Forget the rocking chair and look forward to the prize

This is the text of a sermon I preached at the Circuit farewell service for my colleague and friend Revd Mark Barrett, Bath Road Methodist Church on 12th June 2022

It is a great privilege to be asked to preach at this Circuit Service to acknowledge Mark’s retirement, or as we say in the Methodist Church “His sitting down”. It’s a curious phrase. It suggests being allocated a rocking chair, slippers and a blanket!

No one seems to know where this phrase “sitting down” comes from. The general view is that as Methodist presbyters are mostly itinerant i.e., we move around, sitting down suggests no longer moving, in retirement.

Retirement can mean different things to different people. It may mean working for some, and not working for others. Some may spend their time with grandchildren or travelling, while others enjoy the time they now have serving, or focusing on new career opportunities. For others, retirement may mean caring for a loved one rather than getting to do something that they desire.

Retirement has a profound effect on people's time, health, lifestyle and purpose. We know that the world may view retirement in certain ways. But how is retirement viewed through the lens of scripture?  Is there even such a thing as Retirement in the Bible?

As far as I can tell the only reference in the Bible to a retired, slowed down, life is found in Numbers 8: 23 – 25

²³ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ²⁴ This applies to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upwards they shall begin to do duty in the service of the tent of meeting; ²⁵ and from the age of fifty years they shall retire from the duty of the service and serve no more.

The Levites were called to be priests by God. But this reading makes clear that they are called to what we might think of as “ordained ministry” for 25 years and then they would retire. But this doesn’t mean that at 50 they were given a pension and a rocking chair. No, in verse 26 we are told

²⁶ They may assist their brothers in the tent of meeting in carrying out their duties, but they shall perform no service. Thus you shall deal with the Levites in assigning their duties.

Even though, due to their age, they were compelled to retire from one duty, there were more opportunities ahead.

I’d suggest that outside of this specific scripture reference, retirement isn’t a biblical thing. In fact, all of us, whether at official retirement age or not can, and will, be used by the Lord to serve him, to witness for him and to grow in our discipleship of Jesus Christ. Biblically anyway, there is no theology of retirement. For disciples there is no sitting down in the proverbial rocking chair.

Mark gave me a complete blank piece of paper for this service which meant I could use whatever Bible reading took my fancy.

I did consider using Proverbs 16:31

³¹ Grey hair is a crown of glory;
    it is gained in a righteous life.

But for some reason wasn’t sure it would resonate with Mark! Instead, I was drawn to the passage we’ve heard from Philippians.

In this passage Paul is spelling out what it means to believe in the Gospel. And to believe in the Gospel means to put one’s complete trust in God. Complete trust in God encompasses faith, belief, everything. If we come to put our trust in God, we have to abandon everything else that props us up, Paul is saying.

⁷ But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸ What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ

It is easy to think of faith in positive terms – acceptance of God’s grace and the forgiveness that grace brings through Christ. But there is more than that. That is the need to renounce.

Before Paul could accept Christ, he had to renounce those things he had previously relied on. This included his Jewish faith. Just as in Matthew 19: 16 – 26 the Rich Young Ruler was told by Jesus to renounce his wealth to follow Jesus, Paul had to renounce the things that were privileges for him. And having set those aside, Paul had to accept the gifts that were now being offered to him in Christ.

Paul as a previously devote Jew, a zealous Jew, had relied on keeping the Law, and all that meant, to be accepted by God. But once confronted by Christ, Paul realises that those things were now worthless, “garbage” in fact.

I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ  Philippians 3:8

Paul renounces these things, not because they were wrong as such - after all they had been given to the Jewish people by God. But rather Paul realised those things belonged to an old era and are now replaced by something far better. A new relationship with God through Christ.

Paul sets out to the Philippians what he now hopes for, through knowing Christ:

¹⁰ I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

That is the prize. That is what is on offer for all who believe in Christ.

But then Paul says that although he knows what the prize is, he hasn’t yet attained it. He keeps pressing on. He keeps aiming for the prize. Paul keeps focused on that which is ahead of him. Like an athlete running a race, he ignores what is behind him and concentrates on the goal ahead.

It’s reminiscent of words of Jesus to one of his would-be followers:

No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’ Luke 9:62

We have to forget the past. We must Keep looking ahead. Keep looking forward. Keep your eyes on the prize. Don’t get distracted. Look forward.

But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Paul had to put many things behind him and forget.

• He had to forget past guilt. Paul was a murderer, a blasphemer, a persecutor of the church; the deep scar of sin was embedded into his heart.
• He had to forget past grief. Paul had suffered terribly. He had been beaten, shipwrecked, scorned, left for dead, alienated, ostracized by his family.
• He had to forget past glory. As far as the church was concerned Paul was the "toast of the town." He was a spiritual superstar, but he had to forget all of that.
• He had to forget past grudges. Paul had been mistreated, betrayed, lied to and lied about, sold out by family and friends.

 

But Paul knew that to run the race he had to leave all those things behind. He had to travel light and get rid of the “garbage” he was carrying around with him.

An American Methodist minister called James Merritt said this:

You will never sail the ship of your life, into the seas of the future, with joy and peace, if your anchor is stuck in the mud of the past. You cannot move forward if you're always looking backward.

Of course, our memories can be precious. They can give us joy and comfort. But if those memories anchor us down, and prevent us from moving on, we need to let go of them. If those things we’re ashamed of in the past weigh us down, we need to ditch them.

Paul says to the Philippians. “Forget what is behind and look forward.”

·         Forget the wrongs done that can paralyse with guilt and despair.

·         Forget the past so that whether the past is good or bad it will not have any influence on one’s present spiritual growth or conduct.

·         Forget also the things already achieved and attained as a Christian.

Unless we do so, we live our Christian lives in neutral and as if to say, “I have arrived” when we haven’t arrived. We never arrive. We are not perfect in this life. We are to press on towards the goal of perfection in Christ if we are to discover what Christ has next for us. In our personal lies and in the life of the Church.

Instead of looking to the past, and relying on past glories, look forward to the glories to come. The goal of full and complete knowledge of Christ Jesus. The new opportunities we are all presented with to serve Christ and be his disciples. In whatever phase of life we’re in. Remember

God says, I will pour out my Holy Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions. Your old men will have dreams. Acts 2:17

Forget what is behind

Strain forward to what is ahead.

Press on toward the goal to win the prize

The prize for which God has called us all heaven ward – in Christ Jesus. Amen

(The photo at the top of this blog is of Mark and me. It was taken in 2010 when we took part in "The Shirt of Hurt". A charity idea where we were sponsored to wear a rugby shirt we'd not normally be seen dead in. We both preached that day in our churches wearing the shirts.)