Title: How to Finish Well!
Text: II Timothy 4:6-8
Thesis: We finish well when we fight the good fight, finish the race and keep the faith… just for the honor of doing well for the glory of God and the good of others.
Introduction
The Word of God inspires us in Hebrews 12:1, “Therefore, since you are surrounded by such a huge crown of witnesses to the life of faith,” then urges us to, “strip off every weight that slows us down and every sin that trips us up so that we may run with endurance the race that God has set before us.”
In some ways I see that as a “getting started” in the Christian life Word of inspiration, while I see our text today more as a ”finishing up” Word of encouragement… a Word to finish well.
You recall last week I spoke of my fondness of the signage on the descent on Floyd Hill… “You Are Not Down Yet.” Another sign reads, “4 more miles of steep 6% grades and sharp curves before you reach the bottom.”
In our text today, as noted last week, the Apostle Paul had made it all the way down and looked back over his life with a great deal of satisfaction. He could honestly say, “I have done my best to be a devoted follower of Christ in the arena of life. We on the other hand are not down yet. We are in the enviable position of looking forward with heartfelt determination to finishing well in the arena of life.
Our text today gives us insight in the nature of the Christian life as a struggle in the arena of life.
I. The Christian Life in the Arena
“I have fought a good fight…” II Timothy 4:7
If we were to read this phrase as it was written it would say something like this, “The good struggle I have struggled.” The struggle is described as a good one which does not necessarily reflect the manner in which he struggled but more of implying the struggle itself was a good one or a worthy one.
Gk. Agon: The word for a contest in the arena.
I talked to a young man this week who works over at George’s. The night before he had fought his first cage fight. He said, “I was doing pretty good while we were boxing but then he did a leg sweep, took me down and put me in a choke hold and the lights went out.” Being a good fighter is different than fighting a good fight.
Paul describes the Christian life as an intrinsically good life. When we say something has intrinsic value we are saying that by virtue of what it is, it has value. The Christian life is a worthy way of living. It is in and of itself a good way to live. In a similar way we might say that living a life of debauchery and sin is intrinsically bad. So in Paul’s mind the Christian life was for him and is to us, a good way to live.
However, he also describes the Christian life as a fight or a struggle. The word for fight is the word used to describe what happens in the sports arena… the arena is a place of contest and conflict.
In 1863 William T. Walters commissioned a painting that was not completed for some twenty years later. In his letter to Walters the artist identified the setting as ancient Rome’s racecourse, the Circus Maximus. In the painting there are interesting details like the goal posts and circular chariot tracks in the dirt. The seating very much resembles that of Rome’s Amphitheater in which gladiators did battle and other spectacles were held. On one side of the painting is a group of huddled Christians and on the other lions were being released. The painting is called “The Christian Martyrs’ Last Prayer.” It is hardly historically accurate in that Christians were never martyred in Circus Maximus… but the arena as a setting for athletic contests and chariot races and even the martyrdom of the saints would be vivid in the minds of his readers as a place of contest and conflict… places of struggle and survival.
The Apostle’s life was one of ongoing struggle unlike anything most of us will ever experience. On one occasion when his integrity and the authenticity of his Apostleship was being questioned and in what seem to be an uncharacteristically weak moment for him, the Apostle Paul unloads in II Corinthians 11:16-33. The heading for the passage is “Paul’s Many Trials.” He wrote of being whipped and beaten and stoned. He wrote of being ship wrecked and crossing rivers and facing robbers. He wrote of sleepless nights, hunger and thirst and shivering in the cold all for the cause of Christ.
In that well known passage in Ephesians where Paul describes “The Whole Armor of God” he wrote, “For we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:12
In the mind of Paul he lived in the arena of life where being a Christian meant a life of human struggle and spiritual warfare. But he says, “I have fought a good fight and it was worth it!”
In some ways we may honestly think of life as an ongoing struggle in the arena of human experience. Our experience will likely not be that of the Apostle Paul, but we too are engaged in living a Christ-like life in a world that knows little of what that means.
In one church I served a lady called me to her home because she was upset that the leaves from the neighbor’s tree were falling in her yard. Her plan was to call tree-trimmer to cut off the branches of the neighbor’s tree that were overhanging on her property… needless to say, her interactions with her neighbor were somewhat less than cordial. In fact she was very ungracious and adamant in expressing her displeasure. This… this was how she lived our Christ-likeness in her community.
Our arenas are the market place where we do business. The home. Extended family life. Our neighborhoods. The faith community where we worship. The doctor’s office and the hospital room. The mortuary and the graveside. Online and the internet. The café. We are always in the arena and we are always representing Jesus Christ and we are always being observed.
