One of the real problems in retirement is in saying goodbye to the people you served. In my case, it's going to be drawn out over the next year, but that doesn't necessarily make it easier. Yesterday I called on a couple who have been, unasked for, perhaps my biggest supporters in the congregation. A number of years ago I was informed by St. Louis seminary that this couple had donated $50,000 in my honor to the scholarship fund at the seminary. They were not happy that I had announced I would be retiring next year. I was told, among other things, that they never heard a better preacher and that they wanted me to stay around for another 12 years. It's tough to say goodbye, especially over a lengthy period, to people like that.
But on the other hand, it's not so hard to say goodbye to the individual who told me on the front steps of the church (on their way into worship) that they had been insulted by my presence since I got to town. Or there was the individual who was trying to tell me there was something wrong with me, because the three pastors (and the four retired pastors) who take care of her church in Florida during the winter were able to do a lot more than I could.
If only people could focus more on the person of Christ rather than the personality of the pastor.
ReplyDeleteCome, Lord Jesus!