The Lutheran Hour

"Every Age Has a Stage"

#93-05
Presented on The Lutheran Hour on October 5, 2025
Guest Speaker: Rev. Dr. Daniel Paavola
Copyright 2025 Lutheran Hour Ministries

Text: Numbers 8:23-26

God’s Word for us today is Numbers 8:23-26. “And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘This applies to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they shall come to do duty in the service of the Tent of Meeting. And from the age of fifty years they shall withdraw from the duty of the service and serve no more. They minister to their brothers in the Tent of Meeting by keeping guard, but they shall do no service. Thus shall you do to the Levites in assigning their duties.'”

I made this mistake only once. I grew up on a dairy farm in western Minnesota, and one summer day I complained to my mother that I was bored because there was nothing to do. Now I was only seven or so, but still, what was I thinking? My mother immediately found me plenty to do. Let’s see, there’s the vegetable garden to be hoed and weeded, there are strawberries to be picked and cleaned and didn’t dad have a pile of fence posts that needed the bark peeled off of them? My empty afternoon was immediately filled. I knew to never suggest that there was nothing to do on the farm. What was I thinking?

Our text today is a caution for us, no matter how young or old we are. Don’t imagine there’s nothing to do. If you’re younger than 25, don’t worry, there’s plenty for you to do already right now. If you are in that 25-50 year stage, you’re already busy. But that’s as it should be. If you’re above 50—and I certainly am—you’re not done. There’s a place and a purpose for you. Every age has a stage. It’s not just a stage of life, but every age has a stage on which to perform and to serve. We might have the stage to ourselves in some cases, or we might share the stage with other ages. But regardless, we’re not looking merely for a stage of life to pass through. We’re discovering the stage God has prepared for us on which to serve and to bring all the talents and gifts God has given us.

Let’s start with being very young. As I learned that day on the farm, complaining that there’s nothing to do, that will only show you how much there is to do. In fact, there’s always a job waiting. Since our text begins with age 25, let’s first think of the first age and stage as the children, teenagers, and young adults up to 25 years old. I suggest there are three wonderful parts of this particular age. We can hear the summary of Jesus’ growing years in Luke 2:52, “Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man.” This verse comes right after the account of Jesus, at age 12, teaching at the Jerusalem temple. Following that, He returned to Nazareth with Mary and Joseph as the obedient son.

Let’s think of the four qualities in which Jesus grew: wisdom, stature, favor with God, and favor with man. We can let physical growth take care of itself for now. But let’s think of the three other qualities that come. We grow in wisdom and in favor with God and in favor with man. Of course, childhood, especially the teen years and early 20s are a wonderful time to grow in wisdom. And besides all the other essentials that we learn, this is the time to understand more fully what you believe. We’ve been given faith by the Holy Spirit through Baptism and hearing God’s promises in His Word. Now grow in the knowledge of that faith. Read His Word and pray for your understanding to grow. Growing in the knowledge of our faith isn’t just something for ourselves. It invites others also to believe as we do. Peter wrote of this, saying, “In your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15).

Besides growing in the knowledge of the faith, this young-adult age is a time to think of how you’ll serve and begin to see that work from the inside. This is the chance to grow in favor with man. Grow in understanding how people work and what makes things go well.

It’s one thing to imagine you’ll want to be a nurse someday. But it’s another thing to take the training to become a CNA and to start to work in a nursing home. It’s one thing to sit in class, dreaming of becoming a teacher yourself. But it’s another to gather a Bible study group and become the teacher or leader yourself. Even when you’re not leading, this is the time to see if a group is succeeding or failing. Watch a great teacher and see what she’s doing that makes this class so successful. Go on a short-term mission trip; see what works to keep the group motivated and moving. You don’t have to do everything exactly as someone else did, but you gain the wisdom of seeing success at work. And you’ll grow in favor with others.

