The Life You’ll Be Glad You Lived

Good morning, church! Great to be with you this morning. If we haven’t met before, my name is Justin Domino [SHOW FAMILY PICTURE], I’m the Lead Pastor of New Hope Community Church in Cambridge and Isanti.

If you’ve got your Bible, I want you to turn to 2 Timothy 4:6-8, if you don’t have one, there’s a Bible under your seat, turn to page 814.

There was an elderly man named Frank sitting on a park bench, just enjoying the afternoon. A younger man, in his mid-twenties, named Tyler walks up and says, “Hey sir, do you happen to have the time?”

Frank looks at him for a second and says, “Nope. I’m not telling you the time.”

Tyler kind of laughs, thinking he’s joking. “Why not? It’s just the time.”

Frank leans back and says, “Because I know how this goes. If I tell you the time, we’ll probably

start talking. And if we start talking, we might hit it off. If we hit it off, maybe I invite you over for

dinner. You come over, you meet my family… and I’ve got a daughter.”

Frank says, “You meet my daughter, you like her, she likes you. Next thing I know, you’re coming around more often. You start dating. Then one day you show up asking for her hand in marriage… And there is no way I’m letting my daughter marry a man who doesn’t even own a watch or a phone.”

Frank did what we should all be doing: we need to play the movie. If your life was a movie that

you could sit down to watch, and you could watch yourself make the decisions you’re making. You could watch the path you’re on right now. As you play that movie, what does the end look like?

I would venture to believe that when we are on our deathbed, the last thing we will be thinking about is our white SUV, our 401(k), or our GPA or ACT score. And I would know…because back in 2007, when I was 14, I won the state baseball tournament, being Centennial 4-3 in the bottom of the 7th inning. Not only that, but I went on to play one semester of D3 college baseball… ☺ and I’ll you this: that’s the last thing I’ll be thinking about on my deathbed. Not, “I wish I would’ve won more championships.” Not, “I’m so thankful I drove a Harley.” Not, “I did it, 5 million in the 401(k). I can die now.”

For many of us, death is only part the tragedy, but the real tragedy it’s the regrets we have that we carry to our deathbed, that’s the tragedy. That’s the fear. We’re afraid of realizing too late that we’ve wasted what mattered most. We’re afraid of becoming the dad who provided financially but never led spiritually. The husband who stayed married but stopped pursuing. The Christian who believed true things but never really poured himself out.

The Apostle Paul wrote this book of 2 Timothy just before his death. And here’s the key, he knew his death was coming. He was in prison, under lock and key. He’s been imprisoned many times in his life, but he knew was it. Yet, here’s the amazing thing: he seems to almost welcome his death. Even knocking on death’s door, Paul seems to be sitting there with confidence and peace. I don’t know about you, but I want that. Here’s what he says:

2 Timothy 4:6-8

6 For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near.

7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

8 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.

PAUL’S DEATH

Let’s start here in v. 6:

6 For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near.

I love the way Paul describes his death. He doesn’t say, “I’m about to die.” He doesn’t say, “death is coming for me and I hope I was right about this whole religion thing.” No, he describes his death as a departure. As if he’s driving to the airport on the way to Cancun. Because he knows that while death on this earth is a reality, it’s not really the end. He’s departing for Paradise, he’s departing for heaven. There’s no reason to fear. This is his next stop.

But what’s interesting is he also describes himself as being “poured out like a drink offering.”

Under the OT sacrificial system, before Jesus died on the cross as the ultimate sacrifice, the Jewish people would bring an animal sacrifice to the altar as an offering to God for the atonement of their sin. This was their way of confession, repentance, and being forgiven of their sin before Jesus became the ultimate sacrifice.

When Paul describes himself as being poured out like a drink offering, he’s not comparing himself to Jesus. He’s not saying, “look at my life, I’m a great example, now I’m dying like Jesus.” Alongside this animal sacrifice, sometimes the priests would pour out oil or wine on the altar, this was the drink offering. It was meant to be a sacrifice of honor and appreciation. The animal sacrifice was out of necessity. It had to be done. But the drink offering was done out of worship, adoration, appreciation. Paul is saying, “my life is like that drink offering. Jesus gladly gave His life as a sacrifice for me, the least I could do is gladly pour out the last drops of my life for Him.

Jesus poured out His life for Paul, now Paul is pouring out his own life to honor Jesus. Let me ask you this question: does your life honor Jesus Christ? We live in a very me-centered culture. I studied abroad in Italy in 2014. I saw the Roman Colosseum, I walked through St. Peter’s Basilica, I went on one of those fancy boat taxis through the waters in Venice. And you know what I did, I took a selfie at every place. As if me being in the picture makes it better!

But when’s the last time you asked yourself, am I pouring myself out to honor Jesus? Am I living in way that brings glory and attention to God and not myself?

Then he writes to Timothy in v.7:

PAUL IS LOOKING BACK ON LIFE

7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

I’m only 32. I’m getting older, my right knee is sore, but I’m doing alright. I think about death sometimes, but more so as this thing that will come one day. But as a pastor, I’ve sat at the bedside of countless dying people. Some of them as young as 20, some of them as old as 97. The young one’s are tragic. But it’s the old one’s that always get me a little bit. I was talking to this guy in his late 40s. Scared of death. And death came for him. I walked him through how to not be afraid. You can know your eternity is secure, the whole 9 yards. But he was still terrified.

