- Hebrews 11:1-6, 12:1-3 - read this passage online here »
What does it mean to run the race of our lives with endurance, with determination, with perseverance? Here is one way:
Two frogs fell into a can of cream,
Or so I’ve heard it told.
The sides of the can were shiny and steep,
The cream was deep and cold.
“Oh, what’s the use?” croaked number one.
“’Tis fate, no help’s around.
Goodbye, my friend! Goodbye, sad world!”
And weeping still, he drowned.
But number two, of sterner stuff,
Dog-paddled in surprise.
The while he wiped his creamy face,
And dried his creamy eyes.
“I’ll swim awhile at least,” he said,
Or so I’ve heard he said;
“It really wouldn’t help the world,
If one more frog were dead.”
An hour or two he kicked and swam,
Not once he stopped to mutter,
But kicked and kicked and swam and kicked,
Then -- hopped out -- via butter!
And we also have to know, it was only by perseverance that the snails reached Noah’s ark!
It is baseball season again. Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista seems on track for another remarkable year of hitting home runs – nine in the month of April. And when he comes to the plate, his determination is obvious. In a previous generation, Babe Ruth was called the Sultan of Swat. He too knew about perseverance and determination in playing baseball. To achieve his lifetime total of 714 home runs he also struck out 1,330 times! But he just kept on swinging!
Thomas Edison gave some wise thoughts regarding failure and perseverance. It is said the famous inventor made thousands of trials before he got his celebrated electric light to operate. One day, a workman to whom he had given a task said, “Mr. Edison, it cannot be done.” To which Edison responded, “How often have you tried?” The man replied, “About two thousand times.” Edison said, “Go back and try two thousand times more. You have only found there are two thousand ways in which it cannot be done.”
The author of the book of Hebrews wrote about “the race that lies before us.” We each have a course stretched out ahead of us in life. And for each of us the course is unique. For some, life is a relatively straight run but, for others, life is all twists and turns and hurdles. For still others, their course in life seems all uphill. For some, the course may be long; for others it may be shorter. But we all must run our own courses -- I cannot run your course and you cannot run mine.
So how will each of us run the race of our life? Does it go without saying that we will take God seriously in our life’s race? Well, we live in a society where we know the answer is no. Some do but many don’t take God seriously at all. Did you catch the statement in the Scripture reading this morning: “Whoever comes to God must have faith that God exists and rewards those who seek him”? Or as The Cotton Patch version of Hebrews 11 puts it:
What happens when we encounter deep ruts or fallen trees across our path? What happens when our life gets ripped apart by an unexpected tornado – literally or in a manner of speaking? What happens when we are tempted to call it quits? How will we run the race of our life then?
We could trust ourselves to self-help approaches. “I think I can! I think I can!” said The Little Engine That Could as it pulled its heavy load up the long steep hill in the well-known children’s story. We could continue to kick and kick and swim and swim and maybe succeed. We could even keep on swinging and swinging our bats. Or we could trust ourselves to God – who exists and who rewards or responds in some way to those who come to him.
We can run our race in life, with its twists and turns and hurdles, with determination and endurance when we run the race of our life with trust in Jesus Christ. Let’s hear again the Scripture from Hebrews Chapter 12, verses 1 to 3:
In the midst of the raid, Jordan recognized the voice of a local newspaper reporter. The next day, the reporter showed up for a story about the arson while the rubble was still smoldering. He found Jordan in a field planting seeds. He said to Jordan, “I heard the awful news of your tragedy last night, and I came out to do a story on the closing of your farm.”
Jordan kept planting and hoeing. The reporter continued prodding him with questions but with no response from Jordan. Finally, the reporter said: “You've got two PhDs, you've put 14 years into this farm and now there's nothing left. Just how successful do you think you've been?”
With that statement, Jordan stopped hoeing. He said to the reporter: “You just don't get it, do you? You don't understand us Christians. What we are about is not success, but faithfulness.”
