning, Stop counting…)
Doubts and questions may surface (but wait a bit: can be put to good use)
Opportunity for a new leap of faith if you believe it could still be true for you
4: Finding ourselves in a new way
17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, …4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer will you be called Abram[b]; your name will be Abraham,[c] for I have made you a father of many nations.
Leaving behind the vicarage identity (Stopped smiling at everyone yet…?)
Being called something else!
And called to something else: what is God’s gift to us in this?
Not only or youth: what would a 90 yr old frail Jesus be like?
Ps 92:14 They will still bear fruit in old age. What?
5: Finding prayer in a new way
18 22 The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord.[d] 23 Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare[e] the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?”26 The Lord said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”27 Then Abraham spoke up again: “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, 28 what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five people?”“If I find forty-five there,” he said, “I will not destroy it.”29 Once again he spoke to him, “What if only forty are found there?”He said, “For the sake of forty, I will not do it.”30 Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?”He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”31 Abraham said, “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?” He said, “For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.” 32 Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?” He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.” 33 When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.
Will we pray more, or less: taking time with and giving time to God
In the same way or a new way?
Will that mean a new sort of (perhaps bolder) prayer relationship?
Solitary confinement or solitary refinement? (New monasticism and the elderly)
BREAK FOR DISCUSSION
6: Leaving a legacy
17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty[a]; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. 2 Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.”
Who we are is our greatest legacy (face fact that longer lives = smaller estates to pass on)
Passing on our faith
Not just money but the means to flourish
What will be our family hi/story?
7: Expecting the unexpected
21 Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. 2 Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. 3 Abraham gave the name Isaac[a] to the son Sarah bore him. 4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him. 5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
Can only plan so far ahead
Still a third of our life to go, or suddenly not so (sharpens priorities and vision)
What new is surprising us?
Can we find any blessing in that?
8: Testing times
22 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied.2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”
More likely illness or incapacity, which we may resent or deny,
An ageing Yorkshireman wasn’t hearing too well and went for a test. The audiologist told him he needed a hearing aid and it would cost £3000. Back came the reply, the same as always: “How much?”
but which will shape our lives
“At times my body feels like an old car, repainted and refurbished, able to make a few trips, but no longer reliable for the long journeys.”
Can limitations give glory to God (Johannine cross)
Can there be a dignity in indignity, a giving in the receiving, a plus in the passivity? (cf The Stature of Waiting) John 13:5 “Then Jesus poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet.” Easier to do of have done to you? The same with having a bedbath?
Gethsemane: Jesus didn’t hide his suffering, from himself or his friends. He didn’t gloss over it or pretend it was all right really. But he did accept it as part of the life he was given. He chose to see meaning in it, and even when it is intense and he feels abandoned, he still calls out to the Father about it.
Our trust in God is put to the test: but remember God’s trust in us
9: Loss and love
23 Sarah lived to be a hundred and twenty-seven years old. 2 She died at Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her.
Funerals fill our diary
Loss of our dearest love: offering up our loss and suffering to God
Or concern about their coming loss
10: And our own death too
25 7 Abraham lived a hundred and seventy-five years. 8 Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and full of years; and he was gathered to his people.
Whatever happened to death “by natural causes”
One colleague spoke movingly about benig in a slowly sinking boat; but another was afraid
Underneath are the everlasting arms
Letting go and letting God, for real
BREAK FOR DISCUSSION
What shall we do while we still have life and time?
What is God’s word to us about that?
Pilgrimage is a journey, not without God, and often not without others
To a place where we can making a touching place with God in a new and perhaps definitive way
And if it is his will perhaps also find a word, or healing , or direction, or peace.
As we share Eucharist now perhaps that can be a pilgrimage within a pilgrimage
A touching place for you.
