Some people look forward to retirement, but some do not. In fact, some dread it, like a germ we must stay away from. Like it or not, we must retire, we cannot and should not hold on to our positions. Work has no expiration date, but job does. Those who look forward to retirement usually think of retirement as a day of rest after six days of work, like a Sabbath. Those who dread it see retirement as a day of execution, like being in a death row. I think it is fine to view it as a day of rest; what is not fine is to equate it with inactivity. We must fill our days with activities, albeit small, mundane, and boring.

Richard Baxter, the 17th century British theologian, gives us a stern warning against inactivity, “Be sure that you live not idly but in some constant business of a lawful calling, so far as you have bodily strength. Idleness is a constant sin, and labor is a duty. Idleness is but the devil’s home for temptation . . . . Labor profits others and ourselves; both soul and body need it.” Labor or activity blesses not only us, but also others; and as John Piper in his book, When The Darkness Will Not Lift, points out, activity also breeds joy. We, who choose activity, will have joy; on the contrary, we, who choose inactivity, will lose joy. And joy is something we can’t afford to lose.

Many of you have retired from your jobs, but you have not retired from your activities. You who can travel far, travel far; you who can travel near, travel near. You who can visit, you go and visit while you who can only call, you make the call. You who can bake, you bake; you who can cook, you cook, and you share the work of your hands with others. As Baxter says, our labor profits others and us; they are blessed, so are we. And as Piper says, doing something gives us joy, and joy drives us to do something, both for us and for others. Proverbs 11:24-25 sums it well, “There is one who scatters, yet increases more . . . . And he who waters will also be watered.”

Pastor Paul