I'm not an avid follower of track and field sports, but last Saturday I happened to pause my lazy-afternoon channel flipping on the World Track and Field Championships in Edmonton, Canada. As I paused, the runners were gathering for a preliminary heat in the men's 4x100 meter relay, with four members of each team lining up around the track to carry the baton for their brief portion of the race. It was not the final race, just the heat to determine who would qualify to compete in the finals. Still, the sight of runners on their marks was enough to pause my restless thumb on the remote control. And I'm glad, because in just the next 60 seconds, I was able to witness an extraordinary effort of personal commitment, dedication and perseverance.
The United States' team was expected to beat the competition handily for the final race, and certainly to win in this preliminary heat with little effort. Even the announcers sounded bored as they waited for the starting shot. As the runners exploded from their crouched positions, they seemed a blur. In the blink of an eye, the race was over and the U.S. had won. But the slow motion replay revealed a far different race than the quick dash I had seen.
Sure enough, the lead off runner for the U.S. team, Jon Drummond, started off leading the pack. But only for the first few seconds—something happened, you could see, to slow him down. He seemed to stagger somehow, but he kept running. Something was wrong—the look on his face changed from determination to agony, but he kept running. Other runners quickly passed by, but Drummond still charged on. The second runner on the U.S. team began his stride, his hand outstretched behind him, preparing to receive the baton at full speed. Drummond looked like he would not have the strength to catch his teammate, but he just kept running, every muscle in his face contorted with pain. Finally, arm outstretched with every ounce of determination, Drummond extended the baton just far enough to reach his teammate, who grasped it and took off, now far from first place. Drummond collapsed on the track. All this took less than 15 seconds in real time. His three teammates, unable to see the struggle Drummond had endured, passed the baton successfully and ran with extra speed, managing to come back and win the race. All this in less than one minute. Drummond still lay face down on the track when the race had been completed, the trainers just arriving to tend to his needs, his teammates rushing over to comfort and encourage.
I watched the slow-motion replay a few more times, fascinated by the complex look of agony and determination on Drummond's face in those painful steps. The announcers ventured their own guesses as to the extent of his injury, hoping it was just a cramp so he could return to the final race the next day. A few minutes later I changed the channel, and didn't think of it again.
Until I began studying this week's scripture. That catchy passage in the middle— "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." Perhaps because of the image of running a race, perhaps because of the call to run with perseverance, my mind returned to Jon Drummond, and I wondered what happened to him. I searched high and low on the internet, and found the following account from the home page of the World Championships. As expected, the men's 4 x 100 meter relay was won by the Americans, who beat a surprising South African quartet and a team from Trinidad and Tobago. At the end of the race Jon Drummond, who had injured his right thigh during the qualifying round, came out onto the track on crutches. The personable sprinter hugged his teammate Dennis Mitchell and was reduced to tears. Drummond's personal sacrifice – he got the baton to his teammate despite the injury – cost him the rest of the season, but he can hold his head up high knowing he was partly responsible for the gold medal.
"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."
Today's scripture sets us up in the middle of a race. No, not the pennant race. Despite Reinhold Niebuhr's adage that one should preach with the newspaper in one hand and the Bible in the other, and as much as I would like to believe the lectionary directly corresponds to the trials and turmoil of the Boston Red Sox, this sermon will not be dedicated to a discussion of the recent managerial change.
No, our race is nowhere near the end, and it is nowhere near the beginning. Perhaps some of you remember from your literature classes the Latin phrase, in media res, meaning "in the middle of things." It refers to a narrative that begins in the middle, rather than at the chronological beginning. This scripture reminds us that we are in media res, in the middle of the story, our lives are part of a long and on-going history of God's unfolding redemption of the world.
The original recipients of this message, who most likely heard these words preached as a sermon, and perhaps later circulated as a letter, were Jewish Christians, following Christ and following the Jewish life and law. From what scholars can deduce, this original audience had been Christians for quite some time, for decades even, and seemed to be in danger of tiring of their faith. This message goes out not to convert new Christians, but to renew and revive dedicated, faithful persons with guidance and comfort. It is a message in the middle of the story—to those living lives in the midst of salvation history—after creation, after Christ, looking toward the arrival of the reign of God. Like our community, the beginning of the story seems long past, and the culmination seems far in the future.
So what does this wise leader do? What encouragement emerges for the flock in the middle of this greater journey? The author of this Hebrews passage reminds us of the wider vision—of where God's people have been, and where God's people are going. The author of the Book of Hebrews reminds these Christians living "in the middle" of the importance of their own place the larger story. The author reconnects their journey of faith with the journey of all God's people—linking them to the great chain of faith—from Abraham and Sarah to David and beyond.
