A Canadian businessman flew to Costa Rica to buy investment properties when he came upon a local man fishing from the shore. He watched the fisherman cast about 10 times with no luck and then said to him, “I bet you’d catch more fish if you went out there in a boat.” The fisherman smiled and said, “I catch enough fish each day to feed my family, señor.” The businessman said, “Yes, but if you bought a boat and caught more fish, then you’d have more money.”

“More money for what?” he asked. “A bigger house, a car, a bigger boat, and an expensive vacation every year.” “But señor, I have everything I need right here with my family.” “Yes, but with a bigger motorboat, you’d have so much money that you could retire in 10 years and never fish again.” “Never fish again? But I love to fish. It’s what my family has done for generations here. Fishing is in my blood. Thank you for your advice señor, but no thank you.”

I like their conversation because it illustrates two very different viewpoints of what matters most in life and what matters most in the end. In 2 Timothy 4, the apostle Paul is at the end of his life. He says in verse 6, “my death is imminent,” which means it is on the horizon, any day now.

Few of us will know when we’re going to die. For most, death is a surprise, but not for Paul. He’s 67 years old, locked up in a Roman prison under Emperor Nero. He knows it’s just a matter of weeks until Nero executes him. And so, in the time he has left on earth, Paul says what is most important to him. In doing so, Paul clarifies for us what matters most in the end and what doesn’t matter much at all.

You’ve heard it said before that no one on their deathbed ever says, “I wish I had spent more time at the office,” or, “I wish I had worked more.” It is the same with Paul. He worked hard all his life as a Pharisee and a Bible scholar. He worked hard as a missionary and church planter, and he was very successful. But work isn’t on Paul’s mind now.

We work so hard to get a degree or two, and then we work hard in our jobs climbing the corporate ladder, thinking that the goal of life is to get ahead and make a lot of money, just like the Canadian businessman said. But I promise you that at the end of our lives, we will not be focused on our school or work successes. Our focus, like Paul’s, will be on what matters most. Which is? Our family and our friends. In his last words on earth, Paul writes down 17 names of people who are at the top of his mind.

In verse 9, the first he names is Timothy, his “son in faith.” Paul talks about when he and Timothy having shed tears together. When grown men cry together, you know they’re close. He tells Timothy, “Do your best to come to me quickly” (:21). Paul says ‘quickly’ because he doesn’t have much time left. Paul wants to see Timothy one more time.

In verse 11, Paul says, “Luke is here.” Luke may have been Paul’s personal doctor and personal stenographer, which is why he was allowed to visit Paul in prison. Luke was probably the one who took Paul’s writings, made sure they got safely out of there, and then copied them into the New Testament. Like Timothy, Luke matters to Paul.

In verse 11, Paul says, “Mark has been very useful to me and my ministry.” I love this verse because it reminds us that we all can change—even the most stubborn, pigheaded person who believes he or she alone is right can change. Do you remember when Paul and Barnabas fought over Mark? Barnabas wanted to include Mark on Paul’s missionary trip, but Paul said, “No way, José. I am not taking that traitor named Mark.” The Bible says they disagreed so sharply that Paul and Barnabas split up. Paul refused to take Mark, but now at the end of his life, he has the opposite viewpoint.

Paul says, “Mark has been very useful to me and my ministry.” He’s now praising Mark instead of criticizing and rejecting him. So, we all can change if we let God soften our hearts and let God show us another side of the person we were so quick to criticize.

Paul names people whom we might call “no-names,” meaning they’re not bigname apostles like Peter or John. They’re lesser-known helpers like ‘Carpus and Tychicus’ (:12-13) and ‘Pudens, Linus, and Claudia’ (:22).

We don’t know what they did or why Paul names them because their names don’t appear anywhere else in the New Testament—just here. While they’re no-names to us, they aren’t to Paul. They are the most important people to Paul. In the end, it’s not things or money, but people who matter most.

