“I’ve just returned from a trip to the Gulf Coast of Florida , and the one thing I noticed more than anything while there, was the tremendous population of THE elderly. the truth is, PRESENT DAY FLORIDA , is BUT A PICTURE OF ALL AMERICA TO COME.”

 I’m Dennis Finnan, host and speaker on the World, the Word & You! Broadcast and in a moment we’ll talk about the wonderful and marvelous elderly population growing leaps and bounds in our nation…

…Analysts and statisticians who are keeping track of the population age of Americans foretell of “gray days” ahead for 21^st century America ! Yes, these “gray days” they are talking about are not clouds in the sky, but heads of hair as America ’s population grows older.

These statisticians claim that by the year 2030 AD, 70 million Americans will be senior citizens.

This is double what it was just in 2000 AD, according to the Gerontological Society of America. This means one in five Americans will be 65 or older. Furthermore, health care experts claim that to care for this aging population, the number of physicians armed with the special training to best treat their needs is decreasing. By the same year 2030AD, America will need 36,000 geriatricians, according to the Alliance for Aging Research, based in Washington , D.C. But the number of geriatricians is expected to decrease from the current 9,000 to about 6,100 by as early as next year (2004 AD)!

Indeed, the long gray wave of Baby Boomers soon retiring could lead to an all-engulfing national crisis -- unless America balances its budget, reins in senior entitlements, raises retirement ages, and boost individual and pension savings. However, politicians of both parties say that most of the urgently necessary reforms are simply "off the table," as no legislator wants to commit political suicide in proposing any of these things!

While I visited Florida this past week, I clearly saw the “gray wave” of senior citizens that fill the state's streets, beaches, parks, hotels, shopping malls, hospitals, and senior citizen centers. This high proportion of elderly is of course par for a state that has traditionally called America ’s senior citizens to retire there. Do you know that nearly one in five Floridians is over sixty-five? But soon, this state figure won't be exceptional nationally speaking. Indeed, by the year 2025AD, at the latest, the proportion of all Americans who are elderly will be the same as the proportion in Florida today! America , in effect, will become a nation of “retirees,” and then keep on aging too! Well after another pause for some good music to delight your day, I’ll return with some specific truths and answers to our aging population you need to know and understand. So, don’t go away, I’ll be right back…

… America is growing old not in years of existence as much as the age of those who populate it.  In the next fifteen years we will witness the first wave of “Baby Boomers” hitting sixty-five, who will begin to bring drastic changes economically, politically, socially, culturally, and even ethically literally transforming American society! What should concern us all about this is unless we do something now, nationally speaking, catastrophic happenings will result. The truth is unless we reject the prevailing "entitlement ethic" mentality, within 20-30 years there will be no money to support the nation’s aged population.

Now think about this - with 76 million aging Americans on the horizon, the number of Social Security beneficiaries will double by the year 2040. In 1900 only one in twenty-five Americans was over sixty-five; AND, the vast majority of these retired people were completely self-supporting or supported by their families. By the year 2040 AD, one out of every four or five Americans will be over sixty-five, and the vast majority will not be self- supported and to a greater degree will look to the promised government entitlements. In 1960 there were 5.1 taxpaying workers to support each Social Security beneficiary. Today there are 3.3. By 2040 there will be as few as 1.6.

In order to provide the same average number of years of retirement benefits in 2030 AD, do you realize the retirement age will have to be raised to seventy-four? What’s worse is that Social Security and Medicare taxes, not income taxes, will rise to a whopping 20-40% of our children and grandchildren’s earning incomes. Without a doubt, this will bankrupt America , destroy our economy, and in our secularized selfish self-centered society create worker rebellion and chaos!

Now think, human life expectancy in America now averages about 75-79 years of age, with many more living into their nineties.  For many, as the onset of age takes its toll, they are completely unprepared for the stress and converging forces of age. For instance, those who have reached 45 years of age begin to first see biological changes. A man see his youthful stamina and vigor waning, his muscle tone and for many his hair, all but disappearing. Then there's a weight shift in the midriff, and worse the sexual drive and stimulation of youth is like a setting sun. Look at the burgeoning sales of drugs these days that promise to revive the sexual aspect of life. Then there are the social and psychological changes to be faced. Our world that lives and thrives on youth, no longer offers unlimited opportunities to the aging, and if one has reached his or her fifties, major job shifts, and corporate downsizing can land them unemployed near their retirement years.

Yes, it isn't easy growing old in a world that has little to no place for those who see the sunset coming. However, no one needs to despair. For God has planned old age for everyone, and those who learn to accept it as God's plan for their lives, can celebrate life after 50 well into advanced old age, regardless of the physical and mental losses sustained in the process.

To do this, I'd like to visit perhaps one of the Bible's most dynamic examples of a man who learned to accept and utilize his old age. This man is perhaps the most interesting and delightful individual who crossed the pages of Old Testament Scripture. He might well be called the "eternal optimist." Who is he? His name is CALEB, and we can find him at his address in the Old Testament book of Joshua, Chapter 14. Here we find Caleb is an 85 year old octogenarian whose love of life and his God had not dimmed with age.

