Look To Jesus
Sermon
Sermons On The Second Readings
Series I, Cycle C
I never shall forget the time when I first donned the colors of the Purple and Gold. I was a fifteen-year-old high school freshman and, unbelievably so, to me that is, I sat third chair trombone as a member of the Emma Sansom High School Rebel Marching Band under the direction of Billy "Rip" Reagan, Mr. Reagan to us! The Emma Sansom High School Band named VFW National Champions for 1958 in Miami, Florida. The Emma Sansom High School Band named VFW National Champions for 1959 in New York City, New York. The Emma Sansom High School Band named VFW National Champions for 1960 in Los Angeles, California, by the largest victory margin in the history of the contest, which had expanded to include professional drum and bugle corps. The Emma Sansom High School Band now had a frightened, skinny, buck-toothed kid who wondered if he ever belonged in such company!
I had heard about the discipline, spirit, and will to excel, which even to this day is unsurpassed in my own experience. I had heard about the recording album for RCA Victor! I had heard about the invitation by Lyndon Johnson to accompany him on certain stops along the campaign trail. I had heard about the consecutive string of Superior ratings at State Contest. I had heard about the grueling three-a-day summer practice drills in preparation for national contests. I had heard about the year-long initiation process of harassing the first year "rookies." Now, in 1961, I was a "rookie," willing to march, 8 steps to 5, through hell if necessary to wear the coveted sign of excellence, the purple and gold "Rebel Band" jacket.
I was frightened, not so much of the initiation, as tough as it was. I was scared that I might not contribute, practice hard enough, keep alive the tradition, build upon the foundation that so many cotton mill and steel mill kids had built with guts, sweat, and sacrifice. They had handed down a tradition to me. I did not want to let them down. I would walk through the band room and observe those three huge national championship trophies, those bronzed newspaper headlines declaring the Purple and Gold the best band in the land, again! Could I pay the price to keep the tradition alive? The baton had been passed to me. Could I run the race?
It was a situation not completely unlike the circumstances surrounding the preacher of Hebrews' advice to his struggling and exhausted congregation. They, too, had a race to run -- the life of faith. Were they up to it? Would they be able to carry on and build upon the foundation that so many in faithfulness had laid? They had kept the faith, even when it wasn't easy. Would the Hebrew preacher's congregation do so as well? He tries to show them how they can carry the baton and become the latest chapter in God's string of successes.
If the tired congregation of the preacher of Hebrews were to keep the faith, they must look backward and accept encouragement from the great cloud of witnesses whose faithfulness had preceded the faithfulness that hopefully would be theirs (vv. 29-38). This great host had blended these virtues of faith, which hopefully would be repeated victoriously in those who heard the exhortation.1 In looking back, they could observe those like Abel, Rahah, even the Israelites themselves, who were faithful and deemed righteous by God. Both as a group and personally, they journeyed obediently. "The people passed through the Red Sea" on they way to the land of promise. They were "strangers and foreigners on earth wandering in deserts and mountains." And, yes, they were tested by suffering, not the least of whom were women who had the faith of Abraham, who "received back their dead, raised to life again."
These were the heroes of the faith, examples to follow. Now, the writer of Hebrews exhorts his congregation to preserve the tradition, follow their example, and keep the faith, even though they, like them, might not receive their inheritance in this lifetime (v. 39). Thus, the tired fellowship was to look backward receiving encouragement, stability, and guidance in their efforts of paying the price to keep the traditions alive.
But, those in the faith must not only look backward, they must peer inward, at themselves, for the provisions to achieve the goal. "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" (v. 1 NIV). It is imperative, pronounces the preacher, that each must cast aside every weight, particularly the faults that impair the "weighty encumbrances and shackling sins," anything that prohibits participation in the race.
In Jules Verne's novel The Mysterious Island, he tells of five men who escape a Civil War prison camp by hijacking a hot-air balloon. As they rise into the air, they realize the wind is carrying them over the ocean. Watching their homeland disappear on the horizon, they wonder how much longer the balloon can stay aloft.
As the hours pass and the surface of the ocean draws closer, the men decide they must cast overboard some of the weight, for they had no way to heat the air in the balloon. Shoes, overcoats, and weapons are reluctantly discarded, and the uncomfortable aviators feel their balloon rise. But only temporarily. Soon they find themselves dangerously close to the waves again, so they toss their food.
Unfortunately, this, too, is only a temporary solution, and the craft again threatens to lower the men into the sea. One man has an idea: they can tie the ropes that hold the passenger car and sit on those ropes. Then they can cut away the basket beneath them. As they sever the very thing they had been standing on, it drops into the ocean, and the balloon rises.