To be faithful to God in our lives means running with perseverance -- with endurance – because we are always wanting to connect with Jesus. That is what we consistently say in our weekly bulletin and on our website. To be faithful means enduring even the worst life throws at us. To persevere includes staying the course and starting all over again as Clarence Jordan did -- if that is what it takes.
Let me tell you another story – about Bill Broadhurst. In 1981 Broadhurst entered the Pepsi Challenge 10,000-metre race in Omaha, Nebraska. In 1971 he had had surgery for an aneurysm in his brain that left him paralyzed on his left side. But, 10 years later, Broadhurst stood with 1,200 agile men and women waiting for the race to begin.
The starting gun sounded! The runners surged forward. Broadhurst threw his stiff left leg forward, pivoting on it as his foot hit the ground. His slow plop – plop -- plop rhythm seemed to mock him as the rest of the runners raced ahead into the distance. Sweat rolled down his face, pain pierced his ankle, but he kept going. Some of the runners completed the race in about 30 minutes but it took Broadhurst almost three hours before he reached the finish line. From the small group of remaining bystanders, a man stepped out and approached the exhausted runner. Bill Broadhurst recognized the man as marathon record holder Bill Rodgers, who had won medals in both the Boston and New York City marathons. Rodgers then did something remarkable. He took his newly won medal and draped it around Bill Broadhurst’s neck. Why? Because Broadhurst finished the race, and his finish, though he finished last, was as glorious as that of the world’s greatest! Why? Because he ran with perseverance. His determination was deliberate and steady and he refused to be distracted from his intended goal. No obstacle could deter this determination nor could any discouragement take his hope away. Nothing was going to make him quit!
It is quite within the reach of every one of us to live with persevering patience – even if it feels as if we are struggling to put one heavy foot in front of the other until we reach the finish line. The race in life is not for sprinters who flame out after 100 metres or 200 or 400 metres. It is for faithful plodders like you and me. Fast or slow, strong or weak -- all of us can persevere and finish well.
Only one focus can make consistent endurance possible. You won’t be surprised when I tell you the focus is Jesus -- our Good Shepherd. The Message Bible puts the first few verses of Hebrews Chapter 12 this way:
Jesus Christ can inspire faith in us. He can bring us to a faithful finish in this life and bring us into God’s presence both now and at the end of our lives. In fact, that was Jesus’ greatest joy! To be with his Father -- and to make it possible for us to be there too! That’s why he endured the Cross and its shame – whatever it took to finish well and do God’s will. And since his resurrection from the dead, Jesus is now waiting for us to be in his resurrected presence when we reach the finish line of our life’s race. But in the meantime, through the Holy Spirit, Jesus is also with his people daily – every hour, every minute, every second as we open ourselves to him. He is with us to strengthen our faith in the midst of life – “to shoot adrenaline into our souls,” as The Message Bible puts it. So when we find ourselves flagging in our faith, we must go over Jesus’ story again and again – line by line, event by event – even the long hard times of hostility he went through. Yes, we do look at other men and women of faith for inspiration and encouragement but then, or perhaps even first, we look higher -- to Jesus Christ.
That’s why the Church around the world has always taken the Bible seriously, as we try to do here at OYM. That’s why we encourage each other to read the Bible. It is through placing ourselves in God’s presence as we read and listen to the Scripture that we can experience the love of God, the grace of Jesus and the companionship of the Holy Spirit. And we can also experience God’s gracious love by coming together -- worshipping God and sharing our lives together, praying for and caring for one another.
The Olympic Games have always captured the imagination of people around the globe. Athletes train hard and long and with passionate determination to achieve their hopes and dreams. If they were not passionate, they would have great difficulty persevering as they do. There is a lesson the Olympics can teach us in our long-distance run in life. Mark Boswell, a Canadian 2008 Olympic high jumper, expressed his passion and perseverance this way:
Leslie Scrivener, at that time a journalist with the Toronto Star, covered the Terry Fox Marathon of Hope. At the time of his death she wrote:
God wants us to finish this race of life and finish it well. So let us run faithfully and with perseverance the race that is stretching out before us -- however long and however successful or however arduous it may be. Let us keep our eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. And let us, as well, think of the joy that is waiting for us too! When we do, that will shoot adrenaline into our souls!
