WEBVTT 00:00:00.959 --> 00:00:07.599 Today, as we finish out this week, we hear what might be Saint Paul's final words before his martyrdom. 00:00:07.919 --> 00:00:08.960 Imagine that. 00:00:09.359 --> 00:00:22.640 A man who had spent his life preaching Christ, crossing the Roman Empire, being beaten, imprisoned, shipwrecked, mocked, and persecuted, knows that his earthly life is coming to an end. 00:00:22.879 --> 00:00:24.079 And what does he say? 00:00:24.320 --> 00:00:27.039 Not, well, I wish I had done something else. 00:00:27.359 --> 00:00:33.920 I wish I'd been more successful, I wish I had more things, I wish I had more money, I wish I would have been appreciated more. 00:00:34.079 --> 00:00:34.320 No. 00:00:34.479 --> 00:00:37.600 Instead he says, I have competed well. 00:00:38.159 --> 00:00:39.759 I have finished the race. 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:41.840 I have kept the faith. 00:00:42.399 --> 00:00:44.640 What a magnificent sentence. 00:00:45.439 --> 00:00:50.000 At the end of life, Paul measures success differently than the world. 00:00:50.240 --> 00:00:50.560 Why? 00:00:50.719 --> 00:00:54.240 Because the world's gonna ask, How many how much did you earn? 00:00:54.479 --> 00:00:56.399 How many followers do you have? 00:00:56.640 --> 00:00:59.280 How much influence do you accumulate? 00:01:00.479 --> 00:01:03.840 Paul asks, did I keep the faith? 00:01:04.079 --> 00:01:05.840 And that's the question. 00:01:06.400 --> 00:01:09.760 One day every single one of us will stand before Christ. 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:18.319 The diplomas will not matter, the titles will not matter, the promotions we didn't get or did get not matter. 00:01:18.560 --> 00:01:20.640 The applause will not matter. 00:01:20.959 --> 00:01:24.879 The question will be, did you remain faithful to me? 00:01:25.439 --> 00:01:27.840 And notice Paul's warning to Timothy. 00:01:28.159 --> 00:01:38.719 The time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine, but following their own desires will accumulate teachers and stop listening to the truth. 00:01:39.439 --> 00:01:44.079 If there was ever a verse written for our time, it is that one. 00:01:44.400 --> 00:01:49.359 We live in a time when people often choose teachers the way they choose restaurants. 00:01:49.519 --> 00:01:53.200 They look for someone who tells them exactly what they want to hear. 00:01:53.439 --> 00:01:56.319 If a teacher challenges them, they move on. 00:01:56.480 --> 00:01:59.760 If the gospel demands conversion, they look elsewhere. 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:04.480 If Christ asks for sacrifice, they'll find a more comfortable message. 00:02:05.680 --> 00:02:08.719 Paul says this is not new. 00:02:11.439 --> 00:02:14.159 Human nature has not changed. 00:02:14.479 --> 00:02:17.840 We all prefer affirmation to correction. 00:02:18.080 --> 00:02:20.879 We all prefer comfort to conversion. 00:02:21.039 --> 00:02:25.919 We all prefer a God who agrees with us and our plans. 00:02:26.639 --> 00:02:30.800 But the gospel is not given to us to confirm our opinions. 00:02:31.039 --> 00:02:34.400 It is given so that we may transform our lives. 00:02:35.039 --> 00:02:42.159 That's why Paul tells Timothy, proclaim the word whether convenient or inconvenient. 00:02:42.639 --> 00:02:52.879 The truth remains true whether it is popular or unpopular, and every age needs men and women willing to speak it with courage and charity. 00:02:54.000 --> 00:02:59.360 Now if we turn to the gospel, Jesus watches people placing money into the treasury. 00:02:59.599 --> 00:03:02.319 The rich come forward and make large donations. 00:03:02.960 --> 00:03:04.879 Then comes a poor widow. 