March 14, 2010 "Finishing Well"

3-14-10 Sunday, 5:23 am (Daylight savings time) 39 degrees, dark!

I think I have successfully navigated the “spring ahead” on this weekend that we corporately lose an hour. I have one clock that still reads 4:23, assuring me that I have in fact set the rest ahead. My cell phone and computer automatically reset, which is a little disconcerting, as it is hard to verify that they have done so.

II Timothy 4:6-8
The apostle Paul states that he has “fought the good fight, finished the race, kept the faith.” This is a marvelous example of a human finishing well. He was probably in his 60s, probably executed in Rome by beheading. His life had been “poured out as a libation”, like a drink offering at the tabernacle, wine poured onto the ground as an offering to God. He looks forward to the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge will give him, and also to “all who have longed for his appearing.”

My sermon this morning is entitled “Finishing Well”. I have been looking forward to it for weeks. I still need some final touches, and I have about an hour to do so. Speak through me this morning holy Lord that each of us might adjust our lives to fully live for you, right to the very end, whether it is within a month, or decades away.