June 28, 2016

“Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it. Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one. So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air; but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.”  1 Corinthians 9:24-27

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set out for us.” Hebrews 12:1

Being a jogger myself, I have known the problem of trying to decide what to do with my stuff while I am running. The problem has become even more of a concern with the advent of so many devices that we can use while we run. Some people drive their cars to a track to run, or to an area that has more challenges like hills, etc. and so there is the need to have some kind of pouch or belt to keep your keys. The fitness belt that I spied in the Dollar Spot section of my favorite store is just one of those helpers. Some of these belts even have a spot to fit a water bottle, for the jogger who is going on the extra long run.

The endurance that is necessary for the Christian journey is compared to a race. And in some places it is also tagged with a sense of real urgency. When Jesus says “Let the dead bury the dead, you go proclaim the kingdom of G-d” he is talking about that urgency. Not only are we to persevere, we are to run with all our might, and we are to do it now, without concern for any other priorities. And what are we to take for that journey? Nothing – not a belt, not an extra set of jogging shoes or clothes, nothing.

This message is difficult for most Americans to hear, and that message is “un-encumbrance”. There is nothing that is to hinder us, to distract us, or to impede us. And we have a lot of things in this country that we have been told that we cannot do without – a lot of stuff that we are constantly told we need to survive. If we are to follow Jesus the way that G-d intends, then we have to shed a lot of stuff – and that makes most of us nervous. But, in the end, what will become of that stuff? We won’t know because we will have met our ultimate demise. So, instead of concerning ourselves with stuff, Jesus says concern yourselves with the kingdom of G-d. That, my friends, will take a lot of thought, prayer, and devotion – maybe even a lifetime of devotion….but this journey has a great reward at the end.

Pastor Dave