I write this with the realisation that, as a new year begins, I am well into my last as pastor of Oldham Bethel Church. As it is, we all know the real start of the year is actually September. That will mark the start of whatever it is I find myself doing next.

It feels a little poignant that I have preached my last Christmas sermon in the only church I have ever been known as pastor. Though as I was sick this Christmas morning, it also happens that the last one was last year! That makes it feel a bit less poignant. I still have 8 more months of preaching other non-Christmassy sermons before I hang up my metaphorical mitre.

I am reminded of the enduring line from Nikolaus von Zinzendorf: ‘Preach the gospel, die, and be forgotten.’ Whilst I’m not dying, I have preached the gospel and am quite content having done so to move on and be forgotten. I want the gospel to be what is remembered, not me, and I trust whoever comes in after me will preach this same gospel.

Much talk of legacy gets bandied around whenever pastors move on. But what legacy really matters? The church is not mine; it does not belong to the pastor. The only legacy that matters is the gospel legacy that Jesus produces. He will save his people, he will keep them and he will determine whatever he wishes to accomplish in and through them. I am utterly unconcerned about my legacy and more concerned with being faithful in what I was given to do and the glory for any good that came of it going to Jesus.

It is a troublingly low bar, and perhaps a sad reflection of where we are now at, but if your pastor makes it to the end of his ministry having preached the gospel faithfully and hasn’t committed any ministry disqualifying sin, you are frankly doing quite well. If the church is in a better state at the point your pastor leaves than it was when he arrived, you are doing very well indeed! Your pastor will feel he is doing well if anybody at all is sad to see him go.

Of course, I have another 8 months left. I’m not planning to embark on any ministry-disqualifying sin but better men than me have been ruined in less time. I have the modest goal of making it to the end having continued to faithfully preach the gospel, without disqualifying myself, and then moving on happy to be forgotten.

I am reminded of John Milton’s famous poem – When I consider how my light is spent:

When I consider how my light is spent,
Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide,
And that one Talent which is death to hide
Lodged with me useless, though my Soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest he returning chide;
“Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?”
I fondly ask. But patience, to prevent
That murmur, soon replies, “God doth not need
Either man’s work or his own gifts; who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state
Is Kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed
And post o’er Land and Ocean without rest:
They also serve who only stand and wait.”

Milton is reflecting on the physical and spiritual challenges he faces having gone blind. In the first half of the poem, he is concerned about squandering his abilities and failing to serve God by making the best use of his talents. But he reassures himself that God does not require from him what he, in his sovereignty, has made impossible. God doesn’t need anything from us so we can serve him in all manner of ways.

Many pastors would do well to take heed. We are pastors only as long as we are called by a church to be a pastor. Some may have great preaching and teaching gifts, but God does not require from us what he has determined we are in no position to give anymore. if we are not in post to preach and teach, God has determined there is something else for us he would rather have us do. Instead of fearing that we are failing to serve the Lord by using a talent that we have determined is best (rightly or wrongly), we do better to reckon God needs nothing from us and calls us only to serve him by doing whatever is in front of us in the place he has put us to do it. Even our service is under God’s sovereign control.

This is perhaps a helpful reflection for everyone else as we begin a new year too. There are many ways to serve God and you can serve him best by being faithful in the thing in front of you. Resolve, perhaps, to do that this year.