12/07/2025 - “Retirement” according to the Bible - Serge Papin

Just

testing with us, good.

My

name is Serge, for those who don't know me, and I'm one of the elders of this church. And I always believe it's a privilege to be able to share a message with you.

And

this morning the message is a bit special. When I got the date

for

when I was supposed to be preaching, which is today, I realized that it was school holidays.

And

in my way of thinking, school holidays means the children of our church will be away,

the

young parents would be away,

and

most of our church members who are of a

certain

age would be at church this morning.

So

I thought

I

would preach

on

retirement.

I

think I'm entitled to speak about this topic

because eventually I

won't be retired once,

but

I'll be retired twice.

And

I believe,

although

when I

went

and looked at the term, the word retirement

in

the Bible,

actually

I couldn't find

any. But

the thing about it is that

the

Bible

touches

everyone.

It

touches all aspects

of

your life.

but

it also

touches

all timeline of your life.

It

touches

babies.

It touches

young

children.

It

touches

young

adults,

mature

adults.

But

it also touches

people

of a certain age.

We

will call them the older generation.

And

I'm one of them.

And

I would like to share

what I, what

the Bible tells me

about

my age group

and

where I am in the timeline

of

everything.

When

we talk

about

retirement,

one

usually thinks that

we've

worked

and

it's time to retire.

I

don't know if you follow football.

I

do.

And

on, less than two weeks ago there was a terrible accident.

And

one of the star players of the team in the English Premier League of Liverpool passed away.

He

was 28.

And

the team and Liverpool decided to do something. They would retire

his

jersey.

Which

means that

no

one

will

be able to use

that

number

anymore.

Planes and ships

are

also retired.

When

their useful time has passed,

they

are retired.

And

a lot of times those ships

are

sank

because there's

no more use for them.

In

our culture,

in

our,

the

culture of today, when we talk about retirement,

we're

talking about

there

has been a useful time,

but

there comes a time when it's going to stop

and

you retire.

You

are no more

useful. And

when I retired for the very first time,

it

was as if

it

was the end

of

the line

for

me.

Let

me digress just a little bit, give you some context. I talked a lot about people who had retired before I retired. We people, we are so different. I chatted with people who were so happy to be retired. Oh, Serge is saying, that was a year before I retired. So I was

trying

to get as much research as I could. and some of them were saying, man, you have free time.

You

wake up, what time do you wake up? 6.30? Well, no more. You'll wake up at 9 o'clock

and

you take it very leisurely. You have your breakfast. You look, it's a beautiful day. You can go for a walk. If it's not a bad day, you just sit down and do things. It's beautiful. It's perfect.

One

would say, well, my time,

they

say, is about travel,

hobbies,

grandchildren,

freedom, no

pressure, deadlines,

no

more deadlines. And a year before I retired, I was saying to myself, wow,

that's

the type of life that I would love

to

be in.

But

as time went on,

very

soon,

I

was to be retired in four weeks.

As

I get to that stage of retirement

closing

in on me, something

a

bit different started to happen.

It

was a bit of nostalgia, if I can put it that way.

I

was thinking of, man, work is not just work, but you've got all those people

that

you've met and you've worked with and you've developed relationships.

And

you won't have those anymore. Structure, oh man, structure.

I

need to have a plan in my life. I do this and I do this and that. But when I retire, I won't have that structure.

but

I think a week before I eventually retired, my wife came with a list

and

she said, that will give you some structure

in

your life.

And

when I had a look at that list,

you

know, my life has always been computers, pen and paper, and when I look at that list, there was gardening,

there

was painting, there was maintenance that I had to do.

And

when I had

a

look at that list, which was supposed to give me some structure,

I

realized that maybe working was not so bad after all.

But

then,

there

was one day when it really hit.

It

happened to both my brother and I, we were thinking of, because we are from the island of Mauritius, right?

We

are Australian, but we also, we were born in Mauritius. and it's always a good thing to be flying back to Mauritius. And I realized that my passport has elapsed.

And

so I needed to have a new passport. And when you do your new passport, both my brother and I, we were going to do the same thing. And when we had to look at our passport,

they

asked you, what do you do for work?

And

when I came to that,

and

I had to put something, what I did work,

I

woke, I wrote, retired. Again, your experience may not be mine or will not be mine.

But

when I wrote this down, I felt really old.

And

when we talk about old, something came to my mind when there was someone

who

mentioned to me that he said and

I

wasn't going to say but I said anyway,

he

said, old people are

set

in their ways.

They

don't change. When they've got

this

in their mind, they won't change because that's the way they are and they've been like that for such a long time. It's very hard to change

the

mindset

of

an older generation.

