RETIRED WITH DISCERNMENT

 

 RETIRED WITH DISCERNMENT

“Why did you retire early?” This is a question posed to me by many people near and dear to me. Some ask this because there is a saying - “Servants of God will never retire”. I remember my late father wanted to work till he died. But, why did I retire? I am not writing this to explain myself over a wrong decision that I have made. My intention is very clear – to share and throw some light on the whole question of retirement which is being debated today both in the Church and the corporate world.

A few weeks back, a dear friend of mine, who is top-notch in the corporate world invited me to participate in a Webinar titled - Retirement Age. It was a webinar that created space for a debate on increasing the retirement age from 55 to 60 years both in the Government & Private sector in Sri Lanka. In listening to it the most important word I learnt was FLEXIBILITY. I rejoiced in my heart realizing that the Methodist Conference of Sri Lanka debated nearly 20 years back on the retirement age and decided to keep a FLEXIBILITY from 60 to 65yrs as optional age of retirement while the retirement age would be 65yrs. So accordingly at the age of 62, I took my retirement having served the Church for 39 yrs. as a minister.

                                                            

 

What made me think of retirement at 62?

I assumed office as the President Bishop of the Methodist Church Sri Lanka at the age of 57years. I was moved to spend some time praying and reflecting on my past years of ministry. I looked at the successes and the failures objectively. I searched myself for some of the moves that I had made in the whole arena of serving God. Many a time when I sat in the board room of the Methodist Headquarters, chairing various committees I looked at the photographs of all my predecessors and humbly acknowledged that I was the least academically qualified to be in the leadership of the Methodist Church. How did it happen? I never aspired or canvassed to get into the leadership of the Church. It very vividly dawned on me that it is nothing but the Grace of God that had brought me through varied experiences, even through times of sheer rejection, to give leadership to the Methodist Church. I began to ask myself “If God has brought me to this through his grace, how will the same grace enable me to end my period of leadership?” Soon I began not only to pray but share with my wife and our Children the thinking that was going on within me. By about the 3^rd  year of me holding office, I made up my mind that I would ask for retirement at the end of my term in office. At the 4^th  Annual Methodist Conference that I chaired, I lodged my request for retirement two years later.

 Retired with a sense of celebration

Serving God through the church is a rugged path. More than garlands and bouquets, you get landed with brickbats. When making decisions in the right direction without fear or favour I had to pay a price. Often that price was paid not only by me but also by my wife and children. The first-ever anonymous letter with a scathing attack on me and my family came just 3 days before our daughter went overseas for her post-graduate studies. The trauma we had was unexplainable! As a family, if we were not anchored in the faith and fellowship with God, we could have easily ended up feeling dejected. Soon I realized that the celebration of my ministry should not be founded on what I have achieved but on God’s faithfulness to me an unworthy servant of his. If there was an achievement in my 39 years of ministry, the celebration of the same would be of God’s faithfulness and power manifested to his church and through the ministry work I was called to do.

Retirement is not the end of all

When a servant of God comes to the point of retirement he need not look at himself as a person who will be redundant. I have seen some servants of God struggle to accept their retirement as they feel and think that they have come to the end of the road. I share below some of the key areas that the servants of God should work on in preparation for their retirement.

·      Remember your Covenant relationship with God

The annual covenant words of the Methodist Church has inspired me both in my ministry work and my preparation for retirement –

“I am no longer my own but yours.

………..let me be employed for you,

or laid aside for you,………”

 

These three lines have always challenged me to accept that I, a servant of God is at His disposal. He has the right to employ me or lay me aside for his purposes. Retirement is an episode of being laid aside for the Lord's purposes. Being laid aside and getting accustomed to the same has to be seen within the context of responding to the Lord who uses us differently. We must learn to see how God can make us serve him on another track.

