Sometimes At the Table is meant to inspire. It is always meant to invite us more deeply into Scripture and into conversations that matter. But every so often, we also need to be challenged—called to account. Today’s “word to the wise” is one of those moments.
Rich, a mentor of mine when I moved from parish ministry to campus ministry, taught me this lesson well. Only a year or two older than I, he retired before I did—but he did so with an attitude. He helped me reimagine this stage of life not as retirement, but as re-deployment.
At the time of my own re-deployment, I assumed I’d be asked to serve on boards or teach classes on campus—or something like that. Truth be told, I didn’t know what. But one of the best questions a mentor can ask is short and piercing: “What’s next?” It sparks anticipation, stirs curiosity, and invites us to wonder about the season ahead.
In my case, the message was clear: I wasn’t finished. In the Kingdom of God, retirement is never the end of our calling.
Scripture never gives us permission to retire from the work of faith—not even for the oldest among its saints.
Re-Deploy, Don’t Retire
There does come a time when the world expects us to step aside—to slow down, to retreat into comfort, to measure our days in tee times, vacations, and quiet hobbies. And yet—this is not the call of Christ.
Scripture knows nothing of “retirement.” It speaks instead of faith that ripens, wisdom that deepens, and love that refuses to run dry.
So, you who are in the third-third of life: do not settle. Do not believe the quiet lie that you have done enough, that your voice is no longer needed, or that it’s time for others to carry the mantle while you fade into the background.
You are not finished. God has not finished with you.
Think of this time not as retirement but as re-deployment—a new assignment from the One who called you from the beginning. In the Navy town where we live, we see it often: a sailor, a young pilot, a family uprooted and sent to a new post. So it is with you. God still whispers, “What’s next?”
Questions Worth Asking
- Even with hearing aids or trembling hands, can you still listen deeply—to your spouse, your children, your grandchildren, your neighbors?
- Have the years not seasoned you with compassion, with vision that sees what youth cannot, and with wisdom forged through trial and grace?
- Can you still pray—lifting holy names and fragile needs before the throne of grace?
- Do you still delight in people enough to open your table, share your stories, and offer companionship to a generation starving for presence?
- Are there skills, hammered out on the anvil of time, that could still be passed into the eager hands of learners, leaders, apprentices?
- Now that your hours are less hurried, can you read more deeply, reflect more fully, and grow into a soul willing to share wisdom with others?
- Could you rekindle friendship with someone long neglected, or call a neighbor living in the loneliness of social isolation, offering the simple but profound gift of companionship—especially spiritual friendship?
- Might you become a mentor, walking alongside someone younger in humility, carrying the wisdom tempered by years of grace? (If mentoring feels like unfamiliar territory, our A Mentoring Guide: Christ • Conversation • Companionship offers practical help for learning how to accompany others with grace and spiritual attentiveness.)
None of these invitations require extraordinary strength or remarkable talent. They simply require availability. The Kingdom has always advanced through ordinary people who remained open to God’s next assignment. Age has never been a limitation to God—it has often been one of His favorite instruments.
Why the World Still Needs You
The church does not need elders who have settled into comfort. The church needs elders who burn with holy wisdom—who carry memory like a lantern, who embody God’s long faithfulness across decades.
The community does not need elders who fade quietly into the background. We need your voice. We need your prayers. We need your courage to show us that aging in Christ is not about shrinking smaller, but about sinking deeper.
Your vocation may no longer resemble your career, but your calling remains unchanged: to glorify God with your whole being, to show us how to live well, love well, and finish well.
Wendell Berry—farmer, poet, and prophet in the truest sense—captures the spirit of this calling with characteristic humor. At ninety-one, he remarked,
“Well anyhow, at least I’m not going to die young.”
There is wisdom hidden inside that smile. We are not called merely to grow older. We are invited to grow deeper.
Even Then
Yes, there will be days of weakness. We will not pretend otherwise. But even then—you can pray. Even then—you can teach us how to hope. Even then—you can underline one more verse, speak one more blessing, and leave one more breadcrumb of wisdom on the trail behind you.
So I say again, with urgency and love: You are not finished yet. You are not retired from the Kingdom.
The question worth asking now is the same one that has always shaped the faithful life: “What’s next, Lord?” (If you’re looking for a place to begin listening more attentively for God’s next invitation, The Journey offers a guided process of spiritual formation that helps people discern God’s work in every season of life.)
Practice
A word to the wise: This week, open yourself to the possibility that God still has something surprising for you. Look around—someone may be waiting for a mentor, a companion, a guide who carries the wisdom of years. Ask yourself honestly:
Am I willing to hear the Spirit’s whisper—What’s next?
If part of your next step may be learning how to walk more intentionally alongside others, consider joining us for our upcoming Mentor’s Workshop on November 10. It is designed to help you grow in the simple, life-giving practice of spiritual companionship and mentoring.
__________________________________
Keith Anderson, D.Min., is a Faculty Associate for Spirituality and Vocation at VantagePoint3 and President Emeritus of Seattle School of Theology and Psychology. He is the author of several books, including his most recent: On Holy Ground: Your Story of Identity, Belonging and Sacred Purpose (Wipf & Stock, 2024). His other works include Reading Your Life’s Story (IVP, 2016), A Spirituality of Listening (IVP, 2016), and Spiritual Mentoring (IVP, 1999). In his writing, teaching, and mentoring, Keith seeks to set a table for people looking to enter the “amazing inner sanctuary of the soul” in the most ordinary and extraordinary moments of life.