October 15, 2025
A friend of mine turned 65 a while ago and since he had a steady job with good healthcare benefits, he ignored all the stuff he received in the mail about Medicare. Besides, parts A, B, C, D (ad nauseum) is all rather confusing and who has time for that? Several years later when he got around to retiring, he discovered, much to his chagrin that he should not have ignored all that. And because he did not sign up, he was hit with a substantial penalty. As I approached the 65-year mile marker, I did not want to make the same mistake. But I can see why some people do not want to stop working. It’s like a full-time job to figure out all this stuff with retirement. I plan to step down in 5 years and it’s a good thing because it’s going to take me at least that long to get my ducks in a row. There are a lot of i’s to dot and t’s to cross. That assumes that you know where your i’s and t’s are.
I just read a report that Americans now have $2 trillion dollars in 401k accounts that they have lost or forgotten about. On the one hand, that sounds staggering, and it is. And of course, we think, how could people forget that they have money in retirement accounts? On the other hand, I can understand a bit, and I certainly think my friend can. If you have a retirement account through work and you change jobs then you need to figure out what to do with that retirement account. If you do the wrong thing, you will pay a penalty. But doing the right thing means you have to know what your options are and that can be overwhelming. So, people procrastinate, then they forget. If they do not update address records, then the account is out of sight and out of mind. Resulting in benefits that are rightfully theirs are never leveraged.
In many ways, our local church is like a massive source of benefits. More accurately, these benefits are “means of grace” that God has provided for our good. Faithful preaching of God’s Word is a means of faith, security, hope, joy, love and gospel growth. Faithful participation in fellowship is a means of humility, love, caring for others and big-heartedness. Faithful support and participation in ministry are a means of engaging with the unstoppable plan of our Sovereign God to bring about the kingdom for his Son. This is accomplished by the strengthening of this church, the planting of other healthy churches and the sending and support of missionaries who are doing the same thing. Faithful participation in worship helps us get our eyes off ourselves and onto our glorious, big and magnificent God and King. Faithful participation in the ordinances of our church enable us to celebrate sinners who have repented and engage in the sustaining grace of the Lord’s table that God uses to encourage our perseverance. Praying with and for one another helps others and ourselves benefit from the ministry of the Spirit who uses our prayers for the encouragement and support of one another. Learning good theology gives us big thoughts about God so we will have big hearts for God to be fuel for white-hot worship of God.
If you are part of the modest audience who reads this, I would guess that you already know these things. Praise God! However, you may have a friend or two, who have been ignoring their mail (called the Bible) and are struggling unnecessarily in some ways because they have not leveraged the massive benefits that God has provided for them. Meaningful membership in a healthy church is not fundamentally for organization, but for our good and growth. It is a powerful means of sanctifying grace. Don’t forget about your benefits.
Grace and peace,
Bob
Sunday’s text: Luke 15:3-10