Not a minute too soon, they spot land. Eager to stand on terra firma again, the five jump into the water and swim to the island. They live, spared because they were able to discern the difference between what really was needed and what was not.2
Thus, the weary travelers were to cast aside any hindrance and discipline themselves to run the demanding race ahead. It was Vince Lombardi, the legendary coach of the Green Bay Packers and Washington Redskins, who said that "character is not made in crisis, only displayed there." The character to persevere in the race was to be formed in the disciplines of the everyday Christian walk. Then, as the necessity to run even presented itself, the resources would be serendipitously present.
I was privileged to play football and basketball under the legendary high school coach, Gene Holcomb. His practice sessions were grueling. Many were exercises in survival. If one could live through the practices, one was ready to play the game. Coach Holcomb repeatedly said, "You play the way you practice. If you are disciplined in practice, you will be disciplined in the game." For the "coach" of the Hebrews, the spiritual athletes had to put off any hindrance and discipline themselves to run the race with "eyes toward the prize," that of following and emulating Jesus. "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (v. 2 NIV).
While preparing for this sermon, I reread all the sermons that I have preached before on this text. I found one that I first preached in April, 1966, on Youth Sunday titled "Look to Jesus!" It was horrible! I owe that congregation an apology! I hope I have learned a little in the last 35 years about sermon style, content, point of view, organization, and how to catch and hold an audience, although some might debate that improvement! I could not help but note that running throughout that little sermon was the admonition to "look to Jesus." I don't think that I or anyone else has improved on that advice "to look to Jesus!"
So we look backward to learn from our encouragers in the faith. We look inward to find the resources created as we discipline ourselves to follow Christ. Then, we must look onward, with our eyes fixed upon Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. So, we start! We doggedly blunder along, preserving in the task before us.
Someone has defined Monday Night football as 22 million people badly in need of exercise watching 22 people badly in need of "Gatorade"! At least in this game, described by the Hebrews preacher, there are no observers, no couch potatoes, only participants. So, start, begin, get on with it with persistence.
Zig Ziglar reminds us that for eight years a would-be author wrote short stories and articles for publication, and for eight long years they came back as rejections. He didn't give up. While he was in the Navy he wrote a mountain of routine reports and letters. After his hitch in the Navy was over, he tried desperately to make it as a writer. For eight long years he sent stories and articles off to magazines but was never able to sell even one. On one occasion an editor wrote an encouraging note on the form rejection slip; it said simply, "Nice try." The young writer was moved to tears and given new hope. He was not the kind of man to give up. Finally, after many years of effort he wrote a book that deeply affected the entire world. He titled it Roots. Yes, Alex Haley, after years of diligent application, finally saw his efforts rewarded as he became one of the most successful and influential writers of the '70s.3
We must not only persevere; we must stay focused. Peter Snell was a member of the 1960 United States Olympic Team. The Olympics were being held in Rome, and he was running in the 880 meters. It was a tight race, neck and neck, and he was ever so slightly behind. When coming down the home stretch, those last few feet that would determine a champion and a non-champion, the man who was ahead of him looked slightly to the right to see if Peter Snell was coming up on the right. As he took his eyes off of the finish line, Peter Snell went by on the left, focused on the finish line. Peter Snell was the Olympic champion! Peter Snell stayed focused.
We stay focused upon our goal to be the very best that we can be which is nothing less than being like Jesus himself. With that in mind, there is no telling as to what could happen. Case in point: He was known as the world's fastest human and an all-pro wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys. Before his professional career, Bob Hayes was on the track team at Florida State University, where he had been clocked in the 100-yard dash at 9.1 seconds, then a world record.
It was at the NCAA track meet that Hayes was a member of the 440-relay team. Being the fastest, he was the anchor or the last man to run. His team was the heavy favorite.
The race began, but on the second exchange, something went wrong. The baton was dropped, and Florida State was hopelessly behind. But Bob Hayes had other ideas. When he finally got the baton, he ran the first 100 yards in 8.6 seconds -- impossible? Not to someone with a purpose to win!
As Bob Hayes was a team member, so are we! We run the race best in company. We run with those who have gone on before and with contemporary teammates who encourage us by their example, challenge us with their sacrifice, and remind us of the example of Christ, who is our constant companion, the source of our strength and perseverance. Together and with him, we shall finish the race.
As Isaac Watts said:
I asked them whence the victory came.
They with united breath,
Ascribed their conquest to the Lamb
Their triumph to his death.
