Saying good-bye to someone we have known and loved is never easy to do. It’s not easy to resist accepting that the end has come. Something inside us wants to wiggle out of that good-bye. I know that over these past months I have had the fantasy of standing in front of you and saying: “Please, it was all a mistake. I didn’t really mean to announce my retirement. Can’t we just go on as if nothing happened?” And the answer, of course, is “No.”  This is the right time for me to say good-bye as your pastor. But though I am sure this is the right and necessary time that doesn’t ease the sorrow and regret I’m feeling right now. Abraham Lincoln knew moments like this when he said “It hurts too much to laugh and I’m too old to cry.” I’ll leave the crying for later and try to lighten the mood with humor.

When I was in high school, the comic band leader, Spike Jones, was quite popular. I still remember one of his routines. It’s a dialogue between John and Mary. Mary comes into the room and says, “John, I’ve decided to leave you so it’s farewell, so long, auf wiedersehen, au revoir, arrivederche, sayonara, vaya con dios,” and with that she goes out and shuts the door behind her, leaving John to say, “Gee, she didn’t even say good-bye!”

A serious truth of life is this: if we cannot say a proper good-bye to the past, we cannot say a proper hello to the future. The Apostle Paul knew this very well when he wrote to his beloved church at Philippi: “I do concentrate on this: I leave the past behind and with hands outstretched to whatever lies ahead I go straight for the goal, the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14 in the Phillips translation slightly altered by DCB) Mother Teresa once said, we should ask ourselves if we’re doing something beautiful for God in what we do today. Today you I  are doing a beautiful thing in saying good- bye to each other.

For this service I asked LaFonda to sing “Precious Lord, Take My Hand” and what a magnificent way she sang it! That was one of Dr. King’s favorite hymns and over the years it has become one of my favorites. I also chose as my primary scripture lesson the passage from Deuteronomy describing Moses’ last days. Dr. King preached on this passage that last night in Memphis. Not for a moment would I dare to put myself on the same level as Dr. King but that hymn and that scripture passage spoke powerfully to me as I thought about this my final sermon as your pastor.

There on Mt. Nebo, God gives Moses a panoramic vision of the land that had inspired his dreams and efforts for over 40 years. Ever since his encounter with God at the burning bush, Moses’ life had been shaped and guided by the vision of a land that offered abundance and security to his people. He challenged his people’s waywardness and guided their journey through the wilderness. In doing this he looked beyond his own lifetime for the good of his people in the future. He went with them to the banks of the Jordan, the boundary of the Promised Land.

Although Moses had been faithful to his vision, he was not allowed to enter the land that had been promised to Abraham and Sarah, to Isaac and Rebekah, to Jacob and Rachel. He could see it shimmering there in the distance before him but someone else would have the privilege and responsibility of leading the people into the Promised Land. Moses would never taste the milk and honey he had promised the children of Israel. I have no doubt that Moses felt like Dr. King felt and that I feel as I come to the end of my pastoral journey. I am sure Moses wanted to kneel and kiss the soil of his spiritual homeland. But I also believe he realized as Dr. King and I have realized that though we can see the future, we cannot go there. It will take new leadership with a fresh vision and renewed energy to secure the promise that lies before us.

Letting go of control and allowing others to continue our work is an act of trust in God’s ability to work creatively in the lives of our successors. That is not easy given our egotism. Who could possibly do as good a job as I did?! And the answer is that things will go very well. Pilgrim Church has such an incredible abundance of gifted members and leaders, the most I have ever seen in any church I have served. You will have no difficulty whatsoever in finding an able new pastor who will lead you on the next steps of the journey of this beloved church. And when I see that I will be happy and proud. As I have stood on the shoulders of all the able clergy who went before me, so your new pastor will stand on my shoulders and the Pilgrim story will continue. We can always trust in God’s good future.

Barbara and I thank you for all the love and support you have given us in our seven years at Pilgrim. Your kindness and thoughtfulness to us have been beyond measure. We know you will show that same loving care to those who will follow us. How fortunate and blessed you will all be together.

So now it is time to say good-bye in the hope that our paths which now diverge may come together again in God’s good time. Until that time, may God bless you all. Amen.