The Question

How does one called by God choose to retire?  Does not faithfulness to the call of God exclude the possibility of retirement?  It was a question which came to me indirectly in a conversation shortly after I left the pulpit for the farm.  My initial response was to feel guilty.  Maybe there is no retirement for those called to preach was the consideration prompted by the conversation.  It took awhile, but I finally came to realize that the call to serve God was not lifted from my life.  What had been lifted was the call to preach, or as I have come to understand more completely, the urgency of preaching.    

This is not to say that at some point we are no longer of any value to God in regards to the work of His Kingdom.  Instead, it means that what He wants us to do may change through the seasons of our life.  I still value the occasional preaching opportunity, but I also know faithfulness to God does not require a personal commitment to preach every Sunday.  Faithfulness to God does require service, but not that particular service.  

Whether we are ordained or not ordained, it seems that God is always leading us into ministries that we may not have anticipated at some earlier season of our life and that a ministry which seemed like a ministry for life was more a ministry for a season of life.  Faithfulness to God's call on our life may be experienced more by the unfolding future rather than defining restraints of the past.  Each of us are called to serve Christ.  This is one of the things we accept at our baptism.  The question, "What do You want me to do, Lord?" is a question with an answer, but it may not be an answer for the rest of the days He gives to us.