Monday't thoughts on next Sunday's sermon

"Youth; Get Over It"

1111 was an important day. We measure our lives both by our birthdays and by the turn of the calendar to a new year and we have experienced what it means to move forward from one year to the next. Health clubs will be accepting new memberships and people with resolutions will join in the expectation of moving the clock or the scales backward toward a better weight or a lesser year.

If we are 40 we'd like to look 30. If we are 30 we remember when we were 20 and wish for those days again. When we turn 50 they speak of us as if we were "over the hill" and when the number reaches 60 we have moved beyond the hill.

I remember the year I turned 50. I wrote my uncle and told him turning 50 was sobering. He wrote back and said, "If turning 50 is sobering, turning 80 is total abstinence."

We are a society preoccupied with youth and yet it is important to foster and encourage a young spirit so that the chronological age isn't as relevant as the spiritual factor.

Sunday we will think about the baptism of Jesus and how he told John it was important for him to be baptized. Aside from the obvious irony in that (why would Jesus need to be baptized for the forgiveness of sin when we have always believed he was without sin?), there is something important being communicated to us. Jesus is the model for our faith in so many ways but perhaps one of the most important examples he gave us is to have shown us what it means to have a young spirit. He was a person who was willing to give himself totally to the situation. His baptism is thought to be an example of his desire to experience everything each of us experiences. His wish to be totally human as we are human is an example of what a youthful spirit is.

Who are the "young at heart" of the people you know? Who are the people who have come into your life who have had a young soul?

One of the youngest spirits I have ever met was Douglas Steere. Dr. Steere was a Quaker mystic. His book on prayer is a Christian classic. He came to Boulder, First Church as a part of the "Theologian in Residence" program when I was appointed as senior pastor. He was in his 90's. He and his wife were fun to be around. I had the privilege of taking them to Denver to meet Sister Mary Luke Tobin. They were old friends and all three of them were elderly. Being around them I felt old; they were the young at heart. I wanted to know their secret. I wanted to find what was behind the twinkle in their eyes. I think I understood it.

Sunday I'd like to share it with you.

What does it mean to be young at heart? Who are some of the people who have shown this for you?

Write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to share your thought with other readers of our web page click on the "comments" box below.

I look forward to hearing from you.


Charles Schuster