[Thirteenth in a series of posts on Bible Stories]
Encore Post:
People in ancient times believed dreams predicted the future. Kings and other important people hired magicians, astrologers, and other wise men skilled in interpreting dreams. Because of this, God used dreams from time to time to send messages to kings and to his prophets. God sent dreams to Joseph’s father, Jacob. God sent dreams to Joseph to predict his future as the second-in-command in Egypt. It was this dream that angered Joseph’s brothers enough that they sold him into slavery in Egypt.
Joseph was sold to Potiphar, the captain of the Palace Guard for Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. Joseph worked hard for his master, who discovered the Semitic slave had a talent for administration and so put him in charge of his household staff. The captain’s wife tried to seduce Joseph, grabbing his robe as he fled from her. In revenge, the woman accused him of raping her. So, Potiphar threw Joseph into prison.
The warden of the jail discovered the same skills in Joseph, so he ended up in charge of the jail. It was there that he met Pharaoh’s butler and baker. Both servants had dreams that Joseph correctly interpreted. Eventually, he interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh himself. From the king’s perspective, all of his wise men, the best in the world at the time, couldn’t explain his dreams. But Joseph could. So he concluded that Joseph was the wisest of them all. Pharaoh appointed him to rule Egypt under his command. God had fulfilled the dreams he had given Joseph.
God used Joseph, then, to prepare for the famine in Egypt and to feed the world. 1500 years later, another Joseph had a dream. God told Joseph not to be afraid to marry Mary because God was the father of the child she was carrying. He did and became the stepfather of Jesus, who would save the world from sin.
Preamble: This article is a touchy subject and may require a little framing. First, this is an introspective instruction to me from myself as I begin thinking about my future retirement. Second, it may be good for my brother’s pastors to hear and receive. Third, it may be useful for congregations to consider when begging Pastor Hollenschlickerstein to stick around after he retires. – end preamble.
I’m a good fifteen years out from retirement. I still think about how we pastors ought to conduct ourselves in those years, and how congregations could encourage good behavior from the departing men. Too often, the retired guy is a noticeable drag on the ministry of the new man.
“I, a poor, miserable sinner…” We confess this way every Sunday, or at least often. But, like so much of the faith, we struggle to believe it. A small part of us (the sinner we drown daily) still thinks he’s just a “little better” than somebody else. We might think to ourselves, “Yes, I’m not a great pastor. But I’m a little better than this guy. (Specifically, after we retire) He needs to listen to my ‘good’ advice.”
We struggle especially as retirement nears. What shall I do? Where shall I go? Will I be remembered? The answers are harsh but simple: 1) assist if and only when asked, 2) away, and 3) ultimately, no.
“But, I have laid down roots in this community.” Yes, and there’s time to do the same elsewhere. In the same way you cleaved into the community you used to serve, you can become a different part of another. Did you stay on the current call too long to remember how? How is today different than yesterday? Yesterday, you would have prayerfully considered any call that came your way, even one that might uproot your family from this place. Why is retirement, during which you’ll continue preaching at least, not more of the same?
Do not interfere with or meddle in the current man’s Divine Call. Seriously, he is called to serve; here you are not. EVERY thought, direction, or piece of unsolicited advice has to pass through that filter. I’m not using “meddle” hyperbolically. Any unsupportive word, a less-than-defensive comment, or a mildly critical observation undermines the man whom God has called to serve this place. Your years or decades of service and goodwill give your words an unintentional weight.
Bona fides aren’t always helpful. I’ll share mine with you nonetheless. I’m the son of a family of generational church workers. I’ve observed the joys and sorrows of ministry from the inside since childhood. I’ve been an active member of 9 congregations in 7 districts of the LCMS. I spent formative years on one Concordia College campus and one Concordia Seminary campus. I attended another one of each. I’ve served two more congregations as a fieldworker, vicar, and pastor, adding an 8th district to my list. That’s 11 congregations and 8 districts in the LCMS for those keeping score.
My observations are anecdotal. They still come from a breadth of experience and situations. In those years, at those many places, and others as well, I know of only one long-serving retired pastor who benefited from the ministry of the man who followed him. There are countless detrimental examples. I’m not talking about 6 or 8 cases. I’m drawing from at least 50.
My mother had a wonderful conversation with a friend of hers at a congregation decades ago. Her son and my sister were both planning weddings. Mom asked something like, “What sort of planning are you doing?” The son’s mother grinned and said, “I’m the mother of the groom. My job is to wear beige and keep my mouth shut.” That whimsically hyperbolic expression is still wise for all to hear.