Then, last August, I was in the hospital with a 90-year-old woman.

“How you feeling today, Darlene?”

“Well, I’m hoping today’s the day, I’m tired. Just sitting here wondering when the Lord is going to take me.” Total nonchalant attitude towards death. Just ready to be with Jesus.

Then it hits me: why? What’s the difference? Because Darlene fought the good fight, she finished the race, she kept the faith. And what that brought her is total peace.

Paul describes what the Chirstian life is like and in typical Paul fashion, he speaks in athletic and military terms. He describes that following Jesus is a lot like a fight. You’re going to constantly fight off your own sin, you’re going to be fighting the enemy in spiritual warfare, you’re going to be fighting against the sin in other people’s lives. And the point is not to grow cynical, to get depressed, and retreat with a woe is me attitude. But we must fight. We must be people of prayer, people of the Word, people who commit ourselves to our House Church because we can’t do this alone.

And we fight this fight with the end in mind. The Christian life is a marathon, not a sprit. It’s as Pastor Eugene Peteson put it, a “long obedience in the same direction.” If you’re going to finish a marathon, it takes time, effort, dedication, resilience, but when you cross the finish line, it’s a mixture of pain and euphoria. You’ve taken hits, you’ve got the calloused feet, but all the suffering, all the fighting for the faith, it’s all brought you closer and closer to Jesus Christ and it makes it all worth it. no matter what the world threw at you, you kept the faith and because of that, you’ll receive the crown of righteousness that’s in store for you by the grace of God.

QUESTIONS TO ASK OURSELVES

1. What does God think about me?
2. What does my family think about me?

What these simple questions will lead you to, are deeper questions, like these one’s:

1. Am I pouring my life out for Christ or preserving it for comfort?
2. Would the people closest to me say my faith shaped how I loved them?
3. What obedience am I delaying that I would regret on my deathbed?

If you’ve ever read Steven Covey’s book, the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, he has an exercise that he recommends you do. You should think of 3-4 people who you want to speak at your funeral. And then you write down what you would want them to say about you. You ever thought about that? What would you want people to say about you at your funeral?

But here’s the key, and here’s where I think there’s a difference between 1. Being someone who cares about their legacy and 2. Being a Christian who cares about their legacy. The difference is that I think we need to think longer and harder about how our lives glorify God rather than just the glory of our own name. What do I mean by that?

You should think less about how much money you’re leaving your kids. You should think less about were you the guy with the good sense of humor. Were you the person who was a really good friend. I’m not saying those aren’t important, but notice this about Paul’s last words to Timothy, he doesn’t say anything about how much money he has, or friends he has, or whatever else, he talks about his own faith.

When I die, I want my wife and kids to stand up there and say, “Justin loved God with all his heart. We know that because he got up and read his Bible. He talked about God. we saw him talk to God everyday. We noticed that his relationship with God changed the way he loved us as a dad and as a husband. I want a church member of mine to say that I visited them when they were sick. That I preached the Gospel. That I never backed down from standing firm in the faith. And that it was evident that I loved God with my whole heart.

The point is this: rather than thinking about our legacy in worldly terms as far as money, were we funny, did we care about the environment, yadda-yadda-yadda, I want us to think about our legacy in light of the Gospel that we received. Jesus died for my sins on the cross. He gave His life for me. I can NEVER repay that. But I can try. I can pour out my life to Him. I will give my life as an offering to Him.

The question then becomes, what do I need to do in my life to become a man like that? It might mean you have to start reading your Bible. You have to start praying. You have to go deeper, challenge yourself and start serving in the church. You have to start tithing your money because generosity is lacking in your life. You have to grab your wife’s hand and say, “I know we’ve never done this, but I want to pray with you right now and let’s do this every night before bed.” It might be looking your kids in the eyes and saying, “daddy is going to start getting our family to church every Sunday.”

Ultimately, living a life with no regrets is about the battle between comfort and faithfulness. You have to play the movie and answer, what do I need to start doing today that, on my deathbed, I will be thankful that I did?

For some of you, you’re saved, you’re a follower of Jesus, but you need to think more deeply today. But I know that some of you in the room, you don’t know Jesus. You’re still what we might call an “unbeliever.” And I’m glad you’re here. I’m not the pastor of Renovation, you may never see me again, but I can tell you this: that Renovation Church expected you to show up today, they’re glad you’re here, and they exist for people like you, who might feel far from God right now but they want you to put your faith in Jesus today.

Here’s what that looks like: You have to believe. Jesus is the sinless Savior who died on the cross as the sacrifice for you sin. When He rose from the dead 3 days after His death, He defeated sin and death. Death couldn’t hold Him down. But what that accomplished is 2 things: 1. Your sins are forgiven because Jesus died for them. 2. You can be saved and “born again” spiritually because Jesus rose from the dead. He overcame death.

You don’t work your way to heaven, you don’t do good things so God will be happy with you, you put your faith in Jesus that He saved you, you commit your life to following His teachings, and He saves you. Before you can even think about your legacy, you need to think about your eternity. And life apart from God leads not just to feeling like you’re missing something, it needs to a fear of death itself.