Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. I Corinthians 12: 27

The other day I watched a man very patiently walking his elderly dog who was hobbling along behind him on the lead. Of course that dog was not always elderly and in the past I am sure he would have been racing around, chasing a ball or other dogs. Old age creeps up on us all!

The Body of Christ though is designed for everyone, young, old or middle-aged to participate and find their place in. Unfortunately it is too often true that both the very young and very old get marginalised. 

Jesus said:  “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”  Matthew 19: 14. This was not a quick blessing and a patronising pat on the head. This is a release of children into fully functioning members of the Kingdom and to participation in the church. 

Psalm 8: 2 says, ‘from the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise to silence the foe and the avenger.’ Children’s praise silences the devil and should be encouraged at all times. It is not enough that the children are quiet reading, colouring or playing on an iPad in church; they should be fully participating in the praise and worship, ready to bring a word or pray. As parents we set such a low bar for our children and unfortunately they rarely jump over it. 

The old can also be ignored and too often all we expect of them is to stay quiet in church!  However I believe it is the detriment of many churches that they do not actively encourage the elderly to still be a participating part of church. They may be hobbling along, their minds may be slower and their short term memories unreliable but if you take the time to sit down, wait and listen you will hear some gems.

Locked up in that elderly body that doesn’t work the way it used to is a pile of treasure, a wealth of wisdom waiting to be mined. It will take time and patience but it may be time well spent. It may save you making mistakes from those who have gone before and have learned the painful way from those self same mistakes. They will almost certainly have been there, done it and got the T shirt. 

A group of 50 - 60 year olds counted up the time they had spent serving the Lord and it came to over 1000 years. That is huge resource to draw on. How much more is there in the very elderly many of whom have been walking with the Lord over 50 years. 

The Body of Christ was never designed to be a group of middle aged people leading the church and actively encouraging the youth to step up and play their part. It is a body that functions at its best with the childlikeness of the little ones mixed with the passion and enthusiasm of the youth, tempered by the experience of the middle aged and guided by the wisdom of the elderly. 

All have a part to play and none are expected to be excluded by the lack or abundance of years. It takes time and effort to include the very young and very old but the result will be a more rounded and better equipped church to fulfil its destiny ‘to go out into all the world and make disciples …’.