For a summary of the text, we need to know the time period of this man. Caleb lived during the final days of Israel 's conquest of Canaan . Moses was dead, and Joshua was appointed leader of this 2-3 million band of people. In the Bible, we learn that God delivered the Canaanites into their hands, for the Israelites were God's representatives in bringing His judgments against their rebellion to God’s laws of life. The Creator warned the Canaanites He would visit them with vengeance for their centuries old disobedience to His laws and commands for living in His universe. They refused to hear God for over 400 years; so, great power and might was given to Israel to remove them from the land.

This conquest began in previous chapters when God told Moses to choose out twelve spies to go into the land of Canaan and spy out the areas where they should begin taking possession as God decreed. The twelve spies went in and came out forty days later and reported that it was a good land, filled with "milk and honey, fields and houses," everything any people would want. But then, 10 of the spies also said, it was foolish to even consider going in. They cried they would be killed and all would die! It was at that point one of the spies, a young man named Caleb, spoke against this negative report. We read in,

Numbers 13:31-33 (NIV) "But the men who had gone up with him said, "We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are." 32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. .."

Numbers 13:30 (NIV) "Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.""

As a result of the majority decision of these ten spies, the Israelites refused to obey God and enter Canaan . In anger against His people, God swore none of the adults who made this decision would ever enter the land in their lifetimes. However, to honor the faith of these two men Joshua and Caleb, who stood up to the crowd and gave God the glory, we read,

Numbers 14:30 (NIV) "Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun."

Deuteronomy 1:36 (NIV) "… Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land he set his feet on, because he followed the LORD wholeheartedly.""

You see, God made a two-fold promise to this young lad. He said Caleb would see the conquest completed and would not die in battle; and, he would inherit the land his feet first trod when he spied out the land. It is here we enter the story in Joshua 14, after Canaan had been essentially conquered. It was now time to divide the land and give it to the twelve tribes of Israel . At this crowning moment, an eighty-five year old aged man steps forth and says,

Joshua 14:6-12 (NIV) "…now Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, "You know what the LORD said to Moses… 7 I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions, 8 but my brothers who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt with fear. I, however, followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly. 9 So on that day Moses swore to me, 'The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly.' 10 "Now then, just as the LORD promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the desert. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! 11 I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I'm just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. 12 Now give me this hill country that the LORD promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the LORD helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.""

Imagine that! Here is a man who might at his age have simply requested a quiet retirement village to spend his last days, perhaps raising some flowers with "Miracle Grow,"™ or something like that. But instead, this man requests to be given the last outpost of the enemy who were hiding in the hills. Unlike most elderly who want to talk about past conquests and great moments in their lives, this man Caleb still wanted to experience them himself as long as he was able. He said, "I am today, eighty-five years old! I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I'm just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then." Caleb was ready for one more battle to finish the work God had called him to do. This was not silly pride, but rather faith claiming God's Word for his life and families future. Caleb had faith in the presence of God even into his old age.

Now this story of this geriatric optimist is a lesson to behold, as millions enter their sunset years. Rather than opt to vegetate in some quiet retirement village, doing nothing and sitting in a chair watching the sun rise and fall day after day, we need to remember life is never over, till it is over!

Some years ago, an elderly couple in a church, felt God's call to leave their retirement and go to Africa to help a mission work there. They were in reasonable health and with the inner call of God they proceeded to plan for leaving for three years of service. They went to their doctor and asked him for final advice health-wise. In particular, the husband asked if his health would hold out and what would happen if they got sick and even died? The doctor, a wise Christian, said these wise words, "You've got to die somewhere, you might as well do it in faithful service to the Lord on the field white for harvest, than anywhere else." How true and how appropriate!

Today as millions of people are moving into their elderly years, what will they do with their lives? Will they buy the lie that it's all over and seek to do nothing? I've personally witnessed what happens to those who retire and do nothing but eat, sleep and rest. Within a few years they simply die. But those, especially who are Christians, who embark on new careers, or service to God at home or abroad, seem to live long and hard for God even into their nineties. A survey was taken some time ago and do you know what they found? The greatest work and accomplishments our world received and recognized from mankind often occurred in their old age.

Here's just a small example of history's senior citizen's input: Just think, (1) Moses was 80 when God called him out to do his greatest work, (2) Michaelangelo was still composing poetry and designing structures in his 89th year. In fact, he painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel on his back on a scaffold near 90! (3) Strauss was still composing serious music after his 80th birthday. (4) Philipps Brooks one of the world's greatest preachers was a powerful figure at 84. (5) Benjamin Franklin did not begin his philosophical pursuits until 50. He went to France in our country's service at 78, and wrote his autobiography at over 80. (6) Bacon, (7) Milton , (8) Tennyson, (9) Von Goethe – they all did their finest works in their 60's to 80's. But perhaps the most challenging to me is the great preacher (10) John Wesley, who traveled some 250,000 miles in forty years and preached some 40,000 sermons, wrote over 400 books and learned ten languages and who at eighty-three was annoyed, that he could not write more than 15 hours a day without hurting his eyes. Moreover, at eighty-six he was ashamed he could not preach more than twice a day. He complained in his diary there was an increasing tendency to lie in bed until 5:30 am in the morning! Indeed how not to grow old is more an attitude than a physical reality.

