#32 Finishing November 2011

Tome 32                  Finishing                             November 2011

 John 19:29-31 New International Version (NIV) ²⁹ A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. ³⁰ When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Hebrews 12:2 The Message (MSG) Discipline in a Long-Distance Race ^1-3Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we'd better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!

Hebrews 12 ¹ Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

 

Jimmy Johnson, the five-time Sprint Cup champion, was running in seventh position with eighteen laps remaining at last Saturdays race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway and was charging toward the front with only 27 miles of a 500 mile contest remaining.  Third in points for this Sprint Cup Championship, a sixth title seemed within reach and … he hit the wall;  DNF’d [did not finish].  He entered the night only four points out of the chase lead and left the 1.5-mile track where he usually excels, 35 points behind, in eighth place, with only five races left in the Chase. NASCAR, like life, rewards those who can finish what they start.

This December my twenty-six years at the bank and thirty years in financial services will come to an end with my retirement. In those thirty years I haven’t gotten to raise a gold trophy high over my head in triumph, shower my pit crew with champagne, beer, Gatorade® or Pepsi®, be surrounded by smokin’ hot Miss-Something-Or-Others in the winner’s circle or have a microphone shoved in my face for an interview where I am contractually obligated to remember the names of my pit crew, crew chief, car owner, engine shop, chassis team and  sponsors for the Kobalt Tools-Lowes-Goodyear-Pepsi-Viagra-Goody’s Headache Powder-Valvoline®-Chevrolet.

I am in no way trying to equate his superhuman performance over the last five years with my largely unremarkable career but allow me to draw some parallels, First, like Jimmy Johnson, I have slammed into several walls along the way and my “car” shows the damage. Second, there have been some accomplishments stacked in the win column and some great  ‘end-of-the-season’ paychecks. For the most part though, no record exists that could be Googled to see how I did all those years. And like most races Johnson starts, I am going to finish this one with nothing held back.

 Pauls words come to mind:

2 Timothy 4:7-8   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

As with the NASCAR great, I don’t presume to compare my career to the apostle’s life and work but allow me draft comparisons.  I read words like accomplishment, relief, satisfaction, encouragement and maybe even a little pride in Paul’s words. Maybe I read those things into this passage now because they are what I want to experience and pass along to you.

Have you finished what you set out to do?

·         Did you finish college or post-graduate studies? I am a not-so-proud University of Minnesota MBA drop-out. Work and family put me into the wall in that race and I DNFd.  I was accepted to Capital University Law school in 1977 but my dad’s death meant I never saw the drop of the green flag let alone the checked one.  That’s why I am proud on my son’s MBA and my daughter’s academic accomplishments.

·         Have you finished your job as a parent? I lost my dad at twenty-one so I had no concept of parenting after that age. You raise ‘em, they get their own ride, as the racers say, and your job is done. Boy, was that stupid. I am doing more important parenting now that my children are near their thirties and raising their children than I ever did when they were under my roof. The truth is until I am sitting in a wheelchair, drooling on myself and wearing Depends™, I will be running the parent race.

·         How about finishing as a husband? No, it is more than an occasional night watching chick-flicks on the Hallmark Channel with your beloved and remembering the days that are special to her. Finishing for me is about:

§  Trust Documents, Wills, Powers of Attorney and Financial Planning.

§  Discovering what she wants to do now that the calendar is free.

§  Living where she wants and not where my job takes me.

·         Finishing as a follower of Christ. Here is an area where I am very uncertain what comes next. I have found ways to serve in every state at every church I have attended. The only checked flag in this race is the one they throw over you in the morgue and that may, in reality be a Green flag on Eternity.

Checkers [checkered flag] or Wreckers [tow truck]!, as they say at the track.