The name Wilma Rudolph is an important one in sports history in general and women’s sports history in particular. For those of you my age and older, it should be a recognizable name. And those of you who are younger — and who have never heard of her — ought to hear her story of perseverance in the face of overwhelming odds against her.
Wilma Rudolph was the twentieth of 22 children. She was born prematurely and doctors didn’t expect her to live. She did, but at age four she contracted pneumonia and scarlet fever. As a result, her left leg was paralyzed and her foot was twisted. The result was wearing a brace on her leg.
At the age of 9, she removed the metal leg brace she had depended on for the past five years and began making herself walk without it. It was never easy but she was determined to be like the other girls.
By age 13, she had developed a rhythmic walk, which doctors said was a miracle. That same year, she decided she wanted first to play basketball. Then, as something to do when basketball season was over, she began to run. She entered her first race and came in last place.
For the next three years, she came in dead last in every race she entered. But she kept on running until the day came when she finally didn’t come in last and then the day came when she actually won a race.
Eventually, the little girl who was not supposed to be able to walk without braces, much less run, made it all the way to the Olympics. Her first trip was to the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne Australia she came home with a bronze medal in the 4X100 meter relay.
At the 1960 Rome Olympics Wilma Rudolph was declared to be the fastest woman alive, a title given to the winner of the Olympic 100 Meter champion. The Italians began calling her La Gazzella Negra, or The Black Gazelle. She became the first American woman to win three gold medals in one Olympics. She won the 100- and 200-meter races and anchored the U.S. team to victory in the 4 x 100-meter relay, breaking or tying world records along the way.
Wilma Rudolph was from Clarksville Tennessee. She accomplished a great deal on the track, especially when we consider the odds stacked against her from birth. In 2000 Sports Illustrated named her number one among 20th century sports figures in Tennessee.
As much, however, as Wilma Rudolph accomplished on the track, she was also accomplished the same or more off the track. Wilma earned her Bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Tennessee State University and went on to teach at the elementary school she grew up in, and she coached track at her former high school. She became a television personality and worked in both the civil rights movement and the women’s movement. She is a member of the US Olympic Hall of Fame and the Women’s Hall of Fame.
It all happened because this young lady who was not even supposed to live was determined to be like all the other girls. She became much more than that. First she forced herself to learn to walk without her brace. Then she had the unwavering goal to run and then to win. Many of us, and I do include me in this statement, would never have the inner fire to take off the braces much less have the determination to run, all the way to the Olympics.
It all happened because she figuratively, at first, then literally later, stepped up to the starting line to take her mark. Perhaps she heard a calling to be more than her circumstances seemed to allow her to be.
She took the brace off. She made herself learn to walk and then to run. She was getting set for the race ahead. She was getting prepared. She wouldn’t quit. No matter how many times she got beat, she wouldn’t stop. She was absolutely determined to be an winner.
She listened to her coaches and ignored her doubters. She pushed her way forward until one day she heard “Go.” It may have actually been a starter’s gun she heard that started her off in a track event but at the same time she was hearing the word “Go” for the race that is life.
This morning we are concluding our series, “The Race,” where we are taking a look at the race as a metaphor for the life in faith. Several places in the New Testament use this metaphor, including our theme lesson for this series, the words from Hebrews 12. Imagine a great stadium filled with spectators and gathering of runners down on the track. When most runners come out onto the track, they are still wearing warm-ups. They shed them in order to rid themselves of the added weight and bulk of these extra clothes, allowing them to run better, to run faster. Much in the same way the writer of Hebrews instructs us to cast aside the weight of sin so that we can run with perseverance the race before us.
We started this series two weeks ago with at talk titled, “On Your Mark…” We talked about “On Your Mark” as the runners call to come to the starting line. The race will begin shortly. The first disciples took their mark when Jesus called them to, “follow me and I will teach you to fish for people.” They did follow Jesus, no questions asked and their lives were forever changed.