And

I thought about that.

There

was something that really worried me. And listen to this. It says, some old women and men grow bitter with age.

They

say that the more their teeth drop out,

the

more biting

they

get.

And

this worried me

a

little bit.

But

again, as I said

before,

I believe that the Bible

has

the ability

to

touch every part

of

our lives.

And

I believe that this book has the ability to reach us

at

different time frames

of

our lives.

When

I was young,

I

remember very well

and

it's reflected by a lot of how our young people think sometimes as well.

That

when I grow up,

when

I grow up, I'm going to do this and that. When I grow up.

Or

when I'm a bit more mature, when I've got a bit more experience, I'll do this and I'll do that.

In

our younger generation, tomorrow

becomes

important. Tomorrow

is

what I'll be doing.

Things. But

when

you've

come to my age,

I've

got a different reflection.

The

good old days.

I

remember what it was like

when

I was young and I was doing things a certain way.

The

danger for both

is

that one is that tomorrow is more important.

But

the danger for people of my generation is that

the

past,

we

are stuck

in

the past

and

now,

the

now

is

never really

a

possibility for each one of us.

For

someone is tomorrow but someone the good old days, the past and there is danger

in

both of it.

And

to this morning

what

I want to talk to, yes, a lot about what it means

to

be aging

and

to be retired, but what does it mean also for the young people as we think

about

what God has got

in

reserve for us.

Do

you realize that the only time

that

we want

to

be older

is

when we are kids?

when

we are less than 10 years old

we

think in fractions.

How

old are you? I'm four. No, no, no, I'm not four. I'm four and a half.

And

when you're in your teens

you

can't hold back.

You

jump into the next number.

How

old are you? I am 12 going on 16.

You

jump. And when you arrive to 16 look at the word itself. sweet

16.

Sweet

16. And

then the greatest day of your life

you

become

21. Even

the words you become sounds like a ceremony. Then

you

turn 30.

along

bells start

because

you turn like bad milk turning

into

30.

Then you're

pushing

towards

40. Stay there. You don't want to be. You're pushing

towards

40. Then

you

reach

50. then

you make it

to

60.

And

you build up so much speed so fast that you hit

70. After

that

it's

a day by day thing.

My

dad

is

101.

And

every day when he leaves at my sister's place.

and

every morning my sister would go to his room

and

say good morning dad.

And

you know what my dad responds?

He's

going to be 102 soon. And he says

still

alive.

At

this age it's become a day by day thing.

Happy

aging.

The

Bible recognizes

that

each of us

as

I say I've got a timeline for everyone. When we come to a certain age

some

of us have still got hair. One would say gray hair is a crown of glory. I'm not too sure how a bald head would be like. But it's won by virtuous life. Sometimes good doesn't need to be aging.

But

listen look at the next.

The

years of our life are threesome and ten or even by reason of strength for school. Yet their span is but toil and trouble. The Bible recognizes yes

it's

hard to be of a certain age. When we wake up in the morning

we

do feel

the

bones the joints

not

quite as flexible when it what it used to be a few years ago the Bible recognizes that

but

the Bible also recognizes that gray hair

is

a crown of glory just as much

as

sometimes

it's

a bit of trouble.

I

would like to give you a quote right now by someone called Betty Freedom

she's

a feminist activist and also a writer and she wrote the book fountain of age

and

he put it so we put youth on a pedestal

and

then gradually hate ourselves from growing away

from

those qualities

as

a result we have taught ourselves to view aging

as

just decline

we

contrast our present with our former condition

once

we sustain our children and minister to them with pleasure

now

we are sustained by them and we are unsure whether this pleasure is reciprocated

you

just have to have a look at the ads

on

TV

everything

which is great which is good you see the young athlete young person going there and doing extraordinary things just to give a push to some of the products that's out there

but

then when you get

someone

from an older generation

they're

only there to

in

the ads where we've got medications

and

this is

and

this is the vision

which

is being fed to everyone aging

is

a real decline

well

let just let me take you

to

judaism

and

you've heard what the talmud is

it's

a collection of thoughts

of

debates

of

laws that the rabbis would put together

and

the talmud would say something respect the age

because

the fragments of the original tablets

were

preserved in the ark with the new ones

what

it says is that from a Jewish perspective

in

the ark

the

first tablets

which

Moses broke

is

together

with

the new tablet in the ark

the

ark

is

there showing

the

old

the

age

and

the new

you

see

in

the book of exodus

it

tells us that Moses

and

Aaron

were

83

and

80

when

they met pharaoh

when

Moses is asked to pick people to guide and judge the Israelites it took 70

elders when

Sarah and Abraham started their journey

to

establish monotheism

well

Sarah was 66

and

Abraham was 75

Bernard

Shaw says we do not stop playing because we grow old

we

grow old

because

we stop playing

let

me take you

to

the book of Joshua if you've got your bible you can open your bible or you can follow with me

