Scripture
“And now I entrust you to God and the message of his grace that is able to build you up and give you an inheritance with all those he has set apart for himself. “ Acts 20:32

Observation
There were sniffles and Kleenex around the room as Pastor Paul read out his resignation letter to the elders. They had been through so much together and now he was saying goodbye for good. They would never see his face again.

In that emotion drenched moment Paul laid out what had motivated his ministry over his 3 years in Ephesus. His lessons there would do any pastor good now.

Three words were behind all that Paul did.

Assignment
Empty
Generous

Assignment? To tell all about grace.
But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God. I declare today that I have been faithful. Acts 20:24 & 26

Empty? To deliver every message in full so that no one who heard him was without excuse.
If anyone suffers eternal death, it’s not my fault, for I didn’t shrink from declaring all that God wants you to know. Acts 29:26-27

Generous? To finish empty, not coveting a cent that was not his own.
“I have never coveted anyone’s silver or gold or fine clothes. You know that these hands of mine have worked to supply my own needs and even the needs of those who were with me. And I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” Acts 20:33-35

Application
This was not Paul’s resignation from ministry but his releasing of the ministry to the leaders around him. They were now responsible. Though I did not stand in that room, it is as if Paul reaches out to me across the centuries and hands this ministry over to me too: “I entrust you to God and the message of his grace.”  I am just as responsible as the elders of Ephesus to fulfill my assignment, to die empty and to be generous for the sake of the message.

Prayer
Father, thank you for Paul’s example. I pray I have many decades yet before I speak words such as he did. When I do, help me to speak as he did. Ephesus was Paul’s last and greatest ministry before Rome. In many ways he did his best work there. I ask that my future experiences in leadership will be infused with all the lessons of my past experiences in leadership so that my greatest work is yet to come. Amen.