When my dad was in hospice back in February, the staff asked us to write out a list of all the people closest to him. Who are his kids, grandkids, and siblings? They asked us to write their names and their relationship to John so the staff could then talk to dad about the people who matter most to him. They said to fill the room with pictures of his family and friends, including his late wife, so that when he opened his eyes, he sees them and is comforted. They didn’t want pictures of his bank statements or the awards he’d won, but pictures of the ones he loved.

I learned that there’s a lot of research and science behind this. People will even wait to die just so they can say goodbye to a loved one. They need to know that
their family is okay before they pass on, and their biggest fear and regret is dying alone.

A French multimillionaire was very frugal and hoarded all his money. In fact, he refused to marry and have kids because he feared they would drain his fortune. In his will, he said, “I want 100% of my money to be spent on my funeral. Rent the fanciest ballroom and throw the biggest party because I want everyone to see how rich I am.”

Well, he died, and the executor of his estate honored his wish by planning the most opulent funeral he could. No expense was spared. The problem was that hardly anyone knew the guy. He had focused so much on making money that he ignored the people closest to him. And so, when only 40 people showed up to a huge ballroom that seated 800, they had a real problem. They couldn’t send him off with only 40 people there so the executor said, “Go into the street and offer people $200 each if they’ll come and sit through his funeral and the free meal afterward.” They had to hire people to pretend to care and mourn.

So, in the end, what matters most? It’s the people we love. But what about the people we don’t love? Those who did us wrong at some point. At the end of our lives, do they matter?

Well, Paul names a few people who did him wrong. Verse 10 says, “Demas deserted me because he loved this world.” Paul talks about Demas in two other Bible passages, Colossians 4 and Philemon 24, and there he calls Demas “my fellow worker.” That tells me they were close as partners in preaching about Jesus.

“Were” is past tense. Something happened to Demas where he chose the world over Jesus and left Paul holding the bag. Like us, Paul had some traitors in his life—people who had turned against him. I think that some of our deepest pain comes from people we were close to but no longer can be. We wonder, “What went wrong? Was it me or him?” Even Jesus, the sinless son of God, faced the same kind of pain at the end of his life when Judas, his own treasurer, betrayed him for 30 pieces of silver.

We need to admit that there are some relationships we just can’t fix. In verse 14, Paul names “Alexander the metalworker, who did me a great deal of harm by strongly opposing our message. The Lord will repay him for what he has done. Be on your guard against him.”

Paul remembers those who hurt him, but notice what he says. He says, “the Lord will repay them.” How freeing is that! We don’t have to get revenge on our enemies—nor should we. Because there is only one judge of all the earth, and He will fight our battles for us. The battle belongs to the Lord, not to us.

If we’re still holding onto grudges at the end of our lives, then we’re not ready to die. We need to turn such people over to God in prayer and let Him deal with them in His perfect way. It’s why we pray, “forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

Paul forgave his backstabbers and entrusted them to God because he knew that God alone is the perfect judge.

Paul begins this passage by saying (see bulletin cover), “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” And then Paul says, “There is now in store for me a crown of righteousness, which God will award to me and all of us when we see him.”

So, even though Paul is dying, he is very confident in his future because he has a personal relationship with Jesus. It’s why he can confidently say, “My future is bright because of my Saviour. I have a home in heaven and a heavenly Father who is waiting for me there with open arms.”

The Bible says that there are two ways to face death—with hope and without hope. Having conducted the funerals of both types of people, I can tell you that Jesus makes all the difference between the two. Those who have a personal relationship with Him know that death isn’t the end. They have the hope of eternal life, and so they face their future with hope.

I find it hard to conduct the funerals of unbelievers because, while they are surrounded by family and friends, they lack what really matters most: faith in Jesus and a future in heaven.

Paul ends his last words on earth this way in verses 16 and 18: “The Lord is at my side and giving me strength… The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”

If, at the end of your life, the Lord Jesus is your main focus, then you are ready to die. You have figured out what matters most. The time to decide that is not on your deathbed. It is now, while we still can.

In the end, it is all about God’s grace. We will one day be in His presence forever, not because of our goodness, but because of His goodness and His grace. He is what matters most in the end.