Category: News

Hebrews 12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

In the Tour De France, one of the words that the spectator or viewer must come to learn is the idea of the Peloton.  It is the group of bicycle riders that group together to pace themselves during the race.  They ride together in a large clump of riders sometimes with teammates and sometimes with rivals.  But, throughout the many days and the many miles of riding, the contestants draw together to ride and race together.

So is it with the Church.  The Church is an assembly of people summoned by God to follow Jesus Christ.  But the great advantage of being in the Church community is that one does not follow alone.  Every believer is surrounded by other believers just like in the Peloton every rider is surrounded by other riders.  But we are not just surrounded by other believers, but we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses.  We are not only surrounded by other believers but also the great heroes and witnesses of our faith.  We are surrounded not just by each other, but by Peter, Paul, Mother Theresa, Dr. King, Archbishop Tutu and many more.  We have the support of not just our faith community, but every person and community in every time and place. 

But perhaps the important word of this passage is the word “since.”  Since we are surrounded, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.  The advantage of being surrounded is that we can overcome the obstacles that hold us back and we can throw off the sinful behaviors that tie us up.  Those obstacles can be many and varied depending on the time and season.  But in this moment as we are heading into Labor Day weekend, what we might need to throw off are those bad habits of not participating in our faith communities.  September is our “Back-to-Church” time and season.  Where we re-connect with each other and with God, but also where we re-commit to the life of discipleship that has perhaps waned in the past few weeks and months.  Perhaps what we need to throw off and untangle is the many distractions and priorities which have caused us to float away from the Peloton, from the community of Faith. 

Perhaps then our life together, or to continue the metaphor, is about running the race set before us.  But “since” we are surrounded, we not only throw off the obstacles holding us back and keeping us away, but we run with perseverance, the race marked before us.  The Tour De France is not won in a day, it is marathon mixed with moments of sprinting, and moments of climbing, and moments of descending.  Our church life is no different.  We will have moments marked out for us by God, that will differ depending on the circumstances.  We will have hills to climb, like covid, wars and recessions.  We will have sprints to power through, like rummage sales and picnics.  We will have descents to coast through, like Christmas and Eastertime.  But we run the race set before us with perseverance.  Not just when life together is easy, but especially when life together requires learning, growing, adventure and change.  We run, but we run together with perseverance.

But just as a bicycle rider focuses on the finish line, we are to focus on Christ who is at the finish line and summoning us to himself.  And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.  A pioneer is someone who paves the road or blazes the trail.  A perfecter is one that ensures the road is finished and drivable.  With Christ as pioneer and perfecter, we can run the race of faith because it has been created and finished already.  We must simply follow the road by fixing our eyes on the one who made it and who finished it, so that we can simply follow along behind him to the finish line.  If we see him having finished the race, can we not finish it ourselves.  The hard work has been done, the victory has been accomplished, we can merely enjoy the ride and be ensured of finishing strong.

If then our eyes are fixed on Christ, then we can consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.  The main reason we quit the race is because we grow weary and lose heart.  Times become tough, challenges and difficulties overwhelm, we lose the joy of our life together, and Church becomes tedious and dull.  But if we consider Christ, who endured opposition on his race, we can endure our opposition and run on, fixing on Christ, running with perseverance, throwing off the bad habits that hold back and sins that cling, since we are surrounded by a faithful cloud of witnesses.  But if we consider Christ, we disciple on until the race is finished and God’s Kingdom comes.  Friends, let us consider Christ and let us run the race set before us with perseverance, never quitting, because we are surrounded by fellow believers by also every faithful witness.  Amen. 

Jeremiah 1:4-10
⁴ Now the word of the Lord came to me saying,

⁵ ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.’

⁶ Then I said, ‘Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.’ ⁷ But the Lord said to me,

‘Do not say, “I am only a boy”;
for you shall go to all to whom I send you,
and you shall speak whatever I command you.
⁸ Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you,
says the Lord.’

⁹ Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me,

‘Now I have put my words in your mouth.
¹⁰ See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms,
to pluck up and to pull down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.’

If you have a phone, whether it be a smartphone, or a flip phone, or even a house phone, someone has called you.  In the days of yore, we had party lines where several households shared one phone line and you had to pick up and see if someone else was on it, and your neighbor always seemed to be on when you needed to call someone.  We had answering machine with those annoying cassette tapes to make sure we never missed a call and to begin screening our calls from annoying credit card salespeople.  In today’s world the caller might be a spam risk or even a robocall, but we all have been called and we have become quite selective in who we answer.

But just as people and organizations have called us, so too has God called.  Just as a salesperson reaches out to us to talk about our car’s extended warranty, so too does God reach out to us.  In our text, God calls Jeremiah by reaching out to him, now the word of the Lord came to me saying.  Your friend takes the initiative to call and invite you over for tea, your family reaches out to invite you to a Sunday evening fried chicken dinner, your boss calls you to ask you to work overtime.  God always is the one to take the initiative to reach out, to move towards, and to begin the dialogue, the discussion, and the relationship.  God always calls us, like God called Jeremiah.

But the purpose of God calling is not to invite your over for tea, nor to gossip about the latest Marvel movie, but to summon us to the purpose and plan that God has prepared for us, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born, I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.’  Before we were created, God had a purpose for us and for Jeremiah it was to be a prophet to the nations.  For us we have been summoned to be disciples of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, and all this before we were created.  Before we were formed and before we took our first breath, God knew us and knew what he appointed and now summoned us to do for God’s sake.  God always appoints us, like God appointed Jeremiah.

But just as you can ignore your phone calls, or screen out your spam calls, or even swipe your calls when you do not want to talk to someone, so too can you do with God.  Jeremiah did so, when called he says, God I can’t, then I said, ‘Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.’  Which of us when summoned to our callings has not answered with I can’t, if we even answer at all?  No sooner than God calls us, and we reply with excuses and avoidances.  I can’t be a minister I can’t speak.  I can’t be an elder I have no time.  I can’t be a deacon I don’t like people.  I can’t be a teacher I hate kids.  I can’t, I can’t, I can’t.  We quite often answer God’s call with refusal and disobedience, like Jeremiah refused God.

But even though we can refuse God, God never ceases to call, and God never accepts our excuses, But the Lord said to me, ‘Do not say, “I am only a boy”; for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you.  Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.’  Every excuse offered by us to God, is met with a correction from God to destroy that excuse.  I am only a boy how can I go; you can go because I am going with you.  I do not know how to speak; you can go and speak because I will tell you what to say.  I am afraid, how can I go; You can go because I am with you to deliver you.  Every “I can’t” offered to God, is met with God’s reply of “why can’t you?” 

The good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that God doesn’t just call us to impossible and unfulfillable tasks, but God also equips us with everything needed to do so, then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me, ‘Now I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.’  God not only summons us, but does and gives something to us, to empower us to success for God’s sake.  God empowered Jeremiah.  The challenge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is in the power of God to obey as commanded.  Jeremiah still had to go. 

My friends, we all have a calling, and that calling is unique as you are.  That calling is to a specific task appointed by God, before your creation, to you and to you alone.  But while God may have called you, God also has equipped you with all the gifts necessary to fulfill it.  But we must answer that call from God with the total devotion of our embodied souls.  We must answer that call with the obedience of Jesus’ Christ as His disciples.  Never ignoring God’s call, never screening God’s call, never swiping God’s call, and never giving excuses why you can’t, but always answering that call, with all that you have and all that you are, to the Glory of God.  Amen.