"I am at my best nearing the finish of a race. Until then I am just another mediocre distance runner. Just one of the many run-of-the-mill competitors well back in the pack. Just one more old man trying to string together six-minute miles and not quite succeeding. But with the finish line in sight, all that changes. Now I am the equal of anyone. I am world class. I am unbeatable. Gray-haired and balding and starting to wrinkle, but world class. Gasping and wheezing and groaning, but unbeatable." So writes Dr. George Sheehan in his book Running and Being (Simon and Schuster, 1978, p. 221).
An accomplished cardiologist, author and marathon runner, George Sheehan lived his life with passion and purpose. Even when confronted with terminal cancer in 1991, he demonstrated courage and determination. He ran life's race and he finished strong.
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As with Dr. Sheehan, the day will come for each of us to finish life's race. In
II Timothy 4 we read how that time had come for Paul. In fewer than one hundred words, he shares with us the hardship of his present, the heartbeat of his past and the hope he holds for the future. In this brief passage Paul reflects on his life and ministry. He looks around, looks back and then he looks ahead. With the finish line in sight, as he picks up the pace, Paul sums up his dynamic life and his hope in death. The lessons we learn from this aging apostle will enable us to run well today, while encouraging us to finish strong tomorrow.
Paul's words are dictated, probably to Luke, shortly before his martyrdom at the decree of the Roman Emperor Nero in the year 66 AD. For thirty years he has traveled, witnessed, worked and preached throughout the Mediterranean world. He has been helped and hated, assisted and attacked, blessed and cursed. Whatever else can be said of his faith and life, it certainly wasn't dull! Enduring imprisonment and anticipating his execution, Paul begins in verse 6 with two vivid metaphors telling us about the hardship of the present.
First, Paul sees himself as a "drink offering" about to be poured out. What is the apostle saying? In ancient Rome banquets commonly ended with a particular ritual: the symbolic act of pouring out on the ground a cup of wine in honor of the Roman gods. Here Paul borrows this image. He says that his life is an offering poured out for the Lord Jesus Christ. Of course, this fits with Paul's belief that all of life is to come under the Lordship of Christ. All of life is to be regarded as "a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God" as Paul writes in
Romans 12. In effect, the apostle is saying, "The Roman authorities will not take my life. Rather I will die living my life, giving my life for the Lord. I have been a living sacrifice, serving Him, since the day I was saved. Now I will complete that sacrifice by laying down my life for the One who gave His life for me."