“How could that possibly apply to the office of the Holy ministry?” Well, everyone has a role to play. If you think you can stick around at your former call, let this inform your behavior.
In the wilderness, God instructed Israel through Moses, in the book of Numbers, about their conduct among themselves. “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘This applies to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they shall come to do duty in the service of the tent of meeting. And from the age of fifty years, they shall withdraw from the duty of the service and serve no more. They minister to their brothers in the tent of meeting by keeping guard, but they shall do no service. Thus shall you do to the Levites in assigning their duties.’” (Numbers 8:23-26) This is certainly not normative to us in our conduct in the House of the Lord. Still, we can take note of some of the functions; men may not serve at just any age. Men retire from active full-time ministry.
The last direction is a useful thought. The priests, after they had served, were tasked to guard their brothers. That can direct us wherever we go in retirement. Guard your brothers; defend their every word and deed against grumbling and discontent. Your words have weight because of your age and experience. In the same way that criticism carries an unseen impact, your defense and encouragement can protect a man without an ally.
The one pastor I remember who did well remained a member of the home congregation and kept the same address. He attended about once a month, including pulpit supply for vacations. The rest of the time, he attended other LCMS churches and served as a pulpit supply at those churches. He only wore his collar when serving, a dramatic wardrobe shift. He would answer every call for advice or counsel the same way, “You should call your pastor.” He conducted no baptisms or weddings. He remained silent in Bible class.
The LCMS call has limits. By ordination, a pastor remains a pastor while serving, between calls, and after retiring. The call, however, is THE authorization to serve in this place. He has it. If he taps you to serve pulpit supply, you may do so. If you cover a vacancy, you may do so. Just like your former calls, those duties have limits. They are for a season, and then the season ends.
Mentorship is a gift to you, not from you. It hurts our pride when folks don’t seek our advice. That doesn’t give us permission to violate the social contract. A man seeks a mentor. With very little variance, a voluntary mentor will be rejected. They may even be heard without being listened to or accorded deference. The point being, some men are sought for advice and counsel, and some are not. Which of those we are is given to us.
As a bonus example, I had a predecessor who left to serve another call a few hours away. He had served here for many years. For about half of my 70 funerals, he would call a few days before the funeral. He expressed his condolences and kept me in his prayers for good service to the grieving family. He wasn’t generally available to attend funerals. But he would always ask permission to attend the visitation. “I want to be certain that I don’t interfere with your ministry there. With your permission, I’d like to attend the visitation.” He didn’t need my permission. He was just extending a great courtesy to me and my call, each and every time.
As an increasing number of baby-boom-generation pastors retire, there will be a similar increase in vacancies. That means more chances to behave poorly. Financially preparing for retirement can also help us all fight the temptation to meddle. When retirement dawns for us, let’s all strive to serve the heirs of our office well, pray for them, be a benefit to them, and flee from the temptation to meddle.
Rev. Jason M. Kaspar Sole Pastor Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church & Preschool La Grange, TX
Israel had not learned his lesson. Like his grandfather and parents, he had favored one of his wives over another, and now he doubled down, favoring Rachael’s children over those of Leah, her female servant, and Rachael’s female servants. When God revealed to Moses, later with the Ten Commandments, that sins travel to the third or fourth generation, he was not kidding!
Israel loved Joseph more than all his other sons, because he was born in the patriarch’s old age, and was Rachel’s son. It did not escape Joseph’s brothers that their father loved him more than any of them, especially when Israel made Joseph a fancy robe (the Hebrew for the phrase “coat of many colors” is uncertain in meaning; it is translated in the Septuagint as “robe with long sleeves”). It didn’t help when God revealed to Joseph in two dreams that he would rule over his family, and used it to torment them.
Eventually, his brothers had had enough. They seized him, took his robe, and threw him into a cistern. When a caravan came by, they sold Joseph into slavery. Then they tore Joseph’s robe, dipped it in goat’s blood, and showed it to Israel. The deceit worked, and Israel thought his favorite son was dead, killed by a wild beast. He mourned Joseph greatly.
God blessed Isaac and Rebekah a lot. He gave them a good land to live in, riches, servants, flocks, and twin boys. God promised to make their family grow to become a nation. The Messiah would come from their descendants.
Yet Abraham’s family was dysfunctional from the very start. Abraham loved Isaac more than Ishmael. Isaac loved Esau more than Jacob, and Rebekah loved Jacob more than Esau. Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah and Rachel’s children, especially Joseph, more than all his other children. That really did not work well for them.
