Sometimes I wonder what world I am in…In the past few weeks I have gone from teaching in El Seminario Presbiteriano de San Pablo, in the Yucatan of Mexico, to Seattle, Washington to Greensboro, North Carolina, to the San Francisco Bay Area and back to Mexico. And in the midst of that I have made airline reservations for Nancy and me to get to Ireland where we will spend much of the summer, and back to Greensboro to be present for the birth of our second grandchild. I also made travel arrangements for us to get to Albania in October, and for me to get to France and Portugal to do some cycling with a friend prior to the ministry in Albania…
Some people ask about or assume that once you stop receiving a paycheck you are classified as “retired”. I have always had a problem with that for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that I do not find the word “retired” anywhere in the Bible. What I do find is the call to love and to serve God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind…And that is not time-limited. It is not something we are supposed to do for a season. It is not something we are supposed to do if we hold a position on a church board or a place in the pulpit. It is not something we are to do until we feel it is time for someone else to take over.
It is obviously true that the form of ministry we may have changes over time. And the place of ministry may change as well. Gifts that we have may change, energy levels may ebb and flow, and the needs that God places in front of us may vary from time to time and season in life to season in life. But the call is always there and the need is always there as well. While we may be led to ministry in other countries and with different kinds of people, we may as strongly be led to minister in different ways in the place we have always called home. Traveling is not essential to ministering, it is only one kind of call to some people. I feel blessed to have that call at this time, but it is certainly not a greater call or a more noble call than the call to stay and serve where one has been for years. And I assume that that call will come to Nancy and me some time.
The point is simply that from the moment we claim Christ as Savior and Lord we are enlisted in his service. And the point is that this enlistment is not short-term, it is life-long. Some time ago there was a commercial that said, You never outgrow your need for milk. In the Christian life it could be rephrased, You never outgrow your call to ministry. An alternate twist could be, You never outgrow your opportunity to share in the joy of being part of the greatest and most important movement history has ever known… But that is too long to be as memorable…
Ministry is not a function of place or position. It is a function of attitude. It is a willingness to show up and to be available to God—wherever we are or wherever we are called to be. I have always told people that no one single believer is able to or called to do everything, but I go on to say that each of us is called to do something. That is how God orders his work in and through us. In the busyness of a long work day—at home or at an office—each of us is called to ministry in some shape. In the early years and the later years of life each of us is called to ministry in some shape. And the joy of life is in finding that specific place and using that specific gift for the glory of God. We may be confused about what world we are in, but whatever the world the call is the same—and that call is the gift. As Jesus said, Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (Matthew 10:39)
