2 Maccabees 15:28-39: a reflection

28When the engagement was over and they were returning again with joy, they recognized Nicanor lying dead in full armor. 29Then there was shouting and noise, and they blessed the Sovereign Lord in the language of their ancestors. 30He who in all things was in body and soul the foremost champion of his fellow citizens, he who kept through life the good will of his youth toward his countrymen, ordered that Nicanor’s head be cut off with his hand and arm, and that they be brought to Jerusalem. 31When he had arrived there and had called his countrymen together and set the priests before the altar, he sent for those who were in the citadel. 32Showing the head of the vile Nicanor and the hand of that profane man, which with proud brags he had stretched out against the holy house of the Almighty, 33and cutting out the tongue of the impious Nicanor, he said that he would give it in pieces to the birds, and hang up these rewards of his folly near the sanctuary. 34They all, looking up to heaven, blessed the Lord who had manifested himself, saying, “Blessed is he who has preserved his own place undefiled!” 35He hung Nicanor’s head and shoulder from the citadel, a clear sign evident to all of the help of the Lord. 36They all ordained with a common decree to in no way let this day pass undistinguished, but to mark with honor the thirteenth day of the twelfth month (it is called Adar in the Syrian language), the day before the day of Mordecai. 37This then having been the account of the attempt of Nicanor, and the city having from those times been held by the Hebrews, I also will here make an end of my book. 38If I have written well and to the point in my story, this is what I myself desired; but if its poorly done and mediocre, this is the best I could do. 39For as it is distasteful to drink wine alone and likewise to drink water alone, while the mingling of wine with water at once gives full pleasantness to the flavor; so also the fashioning of the language delights the ears of those who read the story. Here is the end.

The book of Second Maccabees ends in an unusual way, not with a grand flourish but with the author's plain, humble words about his own work. If I have told the story well and to the point, he writes, that is what I desired; but if it is poorly done and mediocre, this is the best I could do. There is no pretense here, no claim to have produced something flawless, just an honest offering of his labor and a hope that it helps.

Notice the freedom in that posture. The author does not overstate his work or apologize it away; he simply says, I did my best, and I hope it serves you. He is content to have given what he could, without needing it to be perfect, and without pretending it is more than it is. He offers his labor honestly and lets it go.

There is something healthy in that for how we hold our own work. We tend to swing between grandiosity, needing our efforts to be impressive, and false modesty, tearing them down. The author models a third way: do your best, offer it honestly, and be at peace with it as your genuine best, neither inflated nor despised. Whatever you are laboring at today, you can offer it the way he offered his book, this is the best I could do, and hope it serves, and leave the rest with God.

Lord, teach me to offer my work the way this author offered his: doing my best, presenting it honestly without pretense or false modesty, and being at peace with it as my genuine best. Free me from needing it to be flawless, and let me leave the rest with you.