Finding Hope and Love in Changed Circumstances

I am glad my tenure is ending at Conference, for several reasons.

 

1) Two years is what I ‘signed up’ for.

2) I increasingly feel presidency as burden.

3) The longer someone is in the role, the more difficult it is to lay down the burden.

4) Some future Presidents with five years might become ‘power mad’, God forbid!

 

I have never sought power in life or ministry; I intensely dislike it. I do not enjoy the responsibility, though I have never regretted being called by God to presidency, nor to a ministry of over 40 years. Both have been burdens which I am glad to lay down, having gladly undertaken them as God’s call.

 

This idea of calling is not limited to the role of President or Vice-President. It is commonly used in church for all those who are presbyters or deacons, for whom it is not merely a job, but a way of life. So, in retirement it can seem as though you have lost that calling, causing confusion and spiritual distress.

 

Of course, sadly, some in ministry have had their call cut short, through illness or death. I cite the recent passing of presbyters Siosifa and Utumau’u, humble men whose ministry in our church has been cut short through their untimely deaths.

 

They say, “where there’s life, there’s hope.” Hope is bound up in purpose and purpose is what gives us the energy to keep going. For Christians even when there is death there is hope. Because our hope lies not in ourselves, our faith nor any sense of calling but in the promises and love of God.

 

I have given and received much love as President, and I am grateful for all of it. I have just finished reading (again) Lord of the Rings, with its themes of love given and received which conquers all, and hope when hope seems lost. I extend my thanks to those who have encouraged me or enabled me to encourage them, especially where hope seems scarce.

 

Following my retirement, my wife is worried that I will spend my life doing nothing very much. She has a point but I need a break. I am lucky; I reach retirement in good health and with some energy left. But in time the feeling of being ‘on permanent holiday’ will wane and what then?

 

I realise that endings, whether they are sudden or planned, can be difficult to manage, for the people themselves and for the ones who love them most.

 

As we approach Conference and its special services, pray for those who grieve the most for those who have died whom we will honour, and for those who are retiring – that all will find hope and love in their need and changed circumstances.