Running With Perseverance

In the Episcopalian church, the lectionary follows a three-year cycle, which means that we cycle through three years’ worth of readings before we hear the same ones again.

Since I am just coming up on my three year blogoversary, this is the first year since I started this blog that the Bible passage that inspired “Running With Perseverance” has been part of our Sunday readings.

The passage is from Hebrews 12: 1-3:

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, 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. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

In his sermon last weekend, our priest spent a bit of time on the first clause of this passage, discussing the “great cloud of witnesses” who are the subject of the end of the previous chapter of Hebrews. There, Paul reminds the Hebrews of the many “saints” that came before them, “who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.” In this passage, Paul draws on the example of those “witnesses” to encourage the Hebrews to persevere in their quest for the kingdom of heaven.

The race God has marked out for us seems so much more difficult to me than any marathon, and more impossible to fathom finishing than an ultra-marathon. The world I see is moving away from any vision of the kingdom of heaven, not getting closer to that finish line. There are new reports of violence and unrest every day, and even when we are not being cruel to each other, people are suffering and dying from poverty, disease, and natural disasters. How can we hope to make God’s kingdom come in the face of all of this?

This passage from Hebrews shows that this dilemma is not new. The saints that Paul recounts did not live to see God’s kingdom come, and yet they, and the many saints who came after them, persevered. Just as Paul encouraged the Hebrews to not “grow weary and lose heart,” we must not give up in the face of seemingly hopeless circumstances.

This race is not a marathon that a single person can win. This race is a relay that requires each of us to carry the baton forward as far as we can, and then pass it along to the next saint who is running with perseverance.

Do you have a favorite Bible verse?

Have you ever participated in a relay race?