There is a role of nurture and influence that no one can take from us in our older years if we remain faithful to God. There is a substantial dearth in the church for seasoned mothers and father in the faith who model the characteristics of Jesus. Or perhaps they are just a sleeping army! You can step forward and help fill that vacuum!
Paul writes, "though you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have you not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have become your father through the gospel" (1 Cor 4:15). Paul recognizes that many people can teach you things about Jesus, but not that many can protect, watch over, and make you feel the safety that a Father’s love gives. We get that sense of how to father (and mother) from having been fathered by God throughout our lives.
We know that people don’t just need truth, they need to feel our compassion, they need someone to bind up the scrapes, someone to cry with and run to when the way seems lost and hopeless. They need a strong figure that they can watch when it feels like they are drowning: one that stands head and shoulders above the storm and are themselves, watching and being Fathered by God. They need someone whose gives them the reassurance of a loving gaze when they feel lost or incapable. These love subtleties we simply do not have when we are younger.
Do you remember Radar O’Reilly, the company clerk from MASH? He knew exactly what was needed by some kind of “intuitive” radar. That kind of radar takes awhile to grow in us.
So you can see how rare and how precious being a spiritual father and mother is. This does not
come in our youth--it blossoms, if it is going to blossom, in later decades. You can be an outstanding example, a brother, a sister, but you can not be a father or mother, even a grandparent in the faith, until at least a few grey hairs show!
Jesus said, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and put in his garden; and it grew and became a large tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches.” (Luke 13:18,19). Be a place that is safe enough for “birds” to decide that it is a wonderful place to raise their young! Be a place where people can come in out of the world and stand under your branches and be sheltered. Be like a tree, firmly planted, that stays in its place for decade upon decade, giving shade in the summer and steadfast beauty in all seasons.
I can remember being a very young believer who felt she knew virtually nothing about God. An older couple, who lived near me, who had been Christians for decades upon decades, would give me a ride to church. I was thrilled because I saw the value of being mentored by someone who had been a believer for a long while and hoped they would mentor me. Unfortunately, these dear people had not been taught and encouraged to do that and thus my young heart went without their nurture.
So I am encouraging you, decades later, to be that person to the younger people God will bring to you. Notice people. Ask about them, Check in on them. Be a safe place for them. Listen to their fears, encourage their dreams. Bring soup to them when they are sick. Rejoice with them when they win! Tell them, humbly, how you pray but more importantly why you pray. Be real. Be transparent. Tell them that our Father in always there and will always be there and you know that for sure. Lots of people are falling through the cracks, lots of young people have absolutely no knowledge of God and no one to show them the way. Watch over the flock of God in such a way that others feel the Father’s love flowing through your bespectacled eyes, and your wrinkled hands.
God will love it. So will you.
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