How Long Do You Want to Live?

A Sermon by Dr. Neil Chadwick


This apparently is a question that has always carried a lot of interest. From the story of Hezekiah, we learned that he was not happy with the prospect of dying so young, at the age of 39, and he successfully petitioned God to extend his life, and he lived to be 54. Perhaps Hezekiah had good reason to feel cheated.

Going back to the beginning of the Bible, we learn from Moses that the first man, Adam, lived to be 930 years old, but that one of his descendants, Methuselah, lived even longer than that, 969 years.

Genesis 6:3 seems to imply that after Noah, length of life would be reduced to 120 ("My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years.") However, we later learn that all of the Patriarchs lived past 120. Abraham died at age 175, Isaac at 180 and Jacob, 147. Not until Joseph did the age span dip below 120 - he died at 110. Obviously what Genesis 6:3 meant that there would be 120 years from the time of God's announcement and the coming of the Great Flood.

A verse in the Psalms set the expected length of life to be around 70 - "The length of our days is seventy years -- or eighty, if we have the strength." (Psalm 90:10) But then the Psalmist goes on with a pessimistic tone, "yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away."

A cute story is told that on the day when God began to create animal life, He first created the ox. He said to the ox, "Today I have created you! As an ox, you must go to the field with the farmer all day long. You will work all day under the sun! I will give you a life span of 50 years."

The ox objected, "What? This kind of a tough life you want me to live for 50 years? Let me have 20 years, and the 30 years I'll give back to you." So God agreed.

After the ox, God created the dog. God said to the dog, "You are supposed to do is to sit all day by the door of your house. Any people that come in, you will have to bark at them! I'll give a life span of 20 years."

The dog objected, "What? All day long to sit by the door? No way! I give you back 10 years of my life!" So God agreed.

Next, God created the monkey. He said to the monkey, "Monkeys have to entertain people. You've got to make them laugh and do monkey tricks. I'll give you a 20 year life span."

The monkey objected. "What? Make them laugh? Do monkey faces and tricks? Ten years will do, and the other 10 years I'll give back." So God agreed.

Finally, God created man and said to him, "Your job is to sleep, eat, and play. You will enjoy very much in your life. All you need to do is to enjoy and do nothing. For this kind of life, I'll give you a 20 year life span."

The man objected. "What? Such a good life! Eat, play, sleep, do nothing? Enjoy the best, and you expect me to live only for 20 years? No way, man! Why don't we make a deal? Since the ox gave back 30 years, and both the dog and monkey gave back 10 years, I will take them from you! That makes my life span 70 years, right?" So God agreed.

And that's why in our first 20 years, we eat, sleep, play, enjoy the best and do nothing much. For the next 30 years, we work all day long, and suffer to support the family. For the next 10 years, we entertain our grandchildren by making monkey faces and doing monkey tricks. And for the last 10 years, we stay at home, sit by the front door and bark at people!

So how long do you want to live? Or perhaps the question is, how long do you expect you will live? More recent recorded history tells us that before 1900, very few lived to see their 70th birthday, and practically no one lived to be 80.

    Archeologists in England unearthed 65 burials of people who were alive between 400 and 1,000 A.D. and found that none of them lived past 45.

    During the next period of history (1,000 A.D. to 1600 A.D.), the Kings did a little better. The mean life expectancy of kings of Scotland and England was between 51 and 48 years. The royal court managed about as well as their kings, but the monks did not fare as well - only five percent survived past 45.

    In another royal court, from 1600 to 1899 A.D., the 20 men studied lived an average of 62 years. There were five men who lived into their 70s but none into their 80s.

    In more recent times, during the last 150 years, life expectancy for humans has doubled as a result of progress in medical science. (http://www.worldhealth.net) In 1930 the average life span for American women was 61.6 years, and the average for men was 58.1 years; by 1997 the average female and male life spans had risen to 79.2 and 73.6 years, respectively.

    There's been a lot of speculation about the well known fact that women live longer than men. (Among centenarians worldwide, women outnumber males nine to one.) Recently it has been discovered that this is due, in part, to the fact that women are more likely to live by Jesus' comment, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." A study reported in USA TODAY under the title "Generous spirit may yield generous life span," pointed out that social contact yields a longer life, and specifically the kind of contact where the person is giving, helping, and supporting on a day-to-day basis. (http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2002-11-13-long-life-usat_x.htm)

So how long do you want to live?

When we look back to the Bible, we find one prominent man, Solomon, who was commended because when he was given the chance to ask for whatever he desired, he did not seek for long life. (I Kings 3:11) From that, we might conclude that this is not an important question at all. On the other hand, we are told that one of the rewards to be enjoyed by the faithful will be long life. Psalms 91:16 says, "With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation." and in Proverbs 3:1,2 it says, "My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity."

    Specifically, we are told that those who fulfill the command to honor mother and father are given this promise of a long life. It was first stated by Moses in the second giving of the law, "Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God commanded you; that your days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with you, in the land which the LORD your God gives you." (Deuteronomy 5:16 - RSV)

    In the New Testament, this promise was reiterated by Paul in Ephesians 6:1-3, "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 'Honor your father and mother' -- which is the first commandment with a promise -- that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.'"