May this be so for you and for me. Amen.
Rev. Chris Miller,
May 1, 2011
OYM Oriole-York Mills United Church, Toronto
Two frogs fell into a can of cream,
Or so I’ve heard it told.
The sides of the can were shiny and steep,
The cream was deep and cold.
“Oh, what’s the use?” croaked number one.
“’Tis fate, no help’s around.
Goodbye, my friend! Goodbye, sad world!”
And weeping still, he drowned.
But number two, of sterner stuff,
Dog-paddled in surprise.
The while he wiped his creamy face,
And dried his creamy eyes.
“I’ll swim awhile at least,” he said,
Or so I’ve heard he said;
“It really wouldn’t help the world,
If one more frog were dead.”
An hour or two he kicked and swam,
Not once he stopped to mutter,
But kicked and kicked and swam and kicked,
Then -- hopped out -- via butter!
And we also have to know, it was only by perseverance that the snails reached Noah’s ark!
It is baseball season again. Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista seems on track for another remarkable year of hitting home runs – nine in the month of April. And when he comes to the plate, his determination is obvious. In a previous generation, Babe Ruth was called the Sultan of Swat. He too knew about perseverance and determination in playing baseball. To achieve his lifetime total of 714 home runs he also struck out 1,330 times! But he just kept on swinging!
Thomas Edison gave some wise thoughts regarding failure and perseverance. It is said the famous inventor made thousands of trials before he got his celebrated electric light to operate. One day, a workman to whom he had given a task said, “Mr. Edison, it cannot be done.” To which Edison responded, “How often have you tried?” The man replied, “About two thousand times.” Edison said, “Go back and try two thousand times more. You have only found there are two thousand ways in which it cannot be done.”
The author of the book of Hebrews wrote about “the race that lies before us.” We each have a course stretched out ahead of us in life. And for each of us the course is unique. For some, life is a relatively straight run but, for others, life is all twists and turns and hurdles. For still others, their course in life seems all uphill. For some, the course may be long; for others it may be shorter. But we all must run our own courses -- I cannot run your course and you cannot run mine.
So how will each of us run the race of our life? Does it go without saying that we will take God seriously in our life’s race? Well, we live in a society where we know the answer is no. Some do but many don’t take God seriously at all. Did you catch the statement in the Scripture reading this morning: “Whoever comes to God must have faith that God exists and rewards those who seek him”? Or as The Cotton Patch version of Hebrews 11 puts it:
“Anyone who is serious about the God-life must stake everything on the fact that God is, and that [God] amply rewards those who make him their quest.”The Message Bible has it:
“Anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that [God] exists and that [God] cares enough to respond to those who seek him.”It is one thing to believe God exists; it may be quite another to stake our lives on the fact God cares enough for us personally that he rewards us or responds in some way to those who take him seriously enough to come to him in worship.
What happens when we encounter deep ruts or fallen trees across our path? What happens when our life gets ripped apart by an unexpected tornado – literally or in a manner of speaking? What happens when we are tempted to call it quits? How will we run the race of our life then?
We could trust ourselves to self-help approaches. “I think I can! I think I can!” said The Little Engine That Could as it pulled its heavy load up the long steep hill in the well-known children’s story. We could continue to kick and kick and swim and swim and maybe succeed. We could even keep on swinging and swinging our bats. Or we could trust ourselves to God – who exists and who rewards or responds in some way to those who come to him.