____________
1. I am indebted to Thomas G. Long, Hebrews (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1997), p. 124.
2. Eric S. Ritz, "Staying Focused -- Traveling Light" an unpublished sermon preached at First United Methodist Church, Schuylkill Haven, Pennsylvania, April 24, 1994.
3. Zig Ziglar, Steps to the Top (Gretna: Pelican Publishing Company, 1985), p. 218.
I had heard about the discipline, spirit, and will to excel, which even to this day is unsurpassed in my own experience. I had heard about the recording album for RCA Victor! I had heard about the invitation by Lyndon Johnson to accompany him on certain stops along the campaign trail. I had heard about the consecutive string of Superior ratings at State Contest. I had heard about the grueling three-a-day summer practice drills in preparation for national contests. I had heard about the year-long initiation process of harassing the first year "rookies." Now, in 1961, I was a "rookie," willing to march, 8 steps to 5, through hell if necessary to wear the coveted sign of excellence, the purple and gold "Rebel Band" jacket.
I was frightened, not so much of the initiation, as tough as it was. I was scared that I might not contribute, practice hard enough, keep alive the tradition, build upon the foundation that so many cotton mill and steel mill kids had built with guts, sweat, and sacrifice. They had handed down a tradition to me. I did not want to let them down. I would walk through the band room and observe those three huge national championship trophies, those bronzed newspaper headlines declaring the Purple and Gold the best band in the land, again! Could I pay the price to keep the tradition alive? The baton had been passed to me. Could I run the race?
It was a situation not completely unlike the circumstances surrounding the preacher of Hebrews' advice to his struggling and exhausted congregation. They, too, had a race to run -- the life of faith. Were they up to it? Would they be able to carry on and build upon the foundation that so many in faithfulness had laid? They had kept the faith, even when it wasn't easy. Would the Hebrew preacher's congregation do so as well? He tries to show them how they can carry the baton and become the latest chapter in God's string of successes.
If the tired congregation of the preacher of Hebrews were to keep the faith, they must look backward and accept encouragement from the great cloud of witnesses whose faithfulness had preceded the faithfulness that hopefully would be theirs (vv. 29-38). This great host had blended these virtues of faith, which hopefully would be repeated victoriously in those who heard the exhortation.1 In looking back, they could observe those like Abel, Rahah, even the Israelites themselves, who were faithful and deemed righteous by God. Both as a group and personally, they journeyed obediently. "The people passed through the Red Sea" on they way to the land of promise. They were "strangers and foreigners on earth wandering in deserts and mountains." And, yes, they were tested by suffering, not the least of whom were women who had the faith of Abraham, who "received back their dead, raised to life again."
These were the heroes of the faith, examples to follow. Now, the writer of Hebrews exhorts his congregation to preserve the tradition, follow their example, and keep the faith, even though they, like them, might not receive their inheritance in this lifetime (v. 39). Thus, the tired fellowship was to look backward receiving encouragement, stability, and guidance in their efforts of paying the price to keep the traditions alive.
But, those in the faith must not only look backward, they must peer inward, at themselves, for the provisions to achieve the goal. "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" (v. 1 NIV). It is imperative, pronounces the preacher, that each must cast aside every weight, particularly the faults that impair the "weighty encumbrances and shackling sins," anything that prohibits participation in the race.
In Jules Verne's novel The Mysterious Island, he tells of five men who escape a Civil War prison camp by hijacking a hot-air balloon. As they rise into the air, they realize the wind is carrying them over the ocean. Watching their homeland disappear on the horizon, they wonder how much longer the balloon can stay aloft.
As the hours pass and the surface of the ocean draws closer, the men decide they must cast overboard some of the weight, for they had no way to heat the air in the balloon. Shoes, overcoats, and weapons are reluctantly discarded, and the uncomfortable aviators feel their balloon rise. But only temporarily. Soon they find themselves dangerously close to the waves again, so they toss their food.
Unfortunately, this, too, is only a temporary solution, and the craft again threatens to lower the men into the sea. One man has an idea: they can tie the ropes that hold the passenger car and sit on those ropes. Then they can cut away the basket beneath them. As they sever the very thing they had been standing on, it drops into the ocean, and the balloon rises.
Not a minute too soon, they spot land. Eager to stand on terra firma again, the five jump into the water and swim to the island. They live, spared because they were able to discern the difference between what really was needed and what was not.2
Thus, the weary travelers were to cast aside any hindrance and discipline themselves to run the demanding race ahead. It was Vince Lombardi, the legendary coach of the Green Bay Packers and Washington Redskins, who said that "character is not made in crisis, only displayed there." The character to persevere in the race was to be formed in the disciplines of the everyday Christian walk. Then, as the necessity to run even presented itself, the resources would be serendipitously present.