This morning on my way to breakfast I followed a Toyota… the driver was driving along about 5 miles per hour under the speed limit and in the center lane and I was feeling kind of impatient. I thought about passing him on the right so I could get there 10 seconds quicker but for some reason I decided to relax. When I was finishing up my breakfast, Patrick, the dishwasher and busman at The Egg and I came to my table and said, “I thought that was you following me on Sheridan this morning…”
So it is, “We [like the Apostle Paul] patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind...” II Corinthians 6:4-5 (Paul’s many trials in II Corinthians 11:16-33)
So it is that we join with those who have gone before us in “fighting our good” fight in the arena of the real world to the glory of God and the good of others.
Not only did Paul write of fighting a good fight in the arena of life, he wrote of finishing the race. We may look at the Christian life as a race course.
II. The Christian Life on the Course
“I have finished the race…” II Timothy 4:7
Our Chicago grandchildren run the gamut of like 7 to 15. They are all expected to be involved in some seasonal physical activity. So they play soccer, volleyball, basketball, baseball, wrestle or whatever. This year Leeya, though not particularly enthusiastic, decided she would run cross country track. I was fortunate enough to attend one of her cross country meets while I was away last month. It was held in a large park with trails, a long narrow lake, across wooden bridges and hills. There were several different kinds of runners. There were those who came to win. There were those who knew they probably would not win but they were going to give it their best shot. There were those were there with no intention of winning but wanted to have fun and just not be embarrassed at the finish. Leeya and her friends fell into the third category. They ran along together in a little cluster of girls chatting their way around the course and then when the finish line was in view they sprinted like maniacs, passing a bunch of girls to cross the line into the chute… which is a funnel like apparatus that narrows the competitors into a single-file to turn in their times. Leeya, who is very fun and a bit quirky, was pleased to have finished # 40 out of 90 runners… after all, last week she finished # 50 so she was movin’ up in the world of cross country running.
In east we have the Appalachian National Scenic Trail which extends from Spring Mountain, Georgia to Mt. Katahdin, Maine. It’s 2,200 miles long and a number of thru-hikers complete the trail in a season. In the west we have the Continental Divide Trail which extends some 3,100 miles from Mexico to Canada and follows the Continental Divide. Only about 2 dozen people attempt to hike thru in a season which takes 6 months to complete. It is a rigorous endeavor!
Statistically, 90% of those who set out to hike more than 500 miles never make it. 50% never get started and 40% quit after they start. 10% generally finish a long-distance hike. Interestingly, I noticed the NYC Marathon Web Site has a link under the heading, “How Do I Cancel My Entry.”
They say the difference for those 10% is: First, they trained well for the hike. Second, they were prepared logistically. And third, they understood that the biggest block to completing the hike was mental. Knowing that, they decided they would finish the hike no matter what.
If few, like the Apostle Paul, think of our lives as long treks and ourselves as thru hikers we know it will not always be easy going but we are determined, by the grace of God, to persevere through to the end so we can say, “I have finished my race!”
There are a couple of ways to approach a journey of any kind be it a literal trip or be it an impending situation. I could approach driving to be with our kiddos on Christmas Day in a negative way. We won’t be ready to leave early on Christmas Day. Someone could rear-end us down on 60th and Sheridan before we even get out of town. It is unlikely that there will be any places open other than a few fast-food places to grab a bite on Christmas Day. Something on the car will likely break and there we will be stranded along the interstate on Christmas Day. Bonnie will likely be tired and sleep all that way and I will have to do all the driving. I might get pick-pocketed and have no cash or credit cards to buy gasoline. We might run in to bad weather and either get stuck in a snow bank or caught in Grand Island, NÉE because the closed the interstate and we wouldn’t get there for two days. Therefore, we should not even attempt the trip because there are just too many obstacles to getting there.
Or… I could acknowledge that any or all of those things could happen and if they do, we will deal with it and keep moving on. It is most likely that the trip will be uneventful. (As a radiologist might say after looking at your test: “Your test is unremarkable.”) In other words, nothing bad showed up on your MIR or your CT or your X-ray.) Mostly our journey through life is pretty unremarkable… but we know that that is not always the case. We know bad things might happen and we decide we will be neither surprised nor dismayed or dissuaded by them… we may hit a bump in the road of life but we continue on our journey.
In a marathon race the key to finishing the race is to continue to put one foot in front of the other until you cross the finish line. And sometimes the Christian life is like that… you just keep putting one foot in front of the other until you cross the finish line.
Then I can and then you can look back, as did the Apostle Paul and say, “I have fought a good fight and I have finished the race.”
