This is a little bit odd, but they say the best way to die is actually by cancer.

Or by another kind of disease that has a timeline attached to it.

I.e. you have six months to live, or you have nine months to live.

Does that sound a little bit counterintuitive to you?

It does to me. All the research says that, but it does to me.

I would think they would say, well, in one fell swoop motorcycle accident,

beautiful fall day, highway one, last thought was cliff or whatever, you know.

That's how I would want to go for one, which is why my wife no longer lets me drive a motorcycle.

But, and with all due respect to the tragedy of death or motorcycle accident,

the reality is that all sorts of doctors argue that no, the best way to go is when you know I'm dying.

And you have a few months or you have a set time for closure in your life.

To make things right, to call up that old friend or that estranged relationship,

and to tie off your relationships and to say goodbye.

Those same doctors also tell us, based on observation and research as well,

that often it's in those last conversations, that kind of final partying goodbye,

where people often, you know, offer what we call famous last words,

where people offer something to say as a final kind of farewell and anthem for what life is all about.

On that note, the passage that we are about to read from John 15 is that from Jesus of Nazareth.

It's actually part of what scholars call the upper room discourse,

which is basically Jesus parting word to his apprentices on the night before his death.

He's just a few hours away from his arrest, and then after that his execution.

Let's read Jesus parting words to his apprentices, John 15 verse 1.

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