Now I've said all this because we all need to be prepared for the sunset years. They will come by God's grace for most of us. The question is what will we do with them? Will we spend them on ourselves as the popular bumper sticker often reads on the back of recreational vehicles that says, "I'm spending my children's inheritance," or will we spend our lives and fortunes still doing something great and good for this world and for God? How can we do it? I think Caleb, the 85 year old dynamic, is our example. He never thought retirement was of the Lord. Oh yes, we grow old, and of course physically and mentally will do much less as we grow older. But as long as we are able, and if one is a Christian, we must use our time for God, and give our time for His glory.

To enable us we must avoid debilitating attitudes, and we must stop mourning the loss of our youth. Old age is of God and an important part of our being prepared for eternity. Yes, I look in a mirror and no longer see the youthful man I once was in my twenties. Although next year I’ll be 60, I will not let the vision go! Too many today just give up and say, "I'm too old!" History and God's word says they are wrong. Like these great men of old and our Bible example, the finest hour of your life may lie ahead in your old age if you seek to find it and spend your life for God.

Yes indeed, you and I must die somewhere, so as a good doctor said, may it be in the service of the King.

Evangeline Cory Booth said it well - "It's not how many years we live, but what we do with them that counts." I'm convinced that life after 50 is the second half, and will prove to be the better half in spite of any debility of age and health, as long as we give what we have to the Lord Jesus Christ. Say friend have you given what you have? It might be youth? It might be middle age, it might be old age, God only asks for what you have. Caleb gave his youth, his middle age and his old age to God, and God honored him! Caleb said, "give me that mountain," and God said done, and gave it to him and his family for generations to follow. Maybe there is a mountain out there you can conquer for God and glory in your old age? Then by His grace take it. Consider an exciting career right where you are, by serving God in your local church, or para-church ministry, Discover as thousands of elderly are doing that new challenges, ministries and opportunities that await those who are willing to seize them. Those who reach old age are the ones who have the greatest wisdom, energy and availability for God's use and glory. Don't throw it away on yourself or nothing at all. For when life is finally over, it will not be our sports achievements, nor our early careers, hobbies, our leisure or our money that will be remembered. It will be our unselfish service and love of God and His people as we prepare for the gates of glory to open. May God grant you who are aging, a new vision to see Him afresh, and determine in your heart that the best years of service for God lie ahead regardless of your age, health, condition and situation. I often think of God's personal word of encouragement,

Isaiah 46:4 (NIV) "Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you."

Isaiah was promised that even when he was old, God had a place for Him in service to His King. Oh, what a great and wonderful God we serve! Even if our health is gone, and things seem bleak around us God also promises that our hearts can rejoice. I'm reminded that thousands of years ago the prophet Habakkuk feeling the pressure of disappointment, even old age said,

Habakkuk 3:17-18 (TLB) "Even though the fig trees are all destroyed, and there is neither blossom left nor fruit; though the olive crops all fail, and the fields lie barren; even if the flocks die in the fields and the cattle barns are empty, 18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will be happy in the God of my salvation."

Well friend, that is the finishing note. "I will rejoice in the God of my salvation." Old age will never be of value or filled with happiness for those who have not taken Christ as the Lord and Savior. But for those who realize that Christ died on a cross to pay for their sins, and so doing they call upon the Lord Jesus to save them and to be their God and Lord -- God promises forgiveness and eternal life. Now especially for them, old age will be an exciting time of joy, and no situation, or experience will rob them of that satisfaction and celebration of the sunset years. I for one, like Caleb of old, will continue to say as the years pass by, "Give me that mountain," that is that new opportunity, or work, that new field or place of service, and I will be faithful even unto my old age to accomplish it for my Lord Jesus Christ. I trust you will join me, and if you're retired already and doing little to nothing for God, get busy and prayerfully seek the best to come that awaits all those who serve the King of Kings. If we do this, the "mid-life passages" will be smooth sailing and filled with much sunshine of days till we meet our Lord in glory.

May this be your portion friend today and in the days ahead for Jesus sake. Amen.

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RESOURCES:

1. "CELEBRATE LIFE AFTER 50," Roger Palms; Victor Books, Wheaton , IL

2. "ENCYCLOPEDIA OF 7700 ILLUSTRATIONS," Assurance Publishers, Rockville , Maryland .

3. " US CENSUS BUREAU OF STATISTICS," "Aging Population," September 2003.

4. "THE BARNA REPORT - WHAT AMERICANS BELIEVE," George Barna, Regal Books, Ventura , CA .

5. THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY ON LINE – “Will America Grow Up Before it Grows Old?” May 1996,  Peter G. Peterson.