Gerry van der Wende: Stay the Course

Stay the Course!

October 21, 2012

Heb 12:1-3

Introduction

In my younger days I used to be a cross country runner
I made the fastest time in our school, and I was number 26 in the NSW state championships
In training for the state race, I would run miles each day, building my stamina and endurance
Running long distance is not about how fast you leap forward from the starting blocks
It is not about getting ahead of the pack, and then staying there
Long distance running is done in your head
It is about never saying die, never quitting
No matter what the obstacles you keep on going
Once you stop, even briefly, it is so hard to get going again
I remember when I ran for my school in the zone championship
I ran through brambles, I ran across fields and through woods
But the last stretch was the hardest
It was uphill, through sand
The temptation to quit, or to take a shortcut was so inviting
As I stomped one foot in front of the other I did not know if I would be able to make it. But I crested the hill, and came in second in our school zone
It came to be mind over matter, my head kept me going

The Christian race

As Christians we are in a race
We are in competition not with other athletes, but with our sinful nature that wants us to give up and take the easy way
Each Christian has a calling
That calling is outlined for us in Mark 8:34
That calling is that we take up our cross and follow Jesus
This calling says that we are taking on something that is painful and hard, something that is not easy
The Christian walk involves facing opposition, not only from other people, but also from spiritual forces which would like us to quit, to give up, when the going gets tough
And the enemy does try to make it tough for us
Eph 6:12
When things get tough, our role is to stay standing
It's like a battle to the death
Gladiators in Rome, would fight to the death, not accepting defeat
Its the last one standing who wins
So one aspect of our job is to never surrender

The nature of a calling

A calling is where someone calls you for a purpose
God has called each of us to be his children, to have a special relationship with Him
So we each have this calling
Paul talks about this in 1 Cor
1 Cor 1:26-27
None of us are any great shakes in the eyes of the world
Some of us may have had a good education and done well in life, but generally, we are not the most educated, most intelligent, most successful of this world
Yet God wants to use us, to show the greatness of His love and grace, to others
It is not easy to go against the crowd, when the majority of people around us are not yet Christians
Tuesday I looked at demographics for Susanville compared to the nation.
The united States is a Christian nation of sorts. 52% in the 2010 census were affliliated with a church
The stats for Susanville in that same census, were 15.9%
In other words we are way below the national average regarding church affiliation, let alone being practicing Christians
So the chances are that the people around us at work, school, or wherever are not Christians.
It can be hard to pursue our calling being just a small minority
But it isn't up to our own strength
We are told, fear not little flock, it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom - Luke 12:32
Our job is to remain standing, to persevere, to endure to the end
Mark 13:13 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

A calling requires perseverance

Callings are not easy
They stretch us, they make us look outside our comfort zone, they may involve hardship or persecution
Each of us is called, and has a calling
But it is so easy to be distracted from our calling
One distraction is people
People may encourage us to quit
Our God-given need to belong may be twisted so we want to go back to belong to the group out of which we have been called
When we give in to that it is described graphically by Peter
2 Pet 2:22
so people can draw us away so we give up
But our own busyness can also get us to give up on our relationship with God
We can be so busy we ignore or neglect spending time in connection with our Maker
He called us, He initiated this relationship with us, but if we start putting the things of this life as being more important than prayer and Bible study, our relationship with Jesus will suffer
Paul tells us to keep our eye on the goal
Heb 12:1-3
Don't get distracted by trinkets

Conclusion

Jesus is coming
He is returning for his bride, a group of people who follow Him
When he returns he will be looking for those who are doing that which he has called us to do
We all want to be in that group!

Gerry van der Wende