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.
Tony Scott?s Untimely Death
This week moviegoers lost a hero in the untimely death of 68-year old Tony Scott. Scott directed blockbusters as far back as
Despite initial reports that he was suffering from an inoperable brain cancer Scott appeared to have been in a great and happy state of mind. He had no financial worries and was happily married and excited about
Death and Dying
Preachers probably have conversations with a family about death and dying more than most people. Sometimes it?s about someone who has already passed and other times about someone who is dying.
In his sermon, Dr. Thomas had spoken to someone about a family member who had passed away a year or so ago. The person remarked how she had known for a couple of years that she was dying of cancer. The conversation then turned to whether it would be good or bad to know you?re dying. You would have time to prepare but some would say it?s better to go without thinking about it first. For many, knowing when death was imminent would cast a dark shadow over everything. For them it would be better just to drop dead without having to dwell on it.
But Dr. Thomas argues, ?If the truth be told ? we all know!? Human mortality is 100%. He quotes Woody Allen, ?It?s not that I?m afraid to die. I just don?t want to be there when it happens.? Dr. Thomas then adds some humor to this delicate subject. Three friends were discussing their future obituaries? One asked, ?What would you like folks 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 their silent buddy who without hesitation added, ?I?d like them to say ?Look, he?s moving!??
The Apostle Paul knew in advance that his days were numbered. Paul was confident in the face of death and that wasn?t by accident. Paul looked death in the face with a sense of readiness. He says, ?For I am already being poured out like a drink offering.? A drink offering was a sacrifice and both Jews and pagans were familiar with them. During the sacrifice one would approach an altar of hot coals and as a prayer or special vow was spoken pour wine over the coals. The wine instantly evaporated in a cloud of smoke and released a sweet rich fragrance. Romans often ended their meals with a drink offering. To them the drink offering marked the end of the meal as a time to move on. It also symbolized giving the last drop of glory to their gods.
Paul was saying in not so many words that the time to leave earth was close by and his life must be poured out as a sacrifice to God. While his executors thought they were taking Paul?s life, he saw his death as an offering to God. He also called his death a departure. The word he used was that used to unyoke an animal from a cart or plow. Paul chose to view death as a rest from labor. Death would release Paul from a Roman prison to a heaven palace.
Paul realized that life in this world was temporary. It was time for him to move on and Paul was ready to go home.
In looking at the past, Paul explains his readiness for death drawing an analogy from the athletic world, ?I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race.? Life can be tough. Sometimes we have to have hand-to-hand, down and dirty combat with the world, the flesh and the devil. It?s a fight. Nobody said it would be easy. But finishing well is worth the effort. The Christian life is a marathon not a sprint. You win the race by not giving up. Finishing is life?s victory. As Dr. Thomas says, ?It is not so much about how fast you go or how many you pass along the way, but do you finish well??
Paul was looking forward to his reward, ?a crown of righteousness.? In the ancient Olympic style games, a winner received as a crown a laurel wreath, whose value came from the occasion and the hand that bequeathed it. To Paul, heaven was about being in the presence of the Lord. For the lover of God, God?s presence is the ultimate reward.
A Modern Day Paul
In 1987 Paul Azinger was named the PGA player of the year. Six years later he won his only major title, 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 and he wrote, ?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.?
Azinger remembered something that chaplain to the golf pros Larry Moody had told 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.? Thanks to six months of chemotherapy and five weeks of radiation treatment Azinger beat the cancer and returned to the PGA tour. Even though he lived a great life as a professional golfer, 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.?
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).
Resources
The Final Journey: The Life and Death of Judy Abernathy
The Last Lecture
Quotes About Dying
More about Paul Azinger
Living and Dying with Compassion
About Our Quotester: Bible
Affectionately referred to as ?Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth? this marvelous work varies as its contents and order of chapters vary among denominations.
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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.
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