(Preached on Sunday, August 15, 2010)
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, … -Hebrews 12:1-2a
William Hutchison Murray, a Scottish mountain climber who took part in an expedition to the Himalayas in the early 1950s, in recounting the preparations for the journey tells how one of his companions asked him to join the expedition and then a week later asked him to organize it. Though it might seem that nothing had been done in that intervening week, in fact an important step had been taken, as Murray describes: We had definitely committed ourselves and were half-way out of our ruts. We had put down our passage money – booked a sailing to Bombay. This may sound too simple, but is great in consequence. Until one is committed there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favour all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way. I have learned a deep respect for one of Goethe’s couplets:
“Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.”
Beginning is an important step. Committing our lives to God is the vital, first step in following Jesus and his teachings for living a God-inspired life in response to God’s love and acceptance. We have been talking about this together for several weeks and I know that we all know and understand this is the way to live and survive in the world today. But how do we make that commitment in our lives and in the world today? It is not just as easy as saying, “Okay, I’m going to commit my life to God.” Contrary to the way the Baptist preachers and revivalists of my youth made it sound. How do we “run the race of faith” to which the author of Hebrews calls us in a manner which brings pride and joy to the great cloud of witnesses who are surrounding us and watching us engage in our part of the race?
Our lives today are filled to overflowing with activity, with demands, with responsibilities, and with distractions. The demands of employers who expect us to work 60 or 70 hours a week, adding on more responsibilities as work forces are reduced and workloads increased make it difficult. Raising children with all the expectations for keeping them busy, involved in extracurricular activities as well as school requirements make it difficult. Add to that all the things which consume our time without our agreement. Someone once calculated that the average American will spend:
- Six months sitting at stoplights
- Eight months opening junk mail (and I would add another 10 months wading through my email inbox, dealing with all the spam, well-meaning friends who send inspirational thoughts, plus all airline, florist, hotel and other special offers, not to mention the legitimate communications I actually need to read and respond to.)
- One year looking for misplaced objects
- Two years unsuccessfully returning phone calls
- Five years waiting in line.
But all joking aside, there are serious, sincere reasons why we have trouble today living lives committed to the cause of Jesus and turned over to God.
This is why the author of Hebrews calls us to “run with perseverance the race that is set before us.” By perseverance he is talking about dedication. Meryl Streep is a great actress. She has been nominated for an Academy Award more times than any other actor or actress, ever. She is a great actress because of her dedication. There is a story from early in her career which illustrates her dedication. In 1987 she was in a film called Ironweed. One day they were filming a scene where her character, a ragged derelict, dies in a cheap hotel room. For more than half an hour before the scene Meryl hugged a huge bag of ice cubes to her body in an agonizing effort to experience how it felt to be a corpse. Once the camera began to roll, Jack Nicholson, her derelict lover, sobbed and screamed and shook her body in grief. Through take after take – and between takes too – Meryl just lay there like an iced mackerel. Frightened, a member of the crew whispered to the director, Hector Babenco, “What’s going on? She’s not breathing.” Babenco peered at Meryl and gave a start: there was no sign of life! He hesitated, and then let the scene proceed. Yet even after the shot was completed and the set struck, Meryl continued to lie there, gray and still. Only after 10 minutes had passed did she slowly, slowly emerge from the coma-like state into which she had deliberately sunk. Babenco muttered in amazement, “Now that is acting. That is an actress!”
That sort of dedication requires discipline. Discipline is a word which has fallen into disfavor today. In our quest for freedom and spontaneity we have underrated the place of discipline. Discipline is an attention to detail; it is a willingness to practice and rehearse; it is a commitment to fundamentals in order to develop and hone one’s talent, skill or capability. Discipline is what sets the master apart from the journeyman. Discipline is what enables a great artist or athlete or scientist to harness all the talents and skills and equipment to work together for achieving a high goal. The author of Hebrews uses the image of a race. Watch the runners in a track meet and you realize the discipline needed. You win races by having your equipment, body, mind and spirit under control and synchronized to work harmoniously, without wasted effort or energy, toward the goal. Discipline is what brings all this together in a unified way to win the race, or at least perform to your highest capability. In the Christian life the same is true.
But the goal of discipline in the Christian life is to live in tune with the Spirit of God so that we can both know and do God’s will in love each day. What the discipline helps us to do is to keep our eyes on Jesus. After all, he already traveled this road ahead of us – like a pioneer of faith who blazed a trail for us, and he’s reached the goal we are aiming for – a life lived in perfect obedience and connection with God. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, the author preaches, and root your faith in the assurance that God’s purposes will unfold right before our eyes, unfold in our own lives. In the meantime, along the way, there’s going to be some difficult times, and we’re going to be challenged, and we’re going to face hardship, just as Jesus’ own path to God was by the way of a cross. Don’t give up! That’s where the discipline helps.
Instead of viewing discipline as a negative concept, I invite you to view it in a positive way as a practice which helps us to identify and build into our lives the rhythms that foster living in tune with the Spirit of God. And since we are complex creatures, with a body, mind, and spirit, we need to pay attention to all aspects of our beings. After all, God is not just interested in our minds (what we think about God) or even our spirit (what we feel about God). God also created us with physical bodies and desires our physical life to be as healthy and positive as our mental and spiritual lives.
So, when we think about developing those practices and rhythms in our lives which help us to be all God created us to be and to live in tune with God’s desires for us that includes paying attention to healthy body practices: eating healthy, and in moderation, sleeping enough, and exercising our bodies to maintain good health. It includes cultivating healthy attitudes that begin with a relaxed and rested mind and include a well educated, well read, expanded mind that seeks to understand God’s world and God’s plan for justice, fairness, equality, and stewardship.
And of course it includes nurturing a healthy spiritual life. This can include making sure there is time for prayer, Bible reading, spiritual reading, worship, journal writing and other activities which nourish our inner life of spirit. None of these practices are intended to take over our lives, but it is important we build into our lives balance, that we find a rhythm between those activities and practices that help us maintain healthy bodies, minds and spirits, as well as those activities in which we give to the world, through work, caring for families and friends, and engaging in God’s work in the world. Too often we cut corners on these healthy practices thinking we don’t have time or they are not important. But they are, for they are what enable us to engage life thoroughly and completely, at the highest level.
There was a skilled carpenter who was asked to build a house by a rich man. He was not given a plan, just told to build a good house with material as needed, to be charged to the rich man. The house was built, and appeared to be a house of beauty, but the carpenter knew that to save money he had used inferior materials, and had taken many short cuts that compromised the integrity of the house. When completed, the builder was handed the keys, and told the house was his. The wealthy man for whom the carpenter had worked for many years wanted to reward him. The builder was heartbroken; how industriously he had been cheating himself. If we cut corners in developing the healthy rhythms of life that nurture our body, mind and spirit to be all that God created us to be, we not only cheat God: we also cheat ourselves. We do these things, not to win God’s love. God loves us, that is a given fact. And God wants us to love ourselves enough to take care of ourselves, body, mind and spirit, by developing the proper rhythms in our lives.