It’s Later Than You Think
We sat in comfortable silence. With my longtime friend, the shade and light breeze felt just right on a hot afternoon. Neither of us were in a hurry and our conversation wandered like a pleasant stream. We talked of past adventures and future hopes, of opportunities missed and chances taken. My close friend, let’s call him Caleb, is nearer to his end than me, but not by all that much, so we also talked of death.
Now, Caleb is as cool as the backside of a pillow, and maybe it’s natural for a Jesus follower his age, but he remarked how the verses describing facing off with the last enemy seem like they jump off the page when he comes across them. Words like, “to live is Christ but to die is gain” and “the mortal will put on immortality” take on new meaning when the balance of life is behind us and the great adventure of the unknown-but-anticipated lies ahead. The anchor of those verses is trust in Jesus that our story is not over, and the best is yet to be experienced and really can’t even be imagined.
But until then, here we are.
While on the bike the other day, I listened to a Neil DeGrasse Tyson interview. He was discussing life expectancy from prehistory to the middle of the 19th century. He asserted that half of everyone born, died by the age of 35. And remember, they ate free-range meat and organic everything else and water was clean as was the air, but half still died young. Scientific breakthroughs radically increased human longevity until our days when the average life expectancy for men is 78 and women 81 years old.
One side affect of this increase is how death is viewed and feared and forced back with ever-increasing vigor, as though we might escape the inevitable. Medical advances have prolonged life, but bio-ethics folks have wondered for some time if that is worth the costs or pain. Interestingly, at the same time medically-assisted suicide is on the rise worldwide, possibly as a rebellion against the “keep alive at all cost” machine that just rolls on.
The bathroom mirror doesn’t lie as I stand before it after a shower (where I had dropped the soap and wondered if it was worth the pain of bending over to retrieve it). Gravity is winning the body battle, and my death is closer than I realize. As a Christ-follower it’s worth my time to, as the ancients have said, “memento mori” or remember you must die.
But until then, here we are.
Solomon, as an older man reflecting on his life, wrote Ecclesiastes. Chuck Swindoll subtitled his commentary on the book as the reflections of a burned-out executive, since it often reads as a negative musing on the futility of the striving we all do. At the end of the book, Solomon reflects on the ravages of old age and uses it to challenge youngers to pay attention. Check it out as he takes inventory of what he’s dealing with.
Don’t let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator. Honor him in your youth before you grow old and say, “Life is not pleasant anymore.” Remember him before the light of the sun, moon, and stars is dim to your old eyes, and rain clouds continually darken your sky. Remember him before your legs—the guards of your house—start to tremble; and before your shoulders—the strong men—stoop. Remember him before your teeth—your few remaining servants—stop grinding; and before your eyes—the women looking through the windows—see dimly. Remember him before the door to life’s opportunities is closed and the sound of work fades. Now you rise at the first chirping of the birds, but then all their sounds will grow faint. Remember him before you become fearful of falling and worry about danger in the streets; before your hair turns white like an almond tree in bloom, and you drag along without energy like a dying grasshopper, and the caperberry no longer inspires sexual desire. Remember him before you near the grave, your everlasting home, when the mourners will weep at your funeral. Yes, remember your Creator now while you are young, before the silver cord of life snaps and the golden bowl is broken. Don’t wait until the water jar is smashed at the spring and the pulley is broken at the well. For then the dust will return to the earth, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.
If we’re not intentional, getting older can mostly become an ongoing recitation of the latest loss. So, with many of our conversations sprinkled with the most recent health updates of who’s got cancer, or the friend needing the joint replacement, not to mention arthritis, cataracts, acid reflux, shingles, achy backs, sleep apnea, incontinence, or age spots, it might be good to focus on Solomon’s advice:
Don’t wait. Remember him. Honor God while you can.
It’s later than you think.
One way to approach this life is to carefully shuffle along so as never to risk injury or death and tip-toe safely to the grave. The other extreme is to foolishly live on the adrenalin-fueled edge of danger and probably go out with a boom. A middle road of enough prudence to be somewhat safe but spiced with enough adventure, trying always to have something in play that you can fail, to know the exhilaration of trust in the void…now that sounds about right.
But, as believers in the resurrected Jesus, who said he was going before us to prepare for our arrival, we view death as a passage from this part of eternity to the rest as we step into and through the final changing room. However great your life is now, God says he awaits with more and better. That awaits, but now is dang good, too.
Back to Solomon’s point…
Don’t wait (tomorrow isn’t promised).
Remember him (in each part of your day).
Honor God while you can (with every action you choose).
I don’t see myself as old, probably none do, but I was reminded of the truth the other day when, at the ReStore wheeling out a washer/dryer set, a young staff guy ran over and tried, unsuccessfully, to wrestle them away from me. After he helped me lift them into a pickup he remarked, “You’re pretty strong for an old guy.”
It’s later than I think.
My friend, Caleb, effectively threads the needle of loving every part of this life while at the same time increasingly excited about the next. That seems like a good balance for any of us. Solomon might agree with him and shout, “Don’t wait!” for the right time to do the right things.
Wherever you are on the age scale, don’t wait. However busy you are with your life at this moment, remember him. And whatever you put your hand and heart to do, honor God while you can.
It’s later than you think.
Music time
Jokes for small minds like mine
"I have to have a raise," the man said to his boss. "There are three other companies after me."
"Is that so?" asked the manager. "What other companies are after you?"
"The electric company, the telephone company, and the gas company."
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A lawyer dies in a car accident on his 40th birthday and finds himself greeted at the Pearly Gates by a brass band
Saint Peter runs over, shakes his hand and says "Congratulations!"
"Congratulations for what?" asks the lawyer.
"Congratulations for what?!?" says Saint Peter. "We're celebrating the fact that you lived to be 160 years old."
"But that's not true," says the lawyer. "I only lived to be forty."
"That's impossible," says Saint Peter. "We've added up your time sheets."