Ministerial Retirement 2

And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle. (1Samuel 18:4)

I know someone is asking for the specifics of the retirement I have written about.

And I will start by giving scriptural examples.

The first is the one from where the verse comes from; Jonathan, the crown prince of Saul’s kingdom.

It is very possible that he knew that his father and kingdom had been rejected due to Saul’s rebellion.

He therefore knew that though he was the king in waiting, his kingdom was in the spiritual realm past tense, however long it lasted.

Then here comes a young man, probably the age of his eldest son. (Incidentally, we are only told of Mephibosheth who was a toddler when Jonathan died).

In this teenager (probably preteenager) Jonathan saw the actual king from the spiritual way he dealt with things, from playing an instrument to chase demons and heal and especially in the way he tackled Goliath.

He was then faced with a choice all of us in ministry must face one way of the other.

Should I defend my kingdom or submit to the next king?

What between being a king in a past tense kingdom and a servant in a future kingdom is better? What between reigning in a rejected kingdom and serving in a promised kingdom is better?

For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. (Psalm 84:10)

Whereas Saul saw David as a threat to his dying kingdom, Jonathan saw him as the actual king.

Though both father and son knew what David portended for their kingdom, the son chose the spiritual route while the father chose to fight a lost cause. Jonathan chose to defend and submit to the future king while Saul sought to extend his rejected kingdom.

It is worth noting that Jonathan was the one standing to lose most by the coming kingdom. Imagine being demoted from a king to a servant! But he knew and was willing to take the spiritual route, however damaging it was to his future.

Or do you not remember this

For as long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom. (1Samuel 20:31a)

Over the ages we hear of people opting to die fighting for their kingdoms, preferring to die as kings instead of surrender under whatever terms.

Over my dead body is a statement we hear all too often.

Yet, what is better, watching and serving a king you helped ascend the throne or dying knowing that the king you resisted will completely wipe out your posterity?

Ministry has a time line and seasons. And seasons never go back or stretch longer than prescribed.

The wise person seeks to know his seasons and walk in them while the foolish, and I dare say selfish, seeks to stretch their seasons.

This is the purpose of this message; to get us out of Saul’s rut of continuing to fight for a season that has run its course.

Elevating David was the best thing Jonathan did, much better that he could have done fighting to inherit his father’s kingdom. Simply because God had already announced the end of that kingdom.

Do you know that God has already announced the end of your active ministry? Or you are like Saul who will choose to fight that reality to the death?

Why am I saying this so emphatically?

Matthew 28: 19, 20 and 2 Timothy 2: 15.

We do not raise children and continue feeding them. We raise them so that they can feed others. We raise them to reproduce after us in all ways. We raise them to multiply our impact. We raise them to outlive us.

But we must fade for them to thrive. Remember John 3:30?

We are the ones who have the capacity to release them into that ministry. And we must step aside to allow them the space to function in their calling.

We are the ones who have the ‘eyes’ to see their anointing even before they see it and launch them into their destiny.

The second person I want us to look at is Barnabas.

And his story starts very simply by saying that he sold land and gave the proceeds to the apostles.

This means that he transitioned from landowner to landless in that simple bold move. He must have been the one the Ananias’s were seeking to imitate before they died.

But it doesn’t stop there.

The chief persecutor joins the faith. But even the characters who had been with Jesus refused to believe it and so refused to accept him into their fellowship.

But Barnabas went for him and convinced the apostles that the conversion was genuine.

Did he have more information concerning him than the others had? Of course not.

But he had God’s eyes and saw potential when the others were seeing a threat.

We later see him going all the way to Tarsus to look for him.

But it doesn’t stop there. He continues to walk and disciple this young radical.

When they are called for the first missionary journey, God called for Barnabas and Saul. Meaning that Barnabas was leading the mission as per that call.

But we see him giving Saul increasing chances to shine until midway through the mission the order has completely changed to Paul and Barnabas.

It is also interesting to note that when they are going for the second mission journey, he picks another reject, Mark, and Paul, who had been allowed to be leader, would have none of it.

But Barnabas goes ahead to disciple this loser and we read the Gospel of Mark due to that. And we even see the same Paul requesting for the same Mark to be brought to him due to his usefulness in ministry.

We have only one kingdom to build. And that kingdom does not bear our name or identity.

Barnabas demonstrates that.

Effective ministry must start with an end in sight. And that end is our elevating others to shine in our place. And that is whether we allow or fight against it.

David said furthermore, As the LORD liveth, the LORD shall smite him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle, and perish. (1Samuel 26:10)

Wouldn’t it be better then when you choose the path of your exit? Because somehow or the other you must someday be replaced.

That is the reality Jonathan lived in.

You also realise that David also exited the scene at one time.

You are not Jesus who lives forever. No ministry belongs to you, even the one you call by your name. And even what you call your name you must one day leave.

This is therefore a call to consciously prepare for our exit in the visible ministry God has called us to be able to guide others in the office of elder

We can’t guide when we are in the thick of things since we will be unable to see the arena clearly from the smoke, smog and dust our activity is raising. You cannot shout a command in the noise of all the ammunition exploding all around us since we might even be unable to hear our own voice.

We must get out of the action to be able to guide the action more effectively and accurately.

It saddens me to see ministers pushing and shoving for prominence, titles and positions with their grandchildren and great grandchildren, spiritual or otherwise, yet demand to be respected.

They are not elders. They are just very old toddlers dying for a sweet treat those positions offer.

And if you think I am insulting you, you are not wrong.

Behave your age and give the children their space to shine for Christ.

I pray that this will get to one person who has been fighting for relevance beyond God’s timeline.

I do this knowing that very many retirees have refused to give God the positions and pulpits He had given them even when every indicator showed that the time for it was long past.

Will you be a Saul or will you choose to be a Jonathan?

May God bless you as you choose the way of obedience.