Joshua chapter

14 verse 12

now

give me

this

hill country

that

the Lord

promised

me that day

you

yourself heard that the anachites the giants were there and the cities were large and fortified

but

the Lord helping me I will drive them up just as he said

if

you just read this verse you would think

that

it's a young man riding his horse full of muscles ready to fight the giants

this

is Caleb

and

I have a guest not a guest but

just

tell me how holy was when he said those words

let

me tell you

if

you go back a bit earlier

now

then just as the Lord promised he has kept me alive for 45 years

since

the time he said this to Moses while Israel move about in the desert so here I am today 85 years old now let's read again what this old man 85 years old said

give

me this hill country

that

the Lord promised me that day give it to me

give

me this hill country

an

85 years old man

and

that was the first problem

85

years old

and

if I look

at what

we've said before in our society 85 years old is time of retirement

and

so I said to Caleb if I was in the shoes of Caleb man Serge you are 85 years old listen you've done your share you've been the spy looking into Canaan when you were younger when you were 40 you've done that now it's the time to take it easy

to

rest you've done your share

at

at 85

why

don't you

check

Joshua

and

sit down with him

talk

about stories that was there before tomorrow leave the now for the younger ones

you've

done your shit

but

that was not Caleb's

he

was not ready

for

spiritual retirement

and

this is my question this morning

is

there an age in the Bible

that

we

stop where

we put a line in the sentence no more is there because there's good reason why the word retirement is never

in

the Bible

Caleb used

by date

had

never

arrived

yes

there

was still I believe that there were problems in his joints yes I believe that it was hard for him to move around and do different things

but

all age

doesn't

mean the end

of

spiritual battles and victories

there's

a verse in Proverbs

29

verse 18

with

no vision

your

people

and

Caleb at 85 had that vision

you

see when others

saw

the giants

in

the country of Canaan

big

giants

Caleb saw a

big god

when

everyone sees the mountains before him

when

you will be entitled to have a flat land somewhere with a nice garden and sit down and enjoy and tell stories of the past

Caleb

at 85 had a vision

I

still had a vision of what tomorrow

would

bring to him

if

you don't have a vision if you don't look forward to tomorrow

your

people

perish what

is it like for us today whichever age we are

are

we stuck in the past

or

are we ready for the now

and

move on from where we are don't just say tomorrow will do it or the past is so good

God

is calling us today

to

stand up

to

have that vision

of

where we want to go we want to be tomorrow

too

many times

we

say that after a certain age our use by date is finished

and

there's no more need

for

them

but

as I said earlier

the

Bible has got a timeline for everyone

sometimes

we discard the old people

the

older generation

just

because of a certain age

or

just because we think

that

they can't

produce

as much

but

just like the old

the

old table

was

together

with

the new one

in

the ark

God

is calling for us

to

be together

working for

him

irrelevant of

what age or retirement

means

to each one of us

but

the beautiful thing about Caleb

is

that

the

promise was made to him

when

he was 40

yet it

happened

when

he was 85

you

see Caleb never stopped believing

that

God had a calling for

him

from us

that

we wait

but

we don't just wait sitting down

but

just wait

actively for

his word to come true

and

this for us is the lesson

that

God

will

respond

in

a time

that

he knows

best his

time is not our time

sometimes

we become so impatient but when God when

trust and

believe

but

trust and believe actively

the

other problem that I see with Caleb

was

not only

that

he had to wait for so long that he saw giants

but

when I think of giants

I

think of all those obstacles

in

our life

what

prevents us

from

going forward

what

are the giants

in

your life

what

are those things that prevent you

from

being what God wants you to be

our

eyes so often are focused on the mountains on the degree I remember when we were riding

when

we were a bit younger Nigel

and

we look at those climbs that we had to do on our bicycle and every time I saw those big climbs

