Hanging on – Luke 9: 51-62

"When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.  And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; but they did not receive him, because his face was set towards Jerusalem.  When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, ‘Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?  But he turned and rebuked them.  Then they went on to another village.

As they were going along the road, someone said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’  And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’  To another he said, ‘Follow me.’ But he said, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’  But Jesus said to him, ‘Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.’  Another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.’  Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’”

I was watching the London Marathon on the television.  It’s a great occasion with thousands of runners.  Amateur and professional, men and women of all ages train for months.  Then they run in a 26-mile race through London.  I must here give my congratulations and thanks to Nimmi and Ravi, members of our Church family, for their commitment to this event even though they had to do it remotely this year, and I daresay the following words will remind them of their own thoughts as they ran.

Several athletes talk about the ‘pain barrier’ that happens after the first 15 or 16 miles.  They found a rhythm of breathing and running which carried them along but then, quite suddenly, it all disappeared.  They felt distressed as their breath became irregular, their legs went weak, the rhythm vanished and all they knew was a great pain right through their bodies.  No matter how hard they trained, it always happened.  When it does, you have to grit your teeth, summon up all your determination and courage, and just hang on!  Some runners give up at that point, but if you keep going you eventually pass through the pain barrier.  You find that the rhythm and strength return, the pain ebbs, and you are running competently again.  It takes courage to hold on, but it’s the only way forward.

We all meet pain barriers of one sort or another, and we don’t need to be athletes to understand them.

There are times when a relationship goes wrong or a serious obstacle gets in our way, and all we feel is pain.   Being a Christian doesn’t necessarily ease the pain, and certainly doesn’t make the problem disappear.  We can pray for a miracle, as Christians we often do.  Sometimes miracles happen, but my Christian experience shows that more often we just have to face the moment as it comes.  We have to find that extra bit of strength from our prayer, scrape that extra bit of courage from the faith that God knows and cares, and hang on to the encouragement of friends around.  Yes, I know we have to put it into the Lord’s hands, but even then we have to take some responsibility ourselves.  That’s the hard part!

Yet, however hard the road and however long it takes there comes a point where we break through our personal pain barrier onto the smoother road ahead.  The real miracle is not that something spectacular happened, but that we found the courage and strength to keep going, to hang on.  We can then look back and find that the Lord was with us, even when we felt most lonely and vulnerable – especially then.

The important thing is to keep moving ahead.

Prayer:

Lord, it would be easy, sometimes to give up, to drop out at the roadside, a casualty, a great future behind me.  I’m not sure, at times, why I do go on, until, when I get out onto the other side of the pain and warm myself again in your sunshine, I know.  You were with me, are with me. 

Lord I pray for those in the middle of their pain barrier today, trying to stay on the road, putting everything they’ve got into the effort of getting through to the night.  Through the cloud of uncertainty, may they be sure of your love.  In the loneliness may they feel your arm slipped through theirs.  In the darkness of depression, may they hold on to the promise of your light.

Help us, Lord, just to keep moving.

Amen.

Penny Bonham