Growing in wisdom and the favor of people leaves us with growth in the favor of God. Of course, we can’t grow in God’s favor by ourselves. God’s grace and mercy, they come as a gift, as Ephesians 2:8 reminds us: we’re saved by grace alone. It is not of ourselves, lest we should boast. But can we grow in that grace? Absolutely. We grow in the appreciation of that gift of grace. We grow in understanding that grace is entirely God’s doing, and it’s His reason for saving us. You know, when we’re children we ask for forgiveness, and we promise to not do that particular sin ever again. And being young, we might get the wrong idea that it’s because of our promise that we are forgiven. But as we grow older, we grow in understanding the nature of grace. That sin that we promised would never happen again? It comes back. But God’s grace endures, and we grow in understanding that God forgives by grace and not because of any promise we make. He forgives us purely by grace. We still desire to stop that sin, of course. But we grow in our knowledge that God’s grace has covered us and cleansed us entirely for the whole of our lives. Grow in this knowledge of the grace of God that alone saves us. Paul put it briefly this way: “We know that a person is not justified by works of the Law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ” (Galatians 3:16).

So now, in this wonderful time from childhood through early adulthood, grow! Grow from a child to a young woman or man. Grow in understanding of our faith and grow in understanding of how people work and think and what leads them best. And grow in the grace of God, standing ever more in awe of the mercy that alone saves us.

And that brings us to the next stage. Every age has a stage. And the next is the span from age 25 to 50. Our text from Numbers 8 says, “This applies to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they shall come to do duty in the service of the Tent of Meeting. And from the age of fifty years they shall withdraw from the duty of the service and serve no more. They minister to their brothers in the Tent of Meeting by keeping guard, but they shall do no service. Thus shall you do to the Levites in assigning their duties.”

Let’s see this age with three steps, the triangle that gives a structure to these years of 25 to 50. First, Take your talents. When you begin your mature years of service, you’ll meet so many people with so many talents. You’ll admire the artistic ones, though you can’t draw a straight line. You’ll wish you could sing like that woman does but, no, don’t even think about joining the choir. You’ll be in awe of the multi-page, multi-colored handout your colleague put together, but you’ve never made even a single spread sheet. Bottom line: you going to work in a world rich in talent, so take your talents to work. Recognize and grow in the talents that are distinctly yours. Appreciate what God has given you. Don’t waste [time] envying others. Paul in 1 Corinthians 12 speaks about this at length, noting that we might feel at times that we are of no importance in the body of Christ. But we are each made with a particular talent, or even more than one. Your talents may or may not be fully recognized by others. It doesn’t matter. As you serve in these mature years, recognize the talents that are yours as a young adult. And also consider how God might bring other new talents to you in the years to come. I mean, who’s to say that by your fifties you might not be doing something completely new? So with thanks for the gifts God gives, take your talents to work.

Take your talents and so, second step, take your turn. Go back to our text in Numbers 8. It’s possible that, at times, there were more Levites than could be used every day. Given the abundance of workers, they had to take their turns. So today, your turn might not come as quickly as you want. At first, you might be waiting. Picture yourself at the end of a line, a line that’s not moving. But your job at that moment is to stay in line.

But taking your turn means that you live in trust that God has a plan for you and your talents. There will be people who have 10, 20, or 30 years more experience than you do at first. Your first turn is not to shove them out of the way, but to learn how they’ve done this work all these years. And by the same rule, those who have been working for decades, your turn might well be now to share the work, to share the successes and the failures. Be honest and be positive, tell the story of the years you’ve already seen.

So, take your talents, take your turn, and, finally, take your time. When you begin mature work, the temptation is to plant flowers already blooming instead of planting seeds. We would love to plant a full 20-foot tall oak tree so we can sit in the shade tomorrow. That might happen occasionally, but probably more often you’ll be planting seeds and acorns and then watching for that first shoot to grow. Some of your work you’ll see grow right away, but some is only a beginning, and then the years to come will show the growth. So, take a word from Paul, who knew that his work wasn’t complete. Paul said, “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me His own” (Philippians 3:12).

Those are directions for the busy middle years: take your talents, take your turn, and take your time. Now it’s time for the third stage, the stage on which to serve, even in our senior years. Those years are, in our text, described as the years in which we as seniors stand guard. The active duty of serving in the Tent of Meeting was the work of the middle-aged Levites, 25-50 year olds. But those above 50 were to stand guard, to watch and protect the Tent of Meeting.

