Wednesday 21 May 2014

Stay the Course


There’s at least twice in the New Testament I can easily identify Paul using the image of the race and runner. The first time is in today’s passage of scripture in which he writes the well known words, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." (2 Tim 4:7) The second is one of my favourite passages of scripture Hebrews 12:1 - 2 “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 to us, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.”  
Runners, especially long distance runners, are quite remarkable. The commitment required to train involves an investment of time and a high level of dedication. I often see people running in cold, rainy, damp weather. I’m amazed at the dedication the people I see running in the winter. A friend of mine runs marathons and he talks of it as being both a physical and mental challenge. The physical part is pushing past the exhaustions and the mental aspect is the ability to stay the course, to keep focused on the goal and to know when to give yourself the necessary pep talk to keep going in spite of aching muscles. 
I am not a runner but a few years ago I started going to the gym again. That was a challenge for me. I began on the treadmill because I figured at the very least I can walk. I started out pretty slowly and every few days I would increase the speed. After about a month, I said to myself, “Why don’t you try to run a little?” So I did. I ran for a whole minute and I was proud of myself. After a week or so of one minute, I thought – why don’t you try two minutes? “Okay.” I said to myself, “a minute is only sixty seconds. Anyone can do anything for 60 seconds.” Oh, that was a hard 60 seconds -- legs aching; breathing hard. I had to break it down. Only 45 more seconds to go – I can do anything for 45 seconds; only 30 seconds to go; only 15 seconds to go keep going; only 10. That’s the mental challenge – how to persuade yourself to keep going when your body would rather stop. 
As Paul travelled spreading the good news of Jesus Christ, he no doubt had plenty of days when he would rather have stopped and given up being a disciple. And yet he kept going. He travelled all around Asia, proclaiming the good news and did his best to stay in touch with all the fledgling Christian communities he visited. I think Paul was like a minister for a multi-point pastoral charge – except his points were hundreds and hundreds of miles apart. He could not always be with them so he wrote all the points letters – letters of encouragement; letter of discipline; letters with practical advice on how to live as one of Christ’s disciples. He ran the race. He kept going.  
William Ritter writes, “Several years ago, I told you a story about one of my all-time favourite people. Not that I know her, or have even met her. But I admire her. Because one day, at age 42, in beautiful downtown Cleveland, she ran a marathon by accident (all 26 miles, 385 yards of it). Her name was Georgene Johnson. Still is. As you will recall, she lined up with the wrong group at the starting line. Not the 10K group, where she belonged. But the 26 mile group, where she didn't. It wasn't until the four mile mark that she realized her mistake. So she just kept going, finishing the race in four hours and four minutes. But it's what she said later (by way of explanation) that has stayed with me since. Said Georgene: "This isn't the race I trained for. This isn't the race I entered. But, for better or worse, this is the race I'm in." (www.sermons.com)
That is true for so many of us. We sometimes find ourselves in places we don’t intend to be and yet we must make the best of the situation. At the end of his life and ministry Paul found himself in that unintended place. He was in prison. As Paul sits in jail, looking back over his ministry, perhaps he is remembering that day on the road to Damascus when Jesus came so powerfully in his life or remembering his visits with the Christian communities in Rome, Corinth, or Phillipi. As the scenes of his ministry flash before his eyes, he has a choice to make about how to spend his remaining days. He could choose to be bitter or to lash out at God for the fate that has befallen him. 
Instead, Paul does what he does best, he does what God has called him to do from the beginning of his ministry, he takes out his pen and parchment and writes. Today it is a letter to Timothy. Some of what he writes is instruction to us, “As for you always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully.” (2 Timothy 4:5) Some of what Paul writes is practical, “Do your best to come to me soon…. When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas; also the books, and above all the parchments.” (2 Timothy 4:9, 13) Some of it is Paul’s deep and abiding faith in God’s goodness. “The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and save me for his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever.” (2 Timothy 4: 18)
Paul could have chosen to look at his time in prison as a failure—a dismal end to and otherwise good ministry. Instead he is able to write in faith, “As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:6 – 7) 
On April 12, 1980 right here in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador Terry Fox began the Marathon of Hope. Every day for 143 days he got up and ran – ran in the rain; ran in the wind; ran in the sleet. His goal was to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research – 1 dollar for every Canadian. On September 1, 1980 just outside Thunder Bay, after running 5, 373 km, Terry had to stop. With tears in his eyes, he announced that the cancer had returned. He never reached his destination. But who among us would say he failed? Terry Fox is a Canadian hero because of his determination and strength of spirit -- to stay the course, to run the race. Terry’s dream lives on each year as thousands people around the world gather to run, walk, or wheel sharing in his legacy – the Marathon of Hope. In faith we call those who inspire us to stay the course the great cloud of witnesses. Success lies not in reaching our destination, but in how well and true we stay the course. Terry stayed the course. Paul stayed the course. 
As we hear the story of Paul’s life lived in faith we are reminded of the course that is set before each one of us. We do not know the twists and turns that will come our way. No doubt we will face difficult times. No doubt we will want to give up. No doubt there will be times of joy. It is not the destination that matters, but the company we take with us, our fellow travellers in the way of Christ, and above all our God who sustains us and offers us the grace that inspires us to stay the course, run the race, and keep the faith. Amen. 

