Feeling misunderstood? Jesus only.   2 Timothy 4.1-5

What will you be thinking about when you come to the end of your days?  Assuming that you live to a ripe ol’ age, as you recount and revisit the days and years, the relationships, many experiences and accomplishments, will you find that you lived a life you are proud of—or will regrets and wishes for do-overs haunt you?  [stop, reread that sentence, and take a moment with it please] Truth is, right now, today is the day to think about that day, right?  I mean, if you want to feel good about that ripe-ol-age day, then now is the time to search yourself, consider if there might be some things you would like to do … or change … or add, so that on that day, you will mostly wear a smile on your tired face.  Today is the day to think, ‘Does my life count?  What of any lasting value will I leave behind?  Who do I need to forgive or with whom do I need to mend hurt or hard feelings…anybody?  Who are the people who might not know how much they mean to me?’  These are the substantive thoughts of those who are at the end of their days.  I know.

After the first of the year, I received a ‘thank you’ card in the mail from someone who told me about the difference I made in her life years ago—in friendship, in faith, etc.  I like this woman … a lot; however, there are 450 miles between us now, and honestly we let life get in the way of a special relationship.   (The main point is her stopping to think about influencers in her life—otherwise I would tell you what her letter touched off and set up in my life … a story for another day; however, the more correct summation of my feelings for her are ‘I love this woman … a lot.’)

So, on that day--the place where Paul finds himself, and we find him writing to Timothy, (at the start of 2 Timothy 4)--the truth is most people will not be looking at their bucket list, [for those of you not from the US of A, a ‘bucket list’ is usually a kind of self-indulgent thought process of things and happenings an individual wants to do—not bad, but usually not about anybody else, just desires of self] But on or near those last days, most are thinking about things that last, differences made, and people they’ve loved well, or not.  Those focused on the not will be those with regrets—I just don’t want to be one of those.  I do not want to be filled with regret.

In yesterday’s Morning Briefing, “Paul’s last words”, http://pastorwoman.com/ReadArchive.aspx?id=1400, I included the entirety of the chapter; in it, there is one thing noticeably missing—regret.  I find that interesting, inspiring, and challenging.  Dang, I can’t wait to meet this man!  We know that as Paul wrote, he lived a full life, and a life full—of adventure, relationships, travel, education, exposure to many different places, people and things—as well as adversity, persecution, hardship, and the accompanying intense joy and satisfaction.  And so he writes to Timothy: 

“In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.” 2 Tim. 4.1-5

Some of you have been with me from the start of our journey with Paul—clear back in Acts 9, [archived at Pastorwoman.com], when Jesus Christ stepped into his path, intersected his journey to get his attention, and literally blinded him so he could finally see!  And now, at long last, perhaps this passage gives us the clearest insight into the psyche of Paul; he did not play for the crowds, he worked only for the applause of One. 

O man, O woman, do you not see?  This is it.  At the end of our days, only One will judge, and indeed he will!  So, why do I care when someone rejects my teaching?  Why do I care when another decides I am ‘yesterday’s news’? How is it that I let it bother me that some pastor or another says I should not be doing what I do because I am a woman? Paul got it.  He knew that Jesus was his judge, and Jesus alone—not the magistrates, not Nero—but Jesus only. 

Feeling misunderstood? I pray not anymore.  Jesus only.  Christine