The Rev. Tommy Thompson
“Perseverance”
On the Occasion of My Last Sunday at St. Thomas'
Proper 15C
14 August 2016
In the name of God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit. Amen.
I’m not sure about you, but I’m a big fan of the
Olympics. It’s an opportunity to watch
the world come together for a common purpose.
We get to watch athletes who– whether they win a gold medal or fail to
qualify for a heat –are simply phenomenal.
These athletes make it look so easy.
They glide across the water in the pool, they run paces that are simply
astonishing on the track…perform flips and other gymnast routines that seem
super human at times.
But it’s not as easy as it looks. Take the time and look up the training
regimen of any of these athletes.
Michael Phelps doesn’t just wake up, swim 200 meters, and claim the
gold…well, he does, but there’s so much more that we do not see. Phelps trains for as many as 6 hours each
day. I think I read somewhere that it’s
not uncommon for him to swim for as many as 6 miles per day, when you add up
all of the many swimming intervals that are included in his rigorous training
routine. He has to pay close attention
to his diet, consuming thousands of the right calories. It is all of the hard work and perseverance
that happens 7 days per week throughout the year that prepares him and the
other athletes to wow us in the Olympic games. In short it takes perseverance.
One of my favorite stories of perseverance occurred in the
1992 Olympics, and no I’m not talking about the perseverance which was required
to hang in for four quarters against the dream team in basketball. No, I’m referring to Derek Redmond. If you
don’t remember the name, if I had a way to show you the video clip, you would quickly
remember. Redmond had trained so hard
for four years for 45 seconds of opportunity to wow the world and bring home a
medal. He was as ready as anyone, having
persevered through some of the most rigorous training imaginable. He was a favorite in the 400 meters. But
something went terribly wrong during a qualifying heat, when his hamstring
snapped only 150 meters into the race.
Redmond immediately went to the ground in agonizing pain – the pain of
his torn hamstring not nearly as painful as the reality of not qualifying to
compete for gold in the 400m. What
happened next is something that I simply cannot watch without tears in my
eyes. The crowd began to cheer. Redmond waved off the trainer, got up and
began limping his way down the track.
Meanwhile, his father was making his way onto the track, aggressively
waving off security. We will never
forget that image of Redmond’s father assisting his injured son to the finish
line as a crowd of over 85,000 roared cheers of encouragement. One of the most
iconic moments in Olympic history and a beautiful example of the perseverance
required to cross the finish line.
Consider the story of another Olympian, Louis Zamperini, who
competed in the 1936 Olympics. We know
him because of the perseverance of Laura Hillenbrand who spent seven years
researching Zamperini’s life while suffering from a chronic illness. It takes someone who knows what it’s like to
hang in when all odds are against you to be able to present the story of
someone like Zamperini. The short
version of his story is that after competing in the 1936 Olympics, he then
fought in World War II. His plane lost
two of its four engines and crashed into the ocean. Zamperini then called on his years of
training and perseverance to survive 47 days in an inflated raft to only be
‘rescued by’ the Japanese. He was sent
to a prisoner camp called execution island where he was constantly tortured and
starved, even more-so because they found out he was an American Olympic athlete. How Zamperini made it through his time on
that island is simply remarkable. But
the most remarkable thing I think he ever did happened after he was freed. Zamperini, like many, leaned on the bottle to
get him through the literal and figurative nightmare that was his experience as
a prisoner of war. In an act of
desperation to save their marriage, his wife took him with her to a Billy
Graham crusade. It was there that he
heard the good news of Jesus Christ and found himself a changed man. Experiencing the power of forgiveness
himself, he had a new mission – to revisit the prison guards on execution
island and forgive them in person. And
that’s just what he did. He forgave
those who tortured him. What an amazing
story of perseverance and forgiveness.
There are so many other stories I could tell, but there’s
one that I simply cannot leave out and that is the perseverance we all watched
week in and week out as we lived life with Cynthia Cheston. Each
Wednesday, regardless of how weak or sick she felt, she always volunteered as a
receptionist over at Church Hill Hall where our offices are. There were days where I thought I was having
a bad day, then I would be greeted by Cynthia at that front desk, always with a
smile, always more interested in others than herself…talk about a shift in
perspective. I saw Jesus in Cynthia each
time I saw her – and that is not an exaggeration. I will never forget that last Sunday before
she passed away. She was determined to
worship with her church and even made her way up to the altar rails to receive
the blessed body and blood of our Lord with her sisters and brothers at St.
