To a thousand generations

Covenants dominate the themes and narrative of Scripture. The Lord ensures that he will continue his covenant through our ministry here on earth. I wish to focus on how the elderly in our congregations still have a very important role to play in that ministry.

A covenant continued

In Genesis, the Lord makes a promise to a man named Abram. It was a promise to be Abram’s God and to create a nation through him that would bless the other nations of the Earth (Gen. 12-15). The Abrahamic Covenant is referenced all throughout the Old and New Testaments. It’s the linchpin in understanding the new covenant under Christ. A deep dive into just that one covenant alone would be worthy of its own article but let’s shift our focus to the main text at hand:

“He is the Lord our God; his judgments are in all the earth. He remembers his covenant forever, the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations, the covenant that he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac, which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant” (Psalm 105:7-10, ESV emphasis mine).

The focus of this text is that God will remember his covenant with Israel forever. He will ensure it continues on throughout the generations. Now, granted, the people of Israel had work to do on their end as well. Deuteronomy 6 says that the commands and statutes of God are to be endlessly taught to the next generation. This was how the covenant was to be passed on. Who was commanded to do this work? The older to the younger. Fathers to sons. Parents to children. In several other places in Deuteronomy the phrase “and your children’s children” is often used to show that this wasn’t just for transmission from parent to child but also from grandparent to grandchild and beyond. The people of Israel understood that there was not an age that they were released from their duty to pass on the statutes of God.

Modern day covenant keepers

To ensure that the new covenant of Christ is passed onto the next generation, we need to follow God’s command in Deuteronomy 6. This has understandably led to a worldwide focus on children’s and youth ministry. In my experience as a minister on church staff, lay leader, and regular church member this focus on youth has resulted in many elderly Christians feeling as though their season of usefulness had come to an end (though I’m in no way suggesting that we should not be ministering to the unique needs of children and students). At a church I served at in Dallas, Texas there was one retired business owner who had made a comment that he was only viewed as a “walking wallet” and never asked to be involved beyond financial contributions. This broke my heart. He had so much wisdom and understanding of the Scriptures to offer!

I suggest that the greatest need our elderly brethren have is to be useful once again. Our Lord said it best: “The Son of Man came to serve rather than to be served” (Matt. 20:28). The best way to minister to an aging population is to have ministry flow from an aging population. They have much to offer in terms of wisdom and experience that will prove invaluable to the youth of our congregations. Wisdom and experience that came at the cost of pain and loss can be shared freely to anyone who asks.

What can we do?

First, work hard to encourage many of them to take up leadership or support roles for small groups and Bible studies. This could be as a teacher who guides the others in the group to greater understanding of the text or as the host who allows the group to meet in their home. Even being willing to cook a nice meal for the group is a huge way to contribute to the gathering of believers. This may seem small, but let’s remember that several times Christ ministered over a meal and we are told to imitate him. So, allow those who have the gifting to prepare meals to do so. This might not be feasible every single week. Yet having several elderly Christians on a cooking rotation will give them all a sense of purpose and involvement, which is exactly how we hope to minister to them.

Second, not all of them will feel comfortable being teachers or leaders of small groups, but I’m sure that many would be completely okay with one-on-one conversations. Several Christian survey and research groups have found that one of the greatest needs of young Christians is mentors in the faith. Someone to explain how Christianity is done on a daily practical level. Elderly Christians have the time and space to meet that need. It’s rather simple: a young Christian (a person of any age who is new to the faith) meets with an older Christian and talks about their walk. Several known issues are remedied by doing this. Chief among them is elder loneliness which is at an all-time high. However, for our purposes, it helps the elder Christians in our churches become modern day covenant keepers. Through these interactions they pass on the faith and the commands of God to those who follow after them. Their season of usefulness is far from over.

Third, with advances in dictation technology (or simply employing the deft hands of younger typists) it’s never been easier for elderly Christians to write their stories down. The testimony of what God has done in their lives is an abundant treasure for their fellow brethren. The people of Israel constantly remind each other of their shared history. Christians can do this by writing and sharing the testimonies of the elderly among us. They have amazing stories to tell, and we’d be remiss if we didn’t encourage them to share those stories with the church at large. These would act as a record of God’s faithfulness among us and would double as a record of God’s everlasting covenant with his people.

Conclusion

The aged in our churches need to be shown that they are not done yet. There is ministry to be done in passing on the covenant to those who follow. Despite their age they have much to offer, and it’s my hope that I have given some good starting points for church leaders to utilize that population in their congregations. Helping those advanced in age be useful for the kingdom will breathe life into their bones, and you will see the joy on their faces once again. I truly believe that leaving this source of ministry untapped will hinder our church members and leave us starved for wisdom that the elderly can provide.

There is a great opportunity in front of us—where the elderly’s need to be useful and the command to pass on God’s everlasting covenant to the next generation can both be met at once. As church leaders, let us strive to equip our aged members to continue the work of ministry that we all have been called to do. That, I believe, is the best way to minister to an aging population in this generation and for a thousand more. Gloria in excelsis Deo. Soli Deo Gloria.