Today, as a retiree I consciously decided to be out of the orbit that I had been serving for nearly 40 years. But I don’t feel redundant. I am now being led by the Lord to work on interreligious and peacebuilding activity with people of other faiths and fellow Christians. I see it as an extension of God’s Kingdom work. Amazingly I have adjusted myself to this new experience and found great satisfaction in what I am involved in today. The structure of the Methodist Church is such, it is inundated with committees, in which I have been involved very actively including vital debates. I do not miss them now – very surprising! Not because I have become averse to them, but I have learnt to see them as part of a chapter that is now closed, where I am concerned. Some have asked, “aren't you depriving your church of receiving helpful hints from your 40 years of experience?” I am always ready to share my learnings and experiences, but I am very clear that I should not continue to sit on committees and boards.

Do not feel threatened by the ministry work of the younger generation.

The most striking words that have inspired me from the life of John the Baptist is “He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3: 30 ESV) The two ministries of John the Baptist and Jesus ran parallel for a little while. Then came the time for John to fade away giving more space for Christ. What a wonderful example! John did not see Jesus as a threat to his ministry. I am so thankful to God for the late Rev. Victor Salgadoe my first Superintendent who was doing his final lap before retirement when I had just begun. He practised John the Baptist’s principle when grooming me in my formative years. What a wonderful role model of a leader! It is sad when senior Christian leaders do not understand this simple but profound truth and mess up the ministries of the younger generation. If a minister does not learn this truth, he will become a stumbling block to many juniors. It is not that they don’t like the younger people to grow. But they always feel insecure in allowing the juniors to move upwards while they take a back seat because the juniors will gain more popularity and recognition. This negative attitude carries a lot of resentment and when the person draws closer to retirement he can become a disconsolate person. Ones Under the pillow of a person who passed away in my presence, I discovered a little chit, blaming his successors in the organization he led in the past, for not continuing him in the governing board at his retirement. How sad! When people draw close to their retirement they feel that they can not survive without holding on to a “position or title”. They feel distressed over the taking away of  “controlling gear” from their hands. Unfortunately, the church in Sri Lanka has not addressed this subject and I see how it is becoming a huge problem in the ministry of the church. The younger ministers have shared with me how retired ministers residing in the parish were interfering with the work and decisions of the younger minister which becomes a hindrance to the growth of the church. 

 

Step out in faith to your retirement

Stepping out in faith is important learning in a minister’s life and ministry. From the day we receive our call to serve God we step out in faith. Throughout our years of ministry stepping out in faith continues. Some come up suddenly and unexpectedly. Some give us time to prepare over some time. I do not suggest everyone take the optional retirement age as I have done. However, retirement preparation has to be an exercise of faith over a considerable time.

Housing at retirement is a major issue for retirees. While some churches have very good schemes to look after their retired clergy, other churches are far behind and not adequate to meet the need. The whole area of health and vitality is also a key area that needs to be looked into when retiring. The small pension that is given by the church is not at all adequate to meet the expenses. When these inadequacies are felt and known, many servants of God fear to go into retirement and become despondent and could retire with a lot of resentment. These are areas in which the church has to become a channel of God’s intervention in encouraging the servants of God to step out in faith to their retirement with a sense of joy and peace.

Retire desiring to relax and relish

Many servants of God do become workaholics. I do admit at times I have been so. Our congregations are very happy when we are seen as busy bees. To go on vacation does not come easily due to financial constraints that clergy face. The result is we turn out to be people who do not know how to relax and relish life.

 

I have lived for 10 years of my ministry in front of the Indian Ocean but never had the opportunity to watch the beautiful sunsets. Sharmila and I have now nested in front of the ocean once again in Dehiwela in our retirement. Now, I have found the time to keep gazing into the sky at different times of the day, especially during sunset. Oh, how inspiring it is! The Mayor of Moratuwa gifted me a “Hansi Putuwa” (easy chair) 3 years ago while I was the head of the church. Only now it has become very useful to me. I can’t believe that I could relax and have even a snooze without feeling pressured to run from one event to another.

Ministers have plenty of memories of their years of ministries. Retirement could become the ideal time to reminisce. I go through various emotions in doing so – some fill me with tears of both joy and sorrow; some fill me with awe; some make me feel angry or disappointed at myself; some make me laugh at myself. However, the silver lining behind all these is "The Best of all is God with us"

                             

        Rev. Asiri P. Perera

        June 8th 2021