Running the Race
Do you have any traditions in your family that you enjoy? Do you know their origin – how, why, or when they started? In the musical Fiddler on the Roof, one of the best known songs is Tradition. The lead character, Tevye says, “Some people may ask, how the tradition get started? I’ll tell you…I don’t really know, but it’s a tradition!” Some traditions can be that way.
November 16, 2014
Hebrews 12:1-4, Running the Race
Doug Scalise, Brewster Baptist Church
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[powerpress]
How familiar are you with your family heritage and roots? Some people like Linda Viprino who does genealogical research know a lot. Honestly, what do you know about your family six generations ago? I know nothing about them off the top of my head, not even their names. I could look their names up, but it’s kind of embarrassing to be so ignorant of my family traditions and heritage, because often we can learn a lot from those who came before us. Most of us 21st century Christians are also unaware of the roots and traditions of our Christian faith. We don’t know our family history – so much has been forgotten or never learned. On our trip to Italy we saw incredibly large pillars that were made of a single piece stone and we were told that even with all the technology and equipment available today, we can’t mine a single large piece of stone like the builders did over one thousand years ago. The knowledge was lost.
We also don’t know the author of the New Testament book called The Letter to the Hebrews. We do know something about the people to whom it was first written. We know that some of them were weakening in faith and wavering in their commitment to live out what they claimed to believe. In Hebrews 10:32-39 we learn that some of them had been subject to persecution, imprisonment, and having their property taken because of their faith. Regardless of what they’ve been through they’re encouraged to persevere in faith and doing good until the Lord returns. Chapter 11then lists many of the great heroes and heroines of the Hebrew Scriptures who are examples and role models of living faithfully.
Then Chapter 12 begins: “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, 2 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. 3 Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart. 4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.”
While I’ve always liked that scripture, I have a much deeper appreciation for it now than I did before leaving for our trip to Italy two weeks ago. I felt the presence of “the cloud of witnesses” very strongly in Italy. Since we visited 35 churches in ten days perhaps that’s not surprising. The truth is we wouldn’t be here today without all the faithfulness of the cloud of witnesses who lived from the time of Jesus right up to today. One thing the Roman Catholic Church has done well is to lift up particular individuals, both men and women, through the centuries who serve as inspiring role models and mentors in the faith. The presence and impact of women that has been preserved in the church is notable: from Mary the mother of Jesus and Mary Magdalene, Praxedes, Monica, the mother of Augustine, Marcella who lived in the fourth century in Rome and helped Jerome with translating the Bible into Latin, Clair who worked with Francis, and Catherine of Sienna were all remarkable women of faith.
During our trip we did many things to connect us to the cloud of witnesses of the faith including going to sites that honor these believers including a basilica that had formerly been a house where Peter stayed while in Rome. Seeing the tombs of Peter and Paul in Rome and of Mark in Venice. Praying before the cross that Saint Francis prayed before 909 years ago when he heard the Lord tell him to rebuild his church. Praying inside the first small chapel that Francis and his friends rebuilt. Seeing stunning paintings, mosaics, and sculptures by some of the greatest artists, both known like Michelangelo, Caravaggio, and Fra Angelico, and unknown mosaic masters whose work is remarkably preserved and stunning to see as many as 1700 years after they were made. Standing inside ancient baptisteries where thousands of Christians have placed their faith in Christ through the centuries and seeing where Emperor Constantine was baptized. All these threads of connection through the centuries are amazing.
It was also nice to be in very old churches that still have worship today. We went to Morning Prayer at a church where Christians have been worshiping for over 1,000 years. We joined in an evening prayer service led by lay people committed to prayer, sharing the Gospel, and serving the poor. They gather seven days a week to pray and strengthen their commitment to those things and they were incredibly welcoming and hospitable to us.
During our trip every time we walked into a church your eyes were usually drawn to an amazing floor or ceiling, a statue or painting, or a mosaic at the front, back or above you. However, when we walked into the Basilica Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome, Jill was drawn to their bulletin board because she liked that it reflected the church was still actively involved in ministry. Meanwhile there was a poster that caught my eye and I asked Jill to take a picture of it. The poster is in English and Italian and it says,
“Basilica Santa Maria sopra Minerva. We cannot remain silent. In Iraq, thousands of Christians, along with other minorities, are forced by an unrecognized extremist state to abandon their homes and their land because of their faith. Houses of those who had to flee without taking anything with them are marked with the Arabic letter “nun” the initial of Nazarene, the Arabic word to indicate Christians!
