Sunset of Life - Moses, Jesus and Paul

As I write this, my pastor's wife and friend, Marian Nelson is going through one of the first steps of the process of dealing with the cancer which began in her pancreas and has metastisized to her liver. She was diagnosed this week. Her procedure today is an "easy" one, they will put in a stint to open up a bile duct in her liver. This will hopefully take care of immediate concerns of jaundice, nausea and other possible complications.

Cindy and I have had our own walk down this path since 2004, when she was diagnosed with uterine cancer. It has since metastisized to her spleen, lungs and abdomen. After the initial hysterectomy, she has had radiation, chemo, another surgery to remove her spleen and another spot in her abdomen, more chemo and most recently, removal of parts of her right lung. She is still alive, doing well and enjoying not having chemo. Many people in her shoes were not as fortunate.

Situations like this give us a cause to pause -- to take a "what is life really about" moment. Following are notes from a short talk I gave at our church meeting last Wednesday evening, as we begin to deal with Marian's situation.

Psalm 90:1-12 Things happen in life, particularly when someone close to us has a life-threatening situation, that draw our thoughts back to the brevity of life... We say "our days are numbered." Is that a bad thing? Moses said in this Psalm "teach us to number our days, so that we may present you a heart of wisdom". Knowing our days are numbered can be a helpful incentive to do what we can to make sure our lives count for others.

Life passes quickly, in the morning the grass grows and then in the afternoon, it drys up and withers and is cut down.

John 5:17 Jesus said, "My Father is working up till right now and I myself am working." God began our universe with work. God made us to work. Jesus worked. We talk about retirement and the "sunset years" but in God's economy there is never retirement as we think of it today. We may retire from our occupation, but we never retire from service.

John 9:4 We have to "make hay while the sun shines." The workday will end and there will be no going back and finishing it up.

John 17:4 As Jesus said for his own life, we glorify God by finishing the work he gave us to do.

1 Cor 15:58 No work we do in union with God (John 3:21 Berkeley), nothing, is a waste. Jesus said in Matthew that even a cup of cold water given to serve others in his name will not be forgotten.

Phil 1:12-14 Anything God allows works to his advantage (Romans 8:28 - and to our advantage as his people). Jesus took the worst Rome had to offer its enemies and turned it into liberation for his people. He made the symbol of Rome's power into a symbol of the power of God's kingdom. Paul's detractors thought that house arrest put him out of action. In reality, it created opportunities he would not have had otherwise. Things happen in our lives that we have no control over. God will not let them be a waste, but will work them to our good and his advantage.

Phil 1:19-26 As long as we have breath, we have work. Whether we live or die... "Christ". He will leave us as long has he has a purpose for us being here. If I'm breathing, I'm (hopefully) useful.