God told Rebekah that Jacob would be the family’sleader when Isaac died. But normally, the older son had this blessing. So Isaac didn’t listen to God and intended to give that blessing to Esau. Rebekah was afraid that God would not keep His promise and helped Jacob to trick Isaac. Esau didn’t think his father’s blessing was very important, so he sold it to Jacob for a good meal. Jacob didn’t want to wait for God to give him the blessing, so he tried to get it himself by tricking his brother and father into giving it to him. The story did not end well. Esau was very angry, and Jacob ran away to his uncle Laban with only the clothes on his back.
Still, God forgave them. He continued to bless Isaac, Rebekah, and Esau. He gave Jacob two wives, Leah and Rachel, many flocks of sheep, and riches. When he came back home, he was afraid that Esau would still be angry with him. To remind Jacob that he was still with him, God came to Jacob at night in the person of the Son of God and wrestled with him all night. When the night was over, God renamed Jacob (which means “heel”) Israel (“he struggles with God”)
Soon, Israel discovered his brother loved him still and forgave the mean things Israel had done to him years before. So they lived together as a family from that time on. Yet Israel didn’t learn much through experience, as we will discover in later posts.
The story of Isaac and Rebekah sounds very strange to us in America in the twenty-first century. In our culture, people often search for their own spouses, if they decide to get married at all. The thought that a parent finding a wife for their son, much less trusting a servant to search for her and negotiate the marriage as a business deal, seems all wrong. And yet, for most of human history and in many cultures today, arranged marriages were the norm. Many of these marriages evolved into very close and loving relationships.
Abraham knew that he was getting old. He had buried his wife three years earlier. He knew that a wife from the unbelieving world around him would not be God-pleasing or helpful in producing a family from which the Messiah would be born two thousand years later. He also knew he couldn’t make the trip back to Haran to seek a wife for his son among those who believed in God. So, Abraham trusts his servant, who would inherit everything if Isaac didn’t have children. His servant makes the search his own, devoting himself to prayer and seeking a bride with a servant heart. While he was praying for wisdom at a well near his destination, Rebekah came up to offer him and his camels water, even though she did not have to. Recognizing a selfless, serving heart in her, the servant sought to arrange a marriage between her and Isaac.
Rebekah’s family shows faith in God and love for Abraham in sending Rebekah to Isaac. When the servant told his story, they also recognized God’s hand in the marriage. Yet they still asked Rebekah’s consent, and she agreed. Isaac was praying when the servant and Rebekah arrived in the land of Canaan. He received her as his wife and loved her from the start. Because of these acts of love and trust, Jesus would one day be born, descended from Rebekah and Isaac.
[Ninth in a series of posts on Bible Stories] Encore Post: The sacrifice of the Son of God and the binding of Isaac are closely related. Isaac is Abraham‘s son, His only son, whom he loves. Jesus is God’s Son, His only Son, Whom He loves.
When God told Abraham to go to Mount Moriah, He picked the place that Solomon would choose to build the temple. On this spot, Abraham was ready to sacrifice his son. God had promised that it would be through Isaac that Abraham’s descendants would become more numerous than the sand on the seashore and the stars in the sky. Abraham did not know how God would keep His promise. He thought perhaps God would raise Isaac from the dead (Hebrews 11:17-18).
When Abraham was ready to perform the sacrifice, the Angel of the Lord appeared and stopped the sacrifice. Christian theologians believe this figure is the Son of God Himself, appearing before His birth. So, God spared Abraham’s son, but He did not spare His Son, His only Son, Whom He loved, but provided Him as the sacrifice that ends all sacrifice. Two thousand years after this event, Jesus would be condemned to death on the very same spot. God indeed provided the Lamb for the sacrifice for our sins.
In ancient times, names were very important. People thought names told you something about the person who had them. When something important happened in a person’s life, sometimes they changed their name as well.
In the Bible, a name is often given with its meaning. When Adam gave his wife the name Eve, because she would be the mother of all living. (Genesis 3:20) — The word Eve sounds like the word for life-giver in Hebrew. God changed Abram’s name to Abraham because “I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.” (Genesis 17:5) Abraham means father of a multitude in Hebrew. God also changed Sarai’s name to Sarah, which means “princess.” (Genesis 17:15) When both Abraham and Sarah laughed at God’s promise to give them a son, God told them to name that son, Isaac, which means “laughed.” (Genesis 17:19) Later, God would tell Mary and Joseph to name their son, Jesus, because he would save His people from their sins. In Hebrew, the name Jesus means God saves or God is salvation.
