Finishing Faithful 

Seated in front of my TV last week, I watched Tiger Woods make his final tournament walk up the 18th fairway of the British Open at the Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland. In great pain, he would finish over par, unqualified to play on the weekend.  One of the very few ways I can relate to Tiger’s finishing walk comes from a different sport.  When my baseball days had given way to semi-pro softball, and finally to church-league, slow-pitch softball, I played my final game.  Standing on second base after a frozen rope double, I watched the younger batter hit a line drive between infielders,  As I headed to 3rd base the teen-age 3rd base coach was waving me home.  My body said, “Go!”  But my mind said, “Don’t even think about it.”  As I tried to stop at full speed, I heard a loud pop.  My hamstring said, “Your playing days just ended.”  Eventually, we all get to the end.  I wish I had been present when my Dad preached his final sermon just a few weeks before his death – faithful and finishing well. I haven’t finished preaching yet – presently in my 27th Interim Pastorate – but I know it will come someday, hopefully not accompanied with another pulled hamstring. When it does, I want to be able to agree with that great moral and spiritual athlete, Paul, who said he had “fought the good fight . . . finished the race . . . kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7).