Finishing the Race
(2 Timothy 4:1-8)
[Note: this was Pastor Ed Vasicek's retirement sermon after 43.5 years in continuous full time ministry and 39 years at Highland Park Church in Kokomo, IN)
1. People can justify just about anything, if they are quick enough. Today I have two jokes.
Morris Siegel, the owner of a small Kosher New York deli, was being questioned by an IRS agent about his tax return.
He had reported a net profit of $60,000 for the year.
"Why don't you people leave me alone?" the deli owner said.
"I work like a dog, everyone in my family helps out, the place is only closed three days a year. And you want to know how I made $60,000?"
"It's not your income that bothers us," the agent said. "It's these business travel deductions of $125,000. You listed ten trips to Israel for you and your wife."
"Oh, that?" the owner said smiling. "Well....we also deliver." [haruth.com].
2. Two friends run into each other while walking their dogs. One suggests lunch. The other says, "They won't let us in a restaurant with pets."
Undeterred, the first guy and his German shepherd head into the restaurant. The maître d' stops them, saying, "Sir, you can't bring your dog in here."
"But I'm blind," the man replies, "and this is my guide dog."
The maître d', apologizing profusely, shows both man and dog to a table.
His friend waits five minutes, then tries the same routine. "You have a Chihuahua for a guide dog?" the skeptical maître d' says.
"A Chihuahua?" the man says. "Is that what they gave me?"
3. When it came to serving the Lord, Paul the apostle did not rationalize away God’s truth or God’s calling. As he neared the end of his life, perhaps weeks or months away from execution, he had a sense of fulfillment: he had carried out the plan God had for him, and he had done so faithfully.
Main Idea: From the time we come to know the Lord, we are running the spiritual marathon He has marked out for us. Our concern is both to run the race well and to develop the next generation of runners.
I. We Should Be Concerned About the Church’s NEXT Generation (1-5).
A. The propagation plan was simple: well-trained faithful young LEADERS (1).
The “you” Paul is charging is Timothy, his protege, defined as, “a person who is guided and supported by an older and more experienced or influential person. “
B. The church needs leaders who can preach the WORD, not just preach or lead.
C. The danger of COMPROMISE and surrendering the culture is always looming.
1. Constant tension between ADJUSTMENT and compromise.
• Churches must adjust and change to a degree to accommodate the times; missionaries have done this for centuries. But those adjustments must be morally& spiritually neutral or positive.
• The Gospel is a scandal (skandalon); if people reject it, let it be the Gospel that offends them, not our failure to understand where they are coming from.
• Examples of neutral changes are styles of music, dress, service schedule – issues not directly or at least completely addressed by Scripture. Early church: Greek, men on one side, both men and women robes, no Bibles or hymnals, no A/C , nursery or organs or pianos. All innovations.
• But trying to adjust to the culture can easily result in Scriptural compromise; it is a delicate task.
• Too many such trends have been made by spoiled brat Christians who have a grudge or bitterness against the evangelical church. A lot of over reactions.
2. The temptation to “CORRECT” Biblical teaching via the culture through rationalization.
3. The temptation to gravitate toward made-up RELIGIOUS teachings, “myths.”
D. Solid leaders take the ministry SERIOUSLY (5).
1. Sober minded
2. Willing to suffer hardship and stress
3. Looking for opportunities to share the gospel (funerals, for example)
II. We Find Completing the Race SATISFYING, Even Amidst the Sorrow of Departure (6-8).
A. Paul was TRULY at the end of his ministry: he knew it (6).
B. The greatest satisfaction is knowing you have done what God CALLED you to do (7).
1. He calls us all to fight the good fight.
2. He calls us all to be faithful, to finish the race.
3. He calls us all to keep the faith, being true to clear cut Biblical teaching.
4. None of us know we will succeed in all these things until death; we can go astray.
5. Statistically, for example, the worse church troubled makers are retired men who have nothing to do, so they meddle with the pastor and the church. So I am not out danger like Paul was.
6. I have finished a major leg of the race, but hope to engage in a few more sprints as I serve in different ways. My ministry is not over, just my ministry as pastor of HPC.
Notice how these same exact themes are found in Acts 20:18b-37, passim:
“You yourselves know how ...I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable...testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ...But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again...I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God...Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert... And there was much weeping on the part of all; they embraced Paul and kissed him, being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they accompanied him to the ship.”
C. At the judgment seat of Christ, believers EAGER for Jesus’ appearing will be rewarded.
1. This connects to the parable of the 10 virgins; we know not at what hour the Lord will come as a thief in the night.
Fanny Crosby took this thought and wrote a hymn based upon it, “Will Jesus Find Us Watching?”
Here is the first stanza with the chorus:
When Jesus comes to reward His servants, Whether it be noon or night,
Faithful to Him will He find us watching, With our lamps all trimmed and bright?
Oh, can we say we are ready, brother? Ready for the soul’s bright home?
Say, will He find you and me still watching, Waiting, waiting when the Lord shall come?
2. The crown of righteousness, a special reward given to those awaiting Jesus’ return.
3. We will all be with the Lord together. No more parting there.
I hopefully have more years to live here on Planet Earth; Lord willing, we will visit with each other and see one another, so my marathon is yet ongoing. I have passed a significant milepost. When I came to pastor HPC, I had just turned 27. Now I have just turned 66. Very few pastors know the blessing of such a long tenure, but I could not have experienced that if you did not want me here.
I feel some of the satisfaction that Paul had, I believe. It has been a good experience, and few pastors and their families have been as blessed. We have invested in one another to the glory of God, and our investment has proven to be a good one. We are bound by chords of love and faith.
This is both a sad time and a happy time, and we are right to celebrate what God has done, but we are right to anticipate the exciting days ahead.
Thank you for allowing me to be your pastor, and treating myself, Marylu, and our children so well. God has been good to us all, but you have been good to us too, and we so appreciate and love you. We will pray for one another, keep in touch with one another, and one day we will inhabit the New Jerusalem for all eternity! God bless you!
