Will You Die Alone?

In this episode of Wake Up, Look Up, Pastor Zach explores a Wall Street Journal article on solo aging and the growing number of Americans navigating later life without a spouse or children. He reflects on both the challenges that can come from isolation and the importance of building strong, meaningful relationships before reaching that stage of life. He then points to Jesus’ promise in Mark 10, showing how the church becomes a spiritual family that cares for those who may otherwise be alone.

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Creators and Guests

Host

Zach Weihrauch

Follower of Jesus who has graciously given me a wife to love, children to shepherd, and a church to pastor.

What is Wake Up, Look Up?

Check out new episodes of our daily podcast, Wake Up, Look Up, with Zach Weihrauch as he interprets what's happening in our world through the lens of the gospel.

Hello everyone, and thanks for listening to Wake Up, Look Up, a podcast where we connect events happening in real time to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm Zach Weihrauch, and in today's episode, we're asking the question, will you die alone? This is prompted by an article I read recently in the Wall Street Journal looking at a growing phenomena in America called solo aging. What solo aging means is you are getting older and you are on your own. about 10% of the more than 125 million Americans that are age 50 or older, that's roughly about 12.5 million people are solo agers. They are living without a spouse or children. in fact, the article that I read followed a 65 year old woman named Amy who is recovering from major surgery and facing some difficult life decisions without any family really around her to help. Like many solo agers, she's prepared financially, but she realizes, finances are only one part of the equation. She doesn't know who will help her get things done, who will care for her, who will when she's not doing well, or take care of things around the house that she can no longer take care of. She's also wrestling with questions of legacy. What imprint will she leave on the earth without those things that other people tend to find their legacy in? when I read this article, I couldn't help but think kind of two things pastorally. the first is that sometimes, not always. And I'll say more about the not always in a second. Sometimes solo aging is the result of life decisions. It's the result of broken relationships or family estrangement. and I say that not to condemn anyone who might find themselves in that situation. I say it more to challenge those who might be headed into that situation. You know, if you're in your mid-40s like me, and you're living a solo life, that might seem fine to you, but, what this article pointed out to me, and I hope now to you, is that that's going to be increasingly difficult as you get older. The time for reconciliation is the time to build deep, abiding friendships. Is now the time to build multi generational relationships, to become someone who matters to people and for whom people matter. That time is now. Solo aging is not inevitable if we build the kind of life that avoids it. As Paul says in Galatians 6, whatever you sow, you will reap. If you sow a single solo, lonely life now, you're going to reap that kind of future. So build relationships. but it also Made me think this. Some people are solo aging, not by choice. I mean, they would have loved to have been married. They would have loved to have children. That opportunity never presented itself. Or maybe they're solo because of the choices of other people. here's what I would say that the church must see as part of its mission, standing in the gap for those that are solo aging in our congregations, those who are showing up for church every week but are on their own. You know, Jesus says this in Mark 10. He says that anyone who leaves their house or their brothers or sisters or m mother or father or children, for his sake and for the gospel, will receive. And then he says this is a hundredfold now in this time. what he's saying is if you lose your family for my sake, which was a pretty common first century phenomena, he's saying, you will gain a new family. And of course, Jesus is speaking of the church, but Jesus is writing a check that we cash every day in our congregation. Jesus is telling the people who find themselves alone but belong to him that they are not alone, that they have brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, sons and daughters. They have people who will care for them, who will welcome them into their home, who will make sure they're not alone on holidays, who will share their dinner table with them. He's giving us a mission as a church, and I can't help but think that our churches are probably full of aging people who are on their own, who would love an invitation to dinner. So, church, let's answer, this call. Let's make sure that no one lives or dies alone in our midst to the glory of God and the joy of our brothers and sisters. Hey, thanks for checking out Wake Up, Look Up. For more content, be sure to visit the Christ Community Chapel app or website cccchapel.com.

Have an article you’d like Zach to discuss? Email us at [e-mail]!