Aging Spiritually: Not Forgotten
“Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it”
—
Several years ago, I was visiting a woman who was in the hospital. I sat beside her bed as she began to tell me of her life. She had been very active in her church (a different church than the one I served), serving God through different ministries. Her Sunday School class was a close circle of friends who loved and cared for one another.
But, as the years went by, that group of older women gradually became less healthy and unable to attend. One by one her friends died or moved to live near children who could assist in their care. By the time she was 100 years old all her friends had gone. She continued to faithfully send her tithe to her church every month as she had done all her life.
With sadness in her voice, she told me, “Our former pastor used to visit me once or twice a year. But I’ve not seen the new pastor. I never hear from anyone at church anymore.” Then, she looked at me with tears in her eyes and said, “I think my church has forgotten me.”
It broke my heart to hear those words. In the stage of her life when she most needed her church, they no longer needed her. She felt forgotten.
There was a time in her life when she belonged with the people in her church. They knew and loved her and she loved them. The presence of God was tangible in their care for one another. But now she felt isolated and alone. Forgotten by the church that had once been the center of her life.
We are each created for relationship with God as a beloved daughter or son. We are created for community with one another. We all belong to God’s family thus we belong to each other. Your existence matters in this world, no matter how isolated and alone you may feel.
In Luke 15, Jesus told three parables of how God goes to great lengths to restore relationship with every individual. The sheep, the coin, and the younger son were each separated from others.
We know the presence of God in our lives through the caring presence of other people. Restoring relationship with God enables the one who is isolated to also restore relationship with other people.
Do you know someone who is isolated and alone, who may feel forgotten? Consider that God may be sending you to be the presence of Christ for that person. Can you allow God to act through you to seek that person who is isolated and alone? Can you make sure that daughter or son of God is not forgotten?
Love never forgets. Love always includes the excluded, restores relationship with the isolated. In God’s love, we always belong to one another and are never forgotten.
-Rev. Dr Greg Smith
Former Executive Director of the Legacy Ministry
Practice
Read Luke 15. As you read, ponder how it feels to be the one who is separated from the others. What would it be like for the sheep who is restored to relationship with the flock? How much value and worth are you to God, as in the parable of the coin? How did the younger son feel to be restored to his father’s household?
Then, consider someone you know who is isolated and alone. How do you think that person feels? How can God use you to include that person? How can God work through you to make sure that person feels as if they belong to God’s family?
Then, give thanks to God that you belong in God’s love, never forgotten.
Greg Smith
Former Executive Director of the Legacy Ministry