Not really retiring

Rather sooner than planned, I have come to the conclusion that my time as Pastor at Bethany Evangelical Church has run its course. Over time, as a pastor of longer standing, you learn to read the signs in a way that a younger man might not. Others may counsel, “Hang in there, you can never tell what might develop,” but somehow you just know when you’re on a hiding to nothing and you learn to move on graciously. Failing any unexpected offers, early retirement now beckons for me, but not the end of worship and service.

On the surface it might seem as if retirement is a cut-off point where the routine of daily toil is let go of with a sigh of relief. I am studying Spanish while preparing for my brief stay in Spain with the Spanish Gospel Mission. In that language, the word for “retirement” looks like “jubilation”!

Whether a Spaniard would expect me to punch the air and dance for joy as soon as I wake up as a gentleman of leisure on the first of October, I don’t know. But surely every day is a cause of rejoicing in God, whether you’re retired or not. A friend who was later a missionary in China mentioned how each morning – whether that day was routine or special – she would exclaim on waking, “Praise the Lord!”

I thought how much more likely I was to awake with a groan instead. But my friend was surely right.

This is the day the Lord has made,

He calls the hours His own;

let heaven rejoice, let earth be glad,

and praise surround His throne.

Today He rose and left the dead,

and Satan’s empire fell;

today the saints His triumph spread,

and all His wonders tell.

Isaac Watts

Rejoicing – but retiring? An elderly Welsh preacher once shook my hand after a service and commented for no apparent reason, “You never retire in this business”. The apostle Paul would have agreed. He was daily driven by an inner compulsion to preach Christ, to travel for Christ, to serve Christ. He remarked in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (ESV).

In some such way, I hope to find continuing fields of service. I shall bring to any new venture something I could not have done without my time at Bethany. In each fresh place I have always built on experience gained in the last. I am grateful to Bethany for furnishing me with a fund of experience over these two short years – some of it puzzling and challenging, some heartwarming and inspiring. May I be a good learner.

All I ask is that wherever I go I shall find others who are equally keen to learn. I’ve always sought to have those around me who are true learners, because that’s what Jesus did. Learners are known in the Bible as “disciples”. They would literally follow a teacher, picking up the verbal pearls of wisdom he dropped as he walked along the road. They would share his life and observe his manner of living as well as listen to his words. Followers of Jesus Christ, God incarnate on earth, could confidently expect inspired teaching and a perfect example. Some would drop out, not finding whatever it was they were after when they joined. Others would take their place. But always there would be a nucleus whom Jesus worked with particularly. He had plans for them: they would have the privilege of forming God’s new people to continue His work on earth and proclaim His resurrection and the salvation He offers.

Churches have in their midst people at all stages on the journey. Some are fringe people, some church attenders, some believers. But still today the Lord Jesus loves best to see disciples. Still today those are the ones that He can do the most with. Are you a disciple? It is a lifelong calling. God grant I shall never style myself Timothy Demore, disciple (retired).