The Courage to Go On

Hebrews 11:39-12:3

12:1 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. Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart.

Have You ever come to a place in life that you wondered, “How can I go on?” This past 10 days my life has been bombarded with reports from people who could so easily ask that question. I got a letter from an old, old friend who told me that Ed is 90 years old, that Harbart has been in the hospital for 2 months, that Tom Shipmon is on dialysis. The director of the family life retreat in Texas told me of his 4 year old who is taking chemo for a rare disease. He says to the nurses, “Please don’t hurt me again.” Joe, sent out invitations to his college graduation, but he failed the math course again and did not graduate. And, I met again a woman who had an aneurysm who cannot speak. But I do not have to go so far, there are persons here today who have faced those things that make you wonder, “How can I get the courage to go on?”

If I knew you better, perhaps I could name some of the same hard things that are going on in your life. I know that many of you have found a way and in finding a workable way, you have by-passed many pathways that lead nowhere. So if I were to ask you today, “What would you advise me? What would you advise these persons that I have spoken of?”

I think that you would say to me quite candidly, “There are some pathways into the future that are not helpful or productive for us. Take the path of denial. (Its not just a river in Egypt.) When tragedy strikes, when hard times come, denying that you are being pressed to your limit offer no solution. Admit it! Life is hell right now. I need all the help I can get to face it.

And, don’t take the Pollyanna path. That path is a special kind of denial. Perhaps you have known those people for whom everything is bright and wonderful.

And, don’t withdraw, don’t try to exit your situation. Some run away into alcohol or drugs, others into work, still others to another man or woman. I know one many who virtually lives in an airplane and that provides a way of escaping the pressure of his present situation. J. Clifford Baxter of Enron took the final Exit rather than face his future!

Dear friends, you are right. None of these pathways leads where we wish to go. One dear friend who is no longer sitting with us would give a clear direction. Old Burney would say, “There is only one pathway to walk into our future – the path of reality. You can live in the truth. Accept it. Embrace it. Find in Christ a source of strength for your journey whatever it is. When Burney discovered he had pancreatic cancer, I went to visit with him. “How are you dealing with this new,” I asked. He said, “Ben, you know me. I am accepting it for what it is. I will have surgery and perhaps that will help but if not, I am prepared to offer back to God the talents he loaned me, and enter into the next phase.” The cancer was inoperable; he refused chemotherapy, and courageously lived into the presence of God.

Where do people go for real help when their lives get cluttered and complicated? What is the source of their strength to accept the reality of their lives and of their situation? I believe the answer is found in the text of the morning.

The writer of this letter urges people like you and me who are burdened down with the heaviness of life – “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. The Gospels make it abundantly clear that Jesus, knowing what lay before him in Jerusalem, accepted the reality of his situation and persisted in his journey.

Jesus experienced the worst that could be done to a human being. He was betrayed, denied, falsely accused, suffered a mock trial with a prejudiced jury, and he was sentenced to a death that he did not deserve. He was beaten, humiliated, shamed, taunted, and murdered. He then was buried in a borrowed tomb. He endured all the loss, shame, and pain because he had absolute faith in the Father whom he loved and to whom he was completely devoted.

From this suffering and death, Jesus arose. He came out of that tomb and is alive, alive and present today. Not one time did he deny the pain and evil of his situation, not one time did he think that he, the Son of God, would not suffer, and not one time did he waver or think of turning back. Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem – to embrace his reality, to live his reality, and to believe that God could make life come out of death.

I invite you to “look to Jesus” the pioneer and perfecter of your faith, lest you become weary and faint in your minds.

Eugene Peterson in The Message paraphrases our text of the morning in a graphic and compelling manner. Listen to his rendition:

Do you see what this means – all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running – and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor right alongside God. When you find yourself flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item; that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!

As we look to Jesus, the author and finisher, of our faith, we receive strength to face my future.

Jesus has promised to be with you. He will never forsake you. A few months ago Jim asked for an appointment when I was in his church. He has been a long time friend and a faithful disciple of Christ. Now he can hardly breathe; he lives with an oxygen tank at his side. When he sat down, I asked how he was doing. “Fine,” he said, “Jesus is with me and gives me strength to face every day.”

The Lord promises that you will never be given a load that you cannot bear. Listen to his word through Paul: “No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.” I Cor. 13:10

The Lord has provided us a community of support. Around us are those who have been baptized into the body of Christ. They love us and will be with us through whatever comes our way. Have you not found it so? And, the text of the morning tells us that there are others, a cloud of witnesses which surround us. “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.”

I believe we find courage and strength in the final vision. The text says, “Jesus, for the joy that was set before him, endured the shame..” What is that joy? It is the joy of sitting down on the throne of God, participating in God’s glory. He endured the shame….for the joy. He endured the torture…for the joy! He kept his face turned toward heaven …for the joy. And in Revelation it says, “He or she that overcomes will sit down with my in my throne, as I have sat down with my Father in his throne.” Remember the joy that is set before you! That is “the rest of the story.” The joy is coming! (rehearse his capture, trial, stripping, crucifixion – the joy is coming!)

Martha is my neighbor. Martha is a member of the birthday club. Five couples have shared birthdays for 23 years and winter vacations for 10 years. The ten of us were about as tight as friends could get. We forgive a lot , overlook a lot, and we remain friends through sickness, blindness, surgery, and death. Martha’s husband, Dick, died of cancer two years ago. Sure it has hurt. Certainly, the house seems empty when she goes home in the evening, but through it all, she has been remarkably bright, courageous, and radiant.

Last week I called her and asked if she wanted to walk. Both of us try to walk everyday. While we were walking, I asked her, “Martha, you have been an example to all of us since Dick’s death. I know it has been hard for you, but where have you found the strength that you demonstrate to go on?

For a moment she wanted to deny that she had been an example, perhaps recalling how hard it had been. But then she said, “I think that I have spent a lifetime developing my faith. And having my faith to fall back on has given me strength.”

She continued, “And, too, I think that information about suffering and death has been helpful. You may recall when Kitty Ledbetter, a member of our church, taught a course on death and dying. I attended and found a number of helpful insights that helped me through Dick’s illness and death.”

She paused a few minutes and said, “You know, Dick’s attitude was also very helpful to me. He kept hoping. He never overloaded me but in his own way was supportive.

“This morning these are my thoughts, tomorrow there may be more. I mentioned a lot of things yesterday, external things, but overlooking the nearest and most essential element of what went on with me.

Dick and I were very close to God throughout his battle with cancer. We shared a devotional time every day and conversations of faith along the way. This was new for us. We received prayers and concerns from others humbly and with gratitude. This focus for us drew us nearer to God and has sustained me after his passing.

There is a narrow place between accepting the reality of a terminal illness and petitioning God for a cure. Sometimes I felt that I leaned more toward acceptance than praying for a cure. Dick, on the other hand, seemed to always have hope even though he knew the odds were against him. I struggled with his concept of faith, but I think I cling to the feeling that God is with us in whatever comes our way, and that was all I needed to know. Of course, I prayed for a miracle, but that was not my most persistent prayer. Perhaps it should have been. Rather my persistent prayer was for God to be with us and that is what happened. God held us very close.

Now my challenge three years later is to move on—not only in my living but my faith. I pray God will lead and hold me.