If others can watch these events in silence, “we cannot remain silent”:
Let us mark our house,
Let us mark our CHURCH with “nun”!
Let us lift up our prayers to the Lord,
Let us denounce this act of genocide!”
Click to enlarge
I was struck during our experience by how many folks have been martyred right up to the present day. The Basilica of Saint Praxedes where Peter slept – was also the church where they rung out the blood of the martyrs that they gathered up from the places where they had been killed. Hebrews 12:4 says, “In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood,” But countless Christians through the centuries have done precisely that. We saw paintings hundreds of years old of Franciscans and Dominicans being beheaded by the ancestors of the Islamic State. We were reminded again of the Christians care for the bodies and bones of martyrs in the catacombs. Through the worst adversity imaginable, ordinary people have kept looking to Jesus and running the race of faith and no one could have imagined that one day several billion people would be following Jesus.
A professor of mine in seminary (Howard Clark Kee, Understanding the New Testament, page 174) wrote about how incredible and unlikely the growth of the Way of Jesus was from a human point of view. “No one observing the itinerant fishermen and craftsmen trying to launch an apocalyptic movement in Palestine in the name of an executed Galilean troublemaker would ever have supposed that by the end of the first century there would be flourishing communities of Gentile adherents in the major Mediterranean cities and in Rome itself.” The disciples couldn’t keep their experience of Jesus to themselves. Everywhere they went – crossing barriers of race, culture, class, and gender, they bore witness to the good news that there was forgiveness of sins, life transforming power, and a new sense of identity and purpose, available through Jesus Christ. We’re here today because for almost 2,000 years faithful Christians have been effective witnesses in telling others about Jesus.
As we saw people of many nations and languages visiting the ancient baptistery in Firenze, I was reminded that “Through baptism we become part of a family much larger than our biological family. It is a family of people “set apart” by God to be light in the darkness. These set-apart people are called saints. Although we tend to think about saints as holy and pious, and picture them with halos above their heads and ecstatic gazes, true saints are much more accessible. They are men and women like us, who live ordinary lives and struggle with ordinary problems. What makes them saints is their clear and unwavering focus on God and God’s people. Some of their lives may look quite different, but most of their lives are remarkably similar to our own. The saints are our brothers and sisters, calling us to become like them.”[1]
The final chapter of Paul’s Letter to the Romans is one that most people when they read their Bible just skip over because they don’t think it has anything of value for them because it is basically a list of Paul greeting people. Romans 16:1-15, “I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church at Cenchreae, 2 so that you may welcome her in the Lord as is fitting for the saints, and help her in whatever she may require from you, for she has been a benefactor of many and of myself as well. 3 Greet Prisca and Aquila, who work with me in Christ Jesus, 4 and who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. 5 Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert in Asia for Christ. 6 Greet Mary, who has worked very hard among you. 7 Greet Andronicus and Junia, my relatives who were in prison with me; they are prominent among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was. 8 Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. 9 Greet Urbanus, our co-worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys. 10 Greet Apelles, who is approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the family of Aristobulus. 11 Greet my relative Herodion. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus. 12 Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord. 13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; and greet his mother—a mother to me also. 14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers and sisters who are with them. 15 Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them.
Paul identifies 27 people by name and many more are implied as part of households. All these people were normal everyday folks like you and me and this chapter is a reminder that every one of us can make a contribution. How many unnamed people from slaves and stone cutters to Masons, Architects, and Master Mosaic Artists were part of building the churches we visited? For every well-known saint there are countless more whose names we’ll never know. I’m truly thankful for people like Paul and Peter who are well known and for the millions of others who were courageous and bold enough to witness to others about their faith in Jesus.
Every living follower of Christ has been fortunate to come to faith because others in previous generations have been faithful witnesses. Hopefully all of us could identify members of our family, Sunday School teachers, Pastors, Youth Group leaders, camp counselors, or friends who bore witness to Jesus and helped us along the road of faith. These people are very special to us and we’re grateful for them and many of them may now be part of that great cloud of witnesses cheering us on. At the same time, we need to remember, that the Lord calls us to be loving, faithful witnesses of Jesus for other people as well.
