No Loose Ends
I delight in slogans. Three slogans that I am fond of in recent days are
the “The Third Age”, “No Loose Ends” and “No Reserves, No
Retreats, No Regrets”. The thoughts behind these three slogans are helpful
for me to consider my desire, burden, and prayers for the ministry as an Elder.
The ideas behind the slogans are perhaps also relevant to all of us who read
this.
In recent days, I had given an Adult CI talk on “How to thrive in the
Third Age”. The theme behind the talk is that those beyond 55 years need
firstly to be cognizant that they are in the third age with about 10000
days left considering our average lifespan of 81 years. Building on the foundations
that we rest satisfied in Jesus and that we will live forever, and the best is
yet to come, the key then is how we can be a good steward of the resources and
talents that God has endowed us with for the remaining days here in this side
of heaven. I suppose the question is “what motivates you to be a steward?” I
used to be motivated by the idea of usefulness for God’s Kingdom and I used to talk
about how short our “runway” is. But I am no longer motivated by that idea nor
use the “runway” metaphor partly because we “will never run out of time to
serve God” as there are no loose ends in God’s plan, and the more important
thing is the impetus to serve is that we should be drawn by the love of Christ
to give ourselves to him and to the people of God (Matt 20:26-28). The words of
the beloved hymn writer, John Newton, puts it so well, “Our pleasure and our
duty, though opposite before; Since we have seen his beauty, are joined to part
no more: It is our highest pleasure, no less than duty’s call: To love him
beyond measure, and Serve him with our all.”
I come to the idea of “No loose Ends” in God’s plan. The fundamental is
that God is 100% sovereign and we as individuals and as a church are 100%
responsible. We will reap what we sow though God’s plan cannot be derailed
(Prov 16:33). So, what is God’s plan for our Church? You are probably able to
answer rightly, that is to preach the Gospel and bring up God’s people to be
mature in Christ through instruction in God’s Word and fellowship of care and
accountability. To preach the Gospel, we need to continually ensure that the
Gospel of Grace is proclaimed from our pulpit and that continues to be our
priority, and nothing is more important than the Cross of Christ as the good
news. To preach the Gospel, we also need to focus on building the next
generation’s leaders through a robust internship program. One most important way
to promote the pipeline of interns, is that we continue to preach the Gospel of
Grace, as the sheep will hear the voice of our Saviour, Jesus, and be prompted
to serve him. On the other hand, to bring up God’s people to maturity in
Christ, the work of the Pastoral Ward should continue to be maintained and
improved including the incorporation of centralized Bible study, in particular
the training of Bible Study Leaders to proliferate the Bible Study Groups
within the Pastoral Wards. One way to see if we are moving in the right direction in our endeavors
is to discern if our people is growing in Grace as demonstrated in giving
themselves more and more to Jesus and to each other in the context of the life
of the pastoral wards. We see this in the Macedonians Christians when the Grace
of God comes to them (2Cor8:5) in giving themselves to Apostle Paul. This is so
because Jesus says true life can only be found in the service of others because
you will find your true life when you give up your life to Jesus (Matt 16:25).
This being so as we are created in the image of God, whose very nature is
self-giving as God is Love.
I come to the last slogan, “No reserves, No retreats, No regrets”.
Recently, I came across the life story of William Borden who was mentioned in a
sermon; the account resonated with me so much that I burst into tears. The
account, set in 1904, speaks of a rich young man at 16 who desired to be a
Missionary. After completing his studies in Yale University and doing much good
in transforming campus life while he was in Yale as an undergraduate, he felt
the call to preach the Gospel to the Muslims in Kansu, China, while rejecting
many high paying jobs offers. To prepare for the mission work in China, he
spent some time in Cairo to study Arabic. While there he contracted spinal
meningitis and within a month the 25-year-old William Borden was dead. A
biographer quoted this phrase by Borden, “No reserves, No Retreats, No Regrets”,
which corresponds with the three junctures of his life when he had No
Reserves in giving up his life to Christ to be a Missionary, No Retreats
when faced with temptation to change his purpose to be a Missionary, and
finally there were No Regrets even when his life was cut short!
I urge you to read the biography
of William Borden’s life as it speaks of how we should live our life. Would you
join me in prayers to giving yourself more and more to Jesus and to others in
FERC which I am game, are you?
[Published in
FERC Bulletin 9th July 2023]
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