For nearly a lifetime, Abraham lived a life of faith. He trusted God to keep his promises. God told him to become a nomadic herdsman and take his family to the land of Canaan, which God promised to give to his descendants. He promised to give him and Sarah a son and, through that son, make him the ancestor of many nations. Yet, year after year, they did not have children. So, then, they decided maybe they were to have a child through a surrogate — Sarah’s slave Hagar. Hagar gave birth to Ishmael, whom God revealed would not be Abraham’s heir. When Abraham and Sarah sent them away, God provided for them. Ishmael would be the ancestor of the Arab peoples.
So God came to visit Abraham to renew his promise. He came as three men, for whom Abraham threw a feast. He promised Abraham and Sarah a son within a year. It was then that the couple laughed, since they were barren and long past the age to have children. When finally Isaac — Laughed — was born, Sarah laughed again. She said the laugh was at her, since she doubted the power of God to keep his word.
Job was a good man. He loved God and served Him well. When Job lost everything he had, his friends thought he must have done something very evil. Yet Job insisted he did nothing wrong. He could not figure out why these things were happening to him. Job was right. God allowed Satan to attack Job to test his faith, not to punish him.
When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, sin, sickness, disaster, and death entered the world. Most of the time, innocent people suffer from them. Because God loves us, He does not want people to suffer and to die from these things. He wants us to live the way He intended when He made the world and called it “very good.” So He sent His Son to die in our place and pay for our sins. Now our sins are forgiven, and we will live forever with Him. One day, Jesus will return to bring a final end to sin, suffering, grief, and death. In life everlasting, He will dry every tear from our eyes.
Yet sin, suffering, grief, and death continue in this world — even for us. When Job finally lost his health, he complained to God that it wasn’t fair. He was, after all, a good man. God pointed out that Job should trust Him, even though Job could not understand why he was suffering. God knows what’s best, and sometimes He allows evil to happen because ending it would be worse than letting it take its course. God can use the world’s evil to strengthen our faith — our trust — in him and his promises. Job repented of questioning God and placed his trust in God’s love. In the end, God restored Job’s prosperity.
The Egyptians were not the only people who built pyramids. The Mayans, the Aztecs, the Sumerians, and the Babylonians did as well. They all had the same purpose. They were man-made mountains that would serve as a ladder from Earth to Heaven, where they could visit the gods, sacrifice to them, and obtain what they wanted from Heaven. Most had temples at the very top, where sacrifices were made, some of them human sacrifices.
The people of Babel intended to settle down, build a city, and build one of these temples. This idea was sinful in two ways. God had commanded them to migrate over the whole earth and fill it with people. They saw good farmland and decided to stay. They decided to build a great temple to manipulate God so that they could get everything they wanted. In a sense, they worshipped themselves. But God confused their language and scattered them, anyway. Their sin resulted in people fearing each other and set one nation against another.
But Jesus came to be the ultimate sacrifice. His death was not an attempt to manipulate God, but was of His own free will, paying the price for their sins of rebellion. In Jesus, all divisions among people come to an end. The miracle of the Day of Pentecost showed God can make us one people again — not to serve ourselves, but to worship God together.
[Fifth in a series of posts on Bible Stories] Encore Post: After the Fall, sin spread to every corner of creation and infected it with evil. Two groups of people emerged among the sons of Adam and Eve. One group, Moses called the Sons of God, those who clung to God according to faith, and the other the daughters of men, who lived according to their sinful desires. When the Sons of God began to marry the daughters of men, the trend of unfaithfulness to God grew in strength. God saw “that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” ( Genesis 6:5). But Noah found favor in God’s eyes.
The first time we read about the flood, we get the impression that Noah and his family were saved because they were saints in a world full of sinners. But this is not true. They were just as sinful at heart as their neighbors. The difference was that they “walked with God” (6:9) and were righteous by faith (Hebrews 11:7), trusting God to care for them and obeying His commands. Even when God decided to wipe out the entire world, he delayed while Noah as a prophet warned people and built the Ark. When the flood came, God preserved the lives of Noah and his family and breeding stock of all living creatures. He made a covenant with mankind through Noah, never to destroy the entire world by flood again, sealing it with a rainbow as a reminder to him to spare them all.
The flood reminds Christians of baptism, in which our sins are drowned and we are safely carried to new life. Martin Luther’s “flood prayer,” which calls attention to God’s saving of Noah, has returned to the Baptism service in the latest Missouri Synod hymnal. The early church used the image of the Ark as a symbol for the church, which carries us to everlasting. In fact, the place in a church building where the people sit is called the nave, Latin for ship, because of that imagery.
