This morning our church honored our "Prime Timers" or "Senior Saints" or, as our family said, "old people". Whatever you refer to them as, what a blessing those that have blazed the trail before us and continue to live as glorious examples of Jesus with skin on. The entire worship service was geared to that generation, so it was a bit different than we are used to. Several "golden oldie" songs, and many of the Prime Timers participating in the worship. I heard a fabulous summary of the continuous rebellion and redemption of God's people all throughout the Bible, encompassed in a prayer that was quite lengthy yet full of wise petitions. My favorite: "Lord, knowledge that isn't used is simply trivia. Give us the wisdom that is the application of knowledge, and the wisdom of when to speak and when to be quiet." And the church says: AMEN!
My favorite moment, however, was the innocent wondering of my precious Ashley. All of our family, of course, loves our dear preacher, Phil. He has grown children which, to my children, means that his age is anywhere from 40-100, I guess. I don't know Phil's age, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't even qualify for the senior citizen discount at McDonald's. When Phil got up to welcome us at church (not his usual time to be speaking to us) Ashley grabbed the order of worship and noticed that another person was speaking this morning.
"Why isn't Phil preaching?"
"Because we're honoring old people."
(sympathetic understanding dawns on her as she seeks to clarify why this excludes Phil from preaching)
"And Phil doesn't want to admit that he's old?"
I laughed all the way through service about that! But truly a beautiful service, a GREAT lesson, and a time of honoring a worthy couple of Senior Saints.
