Finishing Strong

Jesu Juva

Hebrews 10:19-25                                                        

November 14, 2021

Proper 28B                                                      

 Dear saints of our Savior~

          In the minutes before you start to run a race, you really don’t need people cheering you on.  When you’re lacing up your shoes and doing some stretching to get loose, you really don’t need people applauding for you.  Likewise, at the starting line, you’ve got enough adrenaline coursing through your system that you don’t need friends and family lining the first hundred yards of the race, holding signs and shouting, “You can do it!  Good job!  Keep it up!  Hang in there!”  There’s really no need for it at the beginning of the race.

          But toward the end of the race, it’s a different story.  After you’ve “hit the wall” and fatigue has begun to drain away every last ounce of energy—after you start to doubt whether you’ve even got what it takes to make it to the finish line—as cramps and nausea and pain rise up to take you down—it’s then!  It’s then that every runner needs support.  It’s then that every runner needs encouragement.  Every runner needs friends and family lining the home stretch and shouting, “You can do it!  Hang in there!  Finish strong!”

          Today’s reading from Hebrews is all about finishing strong.  In fact, all of the readings today serve as a reminder that the end is near.  The finish line approaches.  The end of the world as we know it is much, much closer than we imagine.  Or as we sang a few minutes ago:  The day is surely drawing near When Jesus, God’s anointed, In all His power shall appear As judge whom God appointed. 

          We Christians approach these last days unafraid.  We have the sure and certain confidence that Jesus has already run the course before us.  He has finished the race.  He is victorious.  He now stands at the finish line as the one who was crucified for our offenses and raised for our justification.  He was dead but is now alive forevermore.  He offered His own flesh and blood on the cross as the once-and-for-all sacrifice for our sins.  And the resurrected Christ now sits at the Father’s right hand, as our great high priest, guiding this world toward its final days, but leading His Church onward to eternal victory in the life of the world to come.

          But we’re not there yet.  You’re in the final miles of a long race that began when you were baptized.  Faith, forgiveness, and eternal salvation were implanted in you through water and the Word.  But the Christian life is always a struggle, always a long slog—a marathon, to be sure.  And some days you probably feel like you’ve “hit the wall.”  Some days you’re ready to stop pressing on to receive the crown of life.  You’re ready to give up.  We see it all around us these days.  How many friends and family do you know who used to be active participants in the life of the church, but who now have wandered away from it?

          What we need is encouragement and exhortation.  What we need is someone to cheer us on in these gray and latter days.  Today’s reading from Hebrews has just what we need.  It’s full of end-time exhortations—encouragement for the home stretch—powerful words to propel you onward and upward so that you can finish strong.

          The first exhortation sounds like this:  Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.  Draw near to Jesus.  Now, where on earth can you draw near to Jesus?  Right here in the Divine Service, where Jesus draws near to you.  And as you draw near to Jesus in this place, you need only bring with you one thing: a true heart.  A true heart is an honest heart—a heart that doesn’t pretend to be something it isn’t—a heart that doesn’t pretend to be perfect.  A heart like that would be a hypocritical heart.  No, when we come here—when we draw near to Jesus—we carry with us a load of sin—all of our failures and shortcomings—all the ugly thoughts, words and deeds that weigh heavy on our hearts.  We tell the truth to God and to one another—about all that we have done to deserve God’s present and eternal punishment.   And the only thing Jesus can do with a true heart like that is cleanse it, wash away the sin by the blood that He shed on the cross.

          Here’s more encouragement: Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering. . .  In other words, stick to what you believe and have been taught in this place.  Christians don’t just go with the flow and follow the crowd.  We confess the faith once delivered to the saints—the faith that we read in the Scriptures and hear preached from the pulpit—and from that we do not deviate! 

          You know, once in a while in a race, a runner makes a wrong turn.  And if the runners behind him aren’t paying attention, they just might follow that misguided runner off into the wilderness.  They might just be disqualified.  That won’t happen to Christians who hold fast the confession of their hope—Christians who know what they believe and why they believe it.  And if you’re one of those people who has barely cracked open a Bible since the day of your confirmation, there’s no time like the present to start digging into the Word so that your confession of the faith can be strong and clear and persuasive—so that your faith can’t be detoured or disqualified or derailed.

          The next word of encouragement from the author of Hebrews is this:  Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.  You know, a lot of runners run races for a cause, for a charity, or in honor of someone they love.  As you and I run the race of faith, we’re not running for ourselves.   We’re running for the life of the world.  God doesn’t need your good works; but your neighbor certainly does.  So part of our life in the church is to encourage people toward love and good works. 

          When it comes to stirring people up to good works, what can you do?  Do you give to the United Way?  Then make sure your gift is designated for A Place of Refuge, helping mothers choose life.  Are you headed to the grocery store to stock up for Thanksgiving this week?  Then grab some non-perishable food for the poor who are served by the Bethany food pantry.  We have eighteen college students from this congregation scattered far and wide.  The elders sent them each a care package last week.  Would you consider reaching out with a note or card—reminding them that they have a place in this Christian family?  (Names and addresses are on the ledge.)  Come to the voters meeting to encourage our congregational leaders who labor for our common good.   What can you do?  How can you help?

          A fourth word of encouragement from Hebrews is that we not neglect to meet together, as is the habit of some.  Sports and sleep, work and weariness, guilt and shame—there are no end of things that conspire to keep you from being here on Sunday morning.  The devil is always in those details.  And of course, it’s not just being here that matters.  It’s being here with an open heart—a true heart—with an eagerness to hear the Word—with an expectation that the Holy Spirit will do great things for you before you leave here.  This is where you draw near to Jesus as He draws near to you.  We need what Jesus gives here.  And it’s only as we meet together that we can encourage one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.  We gather here not just because God commands it—not just so that we can receive God’s gifts—but also for the sake of those you see around you right now—so that we can encourage one another. 

          You know, Sunday morning isn’t just all about you and Jesus.  I’ve admitted to you before that I approach a lot of social gatherings with the goal of getting in and getting out as quickly as possible.  I’m sure I’m not the only one who sometimes operates with that strategy.  But not here.  Not with you.  Here we take time for one another.  We all know the power of a critical word to hurt and tear down.  But a well-placed word of encouragement builds up and strengthens the bond between brothers and sisters.  Here we take the time to reach out to the people in the pew behind us, to catch up over coffee, to take note of who here needs our prayers. 

          You know, when running in a race, the most powerful words of encouragement are not those shouted by spectators.  The words that mean the most are often those that come from fellow racers—the folks who are struggling and fatigued and sweaty—just like you.  They know exactly what you are going through.  Beloved in the Lord, this is the place where you find your fellow racers—with whom you share the same struggles against sin, and with whom you share the same holy gifts from Our Savior.  God places these people in your path (and in your pew) so that you might speak a word of encouragement, a word of forgiveness, or even a word of prayer.

          Why bother?  Because the finish line draws near.  The end is coming.  And if you want to finish strong—if you want to walk right through the valley of the shadow of death fearing no evil—then draw near to Jesus with a true heart.  Hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering.  Stir one another up to love and good works.  Do not neglect to meet together.  And encourage one another as we enter the home stretch.  You’ve got this!  Hang in there!  Keep it up!  You’re almost there!  Finish strong in the strength of Jesus. 

          In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.