This piece is written as an encouragement for ministers- particularly retired ones.
I am now 63 years old (64 in January 2026). I have been retired for just over a year since September 2024. I realise this is early, but the decision was made because of health issues, with two operations in the last two years, and related debilitating tiredness for the last four or five.
I understand that I am a ‘newbie’ when it comes to retirement, and no doubt retired ministers reading this have a greater experience and understanding of the condition than I!
I have enjoyed the slower pace of retirement, having more time with my wife Elizabeth and seeing more of our grandchildren who live in Yeovil too.
But I was surprised by my own increasing questioning of how worthwhile my life was now.
Apart from six years of higher education I have been in full time paid employment all my working life. Seven years as an English teacher and the last thirty years in full time pastoral ministry. As the minister of a church I had been in the ‘middle of things’ but now in retirement there was a vacuum.
I felt the questioning keenly last Christmas. For thirty years I had survived the frantic ‘Christmas run’ of services which ended with Christmas dinner after the morning family service, and falling asleep for the rest of Christmas Day!!
But last Christmas- there was nothing. Yes, I attended Christmas services, but I wasn’t involved in putting them together or leading them. A local minister had broken his collar bone and I stood in for him to play guitar for a couple of Christmas songs at a ‘messy church’ session. That was my only responsibility.
How worthwhile was my life now?
I have kept diaries over the years of reflections that have helped me on previous occasions. I found an entry for July 2019:
During that July I attended Andy Gilbert’s funeral. Andy had been minister of Findon Valley Free Church, Sussex. He was only 56 when he died of cancer. But the tributes given painted a picture of a humble, unassuming and godly man. Andy had been a faithful Bible teacher with a heart for people.
The address given during the service described the importance of living for the Kingdom and eternal values. The speaker took out an extremely long measuring tape. At one point he took it outside the building! He said the nib of the tape represented this life, the tape itself eternity. His point was this life goes very quickly. His challenge that we press on here walking with and living for Christ.
That evening I found myself mulling over what I had heard. Of course the challenge of the address was spot on; to live for Christ and be part of seeing His Kingdom grow, especially given the brevity of this life.
I was minister of Angmering Baptist Church at the time, and had ten happy years there. But that evening I found myself reflecting back about all my time in ministry. Yes, there had been encouragements, but also frustration. Outsiders might come into the church for the meeting of social needs, ‘Parents and Toddlers’ or coffee mornings, but they weren’t interested in the Gospel. Some members would say how a sermon had helped them, but I had also met with opposition from some others where the preaching had evidently been too close for comfort. How small the changes seemed in my seeking to be a minister of Christ and living for His Kingdom. The numbers of those who attended barely kept up with previous years as elderly members went to be with the Lord.
In that entry I had asked the question: ‘How worthwhile was my ministry?’
A very similar question to the one I recently found myself asking in retirement: ‘How worthwhile is my life?’
But that evening, back in 2019, I then read the Parable of the Talents.
Matthew 25: 14-28
14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’
21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
22 “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’
23 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
24 “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’
26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. 28 “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags.’”
Clearly Jesus expects us to use the gifts God has given us to serve him. Even if we feel we have not been given much. And we should not be like the third servant who sat back and thought it best that God get on with His own business without him!
It struck me that the very act of going into the ministry reflects a desire to use the gifts God has given us in service of Him and others. All faithful Christian ministers parallel the five talent or two talent servants. We did not hide our talent away by embarking on a minister’s calling. This thought encourages us all.
But what particularly struck me was the master’s commendation in verses 21 and 23. The five talent servant was ‘faithful in a few things’. So too, the two talent servant was also ‘faithful in a few things’. You would think the five talent servant had been faithful in lots of things. But that is not what Jesus says. The five talent servant had been ‘faithful in a few things’ – just like the two talent servant.
‘Faithful in a few things’. It is a great relief the Master expects us to be faithful in a few things.
The world promotes fame, riches, beauty, popularity, prestige and personal glory. It looks for excellence and Omni-competence in all areas. But Christ’s servants or ministers will have only a ‘few things’ in this life with which the Lord requires them to be faithful. True ministers of the five talent and two talent variety won’t show up on the radar of this world’s empires.
What the world values contrasts sharply with what the Lord Jesus teaches:
“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever would be great among you must be your servant” (Matthew 20:25,26)
“If anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward” (Matthew 10:42).
Perhaps you’ve come across or used an illustration called “The Jewellers”. A story attributed to the philosopher Soren Kierkegaard. It goes like this:
One night a group of thieves broke into a jewellers. But rather than stealing anything, they simply switched all the price tags. The next day no one could tell what was valuable and what was cheap. The expensive jewels had suddenly become cheap and the costume jewellery which had been virtually worthless before, was suddenly of great value. Customers who thought they were purchasing valuable gems were getting fakes. Those who couldn’t afford the higher priced items were leaving with treasures.
In our world it’s like someone came in and switched all the price tags. Great value is given to the accumulation of wealth and power. The world puts a price on popularity, prestige and so on. But Jesus taught these things are virtually worthless in the only jewellery store that really matters – the Kingdom of God. “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal”, (Matthew 6:19,20).
Back in 2019 as I reflected on these truths it became clear to me that all I was doing as a minister was of great value to God– preaching sermons faithful to the Scriptures, pastoral visiting, the encouragement of mission, one to one conversations with individuals about the Lord. All these had intrinsic eternal value. To the question ‘How worthwhile was my ministry?’ I found myself answering very worthwhile indeed!
And now as I reflect on retirement I ask myself what are the ‘few things’ the Lord expects me to be faithful in? There’s much opportunity in voluntary service done ‘as to the Lord’. He has given Elizabeth and I opportunity to lead a group for retired Baptist Ministers in Wessex. We will also be running a fortnightly house group in our local church, and I’ve started playing guitar on occasion for the worship group. I’ve been writing the occasional paper on ethics for the Evangelical Baptists. But service can also be expressed in supporting our daughter with her children, or while I seek to be a support to a close friend who is going through a painful divorce. So ‘how worthwhile is my life?’ The answer again is very worthwhile indeed.
And no doubt in retirement we can all think of the ‘few things’ He has called us to personally. Perhaps service through hospitality or prayer ministry, some practical help offered to a brother or sister, or our service may be expressed in some more overt form of ministry practiced before retirement.
Perhaps it’s because the Lord Jesus Christ Himself has been faithful in all things, that He expects us to be faithful in a just a few things. We are not earning our salvation by doing these things. Rather we know we are justified by faith, on account of Christ’s atoning sacrifice for us. He is the One who is truly faithful, not us. Jesus is the faithful shepherd of Luke 15 who goes looking for the one sheep that has strayed. But it is also true the Lord sanctifies our lives by the Holy Spirit and so we are prompted to acts of service.
When we think of our intrinsic value we have to remember we are made in God’s image. So all people are valuable. And our sense of value lies in our identification with Christ (We are in Christ) and relationship with our Father (We cry Abba Father). These are truths related to our identity (our being). But I am thinking here primarily about the value of our service.
That evening in 2019 I thought about Andy Gilbert’s congregation at Findon Valley Free Church. The size of the congregation and its age range was similar to where I was ministering at Angmering Baptist Church. Neither of these churches would look much in the eyes of the world. But I thought ‘Now Andy receives the great reward’
This encourages us all to press on with what the Lord has given to us, however small it seems to us: “You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness.”
