Ninety Nine

Most of us get to a place where we can begin to coast, we have put in the hard yards to get up the hill and now we can free wheel the final stretch. We can hold onto what we’ve got and think it doesn’t matter if we make it or not, especially if we feel we are well over half way there.

I am yet more thankful how the number 99 reminds me that there is further to go and more to do. 

Transcript

Day 99

My first acquaintance with the number 99 was through the eponymous ice cream created by sticking a chocolate flake into a vanilla cone. There are numerous origin stories as to when and why this nomenclature originated. These range from the length or cost of the flake to Italian elite army units, to an upside down view of a box priced at 6s6d. My own favourite theory is to credit Stephen Arcari of Portobello as first selling this creation from his shop at 99 High Street. I like this idea as it fits with a pattern of Scottish inventiveness and enhances Portobello’s reputation as a hub of global innovation but the likelihood of a marketing idea going viral in 1922 probably raises some questions.

99 is an interesting number. It is the last number before 100 and it is this proximity that underpins its allure. 100 is an achievement number, in cricket it is an honour, in the UK it is a birthday marked by a greeting from the Queen, for a company, event or battle it celebrates a significant anniversary. it is the basis of percentages and 100 means it is finished, there is a tape at the end of the sprint, bubbles burst as water boils. 100 is a destination and 99 means we are nearly there.

In ancient times most people could not count beyond 100 and didn’t really need to, so 100 meant plenty. The rabbits in “Watership Down” had a similar idea with a closer horizon. They could only count to four because of the number of claws on their paws. Any number greater than this is “hrair”, which means a lot or a thousand. 

The number 100 signified completeness. At 99 we have almost reached the target.

It is perhaps surprising then that God appears to Abram in Genesis when he is 99 years old.

“When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty ; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.” Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram ; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.” (17:1-5)

It has been 24 years since Abram followed God’s call and left Haran. He has arrived in Canaan, been driven to Egypt during a famine, effectively prostituted his wife to Pharaoh by pretending she was his sister, got caught up in a civil war and attempted to secure the future that God has promised him by having a child with a slave. He might have thought that his life was winding down and that God had finished with him. But God comes and speaks to him when he is 99.

This encounter establishes a new covenant, gives Abraham a new name and renews the promise of fruitfulness. This new identity and pledge is not just for Abraham but also for his wife. The blessing is for her and the promised offspring will be theirs.

“God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.” (17:15-16)

The Lord comes to this couple when they are old. They have a chequered history between them of faith and deceit. They have followed God’s call but schemed to guarantee their safety and secure their own future by their own efforts. 

Abraham laughs at the thought that this decrepit couple will have children and asks instead a blessing on his current son. God listens and does bless Ishmael but affirms that what he has promised will come true and that Sarah will give birth to Isaac.

It is easy when we are marking time to wait for the process to finish. We become transfixed by the download status bar or paralysed by the countdown clock. There is a real temptation for us to while away the last part of a season, a job or even our lives. Most of us get to a place where we can begin to coast, we have put in the hard yards to get up the hill and now we can free wheel the final stretch. We can hold onto what we’ve got and think it doesn’t matter if we make it or not, especially if we feel we are well over half way there.

The Lord does a remarkable new thing in and through this couple when humanly speaking they are past it and have settled on what they believe is the most they can hope for. God brings them more and what will happen in the last stage of their lives will have the greatest significance.

We continue to live in an ageist society where the assumption is that more of value will be achieved by the young. We forget that many people through history have achieved their most notable achievements later in life. Tolkien was 62 when the first volume of Lord of the Rings was published which was two years younger than Laura Inglis Wilder wrote her first “Little House” book at 64. Colonel Saunders founded KFC aged 65. Nelson Mandela was 76 when he became President of South Africa after 30 years in prison and more recently Captain Tom Moore  became a national hero in the UK fundraising over 30 million pounds for the health service doing laps of his house to celebrate his 100thbirthday. And yes he started this venture when he was 99.

The other place the number 99 occurs in the Bible is when Jesus tells a story about a shepherd. Luke records it this way

“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn't he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbours together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” (9:4-7)

Again the 99 represents that something is missing. When the flock is 100 there are plenty but the loss of the one takes it back below the margin. There is great rejoicing when the lost sheep is found and brought back. The explanation of the parable is that God is concerned with lost people and rejoices to bring them home. Shepherds of God’s flock today in church or mission can easily have an entire focus on looking after those who are in the fold rather than a consuming commitment to seek the lost. We can in fact spend more time looking after the one sheep that is at hand rather than the ninety nine who have wandered away.

Today I am thankful for the number 99 and how it reminds me of the beach at North Berwick with a scoop of Lucas ice cream and a Cadbury flake, occasionally with a drizzle of raspberry sauce. 

I am yet more thankful how the number reminds me that there is further to go and more to do. 

I am grateful for getting to 99 days but it only represents a pause, it is not the destination. 

As the Bon Jovi song I alluded to earlier goes

“Oh, we've got to hold on, ready or not
You live for the fight when it's all that you've got
Woah, we're half way there
Woah, livin' on a prayer
Take my hand, we'll make it I swear
Woah, livin' on a prayer” 

This prayer, in reality, inevitably involves suffering and patient endurance.

As another John more advanced in years wrote from exile on the island of Patmos in his famous Revelation of Jesus.

“Look, he is coming with the clouds ,” and “every eye will see him, even those who pierced him and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.” So shall it be! Amen. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” (Revelation 1:7-8) 

No matter what age you are. That is a story that never grows old.