In Isaiah 61 the Messiah (the Anointed One) says:
1The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
2To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
3To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified (KJV).
The KJV speaks of 'trees of righteousness' which the NIV renders as 'oaks of righteousness'. The pastor referred at the older folk in this small group and said that in them that the mission of the Messiah was to prepare us all to be 'oaks of righteousness'; he believed that the older ones had a particular vocation to play as the elderly in the congregation.
I warmed to his suggestion. Often I think that the elderly are regarded as past it and of little worth; if we would listen to their stories we would hear narratives of faith that would challenge our often weak desire for God.
After this sermon I talked with a lady who told me that she would be 98 next month! She confessed that she didn't know why God still had her here alive but she believed He knew what he was doing!! I have a good mate, Bill, at this service--he's 88--and he sings a solo at each service. He has a great voice and we are all blessed listening to his singing of his old favourites. He used to be a primary school teacher and I know he was a blessing to all those pupils he taught because of his quick witted humour. What a privilege it must have been to have him as one's teacher!
There are other gracious older ones I could mention too and they all have the oak-like character of trees of righteousness which one instantly feels being with them.
