2 Timothy 4:6-7 “ 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." This episode talks about how much St. Paul went through to spread the good news and how lucky we are to live in this country where we are free to practice our religion without fear for our safety.
I Have Kept The Faith
2 Timothy 4:6-7 “ 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."
St. Paul is speaking in this verse. I didn’t really understand what the first line of this verse was saying other than it seemed like St. Paul was dying. I had no idea what he meant by being poured out like a drink offering. I did not know the significance of that. I was tempted to just skip that line and go to the next one as I really like the next line. However, I remember that is not why I am doing this podcast. I am doing this podcast so we can all learn the scripture better, so we can all understand it a little more. We won’t be able to do that if I skip over the sentences I don’t understand. So I decided to look up the meaning of that first line. I am always surprised at what I find. According to bibleref.com, the "drink offering" refers to a cup of wine a Jewish priest poured out beside the altar following the offering of a ram, lamb, or bull in the temple (Numbers 15:1–10; 28:4–7). Just as the drink offering symbolized the end of the offering, Paul's life was about to come to an end. He is writing these words under Roman imprisonment and expects to be executed before too long. Paul has already made one courtroom appearance during this imprisonment (2 Timothy 4:16), but does not expect to be given another opportunity.
St. Paul thought his life was over, he expected to be executed shortly. The next line in this verse is one that I have heard often. It says, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” Well, I haven’t heard that last part often, but I have heard “I have fought the good fight, or I am fighting the good fight?” I really like that phrase. St. Paul embodied this phrase. When He says he fought the good fight, finished the race and kept the faith, he is not just saying that. If you don’t know the story of Paul you can read about it in Acts 9. Let me summarize it for you. Paul started out as Saul. Saul was going around finding and persecuting anyone who believed in Jesus. Saul went to the high priests to ask if he could go to Damascus and round up any believers of Jesus and bring them back as prisoners. On the way he saw a blinding white light and heard Jesus’ voice ask why Saul was persecuting Him. He told Saul to go into the nearby town and wait for someone to come to him. When Saul got up he could no longer see. Saul waited for this person to come find him. Ananias found Saul, prayed over him and Saul we baptized in Jesus’ name. Saul became Paul and became a man of extreme faith.
Paul changed his ways. He went from persecuting anyone that believed in Jesus, to being one of His biggest believers. Paul was one of the most prolific contributors to the New Testament. There are 27 books in the New Testament and 13-14 of them are traditionally attributed to Paul. Paul suffered a lot in his quest to spread the good news. In 2 Corinthians 11:16-33 Paul talks about all he went through. I will just read you 2 Corinthians 11:24-27 “Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. I have traveled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not. I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm.”
Wow, did you know Paul went through all of that? If anyone can say they “fought the good fight” it is Paul and he definitely kept the faith. I think we often take for granted how good we have it here in America. Can you even imagine being stoned or thrown into jail for being Christian? That seems so strange to me because in this country we are free to worship whatever we want to worship. We don't have to worship in secret. We are free to attend mass every single day if we want to. I wonder if we know how lucky we are? there are countries where it is still illegal to be Christian. According to the Pew Research Center, more than 80% of the world’s governments interfered with their citizens; religious worship in some way in 2019. There are some countries where you face persecution if you are Christian. There are some countries where you are risking your life to practice your Christian faith. For example, converting from Islam to another religion is illegal and is punishable by imprisonment, confiscation of property, or even the death sentence. We take for granted the fact we can go out to the store and buy a Bible. In some countries they are not allowed to sell Bibles. The only way to get Bibles into these countries is by illegal covert operations.
I wonder how much more the people living in these countries appreciate reading their Bibles. I bet they are so much more grateful when they have the opportunity to receive the Eucharist. I can’t imagine having to worship in secret and having to hide my faith for fear of my life. I look back at all Paul had to deal with, how hard he had to fight to spread the word of the Lord and I am thankful I didn’t live back in that time. However, I realize it is still going on today in many parts of the world. I am not sure what I can to do about that but I know I can pray for those that are not free to worship God. I can pray things change and that we are all free to worship God openly. I can also be careful to not take my freedom of religion for granted. I can be grateful for all the opportunities to worship here in America. I can make sure I am not complaining if the mass times don’t line up perfectly with my schedule. I can be grateful to the priests who work so hard to try and reach everyone even though more and more churches are being closed. Churches wouldn’t close if more people were attending them. We are very lucky to be Christians in this country. It is not perfect and their is persecution, but no where near what they see in other countries, and I am very thankful for that.
Wouldn’t it be great, when our time of departure is near, if we could all say, “ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” Our fight may not be the same as anyone else’s fight, but it is still a fight. Being Christian is not easy when we are surrounded by a world that is so different. Living a Christian life style is contrary to a lot of the ways of the world today. This is not something new, the apostles knew this truth all too well. If they could be brave and live this lifestyle in the times they lived in, so can we. They were facing stoning and crucifixion. We may face judgment from those around us, we may even face alienation from friends or family who don’t believe the same way we do. However, in most circumstances, we will not face death, or even jail time. Let us live our Christian life proudly. Let us stand up for what we believe without fear of Judgement from this world. The only Judgement that matters is the Judgement from the Lord, who is a righteous judge. Let us live in a way so when our time is done those around us will say, “He/She has fought the good life, She/He has finished the race, He/She has kept the faith.”
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord we are so grateful to have you in our lives. Lord, we pray for anyone living in this world who can’t freely worship you. We pray things change and everyone in the world is able to freely worship you. We pray for those being persecuted in your name. We pray for all those meeting in secret, that they may one day be able to meet in the open. We pray for strength for those who do not have regular access to the Eucharist. Lord, we ask you the help us appreciate how good we have it here in the United States and anywhere where freedom of religion is something actually enforced. We ask you not let us take our privileges for granted. We love you Lord. We want to be able to say at the end of our lives, above all else, we kept the faith. Help us Lord. You are our strength, you are our rock, you are our fortress. We are so grateful for all you do for us. We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I look forward to spending time with you again tomorrow. Have a blessed day!