Run with Endurance

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. (Hebrews 12:1-3 ESV).

My oldest granddaughter, Faith, participates in several extra-curricular activities through her high school. One of those is Cross Country Running. She also runs the long distance races on her track team in the spring, but fall is devoted to the rigors of the often hilly terrain selected for a 2 or 3 mile race. I must say she is pretty good at it as well. She is pictured here on the left (#25) in a race last year. I remember well her first races. In the beginning she was as much concerned with finishing as she was with winning. Ultimately her best finish has been a 3rd place finish in the district race. The key is in building endurance and a will to finish the course. Endurance is essential in life. In the larger context of our reading today the Apostle Paul illustrates in rapid succession Christian living by comparing it to the life of a soldier, an athlete, and a farmer. I have had a taste of each of these examples. I can well extrapolate his point. He writes to Timothy, bracketing his images with the words “Join with me in suffering …I endure everything for the sake of the elect” (2 Timothy 2:10). Soldiers endure discipline, separation, combat, and at times a seemingly arbitrary commanding officer. Athletes endure training, sweat, sore muscles, and at times defeat, which can be heartbreaking and humiliating. Farmers endure uncertain weather, cantankerous animals, balky machinery, and at times devastating loss. Of course, endurance is not limited to these three professions. Plumbers, accountants, teachers, students, parents, nurses all endure. Add your own occupation to the list. Being human requires endurance. And endurance requires grace. That’s why Paul prefaces his call to endurance with these words: “Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” No one endured more than Jesus. He endured the cross as he took on himself the penalty for all our sin that we might have life. So we fix our eyes on him, who focused on the joy of winning that victory for us. Lent is a good time to fix our eyes on Jesus, to ponder his grace and his endurance. Endure with that grace!