So how are Christian believers to handle this life and death matter? What should be our attitude?

1. Some read the Biblical promises in a literal manner and gladly sing "Every Promise in the Book is Mine, every chapter every verse every line" and then they hold God hostage, demanding their right to live a long life. Then when someone dies young, especially someone who appears to have lived an exemplary and faithful Christian life, they get mad at God.

2. Others believe that they must take the matter into their own hands, with the firm belief that they can impact their own longevity by doing all the right things such as: eating healthy food, getting adequate sleep, exercising regularly, seeing a doctor often, and managing their stress. They believe in the A-G-I-N-G formula - long life results from having good: Attitudes, Genes, Exercise, Interests, Nutrition and "Get rid of smoking."

    Just for fun, I recently filled out a life-style inventory (http://www.livingto100.com) to see what my own life expectancy might be; I found out that my "calculated health span" is 85.9 years. This program pointed out that not only do I have genes in my favor, but I'm married, and it is clear that in the case of men, being married provides a survival advantage. ("New England Centenarian Study" My question is, do married women die younger than single women because of the high stress level caused by their husbands?)

    This little life-span inventory also said, "You are drinking too much coffee" and "Avoid those checkout lines at the grocery store that sell candy bars! You are eating too many sweets and/or candy bars." Of course I quickly debunked those comments because I am almost never seen in a grocery checkout line!

3. However, on the other hand, I'm afraid that even some Christians are too quick to adopt the fatalistic approach - "when it's your time to go, it's your time to go."

    Perhaps you've heard the story about a man who was taking care of business at the local Bank when he caught sight of the "Death Angel" waiting by the outside door. Being somewhat alarmed, he went out the side door and walked around the building to his car and hastily drove home. When he came into the kitchen, his wife noted that his face was white a chalk, and asked him what the matter was.

    He said, "I just saw the death angel."

    "So what are you going to do?" she asked.

    "I'm getting out of town as fast as I can - I'll go to my brother's in Scranton."

    Being somewhat skeptical, as soon as his car pulled out of the driveway, the wife rushed down to the bank. Sure enough, there was the Death Angel, still standing by the door. Being more bold than her husband, she walked up to the Angel and told him that her husband had been very frightened to see him there.

    The Death Angel replied, "Well actually, I was also somewhat surprised to see your husband here. I was sure I had an appointment with him later today in Scranton."

So there are these three answers to the question about the length of life - "God owes me long life because I'm good," or "It's all up to me to ensure my own long life by taking care of myself," or "It's all set - I'm doomed." We might call these the theist, humanist and fatalist answers to the question about how long we will live.

Which of these answers is correct? Well, all of them and none of them. Yes, the promises of God are reliable, and yes, we have something to do with our own wellness for we are partners with God concerning the quality of our lives, and yes, there certainly are factors outside our control which impact our lives.

But they are all wrong because they only deal with the physical, our life in the body.

For us, the best answer to the question, "How long do you want to live?" is "forever." The Christian has known from the very beginning, that the most valuable promise in the Book is found in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life."

You may remember that last week I made reference to the author of the hymn, "More Love to Thee," and also to the book she wrote, "Stepping Heavenward" (by Elizabeth Prentiss).

Near the end of the book, there's a brief conversation with a very godly woman, Mrs. Campbell, who was coming to the end of her life. Her visitor, noticing that she was quite tired, made an attempt to leave, but this godly woman prevailed on her to stay a few more minutes.

"Yes, I am tired, but what of that? It is only a question of days now, and all my tired feelings will be over. Then I shall be as young and fresh as ever, and shall have strength to praise and to love God as I cannot do now. But before I go I want once more to tell you how good He is, how blessed it is to suffer with Him, how infinitely happy He has made me in the very hottest heat of the furnace. It will strengthen you in your trials to recall this my dying testimony. There is no wilderness so dreary but that His love can illuminate it, no desolation so desolate but that He can sweeten it. I know what I am saying. It is no delusion. I believe that the highest, purest happiness is known only to those who have learned Christ in sick-rooms, in poverty, in racking suspense and anxiety, amid hardships, and at the open grave."

Is that your hope? Do you understand that true life is measured, not in years, but in light years - those who walk in the light, those who have received and believed the Gospel message, those who simply believe in Jesus will live forever, and ever.

Discussion Questions
How Long Do You Want to Live?

1. Why did Hezekiah think he deserved to live past 39?

2. What reasons may be given to explain why earliest men lived nearly 1,000 years?

3. When God told Noah "man . . . is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years," was he referring to the expected life span?

4. Why wasn't it good news when the Psalmist said our life span would be 70 to 80 years?

5. Fifteen hundred years ago people only lived to be 45, now we live to the later 70s. What explains the increase?

6. What are some possible explanations for the fact that women live longer than men?

7. If Solomon was commended for not asking for "long life," why would he leave the instruction to "keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity."

8. What particular command given by Moses and reiterated by Paul included a promise of long life for those who obey?

9. What three different understandings about our length of life are suggested by these three words: theist, humanist and fatalist?

10. What is the fundamental flaw in being preoccupied with how long is our life-span?

11. What is the actual life-span of the Christian?

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