ministry & mentoring

 

This applies to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they shall come to do duty in the service of the tent of meeting. And from the age of fifty years they shall withdraw from the duty of the service and serve no more.

Numbers 8:24-25

This is God's retirement initiative for the Levites who served Israel and the Lord in the sacrificial system under the Law. They were to officially begin duties at the age of twenty-five and were to step down in mandatory retirement at the age of fifty after twenty-five years of service at the altar. Given ancient life expectancies being much shorter than today, this would constitute a full lifetime of service.

The work at the altar was hard. Slaughtering animals, cleaning that altar, offering sacrifices, keeping the grounds, all of these tasks wer demanding physical labor, and in the case of the priestly Levites, also spiritually demanding tasks. I'm sure for those who lived to see it, retirement was an anticipated relief. After all, the sacrifices for sin were a constant daily task under the Law and during the feasts and holy days the work increased exponentially. Their rest from ministry labor was well deserved.

One benefit from this requirement was that it kept the training for ministry among the Levites a high priority. It was structured. The service at the altar had a definite start of career and end of ministry. The older men would have been constantly mentoring the young Levites who would replace them upon retirement. This ministry mentoring would help ensure that the demands of the Law were kept a high priority among the priests and the Levites.

My main take away from this passage is to realize that investing in younger ministry training is important for me at this stage of my life. I don't face mandatory retirement (I can't really afford to anyway!), but I am approaching thirty years of professional ministry in 2018. That's a milestone not to take lightly. I'm approaching a finish line. It's time for me to make sure there are those to whom I can pass the torch, fan into flame God's gift in them, so that the gospel will burn bright in another generation of disciples around the globe.