We can run our race in life, with its twists and turns and hurdles, with determination and endurance when we run the race of our life with trust in Jesus Christ. Let’s hear again the Scripture from Hebrews Chapter 12, verses 1 to 3:
“… let us run with determination [with perseverance] the race that lies before us. Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end. He did not give up because of the cross! On the contrary, because of the joy that was waiting for him, he thought nothing of the disgrace of dying on the cross, and he is now seated at the right side of God’s throne. Think of what he went through; how he put up with so much hatred from sinners! So do not let yourselves become discouraged and give up.”In 1940, Clarence Jordan founded Koinonia Farm in Americus, Georgia, as a haven for racial unity and co-operation. Jordan was the translator of The Cotton Patch version of the Letter to the Hebrews that I quoted earlier. He was also a primary influence for the founding of Habitat for Humanity. In 1954, the Ku Klux Klan burned every building on Koinonia Farm’s property except Jordan's home.
In the midst of the raid, Jordan recognized the voice of a local newspaper reporter. The next day, the reporter showed up for a story about the arson while the rubble was still smoldering. He found Jordan in a field planting seeds. He said to Jordan, “I heard the awful news of your tragedy last night, and I came out to do a story on the closing of your farm.”
Jordan kept planting and hoeing. The reporter continued prodding him with questions but with no response from Jordan. Finally, the reporter said: “You've got two PhDs, you've put 14 years into this farm and now there's nothing left. Just how successful do you think you've been?”
With that statement, Jordan stopped hoeing. He said to the reporter: “You just don't get it, do you? You don't understand us Christians. What we are about is not success, but faithfulness.”
To be faithful to God in our lives means running with perseverance -- with endurance – because we are always wanting to connect with Jesus. That is what we consistently say in our weekly bulletin and on our website. To be faithful means enduring even the worst life throws at us. To persevere includes staying the course and starting all over again as Clarence Jordan did -- if that is what it takes.
Let me tell you another story – about Bill Broadhurst. In 1981 Broadhurst entered the Pepsi Challenge 10,000-metre race in Omaha, Nebraska. In 1971 he had had surgery for an aneurysm in his brain that left him paralyzed on his left side. But, 10 years later, Broadhurst stood with 1,200 agile men and women waiting for the race to begin.
The starting gun sounded! The runners surged forward. Broadhurst threw his stiff left leg forward, pivoting on it as his foot hit the ground. His slow plop – plop -- plop rhythm seemed to mock him as the rest of the runners raced ahead into the distance. Sweat rolled down his face, pain pierced his ankle, but he kept going. Some of the runners completed the race in about 30 minutes but it took Broadhurst almost three hours before he reached the finish line. From the small group of remaining bystanders, a man stepped out and approached the exhausted runner. Bill Broadhurst recognized the man as marathon record holder Bill Rodgers, who had won medals in both the Boston and New York City marathons. Rodgers then did something remarkable. He took his newly won medal and draped it around Bill Broadhurst’s neck. Why? Because Broadhurst finished the race, and his finish, though he finished last, was as glorious as that of the world’s greatest! Why? Because he ran with perseverance. His determination was deliberate and steady and he refused to be distracted from his intended goal. No obstacle could deter this determination nor could any discouragement take his hope away. Nothing was going to make him quit!
It is quite within the reach of every one of us to live with persevering patience – even if it feels as if we are struggling to put one heavy foot in front of the other until we reach the finish line. The race in life is not for sprinters who flame out after 100 metres or 200 or 400 metres. It is for faithful plodders like you and me. Fast or slow, strong or weak -- all of us can persevere and finish well.
Only one focus can make consistent endurance possible. You won’t be surprised when I tell you the focus is Jesus -- our Good Shepherd. The Message Bible puts the first few verses of Hebrews Chapter 12 this way:
“Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed -- that exhilarating finish in and with God -- he could put up with anything along the way: [the] Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honour, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility [Jesus] plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!”To say the Church exists to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, we certainly must take seriously this Scripture in Hebrews: “Keep your eyes on Jesus,” we are told. In fact, this is the central theme of the book of Hebrews. Throughout Hebrews, we hear the theme stated in various ways: “But we see Jesus …” (Chapter 2, verse 9). “Fix your thoughts on Jesus ...” (Chapter 3, verse 1). “Since we have a great high priest [Jesus] … let us then approach [God’s] throne of grace with confidence” (Chapter 4, verses 14 and 16). It is always heartening to remember the witness of others who have gone ahead of us for they can inspire us, encourage us and bring us hope by their example. But, above them all and above all else, we are being challenged to fix our attention on Jesus Christ, for he can do for us what no one else can.
