Yesterday, I attend the funeral of a retired pastor who was a member of our church. His wife past away about a couple of years ago which our church was gracious to hold the funeral service for her, even though, the place was packed with friends and family which was the case for this pastor yesterday. As I sat during the service, I was amazed at his work ethic. Even in his old age, he was very active. He loved working on his garden, in fact, many considered him a perfectionist.
He spent 55 years in the ministry pastoring small churches where some ministers as a bi-vocational pastor. One of the stories is when he was a car salesman, no one ever told him what was wrong with a car because he would tell his customers which means the car lot knew he was not going to cut corners for a sale. He led many people to the Lord, friends and family, and he was not a famous pastor. He did not write a book nor blogged. He was a man who served God without fame.
What amazed me is that he continued to serve the Lord even when he was not a pastor. People retire for their jobs and seek to travel the world or do something they only dreamed of. This pastor continued to serve in the church. Our pastor told us that he would come in early on Sundays to make sure there was coffee and even came in to talk with our pastor when he was in the office.
One of my stories is on Wednesdays, he would be one of the first ones at the church building ready to pray for people and hear the word of God preached. He even gave money for our youth that he got from recycling cans he had in his house or just picked on the road. His purpose was for me to use on the money on a youth activity.
As I mentioned earlier, people retire from their jobs, but in God's economy, there is no such thing as retirement. In serving the Lord, there is no retirement plan except leaving the body and be with the Lord in heaven. Yes, we will serve the Lord in heaven, and when Jesus returns, but we will have a body that never grows tired. The pastor's nephew, who helped conduct the funeral service, said he told him that I must be getting old because I had to take a breath as I was working in the garden. That took place nearly a year ago when he was 91-years-old.
The lessons I learned for this 92-year-old pastor who met the Savior face-to-face last week, is simply these three things:
1. Serve the Lord even though you will not be famous. There are many in the church that will not have their name of a blog nor be recognized, but we are to serve the Lord with no reward of fame.
2. If you have to step down for ministry, continue to serve the Lord. God may have closed the chapter in vocational ministry but not in your service to him.
3. Be an encouragement to your pastor and offer your insights.
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