How To Keep Going--November 18, 2020

 How To Keep Going--November 18, 2020

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God." [Hebrews 12:1-2]

Sometimes you just keep going, putting one foot in front of the other, and you call that a win for the day.  Honestly.

I know it's hard these days to keep up with all we are asked to do, with increasingly complicated circumstances to deal with, and to find the energy or the will to keep on going.  I know many have found their jobs keep changing as everybody lives with the challenges of responding to COVID, if they are lucky enough to have a job.  I know it's hard to keep finding joy when we are separated from one another.  I know it's hard being responsible and continuing to do what we are asked to do for the sake of our neighbors, from wearing masks to keeping distances to limiting gatherings.  I know it's hard to say "No" to things that seem fun, or that have been long-standing traditions.  I know it's hard to adapt.  And I know, when so many things feel like they have been brought to halt, canceled, or turned upside down, to dare to believe things really will get better sometime.  It's hard, in other words, to persevere.

And if we are going to be truly honest with one another, we should admit that it can be hard to hear the Scriptures call us to keep "running" with perseverance, because, hoo boy, we are tired already.  It's hard to be weary already from the marathon we've already been running, and then to be told, "Just keep on running."  And maybe, at first blush, that's all it sounds like we get here from the writer of Hebrews--just the sideline shouting of a track coach telling the runners to do more while they watch from the bleachers.

But perhaps it would be good to give this voice from Scripture the benefit of the doubt and see if there's good news to be heard here more than merely, "Keep on running with no end in sight."  Let's see if we can't wrestle a blessing out of this text, as they say.

First off, picture the scene that the writer of Hebrews describes.  It's not a solo marathon, really--it's like a relay race.  We are a part of a team, and that "great cloud of witnesses" who have gone before us (read all of Hebrews 11 to get a sort of run-through of saints and sojourners from the saga of God's people) are people who have run ahead of us.  In other words, yes, we are being called to run our part of a race--but it's not all on you or me.  We run together as part of a team, and others have gone ahead of us and done their part of the course.  Each of us has a leg of the race to run, but others have covered rough terrain before us already.  And those who have gone ahead of us are cheering for us, not rooting against us.  Neither are they just passively watching like mere spectators looking to be entertained--their voices encourage and inspire and propel us forward.  We don't race alone: Hebrews reminds us of that when it feels like you're the only one on the path.

Second, the writer of Hebrews invites us to run with greater freedom by letting go of the baggage and weight we thought we had to talk along with us.  As we keep on persevering in this life, there are so many voices telling us things we need to carry with us--the status that comes with our jobs, our worries over having more money than our neighbor, our hang-ups about our past, the ghosts of our mess-ups and failures, and the guilt and regret we each carry from things we wish we could take back or do over differently.  We are also lugging around a lot of other dead weight that ain't the gospel, either--the hatreds and fears we have had ingrained in us from childhood, the selfishness and narcissism we've been taught that says, "I've got to look out for Me-and-My-Group First!", and the assumptions we have been handed about what Respectable Religious people are supposed to do, or think, or look like, or act like.  All of that is extra weight that we don't need to be carrying, even though somebody along the way told us we had to strap it on our backs and carry it all.  The writer of Hebrews says, "No!   You don't need to carry anything else, so let go of the baggage, the weight, the sin, the hang-ups, the bent-in-on-self-ness that you were taught to pick up at some point.  You don't have to carry it any more."  So rather than hearing these verses like the writer is cracking the whip on us and endlessly telling us to run faster and harder, he's actually telling us to let go of the things that are weighing us down, things we didn't have to be carrying in the first place.  That makes the journey easier, not harder.

And ultimately, there is Jesus.  Jesus is really what makes the difference in all of this.  Because the secret that the writer of Hebrews is sharing with us is that the victory in this race is already accomplished.  We are on Jesus' team, and he has already broken the track record.  He has already won the race for the whole team, which means the pressure doesn't all rest on you or me alone to do a "good enough" job.  Jesus has already lapped the competition, and the race is won.  That's why the writer of Hebrews can call Jesus the "pioneer and perfecter of our faith."  Or, to be a little more literal with the Greek of the original, Jesus is "the inaugurator and the completer"--he's the first runner on this relay, and he's the one who has brought it to completion, too.  If this life's journey is a marathon relay race, Jesus was not only our first runner, but he's already crossed the line on our behalf, and our calling is just to keep going in confidence that the race is already won.  Not only that, but there is an end to this race, and we know it because Jesus has already crossed the finish line and sat down at the right hand of the Father.  The winning is over. Victory is assured and accomplished.  Now that the pressure is off, you and I are free just to run without worrying we'll let God down when we stumble, or fussing over how we compare to somebody else.  We don't have to worry about it at all.  Jesus has already triumphed.

If that's true, then it does change the way I face this day.  In a sense, my calling hasn't changed--we keep going, no matter what.  But in a different sense, everything has changed.  Because I no longer have to stay stuck in that rat-race mentality of our coworkers, neighbors, and friends who are constantly trying to "get ahead" so they can feel like they are "winning" at life by being better than somebody else.  We don't have to live with the hang-ups of worrying how we compare to someone, or fussing over if we have done enough.  We don't have to play those games or carry those loads anymore.  Our hands are free, since we've set all that competition-minded garbage thinking side, and with empty hands we can not only take the baton that's been passed to us, but use our freedom of motion to love the people around us. 

So if you find yourself, today or ever, feeling worn down in this daily race... if you find yourself feeling like you're alone... if you feel like you've been handed too much of a load to carry while you run a marathon with no end in sight, here is good news.  You are not alone, and you never were.  You don't have to carry the junk and baggage that other people hand to you.  And you don't have to worry that it all hangs on you being good enough, because Jesus has already won this race.

Your calling and mine is simply to keep putting one foot in front of another.  Even after it feels like we've taken a couple of steps backward, too.  Even if the only win for the day is one step's worth of movement.  Even if we are still tempted repeatedly to keep picking up old discarded bags and weights laying at the edge of the path.  We keep going, because Jesus has won the race already, and he picked you and me for his team.

Lord Jesus, help us to keep going today, but freely and without the weights and worries we are used to.