Jesus Christ can inspire faith in us. He can bring us to a faithful finish in this life and bring us into God’s presence both now and at the end of our lives. In fact, that was Jesus’ greatest joy! To be with his Father -- and to make it possible for us to be there too! That’s why he endured the Cross and its shame – whatever it took to finish well and do God’s will. And since his resurrection from the dead, Jesus is now waiting for us to be in his resurrected presence when we reach the finish line of our life’s race. But in the meantime, through the Holy Spirit, Jesus is also with his people daily – every hour, every minute, every second as we open ourselves to him. He is with us to strengthen our faith in the midst of life – “to shoot adrenaline into our souls,” as The Message Bible puts it. So when we find ourselves flagging in our faith, we must go over Jesus’ story again and again – line by line, event by event – even the long hard times of hostility he went through. Yes, we do look at other men and women of faith for inspiration and encouragement but then, or perhaps even first, we look higher -- to Jesus Christ.
That’s why the Church around the world has always taken the Bible seriously, as we try to do here at OYM. That’s why we encourage each other to read the Bible. It is through placing ourselves in God’s presence as we read and listen to the Scripture that we can experience the love of God, the grace of Jesus and the companionship of the Holy Spirit. And we can also experience God’s gracious love by coming together -- worshipping God and sharing our lives together, praying for and caring for one another.
The Olympic Games have always captured the imagination of people around the globe. Athletes train hard and long and with passionate determination to achieve their hopes and dreams. If they were not passionate, they would have great difficulty persevering as they do. There is a lesson the Olympics can teach us in our long-distance run in life. Mark Boswell, a Canadian 2008 Olympic high jumper, expressed his passion and perseverance this way:
“Be serious.”Remember the Marathon of Hope Terry Fox ran in 1980? His goal was to run a marathon – 26 miles – every day as he crossed Canada. He certainly was serious. He clearly was focused on his goal to raise money for cancer research. And he ran hard every day. He showed determination, perseverance and endurance as he ran across the country. And although he wasn’t the fastest or the smoothest runner, and although he didn’t make it to the West Coast, who would not say that Terry finished his race well and reached his goal, accomplishing even more than he had planned or ever knew in the end.
“Be focused.”
“Go hard.”
Leslie Scrivener, at that time a journalist with the Toronto Star, covered the Terry Fox Marathon of Hope. At the time of his death she wrote:
Terry was uncommonly blessed with hope. He refused to be humbled by the disease burgeoning inside him. Even if cancer did claim him, Terry believed he was still a winner. There was no other way he could look at his life. In 22 years, he had contributed more – materially and spiritually – than many who live to a gentle old age. Terry wouldn’t want us to weep for him; he’d want us to hear his message and be uplifted.Then she quoted Terry Fox:
“I don’t care what percentages the doctor tells me I have. If God is true, I know I’ve got 100 per cent, if that’s what He has in His plans for me. And if I really believe and if God is really there, then I’m not going to lose even if I die, because it’s supposed to be the Pearly Gates I’m going through, and if heaven is there, I can’t lose out!”So how can you and I run the race of our life and finish well?
We can “be serious” about our relationship with God.For we know that, with God, we cannot lose out in the end!
We can “be focused” on Jesus Christ.
And we can “go hard” and, with determination, persevere faithfully no matter the hardships we face in this life.
God wants us to finish this race of life and finish it well. So let us run faithfully and with perseverance the race that is stretching out before us -- however long and however successful or however arduous it may be. Let us keep our eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. And let us, as well, think of the joy that is waiting for us too! When we do, that will shoot adrenaline into our souls!
May this be so for you and for me. Amen.
Rev. Chris Miller,
May 1, 2011
OYM Oriole-York Mills United Church, Toronto
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