When All Is Said and Done: Joel 2: 23-32; II Tim. 4: 6-8, 16-18
Sometimes, when all is said and done, people leave a bit of humor behind them, specifically as an epitaph or quote on their headstone. One such person, out of humor, had engraved on his headstone the words, “I told you I was sick.” There are others just as strange and comical, such as Susan who would tell people asking about her fudge recipe, “Over my dead body.” Her family had the recipe printed on the back of her headstone…over her dead body. What do we say, what will be the takeaway from our lives when all is said and done?
In our New Testament, we read portions of a letter Paul wrote to Timothy. Some scholars debate whether Paul wrote this, or a follower of Paul wrote it a little later, but here we are going to look at the letter to Timothy as authored by Paul. We encounter an Apostle Paul later in life, close to his death by execution in Rome. This is the closing chapter of Second Timothy, and Paul starts it out with some very famous words. He writes, “As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful.”
That is, perhaps, one of the greatest claims to be made about our lives when all is said and done. We have fought the good fight. We have finished the race. We have remained faithful. It’s the kind of statement that reflects a robust, deep, and mature faith. And Paul has indeed learned his lessons through trial by fire. He faced beatings, imprisonment, being outcast, trials, shipwrecks, and all kinds of danger in his mission to spread the Good News of God’s love and grace. Those trials, those tests of endurance have grounded his faith and helped it mature to a place where he is truly and fully at peace.
Paul even tells how, when he came to be tried and judged, he was abandoned and alone. Jesus was denied and Paul was abandoned. It’s a sad indictment of those Paul had counted on for support. But we hear that for Paul, whose faith was strong and powerful, we hear his words of forgiveness, “May it not be counted against them.” But we hear further that “the Lord stood with [him] and gave [him] strength” to preach the Good News for all in Rome to hear. When all was said and done, Paul stood firm, Paul spoke the truth, and Paul had faith which was deep and powerful. But Paul also leaves a reminder for Timothy and all who read this: “Yes, and the Lord will deliver me from every evil attack and bring me safely into his heavenly Kingdom.”
When all is said and done, will we be able to have that kind of faith like Paul, a faith which is deep, expansive, and powerful? Few of us will ever face the kind of trial and difficulty that Paul did, but even in what we face in life, will be hold firm to say, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful?” You see this great difference in Paul from his early days: contentious, restless, ready to argue and debate. But here we see a Paul who is older, resolute, and wholly at peace with whatever comes at him in life. Paul’s growth and maturity in faith should be an example for us, to grow and mature in the same way in our walk with God.
But, when all is said and done, it is not just us as individuals in faith who are to grow and mature. God will also redeem and inspire humanity and the world itself on a grand scale. The book of Joel is a judgement and prophetic vision of restoration. After locusts destroy all of the crops and overwhelm the towns, God offers a word of hope: “Rejoice, you people of Jerusalem! Rejoice in the Lord Your God…I will give you back what you lost.” Whereas we deal in faith, God deals in restoration and redemption.
There are a number of promises made to the people: the plague of locusts would disappear, food will be abundant again, they will no longer face disgrace, God’s Spirit will be poured out on them. And in this prophetic word God promises that the daughters will prophesy, the old men will dream dreams, the young men will see visions. It is a promise that God’s Spirit will redeem, restore, and energize the entirety of the people, because when all is said and done, God will not leave God’s people desolate and abandoned.
Sarah Corson was a missionary to Bolivia in 1980. She was there with a team of seventeen other young people trying to bring the Good News to different parts of the remote regions of Bolivia. The team traveled down some of the deadliest and most dangerous roads, crossed treacherous and swollen rivers to both teach of Christ and to bring training of sustainable agriculture for a more reliable food supply. But there was a danger lurking in these remote regions that she did not count on.
The military junta which seized power after the president died believe the American missionaries were encouraging the resistance and wanted to eliminate the missionaries entirely. Sarah and her team were discovered by the soldiers and in those few moments before capture, she prayed hard. After she was attacked, shoved to the ground, and had guns aimed at her, she began to share with the soldiers how she loved them, and how Christ loved them as well. The soldiers were amazed by her actions and inspired by her words and her faith. The commander said to her, “I could have fought any amount of guns you might have had, but there is something here I cannot understand, I cannot fight it.”
Eventually, she was released and went on to continue to co-pastor a Bolivian church which was packed with people the Sunday after the raid, and because of her actions, even the military commander showed up to church that Sunday and found God. Not only was Sarah able to change hearts and minds, she also changed their farming habits, so that the people had a regular supply of food and no one would go hungry.
When all is said and done, what will be said of us? Have we embraced the God who redeems and restores the people, enlivening and encouraging them? Or will we live our lives weak in faith and struggling in our hope and strength? The Apostle Paul looked forward to the result of his life in faith: “and now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on this day of his return.”
Paul also give us that same hope reminding us, “And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing.” So, therefore, let us live in faith and hope knowing that our God redeems and restores. One day when all is said and done there will be a lasting word or understanding of us. I pray that each of us have the faith that we may say, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have kept the faith.”