Now it’s our turn to carry the baton of faith in Jesus. At the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China, the United States Men’s and Women’s 4 x 100 relay teams were favored to come away with a medal. Unfortunately, both teams were eliminated in the semi-finals when the third and fourth runners couldn’t successfully pass the baton and it hit the ground and neither team advanced. The disappointment and pain of the runners was very evident. It’s an awful feeling to drop the baton when your team and country are counting on you. “It was probably my fault,” said Tyson Gay, the 2007 world champion in the 100 and 200. “Some people say that when it hits the hand, you should have it. I’m a veteran. I’ve run all kinds of relays. I’ve never dropped a baton in my life. It’s kind of upsetting. I can’t believe it.” It was the first time since the women’s 4×100 was introduced in 1928, not including the boycotted 1980 Games, that the USA didn’t win a medal in either relay.
As Christians in the 21st century we are now taking our turn running around the track of life. Every Christian who ran the race before us for 2,000 years is now part of the crowd of witnesses cheering us on as we strive to run our race of faith. Sprinter Tyson Gay felt awful that he dropped the baton at the Beijing Olympics, but at least he did everything possible to train himself to be ready and he was willing to take the baton and run with it. How much worse it is to be unwilling to run, unwilling to take the baton, unwilling to realize there is a huge competition going on whether we’re aware of it or not, and there are others who are fiercely committed, training hard, and determined to give their all so their team can win. The world is the competition of ideas to gain adherents. If you don’t think so, whatever you believe, value and hope continues in the world is in jeopardy. In Basilica San Clemente in Rome, three floors below the street you can see an ancient worship space dedicated to Mithraism a popular mystery religion in Rome where they’d sacrifice a bull and sprinkle those gathered with blood and just across the narrow alley space was the location of one of the first house churches in Rome. Talk about competition. The church of Jesus Christ is always a generation away from extinction. It doesn’t matter how well Jesus, Mary, Peter, Mark, Paul, Francis, Clair, and Catherine ran their races of faith; their turn on the track is over.
The question is what we are prepared to do? Are we willing to take the baton of faith and run with perseverance, concentration, energy, focus, and all the determination and love we’ve got? I saw a new Reebok ad that said, “We accept everyone who believes in the power of the body and is willing to put in hard work. We are the Fitness Generation. Join us.” I wonder if the church can say, “We accept everyone who believes in the power of Jesus and is willing to put in hard work. We are the Faithful Generation. Join us.”
Blessing: Hebrews 13:20-21, 24-25
Now may the God of peace, who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21 make you complete in everything good so that you may do his will, working among us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those from Italy send you greetings. 25 Grace be with all of you.
Questions for Reflection or Discussion:
Do you have any traditions in your family that you enjoy? Do you know their origin – who, how, why, or when they started?
How familiar are you with your family heritage and roots? What do you know about your family six generations ago?
Have you ever run in a relay race or watched one on television during the Olympics? What is often the most decisive moment of a relay race?
Who is or was a role model or mentor for you in life? Who do you look up to and desire to emulate? What is it about that person which makes them worthy of following their example?
What does Hebrews 12:1-4 tell us about the race each of us is running? Who is watching us? What might be slowing you down?
How are we to run our race of faith? What depends on the quality of our effort as we run?
Update Regarding our Fund Raising Campaign
I want to update everyone on our Fund Raising campaign … Preserving our Past … Building our Future. I have good news, more good news and a request. The first good news is that we now believe our expenses for the church restoration work and the yet to be done landscaping will come in $45,000 under what we had assumed which allows us to reduce our campaign goal from $500,000 to $455,000. The next good news is we are closing in on that goal. BBC members and friends have pledged $416,500 to date which brings us to 92% of new our goal. Also good news is the fact that $245,500 or about 60% of those pledges have already been paid. Now the request. We have yet to receive pledges from a number of people, some of whom have told us they will donate by the end of the year, so we’re keeping the campaign open until December 31, 2014. We do need to reach our goal to preserve the financial integrity of the church as we go into 2015 so I encourage all those who haven’t pledged, or who have told us they will to do so by the end of the year, to pledge by December 31st. Thank you so much for your prayerful, generous support.
[1] Henri Nouwen Saints, People Like Us