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The Apostle Paul’s second letter to Timothy contains his last words recorded for us in the New Testament, and Paul is himself conscious that he’s nearing the end of his life. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith, he writes (2 Tim 4:7). He is in some kind of imprisonment, and death by execution does not seem far away.

So he’s finished! Except, that is, that he actually hasn’t.

Even at this stage in his life, Paul is working. So he asks Timothy to come over and bring Mark with him, because he is helpful in my ministry. He requests parchments – maybe because he’s continuing writing.  

As Robert Yarbrough says in his commentary: For many, fear can be a great immobilizer… [yet Paul] refuses to roll over in fear or passive self-pity but continues to place his life at God’s disposal for ministry.

For as Paul says elsewhere, for him to live is Christ (Philippians 2:21).

We never retire from the Lord’s service. As I write, two very elderly sisters, Bunny and Louise Coleman, come to mind.  They had both been missionaries, but by the time I met them they were living in a care home in Bournemouth. When I went to see them I found them with prayer bulletins from the mission field spread out before them. They were too frail to go out, or even get to church, but they could serve God’s people by praying!

I personally am so thankful to God for friends who’ve reached the end of their paid working lives, but who serve the Lord actively in retirement, even seeing this as a new opportunity. What a help some of them are to our church! (For more on how we can make the most of this season of life, see Christopher Ash’s useful Not Old, Not Young, Not Done.)

I can think of several ministers of the gospel who’ve retired their paid jobs but who press on – they are an inspiration, as well as a help, to those of us still at the ‘employed’ stage.

So “Paul’s retirement plans”? Keep serving Jesus!

Alasdair