Devotional 4-20-11

The scripture readings for the day include: Isaiah 50: 4-9a; Psalm 70; Hebrews 12: 1-3, and John 13:21-32. These are wonderful readings (and I hope you will take time to read them all). Please focus for a moment or two on the passage from Hebrews 12.

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 had 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.

I was surprised to find this as a text for the Wednesday of Holy Week. I usually think of these words as a text for All Saints’ Day celebration. I find great comfort and hope in remembering the faithful cloud of witnesses who have gone before us and are now cheering us on as we share in the race that is our own life. In a memorial service years ago at annual conference, Bishop William Boyd Grove, offered a picture of the church with no roof. The balcony then extends heavenward with those saints filling the pews, looking in upon us, concerned for us and our race, cheering us on as they pray for us. It is a wonderful and comforting image. Reading these words during Holy Week reminds me that I find that comfort and sense of hope only because of what Jesus has endured for us.

It is Wednesday and we have been through all this before. We know the story of the next few days. We know what had to be endured before that great cloud of witnesses could take their place. We know that tomorrow we will gather in remembrance of a Passover table where bread and wine were shared as an enduring covenant of love and everlasting life. We know that after the supper there will be shame and humiliation as Jesus is taken and tried. We know that Friday will bring pain and suffering and ultimately death. Yes, we know those are not the last words, for we are an Easter people.

 know there is Easter joy coming. I know there are new life possibilities through Christ. But sometimes life is tiring. Sometimes I get so caught up in the “busyness” and the everyday things of life that I lose heart. I whine (one of my “spiritual gifts”) and think that I am running this race alone. The preacher/writer of Hebrews encourages us to keep on in faithful living (even when it is difficult) because we have a relationship with Jesus. Jesus endured the shame and pain of all that we humans could do to him. He did that for us. He didn’t count the cost. He gave himself for us. That cloud of witnesses is there to cheer us on because Jesus loved us enough to give himself for us. (There is even the promise of a place for us in the balcony seats among those great witnesses because of Christ’s great life gift.)

Sometimes it is helpful for me to hear these words of life and hope in a different voice. Hear this paraphrasing of this Hebrews text as Eugene Peterson offers it in The Message.

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 yourselves flagging in your faith, go over the story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!

Prayer:

Loving Christ, we are amazed at the way you faithfully lived through all of life’s humiliations, shame, and pain. Help us to keep our eyes focused upon you that we may faithfully live today and tomorrow as we run this race of life. Amen.

Mark Conner