Are you someone who thinks you are too old to make a difference for God? Let me set you straight. If you are a follower of Jesus, you have the Holy Spirit, you have everything you need to be empowered to make a difference and change the world. I think one of the most disgraceful messages floating around our culture today is that once you get past a certain age, you don’t really have anything of value to offer society anymore.
But according to God’s Word, it doesn’t matter if you’re 105 years old and home-bound– if you still have breath in your lungs – God still has a plan for you to change the world. If you’re still here, God is not finished with you yet. Or to put it more bluntly and hopefully in a statement you won’t forget:
If you’re not dead – you’re not done!
If you’re a follower of Jesus, you the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of you, to empower you to accomplish the mission of Christ. We can retire from our careers but we never retire from the Great Commission. We never retire from the mission of Christ. We never graduate from proclaiming the message and the good news of Jesus. So just check your pulse for me right now … seriously … check your pulse now. If you can feel a pulse, God still expects you to change the world, in partnership with His Spirit. If you’re not dead – you’re not done!
You have the same Holy Spirit that empowered those first disciples in Acts chapter two and the Holy Spirit will empower you to fulfill your responsibility in telling people about Jesus. Again, what happens with that proclamation is out of your control, that’s beyond your pay grade, that’s all in God’s hands. You are called to tell people about Jesus and then you trust the Holy Spirit to bear fruit from your efforts, in His time and in His way.
Now this simple truth has incredible implications for us in our local congregations. It’s no secret that the vast majority of congregations across our nation have declined in number and with that has come a decline in faith and expectation that they can make a difference in the world. This then turns our focus inward and we start worrying about our programs, our preaching, our worship, our ability to relate to the young people who are no longer in Church.
Satan captures our whole thought process and very cleverly shifts our attention away from our calling as we start worrying about what is actually God’s responsibility. We can’t convert people. We can’t convince them of their need for God. We can’t heal them of their physical and mental illnesses. We can’t bring them to life spiritually and allow them to see God. All of that is God’s job.
Our job is simple. We just need to remember the two greatest things God has given us to do. We call them The Great Commandment and The Great Commission.
In The Great Commandment we are called to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength and love our neighbour as ourselves.
Then in The Great Commission we are called to tell people about Jesus wherever we go!
We are not called to build the Church. We are not called to be custodians of some ancient doctrine. We are not called to be the moral policemen and policewomen of society. We are called to love God, love others and tell them about Jesus. God’s job is to bring the fruit from our obedience and service and expand His Kingdom.