For the Christian, “On your mark” is also a call. It is our call for the life God wants us to live. We have different callings, preachers, teachers, administrators, musicians and more. “On Your Mark” is our call to take what God has given to us and use it to live faithful lives for the Kingdom. We are called to follow Jesus Christ, no questions asked, and if we do, our lives won’t be the same either.
Last week we went from “On your Mark…” to “…Get Set…” If on your mark was our call to discipleship, get set is our preparation. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught the disciples, and others, that they were salt and they were light. Being salt and light, getting set, is our preparation for the life that is ahead.
When runners start to run a race the starter first calls them to the line. Get set is the command to get ready because the race is about to begin. We get set by doing the preparatory work for our ministries. That may mean going to college to learn the necessary skills for our calling. It may mean buying an airline ticket to fly to Haiti to teach people how to use water filters. Jesus was preparing the disciples for the life ahead of them. We need to prepare as well.
Today we finish the series. Really, much of the gospels, from the calling of the disciples to the ascension features Jesus teaching the disciples, preparing them for the life they would live after He was gone. Last week I could have picked many different lessons but not today.
Today’s lesson and the title of this morning’s talk share one simple and yet profound word, “GO!” Jesus tells the disciples, “Go into all the world and make disciples.” Please notice, Jesus is not saying, “Sit here and wait for people to come and then make disciples.” Jesus says, “Go.”
We have all heard the call to a life in faith. If we had not, we wouldn’t be here this morning. I feel pretty certain we could all find other things to do on Sunday morning but we make the commitment to be here because we believe, no better than that, we know this to be important. We heard a call and we are seeking ways of living out that call for the glory of God.
We also come here to prepare ourselves to live out that call. That is the reason we have Sunday school. It is the reason we have Bible studies. It is the reason we gather together for fellowship activities and more. We are preparing ourselves. We are getting ready.
What is left is to answer, to live out the call to “Go!” Last month when we talked about breakthrough prayer for our church, we talked a bit about our location and I challenged you to ask someone you didn’t know how to find their way to our church. Daniel brought back our most pointed answer from two employees at Polk’s Pick-It-Up who said, “I don’t think there is one. There is one up the road in Burke.” It is a frightening answer. It is also a very telling answer that doesn’t speak as well as we might like of our congregation’s presence and visibility in our community.
I got to thinking about that again this week. While I still believe we have a problem, it occurred to me that for God, for the Kingdom, perhaps this isn’t as big of a deal as I first thought. Maybe, just maybe God was speaking to us through those two employees. Could it be, God is saying, it isn’t as important that people know where you are as it is for you to go where people are?
To that end, we have a couple of events coming up in the next few weeks. I want to challenge you to join us and GO where some people are. First, August 9th is “Back to School Bash.” We still need your help with school supplies, but we also need your help to put on the event. We aren’t sitting here waiting for people in need of school supplies to come to us. We are taking school supplies and going out and holding an event in our community to meet the need. What if, through what we do that day, someone hears God calling them to them, “On your Mark?” What if it happened because in some way God spoke through you and said to them, “On your Mark?” What if, for them to hear, “On your Mark” we first have to respond to God’s instruction on us to, “GO?”
The second event is Wednesday, August 20th. We will serve breakfast to the teachers and staff of Diboll I.S.D. It is going to be a big deal and we are going to need your help. If you aren’t working that morning we need you to come help. If you are working, we are going to need breakfast casseroles to take to the school so we have food to serve to those 275 people. For those of you who are teachers or other school staff, like your colleagues, you are our guests. We want to honor you. I am not asking you to participate beyond just being there. We want you to spend time with your colleagues that morning. We just want you to be a teacher.
On your mark! Do you hear God calling you? Get set! Get ready, make the preparations you need to make. Go! You heard God call, you are ready for the work now go out and make disciples.
On your mark…Get set…GO!!!
