Thought for Today

Exodus 3:16 Go and assemble the elders of Israel, and say to them, 'The LORD, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying: I have given heed to you and to what has been done to you in Egypt.   

Exodus 20:12 Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.  

Matthew 15:2 "Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands before they eat."  

Luke 22:52 Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple police, and the elders who had come for him, "Have you come out with swords and clubs as if I were a bandit?  

“πρεσβύτερος . . . (2) as a substantive; (a) as denoting previous generations οἱ πρεσβύτεροι forefathers, ancestors, people who lived long ago; (b) as designating honorable officials in local councils, synagogues, etc. elder” (Friberg, Analytical Greek Lexicon)

That Greek word, πρεσβύτερος, pronounced ‘presbuteros,’ is the root word for Presbyterian. It is often translated as elder. In the PCUSA, there are 2 different types of elders, Ruling Elders and Teaching Elders. The latter are sometimes also called Ministers of Word and Sacrament. I have been ordained as each. I was ordained as a Ruling Elder in my early thirties, at an age which now seems very young to me. I was ordained as a Teaching Elder many years later.

I thought about all of this, especially about “the tradition of the elders” yesterday as I wrote about laws, statutes, ordinances, regulations and commandments. I thought about this as I wondered, if we cannot achieve the Kingdom of God through laws, statutes, ordinances, regulations or commandments, how do we achieve a society comprised of  lives reflecting justice, kindness, humility or love?

As Christians, we are committed to and pray for a world where God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven. Christians have prayed for that world for 2026 years. Christians have paid at least ‘lip-service’ to that idea for the same 2026 years. How’re we doing on our alleged commitment? How effective have our prayers been? Have we taken any discernable steps toward achieving our goal?

As a young boy, I believed that the whole answer lay in perfect obedience to the 10 Commandments. Then I read the 5th chapter of Matthew’s gospel. That is the chapter of the Beatitudes and of that series of “"You have heard that it was said . . . But I say to you . . .” in verses 5:22-5:44.

I must admit that each year as I age, I keep looking for Jesus’ having said, "You have heard that it was said, ‘Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you’, But I say to you extol them, hang on their every word.” I’m still looking.

Certainly that idea of listening to our elders is the basis for all those words about elders which we read in scripture! Of course, that idea does bring to light the obvious question of how I could have been a Ruling Elder in my early thirties. Is age, in and of itself, a qualification for wisdom or discernment? Is age, in and of itself, a disqualification for wisdom or discernment?

In our political world during my own lifetime, I have seen both arguments. The current contest (war?) between our aging congressional representation nationwide and the young trying to supplant them is nothing new. “Ecclesiastes 1:9 What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun.” Qoheleth may have been prone to overstatements, but the generational wars have been waged throughout human history. Those who lived during the ‘60s or who have read about them should see echoes of the past in our current conflict.

How do we balance in politics, in religion, in life, the fresh, new ideas of youth against the wisdom and experience of elders? Must they always be at odds with each other? Must one or the other always be in ascendance while the other is in decline? As the  clock on our wall relentlessly ticks away each hour, as I celebrate each succeeding birthday, I wonder.

Listen to the wisdom of age, be energized by the vibrance of youth, trust God,

Pastor Ray