Better with Age, a sermon based on Exodus 19: 16-19 and Hebrews 12: 18-29, preached on August 24, 2025

In both our Scripture lessons for this morning, we learn that Moses, a great hero of the faith, a symbol of faithfulness and dedication, was less than confident when he approached God high up on that mountain where he received the Ten Commandments. We read from the book of Exodus: Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God. They took their stand at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire; the smoke went up like a kiln, while the whole mountain shook violently. As the blast of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses would speak, and God would answer. Our second Scripture lesson alludes to this moment and tells us that as Moses approached God, he trembled with fear. Why wouldn’t he? After all, our God is, according to the book of Hebrews, “a consuming fire.” “A consuming fire,” that refines us so that our impurities go up in smoke. The work of a silver smith is one of refining. Do you know anything about how silver is refined? I’m glad because I want to tell you about it. Silver comes out of the ground full of impurities. You can’t make fine jewelry out of silver fresh from the ground. The impurities must be burned out of it. The silver ore is melted, and the heat of an intense fire burns the impurities so that what remains is pure silver. The silver refiner knows that the silver is finally pure when he looks into the melted silver and can see his reflection looking back at him. Now that’s refining, which is not the same as aging. Birth leads to childhood. Childhood to adolescence. Adolescence to adulthood. Adulthood to old age, but getting old is mandatory. Growing up is optional. Many people resist the whole process and would rather stay young. The comedian Lucille Ball said that the secret of staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly, and to lie about your age. The continual process of refinement calls us to embrace hardship and to face challenges with courage until our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer looks at us and sees His own reflection looking back. I’m not sure that’s how our youth-obsessed culture thinks about aging. What do we know gets better with age? Wine? Whiskey? Cheese? People? I don’t know that many in our world today believe that people get better with age. If we believed that we could get better with age, we might not spend so much money trying to look young. In 2016, men and women in the United States spent a total of $16 billion dollars on cosmetic treatments to defy ageing. We spend that money because when our skin sags, we want to keep it tight. When our hairlines recede, we resist baldness. To avoid atrophy in our muscles and to maintain bone density, we exercise in weighted vests. When varicose veins appear or unsightly hairs spring out from chins, we do something about it. We pluck and dye. We diet and apply creams. But what if instead we were bold enough to believe that with age comes refinement? That aging makes us better. One of my favorite sayings about aging is that a child becomes a teenager when he can see that his parents are not perfect; a teenager becomes an adult when he forgives them; and an adult becomes wise when he forgives himself. That sounds like refinement. Which requires courage. When I was a pastor in Tennessee, I would often visit Mrs. Jean Love, who would get upset with me whenever I was late for our appointment. Once, she called me to visit because she wanted to plan her funeral. I asked why she wanted to plan with me her funeral when she wasn’t sick and was still living on her own, and she said, “Pastor, getting old is awful, but it’s so much worse if you’re afraid to look it in the eye.” There is so much in this life that I’ve been afraid to face. I’ve feared getting older. I’ve feared looking older, and some mornings I’ve even feared just looking in the mirror, but last Wednesday night I had to. Did you hear that last Wednesday night at the Glover Park Brewery there was a Joe Evans impersonation contest? I was nervous about it, for I feared looking in the mirror. How am I being perceived? When people dress like me, will I be ashamed of how I look? Matt Sitkowski was the winner. There was no question from our daughters, who served as the judges. Matt Sitkowski was the best. He wore a robe like the one I have on. He found some glasses that look like the glasses I’m wearing, and he started out his impersonation talking about growing tomatoes in the basement, which is something that I do, and how I grew the perfect tomato, but went upstairs to make a tomato sandwich, only the Duke’s Mayonnaise jar was empty. How many times have I mentioned Duke’s Mayonnaise? Several. Finding the jar empty, I was at first, “happy, and hungry, and hopeful,” yet the “jar was empty,” Matt said. It was like looking into a mirror only it didn’t make me self-conscious. I didn’t feel embarrassed or ashamed. I only felt thankful because this church, every year, is getting better and stronger and is reaching out into the community with a greater dedication for service, and if I have something to do with it, then I simply want to say, “Thanks be to God” because I just want to be useful. I just want to be found faithful. I just want to serve the One who created me, who sustains me, who gave His life for me, and for Him to look at me and see His image looking back. In this culture of isolation, narcissism, and selfish ambition, let us all get better with age, focused less on looking younger and more on the needy. Focused less on the car that we drive and more on the widow, the orphan, the immigrant, and the unhoused. This morning, if you were in Holland Hall, then you had the opportunity to get involved in something new: a new Bible study, a new fellowship group, a new way to serve the Lord in this community. If you missed it, it’s not too late: Just pick up one of these catalogs and find a new activity. I promise that every opportunity listed is more fulfilling that staying at home and watching the news, and each one provides the opportunity for you to get better with age because all these opportunities keep us focused on someone other than ourselves. Let us all be refined to love our God and our neighbor more deeply. There is a world outside our doors calling for us to pay attention. Let us shape and change this world as we are refined by the power of God. Amen.