00:03:05.199 --> 00:03:09.680 She drops in two tiny coins, practically nothing. 00:03:10.159 --> 00:03:14.240 Most people would not even notice, but Jesus notices. 00:03:14.639 --> 00:03:16.879 And then he says something astonishing. 00:03:17.199 --> 00:03:21.199 This poor widow put in more than all the others. 00:03:21.520 --> 00:03:24.879 If you're listening to that, you would say, How can that be? 00:03:25.840 --> 00:03:28.400 Well, because God measures differently than we do. 00:03:28.639 --> 00:03:30.719 We measure the size of the gift. 00:03:31.280 --> 00:03:33.840 God measures the size of the sacrifice. 00:03:34.240 --> 00:03:36.560 The rich gave from their surplus. 00:03:37.360 --> 00:03:39.599 This widow gave from her poverty. 00:03:40.319 --> 00:03:42.879 They gave what they would not miss. 00:03:44.319 --> 00:03:46.960 She gave what she needed. 00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:54.800 Suddenly the gospel becomes very uncomfortable because it is not really about money, it is about surrender. 00:03:55.360 --> 00:03:58.879 The widow becomes an image of discipleship itself. 00:03:59.280 --> 00:04:02.479 She does not give God part of her life. 00:04:02.800 --> 00:04:06.080 She gives all of her life, everything. 00:04:06.479 --> 00:04:09.039 That's exactly what Jesus himself will do. 00:04:09.280 --> 00:04:16.480 Within days of this gospel, Jesus will give not two coins, but his entire life on the cross. 00:04:16.800 --> 00:04:20.560 The widow is a preview of Calvary. 00:04:20.879 --> 00:04:24.000 She places everything she has into God's hands. 00:04:24.319 --> 00:04:29.199 Christ places everything he is into the Father's hands. 00:04:29.759 --> 00:04:32.000 I think that's the challenge for us. 00:04:32.560 --> 00:04:35.279 Most of us are willing to give God something. 00:04:35.839 --> 00:04:47.839 An hour on Sunday, a few prayers here and there if I remember, a charitable donation, maybe from my surplus, some volunteer work if I have the time. 00:04:49.040 --> 00:04:52.000 But the gospel asks a deeper question. 00:04:52.399 --> 00:04:54.639 Have I given God everything? 00:04:55.120 --> 00:05:00.480 My plans, my future, my fears, my wounds, my ambitions, my heart. 00:05:00.800 --> 00:05:05.519 Because God is not looking for contribution, he's looking for a disciple. 00:05:06.079 --> 00:05:08.399 And that brings us back to Saint Paul. 00:05:08.720 --> 00:05:12.959 At the end of his life, Paul could say, I have finished the race. 00:05:13.439 --> 00:05:24.160 Because years earlier he had already placed everything on the altar, his comfort, his reputation, his safety, his future, everything belonged to Christ. 00:05:24.480 --> 00:05:27.439 The widow and Paul are teaching the same lesson. 00:05:27.680 --> 00:05:30.959 The Christian life is not about giving God leftovers. 00:05:31.120 --> 00:05:33.600 It's about entrusting him with everything. 00:05:33.839 --> 00:05:35.839 And here's the beautiful irony. 00:05:36.079 --> 00:05:39.680 The widow appears poor, but she is actually rich. 00:05:40.240 --> 00:05:46.800 Paul appears defeated, sitting in prison, waiting death, but he's actually victorious. 00:05:47.279 --> 00:05:50.879 Because in God's kingdom, the people who surrender everything lose nothing. 00:05:51.120 --> 00:05:53.120 They gain everything. 00:05:53.600 --> 00:05:56.079 The world says, hold on tight. 00:05:56.319 --> 00:05:59.519 The gospel says, trust God completely. 00:05:59.920 --> 00:06:04.160 And in the end, the people who trust God completely discover what Paul discovered. 00:06:04.399 --> 00:06:12.000 A crown of righteousness awaits them, prepared by the Lord Himself, the just judge, for all who have kept the faith. 00:06:12.319 --> 00:06:12.959 Amen.