Then Paul wrote, “I have kept the faith.” You could say, “that is living the Christian life by the book.”
III. The Christian Life by the Book
“I have remained faithful.” II Timothy 4:7
In my reading I found that ancient Olympians took an oath before the gods agreeing:
• they had done 10 months of training,
• they would not cheat or resort to trickery to win,
• they would keep the rules of honor for the contest.
We are midway through the NFL season this year… I really enjoy the season and am sad when it is over. But every season is always marred by on off-the-field antics and the unsportsmanship like behavior on-the-field. Players who run off the rails received game suspensions and are fined thousands of dollars for the lack of gamesmanship. Olympians took an oath that they would keep the rules and play by the book… they agreed to not be arrested for drunken-driving or submitting spilled or diluted samples for drug testing. Keeping faith was living up to the standard expectations of an Olympian.
If we think of “faith” as being that which we firmly believe and of which we are thoroughly convinced as in our confident hope in Jesus Christ, then “keeping faith” is to watchfully keep and guard that faith against any temptation to deviate from that faith or trial that would destroy that faith or any calamity that would destroy that faith.
The Apostle Paul modeled what it is like to have lived the Christian life, being able in the end to look back and say, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished the race and I have kept the faith…” And he also modeled what it is to finish well and look forward to what is yet to come.
At the end of life he looked into eternity and he saw his God-given reward for having been faithful in this life. He envisioned that day when he would stand on the podium, so to speak.
IV. The Christian Life on the podium
“And now the prize awaits me… the crown of righteousness which the righteous Judge will give me on the day of his return.” II Timothy 4:8
William Barclay’s little commentary from the Daily Bible Study Series, Letters to Timothy, Titus and Philemon, reminds us of how in the ancient Olympic Games those who triumphed in the arena or on the race were awarded a Victor’s Prize which was a laurel wreath crown. That laurel wreath was not unlike our Christmas wreaths… which within a short time wither and dry-up. Earthly rewards are temporary at best.
Illustration: When Bonnie and I moved to our second parish in Lincoln, NE where I was the Youth Pastor and Bonnie directed the church day care center, we moved into a new little brick house on a street lined with new homes built by The Lincoln Housing Authority. It was something of an urban renewal project I guess. It was Spartan but the nicest home we would live in for some time.
Shortly after moving into our home there was a terrible rain storm and we woke up to find two feet of water in our nice new basement… the builders had neglected to put a foot-valve in the drain so when all the water ran down the hill it all ran up the sewer pipe and into our basement.
Among all the stuff we toted out to the curb to be hauled to the dump was my box of high school memorabilia… all the articles clipped from the Odgen Reporter (“Ripsnorter”) that mentioned my exploits in football games and track meets. It contained all my medals and ribbons from four years of running track in regional and state meets.
I may as well have lived in New Orleans when Katrina hit or New Jersey when Sandy hit or in Lyons during the recent flooding here in Colorado… it was all awash in sewer water and fit only for the city dump.
But that experience like so many others, does serve to remind us of the ongoing tension between things temporal and things eternal.
So then, on a loftier note, when we have lived well and finished well, we too may look forward knowing that the prize awaits you and me… “the crown of righteousness which the righteous Judge, will give me and all who eagerly look forward to the day of his return.” II Timothy 4:8
I don’t really know what all that crown language means, all I know for sure is that it means there is a heavenly reward for finishing well.
Conclusion
Today is the day for the New York City Marathon… it is being run despite having been cancelled last year because of “Superstorm Sandy” and despite the bombings at the Boston Marathon in April. Today New York City is the arena and the streets of the city are the race-course and all who run must run by the book. They had to qualify and they must honor the rules of the race.
During the 26.2-mile journey through the five boroughs of New York City, marathoners will experience the sights and sounds of the city, cheered on by more than two million spectators, entertained by hundreds of bands, and be inspired every step of the way. 48,000 runners, 19,000 of whom are international runners, will vie for the crown, so to speak. Interestingly a New Yorker has not won the NYC Marathon in 39 years.
Bill Staab, president of the West Side Runners Club in Manhattan says there are world class professional marathoners who run to win and there are those who run ”just for the honor of doing well.” (Carolyn Weaver, 48,000 to Race in NYC Marathon, Voice of America, October 31, 2013)
I can assure you that I am not an elite Christian-life marathoner like the Apostle Paul or Billy Graham or whomever… I think I am more like one of those who fight the good fight and finish the race and keep the faith just for the honor of doing well. (I am more likely to finish like our Leeya… respectably in the middle of the pack.)
I trust that we too will commit to fighting the good fight, finishing the race and keeping the faith… just for the honor of doing well, to the glory of God and the good of others.
