Dear
Fellow Children of God,
I have received a lot of feedback lately from people commenting
on my retirement. You see, I have continued to try to serve my Lord, even though
I have officially retired from work as a full time pastor. I still help out when asked, I just have not
had primary, sole, responsibility for a large congregation. So, having been asked, between February 26
and March 19, I have preached, or will have preached every Sunday, conducted
two funerals, and spoken at a Lenten service.
That’s 8 sermons in 22 days. I’ve
heard more than once, “So, that’s
what retirement looks like?”
I have shared with friends, more
than once, that “I’m not sure what retirement is!” Interestingly, in Numbers the Levites were to
stop their service at age 50. We read, “24 This applies to the Levites:
Men twenty-five years old or more shall come to take part in the work at the
Tent of Meeting, 25 but at the age of fifty,
they must retire from their regular service and work no longer.” (Numbers 8:24-25)
I do know that near the end of my time as pastor at St. John, I was working and
serving in a way that I could not continue.
But, when I thought of just “slowing down,” I was not sure I could see a
job that needed doing and just step back.
With Kathy’s request for more time together, I chose to serve God more
in family time, than in work time.
However, even though I have retired, God has not stopped
loving me. I am still a child of
God. I do know what retirement is
NOT. Retirement not for staying away
from church, or for refraining from faithful service, or no longer putting
forth effort for my Lord. I am still
called to serve Jesus, just not in a full time job. I do find more freedom to serve, and also to
golf and to fish as well. :-)
For years, as a full-time pastor,
when I taught confirmation there was one Bible verse I wanted my confirmation
students to know and to memorize. Yes, I
wanted them to know John 3:16, and many other verses. But, even more I wanted them to know 2
Corinthians 5:15. “And he died for all, that those
who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and
was raised again.” First, I wanted my students to know that Jesus didn’t die for me because I
served him. It works the other way
around. Christ died for me, to pay for
my sins, to save me from death and hell. BECAUSE Jesus died AND rose for me, because he
died for all, I (and hopefully we) WANT to live for Him. I still seek to serve my Lord in all I do!
I am convinced
that is why Scripture gives us so many calls to serve the Lord with our whole
being.
Samuel called
the people of Israel in 1 Samuel 12: 24, “But
be sure to fear the LORD and serve
him faithfully with all your heart;
consider what great things he has done for you.” This verse, which reflects other similar verses
from Deuteronomy and Joshua, calls people of God to serve Him, because of the great things He does for
us.
Jesus shares the call to worship God with our whole lives
throughout the New Testament, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and
with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30).
Of course, Jesus, the Savior of the world. is present when He calls God’s
people to love Him with ALL that they are.
That is also why God inspired Paul to
write in many places, including Colossians, “17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of
the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. . . 23 Whatever
you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men,” (Colossians 3:17 23) Because God the
Father has sent His Son, Jesus, I want to THANK him in whatever I do. Because Jesus has saved me, I want to serve
Him, in any task or work that I do!
I have a
friend at St. John Lutheran in Palmer, Harry Koenen. Harry is retired, but served as a Licensed
Electrician when he was working. Just
because Harry is retired does not mean that Harry does nothing electrical. Harry has helped me, a man who is dangerous
around electricity, many times. Harry continues serving the Lord with his
skills by loving others. Thank you,
Harry!
I’m still not
sure what retirement means, or what it will mean for me in the future. What I do know is that “. . . [Christ] died for all, that those who live should no longer live
for themselves but for him who died
for them and was raised again.” How are you living
for Jesus?
A Child of God, Retired . . . and Hopefully Still
Living for Jesus!
Pastor Jonathan
P.S. We celebrated
Kathy’s birthday with a trip to Unicoi State Park in Helen, Georgia, with my
sister, Martha Reaves, and her husband, Mark, and with my brother, Steve
Rockey, and his wife, Lori. Here are
pictures of Kathy’s and my trip to north Georgia. https://photos.app.goo.gl/dz8dF6FUqeXDrUWS7
P.P.S. We had a
visit on Saturday, March 11, from Alaska friends, JD and Dena Jeffers, but
(shucks) we did not get a picture. We
love visits from friends! Ask JD about
the gator he ate for dinner. J
P.P.P.S. I did go
fishing at Orange Lake on Monday, March 13.
When I hooked the biggest bass I have ever seen, and had him spashing
near the surface, my net was caught in the handle of another pole. As I freed the net . . . the fish got
off. L Here are some pictures. https://photos.app.goo.gl/HTbwAdeoAPdTktGT9
*****
ABOUT THIS DEVOTION - I retired at the end of August 2019
from serving as senior pastor of St. John Lutheran Church in Palmer, AK. I was writing a weekly devotion previously
entitled, "Thoughts from the Pastor."
When I retired many asked me to continue writing these devotions. So I have continued writing. However, with life's changes I now call this
weekly devotion "Journeys Through Life as a Child of God." Since I am no longer senior pastor at St.
John, I felt it right to only send this message to those who asked to receive
it. (Though I am now serving again
part-time at St. John as assistant to the pastor.)
So, if you
stopped receiving these devotions and wondered why, now you understand. And, if you are now receiving these devotions
and do not wish to receive them, please let me know, and I’ll gladly remove
your name from my distribution list. My
e-mail address is jonrock53@mtaonline.net.
My prayer
is that these devotions help each of you in your daily walk with our Lord,
Jesus.
*******
Jonathan Rockey
Child of God
Husband, Father, Son, Grandfather
Pastor Emeritus, St. John Lutheran Church
E-Mail: jonrock53@mtaonline.net
“1 John 3:1 How great is the love the
Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that
is what we are!” (1 John 3:1 a)
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