Trinity 18 year A – Phil 3:4b-14; Matt 21:33-end

Over the last couple of weeks, in Bishop William Ward school, in Great Horkesley, they have been focusing on Perseverance, one of their school values.

And so I have lead a couple of collective worships themed around Perseverance, and we have thought about Noah, and the perseverance he would have had to have shown, building the ark, especially when you consider how big it needed to be, and how long it must have taken, after all there was no B&Q on the doorstep, Amazon deliveries available 24/7 or powertools to work with, and of course he did all this, with his neighbours most likely thinking he was completely mad.

But he carried on … and on … and on and eventually built the ark and after the floods had subsided gets the promise from God in the rainbow, that he would never send floodwaters like this again.

And then this last week, we were back on the water, and thinking about Paul and the shipwreck, and the one thing that Paul continued to do, as he travelled from place to place, town to town, village to village, whether he was free to travel, being shipped to prison, or under house arrest.

He carried on telling others about Jesus and encouraging others in their faith, he never gave up, he always persevered.

And we have also been into the school, to run a Prayer spaces, and one of the activities was entitled ‘Perseverance trainers’, as the young people were given a trainer to colour in, they were encourage to think about something that they might be struggling with at the moment, something that they are needing to really keep on going on with, and think about how they might ask God to help, as they then placed their trainer onto a running track.

And as we did this prayer activity, we were thinking about the verse in Hebrews which says, ‘And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.’

Perseverance – let us keep on running.

And so as I read the passage for this morning from Philippians, I was reminded of this image of perseverance, as Paul writes in verses 12 – 14; ‘Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus.’

And I was reminded of a very famous race, the athletics meet had reached a critical stage, one of the final races was left to be run: the 440 yards (the old version of todays 400meters). The athletes were bunched together as they came to the first bend, and one of them was pushed over and fell right off the track. Quick as a flash he was back on his feet, as though electrically charged by the incident, caught the other runners with a few paces to go and overtook them to win on the line. It was a famous victory, which features now in the film, ‘Chariots of fire.’

I wonder, what would I have done, what you would you have done in similar circumstanced? Most of us, I suspect, would have accepted from the moment we fell, that we were out of the race, with no hope left. We might be feeling angry, but there would be nothing we could do about it. What had in fact just happened would keep us enslaved, with no hope of going on to what might have happened.

With the athlete in question – the famous Eric Liddell – it was just the opposite. It was as though he had been reading this passage of Paul: forget what’s behind, strain every nerve to go after what’s ahead, and chase on towards the finishing post.

Keep on going on, keep on pushing towards the goal.

Persevere

Yes, the past is useful in shaping our future, in helping us not to repeat past mistakes, but we can’t dwell in the past, we need to keep our eyes fixed on what is before us.

For us, not simply the finishing line, but the promise of eternity with God in heaven.

Paul, for all his credentials, as listed at the beginning of our passage from Philippians today, reminds as that true maturity means knowing that we haven’t arrived and that we must keep on pressing forward towards the goal.

The seasoned athlete knows that the race isn’t won and lost until the end has been reached. To imagine that because you find yourself out at the front of the pack you can slack off and take it easy, ‘having arrived’, would be disastrous.

But perseverance, can sometimes feel difficult, carrying on carrying on, takes energy, and can be emotionally draining, particularly when it feels like you aren’t getting anywhere.

Our Christian journey is not meant to be a gloomy struggle, we keep on pressing onwards, for that which Christ took hold of us.

All of our efforts, take place within the context of God’s grace: King Jesus has grasped hold of us and what we now do, is a matter of responding in love to the firm hand of Christ we have on our shoulder.

I wonder where we might be feeling the strain of perseverance at this moment in time? perhaps as we face change? perhaps we are feeling uncertain, wondering about how we can carry on.

Can we offer it up to king Jesus, knowing that he is the author and perfecter of our faith, and trust that he will keep our feet on the right path, as we keep our eyes focused on him.

Amen