In the second reading today from the Letter to the Hebrews, the author tells us “persevere in running the race that lies before us.” It is an apt sports metaphor for life. Perseverance in life – the needed persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success. We know all things in life take preparation and practice. Even then things don’t always go as planned.
In the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Marathon, one of the runners from Tanzania was John Akhwari. During the race he fell, dislocated his kneecap, injured his shoulder, and was bruised and bloodied. After receiving medical attention, he continued the race. He finished more than 1 hour after the winner. By the time he finished, the medals for the Marathon had been awarded. Most people had left as darkness drew over the stadium, but people had heard there was one more competitor on the course, injured but persevering. He entered the stadium to complete the lap that would finish the race – there were still 7,000 spectators remaining. He finished, cheered on by a “great cloud of witnesses” giving him a standing ovation. Later he was asked why had not quit, why he continued, he replied, “My country did not send me 7,000 miles around the world to start the race, but to finish it.”
God did not send you into this life just to start the race, but to be able to join with St. Paul, “I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.” (2 Tim 4:7)
“Persevere in running the race that lies before us.” For Christians that race is life. If you are alive – and most of you look like you are – then you are in the race. Are you putting in the hours of preparation and training so that you endure? What’s your training regiment for running the life you have? Prayer, Scriptures, acts of mercy, forgiving … all that and more. Are these in your daily plan? Are you training for the race that God placed you here .. not just to start, but to finish?
The second reading isn’t just God shouting at us, “Run!” The reading gives us some training guidelines. Let me mention a few. The first one is in the opening verse: “let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us.” (Heb 12:1) There’s your first training guideline. Eliminate distractions. Get rid of anything that will slow you down. A good place to start is the “sin that clings to us.” That’s going to be different for all of us. But what is common is the clinging, the insidious nature of sin.
Sometimes I hear folks say that a certain action isn’t sin. “It’s harmless – no one got harmed, It’s just a little problem I have and am working on.” How easy it is to convince ourselves. Think of another distraction in your life – one isn’t sin per se – maybe that will help us grasp the idea of sin as “distraction.”
Take your mobile phone, social media, or entertainment that you can binge watch. Add your own item to the list. In their own way, each one is insidious as it consumes time, energy, and focus. As my dad said, “the main thing is to make sure the main thing remains the main thing.” I am not saying don’t take a break, take some down time, watch a show. I am saying to ask yourself if those things have crossed the line to become a distraction keeping you from the “main thing.” As John Cardinal Neuman remarked, “If the good is keeping you from the best, then the good has become the enemy of the best.” When the good becomes a serious distraction, in a way, it joins the ranks of sin.
It is just the insidious nature of distraction, we didn’t even realize it was weighing us down. It is the same reason we need to be careful about what we carry in this life lest we become like the rich fool of the gospel a few weeks ago. He got distracted by his wealth, wasn’t paying attention to the race and what matters to God. Suddenly the race was over and he didn’t finish. Maybe we can say he was disqualified … permanently.
Guilt can distract us. We can be so consumed by the past – by the mistakes that we’ve made – that we stop running. It’s like somebody who’s stumbled in a race. Some runners stop and think, “It’s over. I’ve stumbled. I may as well give up.” Don’t let the past distract you. St. Paul was knocked off his high horse and got up. St. Peter fell in the worst way possible – he denied knowing Jesus. But he got up and got back in the race. Get yourself to confession; start over, become “good as new.”
There are all manner of distractions: uncertainty, fear, unforgiveness, envy – the list goes on. Give some thought to the first training rule – get rid of distractions. Want a second rule? Have a focus. John Ahkwari focused on the last lap in the Olympic stadium, crossing the finish line. He competed well. He finished the race.
What about us? What should be our focus? It is found in the next verse: “keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus…For the sake of the joy that lay before him he endured the cross.” When you feel like giving up, leaving the race, close your eyes and remember the Cross. There you will find the ultimate reason for perseverance: love. You are loved beyond all telling. His arms stretched out from start to finish, from heaven to earth. Arms stretched out to receive you are the finish line. Waiting to say to you: “You competed well; You finished the race; You have kept the faith.