12:10 pm, Wednesday, March 27, 2023 - J G White / at Christ Church Anglican

(Psalm 70; Hebrews 12:1-3)

Compared to many of you, I am ‘new in town,’ but surely that will wear off soon, as I’ve been here twenty-one months now. I am even newer to being a real ‘runner,’ you know… one of those Striders in town, jogging up the streets no matter the weather!

I have never met a more encouraging group of people. When I was starting out, I happily discovered that they would always ‘loop’ back to where I was, as a slower runner. And a few of them would always say how well I was running, how well I did, how improved I was. They still cheer me on. Not to mention other folks we pass who encourage us. Often it will be kids who see us and shout out, or else other runners who happen to be in their yards or in cars going by.

So I understand, in a fresh way, those famous lines from the start of Hebrews chapter twelve. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses… let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us. It is like we are being cheered on by those ancient, biblical people who went before us in lives of faith. At least, their stories encourage us.

Of course, heading the lineup of the faithful is the timeless One, Jesus the Christ. Not only our Leader, we realize He is our number one fan and cheerleader. The author of Hebrews takes us back to the great suffering and execution of Jesus upon the cross. The prize that Jesus had his eyes set upon then was us, humanity. And all creation, for that matter. Jesus’s great joy was to end death and suffering for us, by suffering and dying.

Each year, we who follow the Church’s pattern of storytelling and worship, get to rehearse these things over again. We have yet another opportunity to understand and appreciate Christ, and the eternal fellowship we’ve been welcomed into.

I think also that how Jesus, Son of God, reaches us personally is often through other persons. Other folks who are our inspiration, and somehow, mystically, timelessly, are rooting us on, in our lives, no matter how tough times get, how challenging, or how painful, or dull. ‘Press on! You can do it.’

Yesterday, here, I was sitting over there, and looked closely at a window, which celebrates two Bible people, Dorcas and .

The window also is in memory of someone who was much more recent, someone in this congregation, named .

Are these people who support you today? Yes. They can be. And then there are the living. We are together in a beautiful way, this week, noticing that we are all on the same team, running the same race, all destined to win – with Christ at the head. Our Captain wants everyone to know this, and join the team.

So, in this Holy Week, we consider again the One who endured so much, so that we will not grow weary or lose heart.