Thomas one last time. Cynthia was a
powerful witness to the persevering love of God, and I will never forget her.
What all these stories have in common is perseverance in
times of extreme hardship and difficulty.
That’s the only reason perseverance is needed in the first place –
because the journey is not easy. There’s
nothing easy about training for the Olympics, surviving over a month lost a
sea, finishing a race with a torn hamstring, or battling cancer. Because the journey is not easy, perseverance
is required.
But the reason perseverance is necessary is because the
journey, even though it is hard, is worth traveling. There is something that drew each of these
warriors to their own finish lines…something beyond themselves…it is called
hope. Hope is believing that what lies
ahead will make all the blood, sweat, and tears of the present worth every
drop. I think that’s what St. Paul was
getting at when he said to the church in Rome, “suffering produces perseverance,
and perseverance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does
not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through
the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.”
Perseverance is necessary because even though the journey is
not easy, it is worthy traveling, because the hope that lies ahead of us does
not disappoint. So beware of those who
water down faith … who offer easy solutions and cheap fixes. It is likely that it has nothing to do with
God, as he has never promised us an easy road.
This is why Jeremiah has choice words for both the false prophets and
those who applaud their words in today’s Old Testament reading. Their message is “peace peace” when peace is
really no where to be seen. It may seem
peaceful to the small circle they’re preaching to – those who have more than
enough…who ignore the suffering of their neighbors…for them, there is a
perceived peace…but if they were to step outside their bubble, they’d realize
that peace peace is fall from the truth.
True peace and wholeness only exists when all God’s people know peace
and wholeness. God calls his people
through Jeremiah to beware of those who offer simple or cheap solutions.
And this is exactly what Jesus did not do – not once. Jesus never offers quick and easy fixes. In
today’s Gospel Lesson, Jesus announces times of suffering, difficulty and
division. Jesus never said, “make me
your Messiah, and all will be well.” No,
he spoke the truth. Follow me, and your
family will be divided. Persevere in
this world as a citizen of a kingdom that is and is not yet and life will be
hard, because the ethos of this already and not yet kingdom is so contrary to the
ethoses of the age that is passing away.
It’s like swimming upstream … going against the grain. Jesus never promised that following him would
be easy – no, the opposite – it will be costly.
And this is why the writer of Hebrews spends such a long time
in chapter 11 fleshing out what faith in God through Jesus is all about. The author of Hebrews does not talk about
faith from a philosophical or purely intellectual point of view, but instead by
recounting real stories of faith from those who have gone before us…and each
story is a story of perseverance in the midst of what seemed to be impossible
situations. When talking about faith,
there is not one promise here that life will be easy, you will be rich, you
will be cured of every sickness. No,
instead he tells stories of the perseverance of faithful saints and martyrs who
fought the good fight because the hope that lies ahead of them truly does not
disappoint.
After narrating the stories of many heroes of the faith who
endured hardship for the sake of the mission of God, the writer then issues the
call for all who would follow in their footsteps and follow Jesus: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so
great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that
clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before
us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake
of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame,
and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.”
That’s it…that one thing that engendered perseverance in
people like Derek Redmond, Louis Zamperini, and Cynthia Cheston and so many
more was that they never lost sight of the “Joy that was set before them.” May we never lose sight of that joy – the joy
that our Lord has prepared for those who trust in him. Never forget the cost of that joy. Jesus did not take the easy route. God became one of us and ran our race, facing
evil head on, suffering with us, as one of us, and overcoming evil and death
through persevering love. May we never
forget that his love truly has overcome.
He is not dead but is alive. And
he has opened the kingdom of heaven to all who follow in his way, which , no,
it isn’t easy, but is the only way to life and life abundantly. May the fullness of the Kingdom of God on
earth where there will be everlasting life in pure joy and peace be the fuel
that propels us forward
I leave you with such a vision from the revelation to St.
John. Hang on to these words, as it is a
vision of the joy that is ahead for those who persevere:
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first
heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw
the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared
as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne
saying,
‘See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them;
he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.’
And the one who was seated on the throne said, ‘See, I
am making all things new.’ Also he said, ‘Write this, for these words are
trustworthy and true.’ Then he said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the
Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift
from the spring of the water of life. Those who conquer will inherit these
things, and I will be their God and they will be my children.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
