Through the New Testament 2005
Ready and Waiting
2 Timothy 4:6-8
Dr. Roger W. Thomas, Preaching Minister
First Christian Church, Vandalia, MO
The other day I had a conversation with a family about death and dying. Preachers probably have those kinds of discussions more often than most people. In this case, I we were talking about a family member who had passed away a year or so ago. Someone remarked how she had known for a couple of years that she was dying of cancer.
The conversation turned to whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing to know in advance that you’re dying. On one hand, you have time to prepare. On the other hand, it might be better to go without having to think about it for so long. That knowledge has a way of casting a dark shadow over everything. Maybe it would be better just to drop dead without having to dwell on it. It would be a tough call –whether you would want to know or not.
If the truth be told—we all know! The real issue is when not if! Human mortality is 100%. Some of just act like we are going to be the exception. Hollywood star, Woody Allen, spoke for a lot of people when he said, "It’s not that I’m afraid to die. I just don’t want to be there when it happens."
Did you hear about the three guys discussing their obituaries? One asked, “What would you like folk to say at your wake?” One of his buddies thought for minute, "I’d like them to say ‘He was a great humanitarian who cared about his community.’" The fellow who had initiated the conversation replied, "I’d like them to say ‘He was a great husband and father who was an example for many to follow.’" The two nodded in agreement and looked to the silent buddy. Without hesitation he added, "I’d like them to say ‘Look, he’s moving!’"
Our text was penned by a man who knew his days were numbered. These words come from the last chapter of the last book written by the Apostle Paul. This kind of confidence in the face of death doesn’t happen by accident. Paul looks death in the face and says, “I am ready.” Note the two illustrations he uses to describe his attitude toward what he is facing.
“For I am already being poured out like a drink offering..” A drink offering was a type of sacrifice. Both Old Testament Jews and their pagan counterparts were familiar with drink offerings. A worshiper would approach the altar of hot coals with a goblet of wine. As a prayer or special vow was spoken the wine would be poured on the coals. The wine instantly evaporated giving off a cloud of smoke and a sweet rich fragrance.
The Romans often ended a meal or banquet with such an offering. It marked the time to rise and move on as well symbolized the giving of last drop to glory of the gods. That is how Paul viewed his coming death. It is as if he was saying: "The day is ended; it is time to rise and go; and my life must be poured out as a sacrifice to God." His executors might think they were taking Paul’s life. He viewed his death as an offering he was giving to God. He had given everything to his Lord since the day of conversion on the Damascus Road. He has one thing left to give—his life. He offered that too as a sacrifice of worship to God.
He also calls his death a departure. That too pictured a concept common to his readers. This was the word for unyoking an animal from the shafts of the cart or the plow. Death marked a rest from labor. This was also the term for loosening bonds or chains. Death would mean release for Paul. He would be promoted from a Roman prison to a heaven palace. The Greeks also used the term for striking a tent. Life in this world was temporary. It was to pull the tent pegs and pack the gear and move on. It is the same word for loosening the moorings of a ship so it could set sail. Paul was ready to set sail for home.
In verse seven, Paul looks to the past. This explains his readiness for death. He says, “My life has not been easy, but it has been worth it.” Paul uses three word pictures from the world of the athletic world.
I have fought the good fight. This was the description of a wrestling match. Life can be tough. Sometimes we do hand-to-hand, down and dirty combat with the world, the flesh, and devil. It’s a fight. Nobody said it would be easy. But finishing well is worth the effort.
I have finished the race. Life, the Christian life especially, is marathon, not a sprint. Winning, in this case, means not giving up. Finishing is victory. It is not so much about how fast you go or how many you pass along the way, but do you finish well?
I have kept the faith. The idea here is probably similar to that of 1 Cor 9:24-27, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. …Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.“ Paul could say he played by the rules. He had finished and finished well.
In our text Paul speaks of the present. He looks death in the face and says, “I’m ready.” He looks back at a lifetime of struggles and knows it was worth it. Finally, he looks at the future and says, “I can’t wait.”
He looked forward to his reward, “a crown of righteousness.” In the ancient Olympic style games, a winner received a laurel wreath not a gold medal. The wreath had little value in and of itself. It’s worth came from the occasion and the hand that bequeathed it.
Heaven is not first about gates of pearl and golden streets. It is about the presence of the Lord. Jesus, “I go to prepare a place for you that where I am there you may be with me.” For the lover of God the presence of God is the ultimate reward.
In one of his books, A.M. Hunter, the New Testament scholar, relates the story of a dying man who asked his Christian doctor to tell him something about the place to which he was going. As the doctor fumbled for a reply, he heard a scratching at the door, and he had his answer. "Do you hear that?" he asked his patient. "It’s my dog. I left him downstairs, but he has grown impatient, and has come up and hears my voice. He has no notion what is inside this door, but he knows that I am here. Now then, isn’t it the same with you? Even though you don’t know or understand everything that’s on the other side, you know who’s there. That’s what makes the difference.”
It might be one thing for an apostle or missionary to have such hopeful expectations of the future. But where does that leave ordinary folk like the rest of us. Note the last part of our text. This may be the most hopeful part. “–not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” All is a big word! There’s room in it for you!
As a golfer, Azinger was at the top of his game. In 1987 he was named the PGA player of the year. Six years later he won the coveted PGA championship. At the age of 33 he had a remarkable ten tournament victories to his credit. The very next year Azinger was diagnosed with cancer.
He wrote of his experience. "A feeling of fear came over me. I could die from cancer. Then another reality hit me. I’m going to die anyway, whether from cancer or something else. It’s just a question of when. Golf suddenly became meaningless to me. All I wanted to do was live."
As Azinger faced the possibility of his own death, he remembered something that Larry Moody, a chaplain to the pro golfers, had said to him. "Zinger, we’re not in the land of the living going to the land of the dying. We’re in the land of the dying trying to get to the land of the living."
Azinger beat the cancer. He recovered from chemotherapy and returned to the PGA tour. But Job’s question changed his perspective. Azinger wrote, "I’ve made a lot of money since I’ve been on the tour. I’ve won a lot of tournaments. But that happiness is always temporary. The only way I have ever found true contentment is in my personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I’m not saying that nothing ever bothers me and I don’t have problems, but now I’ve found the answer—the answer to the six-foot hole."
That’s the ultimate issue for all of us. What’s the answer to the six-foot hole? Azinger discovered it. Paul knew what it was. That’s what enabled him to speak with such confidence. “For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”
The answer is found earlier in the same book as our text. This same answer is available to anyone, no matter who they are or how far they have strayed. “But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death … I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.”
***Dr. Roger W. Thomas is the preaching minister at First Christian Church, 205 W. Park St., Vandalia, MO 63382 and an adjunct professor of Bible and Preaching at Central Christian College of the Bible, 911 E. Urbandale, Moberly, MO. He is a graduate of Lincoln Christian College (BA) and Lincoln Christian Seminary (MA, MDiv), and Northern Baptist Theological Seminary (DMin).
