In our lifetimes, we are witnessing a quiet but society-altering trend across all the world’s developed countries. People are living dramatically longer—and in any cases dramatically healthier. In 1932—when an adult male’s life expectancy was approximately 67 years—full Social Security benefits were available at age 65. Today, if a person makes it to their 65th birthday, they have good odds to see their 90th!
This change means that many of us have an entirely new chapter of life that previous generations rarely experienced. Why are people living longer? The answer is a combination of many reasons. Scientific research has led to better healthcare and improved nutrition, which allows us to live with or survive previously fatal diseases. More affluence, better sanitation, and a greater emphasis on healthy living (declines in cigarette smoking and increases in regular exercise) all help promote longevity. In Florida, these trends are further enhanced by our temperate climate, which allows us to be active and outdoors in the fresh air year-round. Many of us remember winters spent in northern states, where we would nearly hibernate like grizzly bears during the dark, cold months.
The decades of retirement lifestyle grant us opportunities that were once unimaginable. We can take up new hobbies and interests, and travel more; we have more meaningful years to invest in children and grandchildren. We can keep learning and growing intellectually, and this post-work season of life affords us more time to deepen our spiritual lives.
Extended post-employment life also allows us to give back significantly as volunteers (or part-time workers). As far as I have been able to find, there is only one reference to “retirement” in the Bible. It is located in Numbers chapter 8 in the Old Testament. Moses gives instructions to the professionals who worked in the Tabernacle (and later, the Temple). This work was not easy. It could be very physically demanding because ancient Jewish worship (preceding Christ) focused on the constant process of sacrifice. Preparing a bull or sheep or goat for sacrifice meant slaughtering, butchering, and lifting heavy carcasses onto large altars. This work as done by men known as “Levites.” Here is what God commanded through Moses:
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, but at the age of fifty, they must retire from their regular service and work no longer. They may assist their brothers in performing their duties at the tent of meeting, but they themselves must not do the work. (Numbers 8:24-26)
In other words, the hard, back-breaking labor of the sacrifices was to be done by the younger men. But older men were invited to assist their brothers; they were welcomed as volunteers. They were privileged to be helpers and supporters and to perform this ministry without recompense, out of their love for God and desire to serve. I think it is a beautiful picture of what can be a great blessing to us some 3,000 years later. When our time of active, professional work comes to an end, we have the option of doing things for others free of charge and to give back to our worshiping community.
When we reach our retirement years, it is a great comfort to know that our purpose does not end. In many ways, it is a new start, a clean slate. If we think about what we are retiring “to” (instead of “from”), we are more likely to fill our time with what is most meaningful to us personally. Retirement is, indeed, a privilege and should be approached with intention, forethought, and prayer.
As God reveals in us a new purpose, it will guide our decisions, shape our goals, and give us direction. Retirement can truly become a lifestyle of deeper self-awareness, commitment, and service.
Like the retired Levites of old, we too can become privileged helpers who use our longevity to give back, to pay it forward, to help others, and to be of further service to God. As a pastor of First Church, I feel immensely blessed by the hundreds of volunteers who help our church thrive. The church could never adequately pay you for services performed out of the goodness of your heart and for your love of the Lord.
by Pastor Doug Pratt