So how do we do that in our setting now? Let’s think of that idea of time. Here’s two ideas: It’s time to stretch your legs, time to stretch your mind. It’s time to stretch. It’s time to stretch a bit when the work you’ve done for 20 or 30 years comes to an end. You’re probably set in your ways, and now it’s time to stop, get out, and stretch. You don’t have to run somewhere, but don’t stay in just one place either. There’s more to do and it’s waiting for you.

So, stretch your legs. When I was in college, I was a night security guard while a student at Minnesota State University. That meant guarding one of the dorms from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. If you’re going to stay awake, you can’t just sit there all night—well, at least I couldn’t. You have to get up and stretch your legs. You have to listen for odd sounds; you have to make your rounds. You’re a guard, so don’t fall asleep. That was the charge to the mature workers in our text. You are to guard the Tent and all that it held. Stretch your legs so you can know what’s going on.

In our congregations today, stretch your legs and continue to be an active part of the congregation and the overall work that’s done. Live out the change that God has in mind for you and guard especially the gifts given to you. Paul describes this for Timothy in 1 Timothy: “Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses” (1 Timothy 6:11-12). Stretch and guard those many gifts God has given to you and the ones yet to come.

So, be active, stretch your legs as you guard what has been given to us by God. But now there is another stretch for the mature. Stretch your mind. Paul spoke of this in Philippians 3 when he described his own moving forward. Paul said, “Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own, but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14). What a great picture of a mature man of faith stretching forward. After all Paul had done, he still wasn’t done. It was time in his later years to lean forward, to know fully the upward call and mercy of God, knowing that his understanding and thanksgiving weren’t done yet.

Isn’t that a wonderful picture of our own mature years? Are we completely finished in our understanding of the work God has done in us? Have all our prayers been said? No matter how much we have done, there is still more waiting. Stretch forward. Know God’s mercy. Anticipate what He is planning to do with you next. And always, there’s thanksgiving. When are we ever done giving thanks? Look not only at what God has done here but look ahead to the home He’s prepared for us in heaven. Paul puts it this way: “Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body, by the power that enables Him even to subject all things to Himself” (Philippians 3:20-21).

By this wonderful focus on what God has done and what He will yet do, we’re never too old. We’re never without purpose and meaning. Stretch your thanks, your prayers, your understanding and your anticipation. It is as Paul wrote, quoting Isaiah 64:4. “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him. These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. … Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God” (1 Corinthians 2:9, 12). Here we have more than enough to stretch us for all the days to come.

And so, there’s a stage for every age, a place to use the talents we’re given and to see faith grow. Blessings to you all as you serve in the many ways God has prepared, and you see that we function together in one blessed body. We will never tell Him that there’s nothing for us to do. Amen.

WE PRAY: Heavenly Father, thank You for giving us each a role in the body of Christ so that we are never without a place in which to carry out our part. Show us the gifts we have and the ways in which they can serve others in Your church. We pray in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Reflections for October 5, 2025
Title: More conversation with author and teacher, Dr. Reed Lessing

Mark Eischer: You’re listening to The Lutheran Hour. For FREE online resources, archived audio and more, go to lutheranhour.org. Joining us now, here’s Lutheran Hour Speaker Dr. Michael Zeigler.

Mike Zeigler: Thanks, Mark. And thanks to Dr. Paavola for encouraging us to use our God-given talents in every stage of life. Today I am visiting again with Dr. Reed Lessing. He teaches courses about the Bible and Christian life at Concordia University in Minnesota. Welcome back to the program, Reed.

Reed Lessing: Great to be back with you, Mike.

Mike Zeigler: Reed, you have written this book, it’s a practical commentary, not an academic commentary. So, if someone’s just looking for good practical guidance on reading the book of Numbers, this is your book! It’s titled Hope in the Wilderness. And we’ve mentioned in the series here that the Hebrew title for the book is “In the wilderness.” A little bit more exciting than just Numbers, but how did it get the name, “Numbers,” and numbers of what? Tell us about that.

