{"id":2270,"date":"2023-01-09T08:09:20","date_gmt":"2023-01-09T13:09:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=2270"},"modified":"2023-01-09T08:09:20","modified_gmt":"2023-01-09T13:09:20","slug":"last-words","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2023\/01\/09\/last-words\/","title":{"rendered":"Last Words"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To listen to this reflection as a podcast,\u00a0<\/em>click here<\/a>.
\u00a0
If you\u2019re looking for drama and emotion, you wouldn\u2019t normally hang out at a convention of Bible scholars.
\u00a0
But the meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature at San Antonio in 2016 produced a moment that those in attendance are likely to remember for a long time.\u00a0
\u00a0
Richard Hays, one of the world\u2019s leading New Testament scholars, had submitted his most recent book, Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels<\/em>, to a panel of his peers.\u00a0 It was a project near and dear to his heart, since he was in a life and death struggle with pancreatic cancer.
\u00a0
In the book, Hays makes an emphatic case that the four gospel writers \u2013 Matthew, Mark, Luke and John \u2013 all believed that Jesus was more than just a teacher.\u00a0 More than just a prophet.\u00a0 More than just another pretender in a long line of messianic pretenders.\u00a0 They all identified Jesus with the one-and-only God of Israel.\u00a0
\u00a0
The reviews were positive.\u00a0 But one scholar took Hays to task.\u00a0 In a field that typically values caution and humble ambiguity, why had he expressed his opinions with such conviction?\u00a0
\u00a0
Standing before the audience, Hays began to weep.\u00a0 Then he gathered himself and said, \u201cI thought that these were going to be the last words I was ever going to write.\u201d
\u00a0
In other words, he was determined to finish his ministry with a Yes instead of a Maybe.\u00a0
\u00a0
The wonderful news is that Richard Hays, as of this morning, is alive and well.\u00a0 Through the skill of his doctors and many answered prayers, he has survived seven more years battling one of the most treacherous kinds of cancer.
\u00a0
His experience raises an interesting question, however.\u00a0 What if you knew you had the chance to deliver just one more message to the world?\u00a0 What would you say?\u00a0 Pastors sometimes fantasize their last sermon \u2013 something with a really subtle title, like, Here\u2019s What I\u2019ve Always Wanted to Tell You People<\/em>.\u00a0 What if you didn\u2019t have to worry about making others happy, or getting a stack of emails in your inbox on Monday morning, or getting yourself fired?
\u00a0
Here\u2019s what I would say:\u00a0
\u00a0
There\u2019s only one event in your future that is certain.\u00a0 You are going to die.\u00a0 So it\u2019s time to start thinking backwards.\u00a0
\u00a0
When you\u2019re about to die, do you want to be thinking that you wasted the gift of your life?\u00a0 That you never got around to loving other people?\u00a0 That you shipwrecked perfectly good relationships because you were too stubborn or too afraid to make things right?\u00a0 Do you want that to be your legacy?
\u00a0
When you\u2019re about to die, are you going to be left wondering what it would have been like if you had really<\/em> trusted God?\u00a0 You only get one shot at this.\u00a0 What are you waiting for?\u00a0
\u00a0
Will you have spent your whole life worrying about stuff you can\u2019t take with you?\u00a0 Jesus says that each of us can have an eternal bank account in the next world that can grow and grow and grow even in the midst of the worst recession.\u00a0 Will you have made a lifetime of deposits in that account by trusting God, or will you have collected a pile of cheap trinkets and hollow titles designed to impress your neighbors for 15 minutes?
\u00a0
What are you waiting for?\u00a0
\u00a0
The data is not going to change.\u00a0 Your options are not going to change.\u00a0 You can spend the rest of your life being obsessed by closets you think you have to clean, those 10 pounds you think you have to lose, that exotic destination you think you have to visit, and that business deal you think you have to close.\u00a0
\u00a0
Or you can surrender yourself to the One whom author John Ortberg has called \u201cthe magnificent architect and most glorious resident of the cosmos \u2013 the God whose presence fills each person with unceasing splendor and ever-increasing delight.\u201d Are you going to come to the end of your life realizing that you chased after a handful of good things but never really pursued the best?
\u00a0
That\u2019s what I would say if I knew this was my last reflection.\u00a0
\u00a0
Here\u2019s the kicker:\u00a0 For all we know, this may indeed be my last reflection.\u00a0 Or this may be the last reflection or sermon or description of the Good News that you ever read.\u00a0
\u00a0
Are you hanging on to the hope that things will look clearer or better or safer tomorrow?\u00a0
\u00a0
Jesus the Messiah \u2013 who is not just another teacher, prophet, or sage \u2013 says, \u201cFollow me.\u201d\u00a0
\u00a0
What are you waiting for?<\/em>

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To listen to this reflection as a podcast,\u00a0click here.\u00a0If you\u2019re looking for drama and emotion, you wouldn\u2019t normally hang out at a convention of Bible scholars.\u00a0But the meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature at San Antonio in 2016 produced a moment that those in attendance are likely to remember for a long time.\u00a0\u00a0Richard Hays, one of the world\u2019s leading… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2271,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[544],"class_list":["post-2270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-legacy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2270"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2270\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2272,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2270\/revisions\/2272"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}