Title: Make your hair proud (Leviticus 19:32)
Contents
With the development of medical technology, improvement of nutrition and environmental conditions, modernization of various technologies, etc., the average lifespan of human beings has become much longer than before, so the elderly population is gradually increasing in our society. As a result, the problem of the elderly is now becoming a serious issue in our society. Our good tradition in which the elderly were respected and the good culture in which their parents were respected are disappearing, and gray hair is a symbol of shame, and the elderly are treated as troublesome and burdensome, and they are in the process of being degenerated into idiots. There is a growing voice saying that it should not be left as it is. In times like these, I am truly fortunate to be able to look into the solution through today's text.
There is a song called 'Palbanga (八anti歌)'. It sings eight facts that contrast respect for parents and love for children.
1) When a child curses, he is happy, and when his parents are angry, he has a bad feeling. When your parents scold you again, think of your child and change your mind.
2) Children do not want to hear no matter how much they say, and parents say that they nag a lot even once, so this is not nagging but worrying. It is a reminder from the experience of being old. Respect and uphold the words of an old man, and do not quarrel or criticize him.
3) I don't like the urine of children, but I hate the spitting of old people. Your parents worked hard to raise you precious when you were young, but now they are old and withered Respect your parents and treat them well.
4) I went to the market early in the morning to buy rice cakes, so I thought they were offering their parents. How can a child's heart not only love his parents so much? You should buy a lot of bread and make an offering to your parents who have little left over.
5) There are medicines that make children gain weight in drugstores on the street, but there is no medicine that strengthens parents. It is because they are zealous in curing children's diseases, but neglect their parents' diseases. Even if you cut off your legs, that's your parents' flesh. Take good care of your parents' health.
6) If you are wealthy, it is easy to make offerings to your parents, but your parents are not always at peace. Because the heart for the parents is worse than the heart for the child. Treat your parents as much as you want them to be, and don't make excuses for being poor in everything.
7) Parents do not like to have two or siblings, so they push each other, and children do not like to give away even if they have fever. Children always ask if they are hungry, even if they are full, and parents do not worry if they are hungry or cold. You must pay tribute to your parents with all your might. Your food and clothing belong to your parents.
8) A parent's ten-part love does not consider the grace, and the son's one-part filial piety is proud. It is dark when it comes to dealing with parents and bright when it comes to thinking of children. I urge you not to trust your son's filial piety in vain. You are in a position to be both the parent of the son and the son of the parent.
It's a phrase that's perfectly correct.
Today, we are going to think about what we can do proudly with the gray hair of the elderly as we celebrate Parents' Sunday. Gray hair is by no means a shabby thing to hide by dyeing it. Wrinkles on the face are not something to be ashamed of and hide. The beauty of an old man's teeth is his gray hair and wrinkles.
People who live like this in today's world are called crazy people.
Anyone over 50 who wants to sell their house and start a business is crazy.
Anyone who wants to get a PhD after 60 is crazy.
Anyone who wants to immigrate to a foreign country over the age of 70 is crazy.
Anyone looking for Viagra at the age of 80 is crazy.
Anyone who wants to get a health checkup at 90 is crazy
A person who doesn't go to the mountains at the age of 100 is crazy...
In the end, people who do not accept aging as they are and use force are expressed as crazy people.
We evangelical believers should be able to think positively that aging can also be beautiful.
Let's think about a few things, hoping that we can become a society and a house church that can be proud of having strong hair.
First, if you want to be proud of your gray hair, you need to change the way you think about things like strength and material things.
These days, women are compared to a ball.
Because a lot of women in their teens are chasing soccer balls (22 people), women in their 20s are chasing basketballs because fewer people are chasing them (10 people), and women in their 30s are chasing golf balls - because only one person is chasing them. A woman in her 40s puts off a ping-pong ball, and a woman in her 50s desperately avoids each other a dodgeball. Then what kind of ball is a woman in her 60s? .............
After all, aren't these views out of the idea of putting the highest value on things like power and matter?
It is reported that the elderly over 60 are suffering from one or more chronic diseases that have lasted for more than 3 months, and the average monthly income per senior is less than a third of the national average income. If the old man in this situation is judged by his strength or money, his gray hair is nothing to be proud of. If you think of the problems of the elderly only with the material value of lack of power and low income, then it is the last days. In the last days, they will disobey their parents and say that they love money more than their parents or God. The value of gray hair is something that cannot be measured by the principle of power or material value. You have to admit it.
Second, if you want to be proud of your gray hair, you have to stand in front of your strong hair.
"Strong hair" in the text means gray hair. It refers to parents whose hair has turned white due to longevity. Old age is an important period in life that only those who have received the blessing of longevity can enjoy. It is not a period of hate to be avoided, but a period of perfection in life. Life is not complete without old age.
To stand in front of a strong head means to give an example. In front of a strong head, all human beings should express their gratitude and respect. Gray hair is the result of sacrifice and hard work for our family and this society. Therefore, it is very sad that the elderly are not given the object of gratitude or respect for their hard work devoted to their families and society, but are treated only as the problems of the elderly. And when we say to stand in front of our bare heads, we mean that honoring the elderly and their parents is not just a theory, it must also be accompanied by practical actions. After Solomon became king, he did so to his mother Bathsheba (1 Kings 2:19-20). When the mother came, the king got up to meet her, bowed down, and listened to her mother's request. Although Joseph was the governor of Egypt, he got up and went out to meet his father Jacob (Gen 46:29). Jonathan son of Rechab told his descendants not to drink wine, but their descendants did this (Jeremiah 35:14). Standing up in front of a broken head like this means an act and practice of respect for parents.
Third, gray hair must be obtained on the path of righteousness so that gray hair can be proud of.
If we want gray hair, or old age, to be the crown of glory, we must be on the righteous path. We must reach old age on the path of being right before God, good before men, and virtuous. Only then will white hair be something to be proud of. Imagine living a life of only sinning and reaching gray hair, no one will ever stand in front of that strong head. I pray in the name of the Lord that we, the saints in Christ, will meet the old age with gray hair while walking the flawless life path according to the will of the Lord.
Dear saints,
It is a sin not to honor the elderly. The problem of the elderly is not a problem that can be solved by treatment. Old age is just going the way everyone is going in life. Therefore, we must recognize, accept, and ignore the elderly as a member of our family and as a member of our society. Let the old people feel proud of their gray hair. This is true reverence and true parental reverence. Don't pretend to be filial when you die, but do filial piety while you are alive. To honor you while you are alive. This is Christianity.