Reed Lessing: When I was doing a little background research for this book, I actually found out that among about 35 commentaries on the book of Numbers, there were 18 significantly different outlines of the book. So what I thought is that there must be a simpler way to understand Numbers. Then I came across another commentary. And the argument of this particular commentary on Numbers was that the whole book then is about the two censuses. One is in chapter 1 and the second is in Numbers, chapter 26. So that really is the key to the book, I’m convinced. I’m convinced that the book of Numbers is about generational sin and learning from generational sin. The first generation of adults who came out of Egypt were a massive failure. In fact, out of those 600,000 men counted in chapter 1, how many made it to the Promised Land? Two. The second generation, though, their children who are counted [in] chapter 26, they succeed in just stellar, amazing ways. In fact, everyone dies in the wilderness except Caleb and Joshua, first 25 chapters. No one dies from chapters 26 to 36. There’s no recorded deaths. So what did the second generation do? They rejoiced in the gifts the parents gave them, right? They weren’t all bad, but they learned about “when-and-then thinking.” They learned about impatience; they learned about envy; they learned about idolatry. They said, we are not going to do that.

Mike Zeigler: So that second generation, as the Lord said to Moses, that they’re going to live, they’re going to grow up in the wilderness. I’m going to take care of them. They’re going to be shepherds for 40 years. They’re going to suffer for your mistakes, your sins, but then I’m going to give them the land that you rejected. So say more about how God formed that second generation through 40 years growing up in the wilderness.

Reed Lessing: A wonderful summary of the book of Numbers is in 1 Corinthians 10:1-13. So I would invite listeners, if you think, “I just don’t have time to read 36 chapters.” Well, read 13 verses, and you really get a pretty good sense of what happened in the book of Numbers. Again, 1 Corinthians 10:1-13. But Paul writes that for Christians to learn from Israel’s mistakes, and I think we could guess that that’s what the children learned from their parents’ mistakes. You read through the book of Numbers and Paul is going to review it in 1 Corinthians 10, and you can pretty much assume that this is what the children saw the parents doing and saying, “You know, I don’t think it’s a good idea to drive this car off the cliff. I don’t think we’re going to survive.” We could certainly make that educated guess.

Mike Zeigler: And that’s that passage where you get so often quoted that God, no temptation has overtaken you that’s not common to humanity. And in every temptation, God, He will give you a way out, to provide a means of escape.

Reed Lessing: God continually provides ways of escape and provides ways of salvation, as we’re kind of seeing through your sermon series and these interviews. We’ve got the manna and the quail in chapter 11 in Numbers, the water coming out of the rock in Numbers, chapter 20, the humble leadership, Moses and Aaron, though not perfect, they’re godly men and, primarily, all of the predictions and the presence and the patterns that we see pointing to Christ Jesus. So you’re right. It’s a wonderful summary, 1 Corinthians 10:13, of God’s Gospel provisions for people in the wilderness of life.

Mike Zeigler: So, Paul summarizes Numbers in 13 verses, 2,000 years ago. How would you, how would Reed Lessing summarize Numbers for today, for 2025 for Christians?

Reed Lessing: Right, and I’ve given some thought to that. And a wonderful summary is simply Numbers 1:1, “The Lord spoke to Moses.” This is a speaking God, and He speaks His Word. And at the end of chapter 7 in Numbers, it says, God speaks from above the mercy seat. So God speaks mercy to Moses. Moses, the main human leader in the wilderness of Sinai, the tent of meeting, there you’ve got the presence of Christ the first day, the second month, the second year after they’d come out of the land of Egypt. This is the God who rescues people with a mighty hand and outstretched arm. So you’ve got really all the major people and places and theology and Gospel right there, in the first verse of the book.

Mike Zeigler: So, we attend to the God who speaks, because He speaks mercy in Jesus. And that’s something we need today. Thank you again for joining us again. Dr. Lessing’s book is titled Hope in the Wilderness. It’s a practical commentary on the book of Numbers. Check it out. Thanks for joining us, Dr. Lessing.

Reed Lessing: Thank you.

Music Selections for this program:

“A Mighty Fortress” arr. Peter Prochnow. Used by permission.
“Crucifer” by Sydney H. Nicholson, arr. Peter Prochnow. Used by permission.
“Teach Me Thy Way, O Lord” sung by the Concordia Seminary Chorus. Used by permission.
“I Know My Faith Is Founded” From The Concordia Organist (© 2009 Concordia Publishing House) Used by permission.