What are our goals in life? What does it take to succeed in life? If life is a race or a series of races, what does it take to cross our finish lines?
I will never forget the story my brother told me about his high school gym class. Many freshman in high school throughout the country have to take gym, and in the high school we attended there were three gym teachers to choose from. On the first day of the semester everyone came to the gymnasium and picked a gym instructor. Each was a little different. One of the gym teachers was notoriously soft. In that class they played a lot of low impact games. Another one of the gym teachers was the baseball coach, and he played all the fun games. Most people wanted to be in his class. It was just fun. Finally there was the football coach's class. He was not an all that friendly kind of guy. His class was for the football players, the serious athletes who wanted to run and work out hard, and those poor souls who got stuck in the back of the line. When my brother was a freshman in high school he decided he wanted to run with the big football players. He wanted to prove something, so he signed up for the football coach's class.
For 18 weeks my brother learned what it was like to run and work out with the big dogs, at least the big dogs of high school. It was very difficult to get an A in this class. There were a few ways one could assure that they would receive at least an A. One was if you could run a mile in under six minutes. My brother wanted an A. He wanted everyone to know he could do it, and most importantly he wanted to prove to himself that he could do it. As the semester went on he got better at running the mile. He got closer and closer to that six minute mark. With two chances left he ran a 6:08. He gave it all he had and he had one more try. His last chance came on a beautiful morning. He started out well. He kept pace with those who ran under six minutes. He was feeling good and on pace as he finished the third lap. With half a lap to go, however, he started to slow down. His legs started to feel really heavy. He started gasping for air. He tried reaching for a new store of energy. As my brother struggled, one of our neighbors who was a senior football player that year and helping Coach run the class, saw my brother start to slow. He ran across the infield. My brother saw him and thought he was running over to cheer him on, to give him some words of encouragemen. However the big huge defensive lineman, who would actually go on to be an all big ten nose tackle and later play in the NFL, had a different kind of motivation in mind. This big huge football player started yelling at my brother and physically chased him across the finish line. My brother ran that last half of a lap in shier terror. He crossed the tape in 5:57, eternally grateful to the huge nose tackle who had scared him into finishing the race and accomplishing his goal.
What are our goals in life? What does it take to succeed in life? If life is a race or a series of races, what does it take to cross our finish lines?
In this morning’s epistle from Hebrews we hear about endurance. The writer uses the image of a race to encourage others to persevere and endure. However, instead of being concerned with worldly races and worldly success, the writer of Hebrews is concerned with a more important race. That is the spiritual marathon that it takes to be a child of God. It takes a different kind of endurance, for this is a different kind of race. In life we may be pushed to succeed in many different ways. However, in our spiritual life we are reminded today that Jesus is the perfecter of our faith. That he helps us endure the most important race of all, which is running a marathon as a faithful servant of God.
There were a few phrases in particular that stood out to me in this famous passage from Hebrews. The first is, “Since we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses…" What a beautiful image this is. One can just close their eyes and picture this scene can’t you? Under a bright blue sky and a few lofted clouds, we run the race of life in a big majestic stadium. With thousands and maybe millions cheering us on. Maybe our friends and family are there? When we feel spiritually down or feel like we have stumbled we can take comfort in this image. We can take comfort in this idea.
To the writer of Hebrews, however, this is more than just an idea. It is more than just an image to give us hope in our dark times. No. What is written is not, “Well maybe we have this cloud of witnesses watching us…” What is written is not, “Well perhaps there are others rooting us on.” Instead, he writes, “Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses.” Many saints have gone before us. On a spiritual level they are there for us. It is difficult to put this into words. It is hard for us to understand just how this all works. On a spiritual level we are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses. All those who have gone before and struggled spiritually to live into their calling as a child of God are there for us. What they did matters? How they lived their life matters and helps us, and how we claim our lives as children of God will matter to many others who run the race after us. This is more than just a nice image. It is an assertion that through the grace of God all our lives are linked together.
