An interactive sermon on ageing
On Sunday evenings in our church I have been working through a series entitled ‘how is this the word of God’ .The series has included the poetic books, the Gospels, prophecy, Pauline letters and this we was the turn of the wisdom literature. I said that it could be approached using one of three models:
The map – not showing every detail, but indicating the lie of the land. The wisdom literature gives us an idea of where the contours fall in the landscape of human behaviour, without showing every last detail.
The blueprint – showing what goes on ‘under the bonnet’ Whilst the wisdom literature does make many witty observations about the nature of human behaviour in domestic and civic life – it also tells us something about the darker thoughts and motives which lurk beneath the surface.
The sketched portrait – look at an unfinished sketch by a master like Da Vinci or Rembrandt, and it will show you where the lines should fall in the finished masterpiece. The wisdom literature sketches out how an ideal husband, or wife, or king or master ought to behave.
Having set out these guidelines, we then proceeded to tackle Ecclesiastes 12 – looking at the lie of the land, the more hidden concerns, and the way things ought to be. The results are below, exactly as given ‘live’.
Overall people were pleased to find the Bible talking with such candour about the unsavoury physical effects of ageing, and reassured to find that in the midst of such brutal honesty was real hope. Have you looked at this, the Bible’s most honest depiction of ageing? What do you see?