Planning For Retirement?

Planning for Retirement?

Now that I am old and gray, do not abandon me, O God. Let me proclaim your power to this new generation, your mighty miracles to all who come after me.

Psalm 71:18

I will praise the LORD as long as I live. I will sing praises to my God with my dying breath.

Psalm 146:2

To me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ.

Philippians 1:22-23

You’ve seen the advertisements on television—gray-haired couples swinging on a porch swing, playing a round of golf, taking a cruise, while the announcer talks about saving money for retirement. It has become a way of life in our culture, working thirty or forty years and planning to spend the remaining years fishing, gardening, traveling, and playing.

But while this has become an accepted goal of life in our culture, we don’t see it in the Bible. King David pleaded with God to continue to use him for ministry even in his old age. John was banished to Patmos around the age of ninety for preaching the gospel. Anna was still prophesying in the Temple when she was very old. Paul wrote to Philemon from his prison cell as an old man in chains for preaching the gospel.

The way we as believers plan for our later years should stand in stark contrast to the way the world plans for retirement. Our attitudes should be more like this: My professional career may end at sixty-five, but then I’ll be on call for full-time work for God. It’s a time not for rewarding ourselves but for working to further the Kingdom. Even if you’re still young, it’s not too early to think about how you want to live when you get older. No Christian exists merely to make an honest living, raise a family, enjoy retirement, and then die. We are all called to ministry as long as we live.

DISCUSSION STARTERS

What are some ways older people can serve God in ministry?

What excuses do we use to avoid ministry as students? as parents of young children? as middle-aged people with teenagers and aging parents? as retirees?

What do 1 Peter 4:10 and 1 Corinthians 12:7 say about every Christian’s call to ministry?