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800 Thompson Street
Ashland, VA 23005
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Sermon for Sunday, October 28, 2007

“Looking Ahead Backwards”
II Timothy 4:6-8; 16-18

What do you want people to say about you when your life is over? What do you want to remember about your loved one? I ask that question with families most of the time when the life journey of a loved one is over. That question has been asked and answered several times in recent days by folks I know and love.

When I went home Monday afternoon “Oprah” was on television. One of her guests was Randy Pausch, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, who is dying of cancer. He had given a lecture to his class about life. Pausch says that in academic life there is a tradition called the “last lecture.” It is one of those lectures that for most would come at the day of retirement. It was a different lecture for him. He asked the question, “Hypothetically, if you knew you were going to die and you had one last lecture, what would you say to your students?” The lecture was really supposed to be for three people, his three children. It was a talk on achieving childhood dreams and living your life.”

Even though there was nothing spiritual about this conversation it was nevertheless powerful. It is almost ironic that the lesson from the lectionary reading is this passage from II Timothy.

Commenting on this passage Fred Craddock writes that “faced with death, we tend to say and do certain things….We look at our life in review and then cast a glance into the future that lies beyond death. We also speak of what – or who – ultimately matters to us. And if we are people of faith, our farewell reflections will inevitably speak of God.” (pg. 454, Preaching Through the Christian Year)

The great apostle is getting old and he knows, not when, but he knows that he is nearing the end of life’s journey so he is being reflective.

“the time of my departure has come; I am already being poured out.” These are the images of one’s life coming to an end.

When Paul says, “I am already being poured out as a libation," he is borrowing the image of the wine that was poured on the altar at the slaying of a sacrifice as found in Numbers 28. He describes himself as a drink of wine already being poured out and to make sure we get it, he says, “the time of my departure has come.”

The word “departure” was a nautical, a sea term for loosening the rope of a ship so that the ship could leave the dock. Many times Paul had felt a ship, which he was on, leave the harbor for the sea. Now he is preparing to launch out into the greatest deep of all – setting sail to cross the waters of death to inherit God’s greatest gift.

He says, “I am a bottle of wine already being poured, I am a ship who is ready to leave the dock.” And in those next verses we can almost see Paul looking back from the brink of death and saying with a solid smile, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

He is looking back over his life. He is remembering where he has been, what he has done, how he has lived. It is time for him to go and by the light of his own death, he looks back and sees his life.

Most people seem to wait until the shadows of night come to do that kind of reflection. Some of you have heard me quote what actor Alan Alda once said at his daughter’s college commencement…”the best things come at last. People will talk for hours saying nothing much and then linger at the door with words that come with a rush from the heart.”

It is often that way with life. Paul is looking back. The wick is burning down and yet he can see where he has been, what he has done and how he has lived. And from the brink he is able to say, “I’ve fought the fight. I’ve finished the race. I’ve kept the faith.” But for Paul the last days of life will not be a day of thrashing around, trying to get things in order, trying to mend things because earlier, he has done things right.

These words are not words of arrogance but rather words of how life has gone. He is not puffed up with false pride, but filled with quiet confidence, “I’ve done the best I can with the strength that God has given me.” This is not to say he hasn’t done some sinful things, some shameful things. Paul says that he had done his share of miserable things and had his share of bad days. He has wronged others and he has been wronged. He has regrets.

In the letter we know as I Timothy, he has no hesitance to say that he is the foremost of all sinners – the chief of them all. By the time he gets to this part of life’s journey, these words become words of declaration of what God has made possible in his life. He has done life the best he can through the guidance and power of God.

In spite of his life before being a Christian, he knows he has also done some right things, risky things, noble, courageous, gospel things for the cause of Christ, and he is able to look back on life and say, “I have fought the good fight; I have kept the faith, I have finished the race.”

His readers would understand his language. They were ones who had gone to see athletic games.

“Fought the good fight...” When an athlete knows he or she has done their best, then win or lose, there is a deep satisfaction that the best has been done.

“Finished the race…” It’s easy to begin a race but it can be hard to finish. The one thing necessary for life is staying power, and that is what so many people lack even in the Christian faith. Paul declares that he had finished the race.

“kept the faith…” In the language of the athletic games they would hear one declare “I have kept the rules.” For Paul in his faith journey, he would declare…”I have kept my faith; I have never lost my confidence and my hope.”

Listen to me, we are all at the brink…I do not care what age you are…we are all at the brink….one day will be the last day. This is not one of those hell fire and brimstone threatening sermons….but a reality of how life is. One day will be the last day. What do you want your life legacy to be? When you look back what will you want to affirm about life that makes you know you fought the fight, finished the race, kept the faith?

All through life and in every aspect of life, especially faith, we see the importance of determination, perseverance and trust in God.

Do you remember Jim Valvano? He was one of the most beloved and colorful sports personalities in recent years. He died when he was only forty seven years old after a year long battle with cancer. He will be remembered as a great basketball coach for North Carolina State. Valvano will also be remembered as an outstanding TV analyst, inspirational speaker but most of all he’ll be remembered for his courage in the face of a devastating illness.

A few weeks before he died, he was honored on national television and to that vast viewing audience, he said, “Today, I fight a different battle. I have trouble walking and I have trouble standing for a long period of time. Cancer has taken away a lot of my physical abilities. Cancer is attacking and destroying my body, but what cancer cannot touch is my mind, my heart and my soul. I have faith in God and hope that things might get better for me. But even if they don’t, I promise you this: I will never, ever give up. I will never, ever quit. And if cancer gets me here, then I’ll try my best to go to heaven and I’ll try my best to be the best coach they’ve ever seen up there.”

That is what Paul was saying in his words for today. Never give up. See it through. Finish the race.

What about you? How you are choosing to live life? Some of you have stepped out and taken a few risks, took time from work and went on a mission trip, or hugged a hurting person or even went to a friend or an acquaintance and said, “let me tell you about my Jesus.” Maybe you have decided to go against the grain of popular thought and loved the unlovable…you know what it is for you. What are you going to leave in this world?

And even on the brink….where we all are…you may want to take the time that you have, be it one day or decades, and decide now that you are going to be a person who is a good fighter, race finisher, faith keeper.

You see the only way to be able to say all those words in our dying days is to go ahead and decide to live life move fully and faithfully in our living days. Life is moving toward the last day regardless of how old you may be.

You’ve heard the words of southern humorist, Lewis Grizzard, “This ain’t no dress rehearsal.” He was right. This is no dress rehearsal where we get to do it over again and get it right. This is life. What are you going to do with it?

All we can do, must do, is to live life, right now with integrity, courage, innocence, love, compassion, sensitivity and faith so that when the last day comes and it will, we can come to that last day and say with confidence, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith…” and then claim the crown that God promises.

— Robert Thompson
Pastor
First Baptist Church, Ashland

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