Cleo Fields of Louisiana, who at the age of 25 became the youngest state senator in the country, commented during the 1988 presidential campaign, whose field of potential Democratic candidates included Massachusetts' own Michael Dukakis, Paul Tsongas and Jesse Jackson, she said: "Booker T. Washington started to teach so Rosa Parks could take her seat. Rosa Parks took her seat so Fannie Lou Hamer could take her stand. Fannie Lou Hamer took her stand so Martin Luther King Jr. could march. Martin Luther King marched so Jesse Jackson could run." Each step forward in the civil rights struggle depended on the faithful step of someone else.
And so it is with our journey of faith and salvation. Think of the saints who have come before us, who have served God with great faith. We hope in the coming of God's reign because of the witness they have offered to us, because of the faith they have shared about the redemptive power of God. We are who we are today as Christians because of the lives of those who have come before. It is they who point us to Christ and Christ's salvation.
Imagine this author of Hebrews was writing this scripture to us, as we live out our lives in the middle of God's salvation history. Imagine this author is reminding us of where we have come from and where we are going. Showing us the transforming power of faith in the lives of those who have gone before. Pleading with us to persevere in pursuit of the reign of God. Imagine the author of Hebrews giving us such guidance and comfort in our time in history. It might go something like this:
By faith the people escaped from slavery in Egypt under Pharoah, passing through the Red Sea as if it were dry land.
By faith, Rahab the prostitute, the Canaanite, gave refuge to the Israelite spies, and by her help the Hebrew people were able to enter the promised land after fleeing Egypt.
By faith Gideon, Barak, Deborah, Jephthah, Samson, conquered kingdoms for God, ruled as judges over the Israelite people with justice, and kept the people loyal to Jehovah as their God.
By faith Esther risked her own safety to rescue her people from slaughter, revealing her identity as a Jew to her husband the king, who then stopped all persecutions of Jews.
And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of the many heroes of our faith.
Of John the Baptist, who uttered a cry from the wilderness, preparing the people with words and with baptism for the coming of Jesus.
Of Paul, who saw Christ on the road to Damascus and spent the remainder of his life preaching the gospel, despite prison and punishment.
Of Hildegard of Bingen, medieval prophetess, to whom God gave visions, and she followed those visions, creating art and poetry and food and medicine to the glory of God.
Of Martin Luther, who transformed the church universal by boldly stating his faith in God's grace and God's word.
Of the founders of the Old South Church, who broke away from the church they loved in order to open the doors of the fellowship even wider, to allow more people to be baptized into the faith.
Of Harriet Tubman, nicknamed Black Moses, whose faith empowered her not only to fight for her own liberation from slavery, but to risk her life time and time again to return and rescue others.
Of Oscar Romero, who offered Eucharist to the people during the dangerous and bloody war in El Salvador, and was killed for holding a worship service.
Of Bishop Desmond Tutu, who preached against injustice and oppression and apartheid in his native South Africa and around the world. His faith that God will be victorious over evil is unshakable.
Of the thousands and millions of unnamed faithful people who have struggled and hoped and walked with God in their own time and in their own country, proclaiming the faith with their very lives.
"Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect." For all the just reward they may have received for their life of faith, it is incomplete. Until God's final reign comes on earth, the fulfillment of the promise of salvation remains unfinished. We are all in this together, and God has entangled our salvation with the salvation of those who have come before and those who will come after, so that apart from one another we cannot be made whole.
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses," those women and men of our historical faith now surround us, gathered as a great cheering squad, urging us onward, offering hope and inspiration, relying on us to carry forward the great gospel message of hope they have begun. We stand in the company of multitudes of the faithful. "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."
What is it that we are running toward? What's at the finish line? It is the place Jesus announced as the Kingdom of God, God's reign of peace and justice and forgiveness. We are following the same line as those foremothers and forefathers of our faith—to share the Gospel hope, to participate in God's unfolding salvation of the world. We are assisting in God's work of redemption here on earth, creating a world of justice and peace, a world of hope and love. We are racing toward redemption.
Which returns me to the image of Jon Drummond, carrying the baton to his teammate, overcoming injury and struggle for the sake of the larger goal. Our race is longer and more arduous than a sprint around the track, and there is much more at stake than a gold medal. But the baton of the Gospel vision has been entrusted to us by the faithful who have come before. It is up to us to set our eyes on the goal, our hearts on the promise of the reign of God. The baton that is the Gospel vision of hope rests in our hands. It is up to us to lay aside all burdens and distractions, the weight of sin that slows us down. We must cast off all that keeps us from living the Gospel message. In spite of injuries and setbacks, discouragement and disappointment, we must run with perseverance our own leg of this race, diligently living out the faith and building up the kingdom of God on earth in this time and this place, so that those who follow might inch ever closer toward God's final victory of righteousness, justice and peace. Our teammates are counting on us.
Let us pray: Eternal God, we give you thanks for the witness of those believers who have lived in faith throughout history. Help us now to carry on that witness in our world. Strengthen us to race toward your redemption, casting aside all encumbrances of sin and weights of distraction, confident in the final promise of salvation that you will bring. Amen
By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for seven days. By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had received the spies in peace. And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two, they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented—of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect.
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.