The story of your life stretches beyond the dash on the tombstone.
“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.
For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. 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” (2 Tim. 4:1-8).
A man faces a firing squad. The commander of the squad offers the condemned a blindfold. He refuses it. Next, he offers him a last cigarette as was the custom. The man refuses that, too. Then he asks one final question, “What do you want on your tombstone?” With a wide smile, the man cheerfully replies, “Pepperoni and cheese!” The ad campaign sold a lot of Tombstone frozen pizzas back in the 90s.
While the ad makes light of a serious situation and subverts the expectations of those watching, consider for a moment the question, “What do you want your gravestone to say?” You see all kinds of things on headstones when you walk through a cemetery. Names, pictures, relations, Bible verses, hopeful sayings, epithets, and even a person’s last words. But just about every stone has this in common: a birthdate, a dash, and the date of death. That dash between the dates represents the span of your days in this world. What do you want that dash to be about?
In 2 Timothy, we have Paul’s last words. These are the last words of his final book before he was martyred for Jesus. There are just a few words of greeting after these verses, and then the letter ends. In his final words, Paul first offers encouragement to Timothy, a young pastor who had learned from him and worked alongside him.
Paul’s words to Timothy are good reminders for us, too. He encourages Timothy to stick to God’s Word and share it with others, whatever the circumstance. And when you share it, Paul reminds him to be patient with people and take time to teach it carefully. Then Paul warns that not everyone wants to listen. They have their own ideas and don’t want to listen to God’s, and so people will find preachers to tell them what they want to hear. Paul’s final encouragements are to keep your cool, don’t be afraid to suffer some hardship, preach the gospel, and faithfully carry out the responsibilities of your calling. Sounds like pretty good encouragement for filling the dash on your tombstone.
Now Paul speaks to his own life. It’s nearly over, and he knows it. As they would pour wine out at the altar in a drink offering, soon his life would be poured from him as the last act of devotion to his Savior. His fight, his race is over. But Paul is confident of what lies ahead, “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” (2 Tim. 4:8). Paul knew when his life here ends, Jesus would place the crown of his own righteousness on Paul’s head. A gift of grace, far from deserved, an inheritance of heaven that will never perish, spoil, or fade.
You can long for Jesus’ appearing. There’s no need for fear. There will never be disappointment or sadness.
But did you catch the best thing here? Jesus gives that crown “not only to me,” Paul says “but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” Paul is talking about you and me. You know Jesus will place a crown of righteousness on your head, too. His righteousness covers all sin and hides any shame. It stands even before a holy God and all the hosts of heaven, and so it raises you up to stand there too. That is what waits for you, and so you can long for Jesus’ appearing. There’s no need for fear. There will never be disappointment or sadness. When Jesus appears, whether that is on your last day or on the Last Day, that is the day you get your crown.
That also means the story of your life stretches beyond the dash on the tombstone. Both faith in that reality and confidence in Jesus’ righteousness change the way you look at your time here. The gospel is the most important thing there is because it’s through the gospel that Jesus offers you forgiveness and assurance of that salvation. You can endure hardship, especially hardship for Jesus’ sake, because such troubles last but a moment when compared to the eternity of glory that awaits. You can serve faithfully in your callings because you know Jesus is giving you the privilege of showing his love to others in your service. What significance, what meaning, what hope that brings to your life, and what glory waits beyond!
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.
For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. 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.
.jpg?width=36&height=36&name=MRubinstein%20(1).jpg){kind=small}
