When Is Enough - Enough

“….we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” – 2 Corinthians 4:16-17

Is there a time in our lives when we can hang up our spiritual spurs and set back and rest from our labor? Martie and I went for drive the other day – taking a break from being COVID-19 home-bound.  We traveled into a rural area and stopped at a restaurant that YELP said was 4 ½ stars worthy.  The first time in a restaurant for a number of months.  Three battered pickup trucks pulled in the gravel parking lot. The men got out of the trucks – slowly.  Their boots were all worn and everyone had spurs.  Something you don’t see every day in Houston – or anywhere else.  I told Martie – those men have been working hard.  One of the men must have been 80 something.  He was dressed the same, but moved very slowly.  As I watched him, I thought, “I want to be like him. Pressing on.” Not ready to take the spurs off my boots and hang them on the wall.

The question of when is enough – enough will cross my mind from time to time.  I have mentioned before that this August I will be 70 years old.  An age that I never imagined I would be – but here I am at the doorstep of the Platinum Jubilee.  But then comes the question – “So What?” These bodies of ours transition from helpless to hope-filled to helpless, if we live that long.  But that has to do with our mortal bodies.  Paul wrote of our duplicity (the good use of the word) and the ensuing struggles. I don’t feel any different on the inside than I did when I was in my 20’s. The thing is that my body – the outside can no longer keep up.

“The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” – Matthew 26:41

Jesus was speaking to the disciples in the Garden – but was referring to the tug of war that goes on between our natural body – the flesh – and our new nature – the spirit.  So back to the question – “So What?” The Church in the United States has the idea that when you get to a certain age, it is time to move aside and let the younger one have their turn at the wheel. They have special terms to describe the age group.  Personally, I am very intentional about avoiding being labeled with something that I equate to being done – my usefulness to the kingdom having passed. Now if you ask someone about that they will say “that is not true” right before they ask you to get on the bus that is going to Branson. What we do for the kingdom may change over time, but the fact that we are continue in some capacity does not.

I remember a time when we were in the midst of the Hurricane Katrina recovery in Mississippi.  I got a call from a friend who pastored a church in Alabama.  He asked if he could bring some “seniors” for a one day visit to our camp. I told him, “Of Course”.  When the 40 passenger bus pulled up I could see the faces peering out of the windows.  My friend stepped down out of the bus and I said, “You know that they will be dirty when they get back on the bus don’t you?” After all it was a disaster area. That thought apparently had not occurred to him. So he asked me if I could take them on a tour of the area. I did, but swore to myself that I would never do that again.  Destroyed homes and fractured families are not a tourist attraction. We have known a good number of people, older than I am now that continue to serve in some very difficult situations. But continued service doesn’t have to be in response to the ravages of a hurricane.  It could be in the community or the church. If you are older – don’t quit – don’t hang up you spurs. If you are younger – don’t make the older Christians feel like they have no place in the Body.  That is not your call. Service has no age limit.

“Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you.” – Philippians 3:13-15