I was privileged to play football and basketball under the legendary high school coach, Gene Holcomb. His practice sessions were grueling. Many were exercises in survival. If one could live through the practices, one was ready to play the game. Coach Holcomb repeatedly said, "You play the way you practice. If you are disciplined in practice, you will be disciplined in the game." For the "coach" of the Hebrews, the spiritual athletes had to put off any hindrance and discipline themselves to run the race with "eyes toward the prize," that of following and emulating Jesus. "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (v. 2 NIV).
While preparing for this sermon, I reread all the sermons that I have preached before on this text. I found one that I first preached in April, 1966, on Youth Sunday titled "Look to Jesus!" It was horrible! I owe that congregation an apology! I hope I have learned a little in the last 35 years about sermon style, content, point of view, organization, and how to catch and hold an audience, although some might debate that improvement! I could not help but note that running throughout that little sermon was the admonition to "look to Jesus." I don't think that I or anyone else has improved on that advice "to look to Jesus!"
So we look backward to learn from our encouragers in the faith. We look inward to find the resources created as we discipline ourselves to follow Christ. Then, we must look onward, with our eyes fixed upon Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. So, we start! We doggedly blunder along, preserving in the task before us.
Someone has defined Monday Night football as 22 million people badly in need of exercise watching 22 people badly in need of "Gatorade"! At least in this game, described by the Hebrews preacher, there are no observers, no couch potatoes, only participants. So, start, begin, get on with it with persistence.
Zig Ziglar reminds us that for eight years a would-be author wrote short stories and articles for publication, and for eight long years they came back as rejections. He didn't give up. While he was in the Navy he wrote a mountain of routine reports and letters. After his hitch in the Navy was over, he tried desperately to make it as a writer. For eight long years he sent stories and articles off to magazines but was never able to sell even one. On one occasion an editor wrote an encouraging note on the form rejection slip; it said simply, "Nice try." The young writer was moved to tears and given new hope. He was not the kind of man to give up. Finally, after many years of effort he wrote a book that deeply affected the entire world. He titled it Roots. Yes, Alex Haley, after years of diligent application, finally saw his efforts rewarded as he became one of the most successful and influential writers of the '70s.3
We must not only persevere; we must stay focused. Peter Snell was a member of the 1960 United States Olympic Team. The Olympics were being held in Rome, and he was running in the 880 meters. It was a tight race, neck and neck, and he was ever so slightly behind. When coming down the home stretch, those last few feet that would determine a champion and a non-champion, the man who was ahead of him looked slightly to the right to see if Peter Snell was coming up on the right. As he took his eyes off of the finish line, Peter Snell went by on the left, focused on the finish line. Peter Snell was the Olympic champion! Peter Snell stayed focused.
We stay focused upon our goal to be the very best that we can be which is nothing less than being like Jesus himself. With that in mind, there is no telling as to what could happen. Case in point: He was known as the world's fastest human and an all-pro wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys. Before his professional career, Bob Hayes was on the track team at Florida State University, where he had been clocked in the 100-yard dash at 9.1 seconds, then a world record.
It was at the NCAA track meet that Hayes was a member of the 440-relay team. Being the fastest, he was the anchor or the last man to run. His team was the heavy favorite.
The race began, but on the second exchange, something went wrong. The baton was dropped, and Florida State was hopelessly behind. But Bob Hayes had other ideas. When he finally got the baton, he ran the first 100 yards in 8.6 seconds -- impossible? Not to someone with a purpose to win!
As Bob Hayes was a team member, so are we! We run the race best in company. We run with those who have gone on before and with contemporary teammates who encourage us by their example, challenge us with their sacrifice, and remind us of the example of Christ, who is our constant companion, the source of our strength and perseverance. Together and with him, we shall finish the race.
As Isaac Watts said:
I asked them whence the victory came.
They with united breath,
Ascribed their conquest to the Lamb
Their triumph to his death.
____________
1. I am indebted to Thomas G. Long, Hebrews (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1997), p. 124.
2. Eric S. Ritz, "Staying Focused -- Traveling Light" an unpublished sermon preached at First United Methodist Church, Schuylkill Haven, Pennsylvania, April 24, 1994.
3. Zig Ziglar, Steps to the Top (Gretna: Pelican Publishing Company, 1985), p. 218.