almost

freaked out and say okay

I'll

just go with it

but

it challenges you

what

are the mountains in your life what are the giants in your life

and

again I like

what

Caleb saw

yes

the reality is that they were giants

the

reality

is

that they are mountains

the

reality

the

reality is

as

we age

it

gets harder

and

I won't deny it because

I'm

leaving it

it's

harder

it's

more difficult

but

if we keep focusing on the mountains

if

our eyes stopped with the giants

then

we'll never see the big god that is behind us

as

we come together as a church with all different age group

the

calling is that each one of us we have a role

can

we make use of the experience of the older generation

can

the older generation give more time to our young people let them

shine

let them support them

instead

of finding

issues

or problems

or

things that could go wrong because they don't fit our

way

of thinking

our

vision of things

could

we give some space to the others but supporting them at the same time

can

the young people

be more patient with

the older ones

believing

that they still got something

to

offer

they

are used by date as for the Bible it is not there

they

can still be useful

use

them

and

for the younger ones

look

for support

look

for experience

from

the older one

and

together

grow I

like this I've used this before

and

what do you read

God

is nowhere

but

you can also read something

God is

now here

depending

on how you look at things

you

can see different things

where

others

can't

see

something

positive

that

same thing can be turned to show something

really

positive

what

do I see in you

what

do you see in me

God

is nowhere

no God

is now here

and

so we've got to trust it

that

whatever we do wherever we are

that

our God

is

here

and

here with us

and

I want to close with this

the

book of Numbers

14

24

something

very very true

but

my servant Caleb

because

he has a different spirit and has followed me how he has followed me fully

we've

come to a time

when

busyness

is

so rampant

we're

busy with a lot of things

there

are a lot of things that take us our time

and

being able to give ourselves fully to God becomes a real challenge we've got so many things to do our world is going at a rate which is

like it

is incredible

I

told you that I'm retiring

that

I have retired

I

was retired for three years

then at

the moment back at work but looking forward to retirement again

so

that's why I'm saying I'll be retired twice

but

I realized something

going

to work

I

look at it very differently now

I

know that yes I'm here for a little time and I'm enjoying this time knowing that soon I'll be stopping again

but while

I'm there I've met a lot of

younger

generation

and

one of my role at the moment is education to get people on board on a particular project

and

Serge comes very confident thinking he can really do the job properly and influence everyone the others and I've got a lot of young I call them young guns they are some of the best crop that's there in that field and they are very young

and

so week one came and I were just explaining things

week

two week three and then on week four I started explaining again but I forgot one thing that had already four weeks ago I had already gone through that chapter

I

had forgotten

but

they have not

they

have not

you

see

young

people now let me address to the young people

you

are at an age

where

your mind grabs everything and it stays

remember

that as you age as you come to my age

we

forget things that just happened four weeks ago

but

we recall things that were 20 years ago

if

you want when you come to my age be able to remember

the

good thing that you had 20 years ago now is the time to fill your mind with things

with

the stock

that

will help you

when

you get to my age

I

still remember the books

we

didn't have internet and

all

of these new things that we have I remember the books that I read

I

remember the authors

that

they read I remember what they told what they wrote about and I called upon those things a lot of times

because

I still remember what was 20-25 years ago

yet

I forget what I read just four weeks ago

now now

is the time

for for

us

now

we'll get the guys to come up and we'll sing the last song

and

for us

all

the generation

if

we think the past

the

good old days that way it was

let

me remind you again

that

the now

is

also important we can also be used

there's

one text that I had put there but it's okay but it reminds us

that

wherever we are

remind

ourselves

of

what Caleb

did example

of Caleb irrelevant of how we feel how old we feel and how

we

think our use by date for God

there's

no use by date

the

God is always present

is

always now

and

my prayer

that

we become a church

where

we combine all our strength

where

we combine age is irrelevant where we combine everyone we use the strength of each other

we've

got a mission

we've

got a vision

we've

got a dream

that's

the only way

that

we will not perish

my

prayer for us this morning

if

we take God to his word and trust him that whatever giant whatever mountain there is

is

going ahead of us let's stand up and sing eagle swing because that's what God wants us to bring to do

our

heavenly

father

thank

you for reminding us lord

there

is no retirement this word doesn't exist

in

your bible

because

you've asked us you've called upon us to serve

at

any time

lord

we pray that wherever we are in our journey

that

you'll keep using us

lord

it's now time to stop looking at mountains giants

because

you are above all of that

lord

I want to pray for my church this morning

lord

I want to pray that we keep our vision our dreams alive

that

now is the time to stand up

and

be counted

lord

we want you to take us on eagle's wings

and

we can so

not

because of our own strength

but

because of you

again

father

I

pray that

as

we leave this place

that

you will remind us constantly this week

that

you are our god

that

you carry us

that

we believe in you

and

sometimes lord we've got to be patient

your

time

is

always the right time

so

thank you for reminding us dear lord

it's

in your name that we ask these things

bless

us all dear father

amen

amen amen