Sunday 11 May 2014

May 11, 2014


The reading from Luke at first glance seems like a story of little consequence. Not much happens and yet there is something about the interaction between Mary and Jesus that is intriguing. In this short story we catch a glimpse of Jesus’s childhood. He is 12 years old and he travels with his family to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival. Many people did this so it wasn’t unusual for a large group of extended family and friends to be traveling together and it wasn’t that surprising that Joseph and Mary didn’t notice that Jesus wasn’t with them right away. They’d travelled for a day when they started asking around. “Have you seen Jesus?” I’m guessing that that Mary’s fear increased every time someone said “No.” 
Mary and Joseph go back to Jerusalem. They spend three exhausting and stressful days searching for their child. Weary and anxious they finally find him in the temple. Not being able to find your child is big deal. I’m guessing many of us can identify with Mary and Joseph in their frantic search for Jesus. I remember clearly the day Will wandered away from in the jam packed grocery store two days before Christmas. I rushed up and down the aisles searching for him. When I finally found him I was simultaneously relieved and angry. Angry that he didn’t listen. Angry at myself for turning my back on him to get something off the shelf. And he was only lost for 5 minutes. 
As parents, God entrusts us with the care of our children. But it is not always an easy calling. There are joyful days like today as we welcome new members of the body of Christ through baptism or concerts or watching them succeed at their newest endeavour. There are the crazy days of making sure that meals are ready and that they get to their activities. There are days spent caring and worrying when they are sick. There are parents who struggle with strained relationships with their children.
For Mary it was much the same. There were times of joy but also terrible days. Think of Mary during Holy Week as Mary watches from the sidelines as terrible things happen to her son and how her heartbreak that day. Did she pray the words of our psalm, “I lift my eyes to the hills, from where will come my help?” (Psalm 121). Maybe she needed someone to reminder her, “My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth.” (Psalm 121) 
This week many around the world have watched in horror as details about the abduction of over 200 hundred Nigerian girls from their school unfolds. They are being held captive with the threat that they will be sold. The refrain “bring back our girls” is a haunting prayer and cry for help. A senseless crime that has devastated so many families and it seems as though we are helpless to change the situation. It seems especially hard on a day that celebrates mothers to know that there are so many who are anxiously waiting for news about their daughters.  
Prayers for our children aren’t new. Mary and Joseph must have said so many as they searched for Jesus. Perhaps a prayer with every step as they looked for him. Finally they find him. Mary says, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you with great anxiety.” (Luke 2:49) Fear, frustration, anger all balled up into two short sentences. And what does Jesus say? Today I imagine he would say, “Well duh Ma. Where did you think I’d be? This is my Father’s house.” 
The story comes to no easy resolution – other than to say that Jesus grows in wisdom and years and Mary treasures all these things in her heart. But then that is often the case between parents and children. It is a journey over a lifetime filled with ups and downs. 
That journey includes praying for children here and round the world – today especially remember especially our brothers and sisters in Nigeria. But we also need to pray for a world where children are safe every day. Mother’s day has its roots in the hope of better lives for women and families. Voices calling for change inspired the first Mother’s days.  Ann Reeves Jarvis began planning “Mother’s Day Work Clubs” to improve women’s lives though education in the areas of health and sanitation. Around the same time Julia Ward Howe, the poet who wrote the Battle Hymn of the Republic wrote “A Mother’s Day Proclamation” as plea for peace in the world. She writes,
“Arise, then, women of this day! Arise all women who have hearts,
whether our baptism be that of water or of fears! …
We women of one country will be too tender of those of another
country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs. From
the bosom of the devastated earth a voice goes up with our own.
It says "Disarm, Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance
of justice." http://www.peace.ca/mothersdayproclamation.htm http://www.peace.ca/mothersdayproclamation.htm

The cry for peace and for the safety of all our children is one that continues to echo today. We know Mary’s heartache did not end when she found Jesus in the temple. There were many ups and downs until that last and most terrible day with Jesus on the cross. But we also know Mary witnessed the resurrection – that she knew the promise of new life that is for us all. It is our job as a community faith to live into that promise of new life and to hold high the candle of hope. For those whose heartache is still with them, it is our prayer that they will find that new life. Until the day where we can all dwell in safety and peace, let us as God’s people pray and work for a world made new. Amen.