A very kind thing was done for retired pastors in our district: A lunch was given in appreciation for their years of ministry. There were several pastors and spouses there (and many others unable to come who we miss and love).

Like Jacob, many in that room were leaning on their staff, walkers, wheelchair, and each other. Pastors and their spouses learn quickly to lean on God. Pastoral ministry, and parsonage life, is a world like no other.

We sometimes sing a song, “I wonder have I done my best for Jesus.” The answer is that we tried. All ministry is by grace. It was God’s grace that called us, sustained us, and remains with us to this very day.

Pastors once prayed for God to hide them behind the cross when they preached. That is a good prayer because the surest way to ruin a sermon is to foolishly believe we are good at it. Jacob started leaning on his staff on the day that he wrestled with God and prevailed, but he walked away with a humbling limp for the rest of his life that would remind him that every victory is by grace alone.

The glory in that room was the afterglow of lives that only God can know. It was joy just to be with one another and sharing a common thread that binds our hearts as one. We have grown older together, times have been hard, times have been good. The psalmist said, “I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken.” I feel safe in believing that everyone in that room would say, “Amen.”

“What a fellowship, what a joy divine,
Leaning on the everlasting arms;
What a blessedness, what a peace is mine,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.”