Dear Friends,
In our morning sermon series, we have seen how the apostle Paul finished strong in the Christian race, passing on the baton of gospel ministry to his friend Timothy, and so to the next generation and beyond. In my own reading, I have just finished Don Carson’s moving account of his own father’s life and ministry as a pastor in Canada: Memoirs of an Ordinary Pastor. Here are his closing words:
“Tom Carson … never wrote a book, but he loved the Book. He was never wealthy or powerful, but he kept growing as a Christian: yesterday’s grace was never enough. He was not a far-sighted visionary, but he looked forward to eternity …
“When he died, there were no crowds outside the hospital, no editorial comments in the papers, no announcements on television, no mention in Parliament, no attention paid by the nation. In his hospital room there was no one by his bedside. There was only the quiet hiss of oxygen, vainly venting because he had stopped breathing and would never need it again.
“But on the other side all the trumpets sounded. Dad won entrance to the only throne room that matters, not because he was a good man or a great man – he was, after all, a most ordinary pastor – but because he was a forgiven man. And he heard the voice of him whom he longed to hear saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant; enter into the joy of your Lord.” God give us grace to finish strong, to end well.
Chris Hobbs
Vicar