Also the phrase, “looking to Jesus, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross…” If one looks at the Greek the best way to translate the first part of this phrase is to say, “looking away to Jesus.”. Now that is a beautiful phrase. When we run the race of life, what is the carrot that is in front of us? What do we look to run after? The writer of Hebrews reminds us that to run the marathon as a child of God, we need to look away from the carrots that often dominate our pursuits (success, money, fame or comfort). Look away from them. Look away to Jesus. That takes discipline, endurance, perseverance. It is hard not to get sidetracked in life to chase after fortune and glory. It takes true effort to make our agenda a part of God’s and not God a part of our agenda.
The second part of the phrase is truly wonderful, “looking to Jesus, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross…” Deep down the thing that we need to keep in mind is that out of a great joy Jesus is the perfecter of our faith. God came and humbled God’s self. As a result, we are able to claim our identity as children of God. Jesus did not come to suffer just for the sake of suffering. It was out of a deep joy. When we are off in life, when we are missing the mark, I would argue that deep down we know it. But when we are following God’s will for our life, when we struggle to endure down the path to realize who we are as a child of God, I would further argue that we are met there with a deep sense of joy. God deeply, joyfully wants to guide us. Will we let him?
In the 1992 Olympics Derek Redmond ran a race. He ran a race, and his Father and he gave us one of the greatest Olympic moments ever. The day of the race father and son talk about what it took for Derek to get to the olympics. They talk about ignoring past heartbreaks and failures. They agree that if anything bad happens, no matter what it is, Derek has to finish the race. The top four finishers in each of the two semifinal heats automatically qualify for the Olympic final. As the race approaches for the semifinal 400 heat, Jim, Derek's father, heads up to his seat in Olympic Stadium. The stadium is packed with 65,000 fans, bracing themselves for one of sport's greatest and most exciting spectacles. Millions are watching around the world. The race begins and Derek breaks from the pack and quickly seizes the lead. "Keep it up, keep it up," Jim says to himself. Down the backstretch, only 150 meters away from finishing, Redmond is sure to make the finals. Suddenly, he hears a pop in his right hamstring. He pulls up lame. "Oh, no," Jim says to himself. His shoulders shrink and his face turns pale. His leg quivering, Redmond begins hopping on one leg, then slows down and falls to the track. As he lays on the track, clutching his right hamstring, a medical unit runs toward him. At the same time, Jim Redmond, seeing his son in trouble, races down from the stands, sidestepping people, bumping into others. He has no credential to be on the track, but all he thinks about is getting to his son. On the track, Redmond realizes his dream of an Olympic medal is gone. Tears run down his face. "All I could think was, 'I'm out of the Olympics, again,'" he would say. As the medical crew arrives with a stretcher, Redmond tells them, "No, there's no way I'm getting on that stretcher. I'm going to finish my race." Then, in a moment that will live forever in the minds of millions, Derek lifts himself to his feet, ever so slowly, and starts hobbling down the track. The other runners have finished the race. Suddenly, everyone realizes that Derek isn't dropping out of the race. No, he is actually continuing on one leg. All by himself. All in the name of pride and heart. Slowly, the crowd, in total disbelief, rises and begins to roar. The roar gets louder and louder. Through the searing pain, Derek hears the cheers, but "I wasn't doing it for the crowd," he would later say. "I was doing it for me. Whether people thought I was an idiot or a hero, I wanted to finish the race. I'm the one who has to live with it." One painful step at a time, each one a little slower and more painful than the one before, and the crowd, many in tears, cheer him on. Suddenly, Jim finally gets to the bottom of the stands, leaps over the railing, avoids a security guard, and runs out to his son. With Derek refusing to surrender and painfully limping along the track, Jim reaches his son at the final curve, and wraps his arm around his waist. "I'm here, son," Jim says softly, hugging his boy. "We'll finish together." Derek puts his arms around his father's shoulders and sobs. Together, arm in arm, father and son, with 65,000 people cheering and millions watching, clapping and crying, they finish the race just as they vowed they would.
That was a true story from the 1992 Olympics. Derek went from a race for athletic success to a race of spiritual endurance. It reminds me that many of us start out concerned about worldly success, but not everything goes to plan. However, if we are aware we will see the more important spiritual race of life. The true question for each of us is, do we allow God to embrace us as our loving parent and guide us across the finish line. AMEN.
