Pentecost 12

This past week I saw a couple of friends at the YMCA. They were engaged in a strenuous work-out on equipment that to me makes you look like you’re running.

After enjoying the sight of their exertions for a bit, I asked, "Who’s winning the race?"

That incident connected strongly for me with our second lesson, especially the first verse of Heb. 12 where it says, "let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith..."

God doesn’t demand that we win the race of faith. Christ has done that for us. But God does expect us to run and to give the race our all, just as Jesus did.

Jesus didn’t just run till sweat poured from His body. He ran until blood poured out. He had a goal to meet and a mission to complete.

He met his goal of dying for our salvation, and He calls us to live for Him. He completed His mission on a cross and proved it by rising from the grave, and He’s left us a mission of finding others who will join in the awards banquet.

The race we are part of isn’t a competition of individuals. It is more like a relay race where we each receive the baton at the right moment, run our best and then hand it on to a teammate.

This is what that long list of heroes of the faith we’ve heard about last Sunday and today is all about. The patriarchs, the kings, the prophets and the otherwise little unknown people of God in the Old Testament each contributed their piece to the relay leading up to the Savior.

The apostles, named and unnamed disciples, martyrs, reformers and just plain folks like us who took up the race after Jesus’ return to the Father are our fore-runners. They serve as role models and coaches cheering us on.

They inspire us and spiritually support us, but they can’t run our leg of the race for us. Each of us must carry the baton and give it our all, resisting distractions and whispers of discouragement as they had to.

There’s a thought that struck me when I read this section of Hebrews this week, a thought I don’t believe I’ve had before. Early in the lesson we read, "By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land..."

In this event of salvation history and in every one since, it was God who made the saving event possible, but in escaping slavery in Egypt and every saving act after, effort was required of those being saved. The people had to walk across the sea bed. The people had to take over the promised land and work to make it a land of milk and honey. The people had to build the temple.

And each time the people suffered it was because they forgot what their role was. They allowed themselves to take grace for granted and to be lured away from the course they were to follow.

But that’s where grace comes in. Each time the people faltered God shook them out of their complacency and when they repented brought them back into the race. Finally, God even sent His Son to insure that none of His runners need be lost and counted out.

And ever since, He has given special grace to some so they could do extraordinary acts of faith so that we would have help seeing how to stay the course. But, we must stay the course. We must do those things that will make us fit for the race and we must each do our part - run our leg of the race.

It may seem at times like we are running all alone, that everyone else is sitting on the sidelines. When we feel this way, we must do two things. First, we must realize that everyone runs in his or her own way and as best they can. Second, we need to see whether we are sweating, because if we aren’t we may, in fact, be sitting on the sidelines, not doing our part.

It may seem at times like the race will be lost if we don’t find a short cut, seek an easy way out or give in to anxious and exhausting dead end missteps. When we feel this way we need to remember the true purpose of the race and be reminded of who is in charge of it.

It may seem at times that we are using all our energy, but can’t be sure we are getting anywhere. We are hot and sweaty. We feel that we are at the end of our endurance and every fiber of our being cries out, "Give it up!"

When we feel this way, we need to look back at that great cloud of witnesses. We must see them as they actually were, weak, stumbling, inexpert runners. Everyone of our fore-bearers was a weak, sinful human being just like us.

Rahab was a prostitute. Samson let his strength (and his pride in it) go to his head. David lusted and caused the death of a friend. The prophets resisted their calls, questioned God’s commands and even tried to run away.

The apostles denied and deserted Jesus in His time of need. Paul couldn’t preach well and had other limitations. Augustine hated women. Martin Luther was a stubborn German who hated Jews.

And your favorite pastoral leader or lay saint of the church - be it a beloved former pastor or member of the family - had faults, made mistakes and just plain sinned more often than they probably liked to think about.

No matter how great, hard working, gifted, dedicated, successful or beloved those who ran the race before us and those who run the race with us, they are only sinful human beings who couldn’t have done their part without help. But, by God’s grace, neither they, nor we must run the race alone.

We have all those who have run before - that great cloud of witnesses and Christ Himself waiting at the finish line for us.

A true life story told by Rev. Anna Murdock, a Methodist minister illustrates this well:

Like Ben, and like all those who have completed the race before us, we must run with determination and faith, not looking for short cuts, getting waylaid by distractions or making excuses. At times we may feel that we are on a piece of YMCA equipment that uses up our energy, but doesn’t seem to get us anywhere.

Whatever our feelings or thoughts, we must keep our focus on running the race before us and trust that the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, Jesus Christ, is cheering us on at the finish line. So, keep running...running...running. Amen.