The Call to Care: Pastoral Care to Older Adults
A sermon by Brent J. Eelman
March 12, 2006
Abington Presbyterian Church

Genesis 17:15-22
¹⁵ God said to Abraham, ‘As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. ¹⁶I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.’ ¹⁷Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said to himself, ‘Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?’ ¹⁸And Abraham said to God, ‘O that Ishmael might live in your sight!’ ¹⁹God said, ‘No, but your wife Sarah shall bear you a son, and you shall name him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. ²⁰As for Ishmael, I have heard you; I will bless him and make him fruitful and exceedingly numerous; he shall be the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. ²¹But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this season next year.’ ²²And when he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham.*

Have you heard about Bertha Lamb? She lived in Old Orchard Beach and was 91 years old when she received a letter from the U.S. Navy asking her to sign up for active duty. She had poor vision, she walked with a cane, but she told reporters that she felt honored that her country needed her. We might find a bit of humorous irony in that true story, but it betrays another reality: we are so youth oriented that we often overlook the needs and the gifts of senior adults. There are all types of humorous little sayings that we use to describe growing old. You have heard some of them: “You know you are old … when you can find the greener pastures, but can’t climb the fence; when you get winded playing bridge; when dialing long distance wears you out.” In many ways these little jokes betray some of the contempt that we have about aging.

The theme of today’s sermon is ministry to senior adults and there are two fundamental ideas behind it. First, the population of senior adults is increasing in our society and community and is an important ministry for our congregation. Second, when we talk about senior adults within the church, it is not only the ministry to them, but recognition that they have a vital ministry and contribution to make and we are foolish if we do not affirm it. But first, let’s look at the Old Testament.

 I

Abraham is one hundred years old. His wife Sarai is 90 years old. In those days the average life span was between 25 and 30 years. This was truly an elderly couple. They had no children except Ishmael, who was fathered by Abraham with his consort, Hagar. Sarai is the source of scorn because she was not able to have children. Here is the riddle: there were a lot of people in the Middle East at that time. I am sure that there were any number of fine young couples who were in their prime child bearing years. Why did God choose Abraham and Sarai to begin a “great nation”? God was taking a real gamble. He was going to send this couple on to a foreign land and there they would begin a nation of God’s people. What was God thinking? A couple in the 90’s? Forget about Sarai getting pregnant, could they stand the trip? Would they be adaptable and open to the move? And then we learn that she will become pregnant….at 90 years old. What was Abraham’s reaction? He laughed. Later we learn that Sarah laughed. There is some playful humor at work here. The story is filled with irony, but it also poses an important question: Why did God choose such an old couple? I don’t think that we would?

II

This is a primary text when we think about ministry to senior adults. There is no doubt that our nation’s population is aging. Pennsylvania has one of oldest populations in the country. Because of our proximity to Rydal Park and other retirement communities we have a significant population of older adults in our congregation. Some are homebound, but there are many more that are active and vital. They want to be a part of a community beyond themselves. Each person has some basic human needs. We need food, oxygen, health care and the like… but we also need community. We all need to be a part of something greater than ourselves. We need to interact with other people. We need the proximity of others and the knowledge that they care about us and value us. The ministry to Senior Adults here at Abington Presbyterian Church aims to do that. It is my understanding that APC was a leader in older adult ministries. We were one of the first congregations to identify senior adults as a ministry and one of the first congregations to place a minister to older adults on the staff. This was a recognition that there were specific spiritual needs and challenges that go with aging and we took these challenges seriously. We are far from perfect in our ministry to older adults… I know that there are times people fall through the proverbial cracks or are missed, but I know of few congregations in this country that are more serious about ministry to senior adults. (as I close in on 60..it seems to be more and more important to me.)

III

But we also have a challenge, and it is the challenge of Abraham and Sarah. We need to recognize that senior adults are not only people in need of ministry… they have a ministry to offer. Just as Sarah and Abraham were chosen over others to parent a great people… we need to recognize the calling of senior adults here at APC.. and we need to commission and empower them. That challenge will become larger in the near future. There is this group called baby boomers, (and I am one). In five years we will begin retiring and in ten year many of us will be in that group called senior adults. There will be a lot of us, and the churches and institutions that are serious about senior adults will be where we go, because we will have much to contribute, (and not just money). But these gifts and callings will come with limitations. Stairs and other obstacles to access are as powerful as signs that say “No Admittance.” When we look at our facility, one of the questions we need to ask is will this aging generation be able to use their gifts here… or will they be unable to even get in?

I have written very few letters to the newspaper, but last summer John Tierney, a columnist for the New York Times wrote an article about the selfishness of the elderly. He railed about how they are taking early retirement, demanding medical care and all the other things that cost money. I wrote a letter that the Times published the next day, challenging this logic and I stated that “Our elderly have much to contribute to this society. They are taking early retirement because they are being forced out and their gifts are not appreciated.” Never before have we needed their wisdom and their insight. Tierney, in his next column, acknowledged my letter and some others that were similar and admitted he might be wrong. I believe our ministry to senior adults needs to confirm that these prejudices and the rampant bigotry against the aged are wrong, sinful, and ultimately stupid. God called Sarah and Abraham: 90 and 100 years old. He called them over a lot of younger couples to parent God’s people. God still calls and empowers senior adults and we as church can align ourselves with God on this or suffer the judgment of our folly. There is good news in this message for us all, regardless of our age. Amen.

*The New Revised Standard Version Bible, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers) 1989.

Abington Presbyterian Church, Abington, Pennsylvania,  www.apcusa.org