One night in college, I needed a study break, and I decided to read some online articles. As I was scrolling through, one caught my interest. It was titled: “Top Ten Greatest Canadians.” As I saw the title, I wondered how many people on that list would be hockey related, since it is Canada, after all. I figured at least Wayne Gretzky was on the list, and I was curious to see where. I then clicked on the article and began to read. He was in the number ten spot, and I continued to read to see who else made the list. Alexander Graham Bell was on it. So was the First Prime Minister of Canada. Don Cherry, a hockey announcer, made the list too. At the number two spot was a person that I had never heard of. It said, “Terry Fox, athlete.”
Being on my computer, I decided to google him. I knew he wasn’t hockey related, and I wanted to see who he was. Terry was a young man who was diagnosed with a form of bone cancer. To save his life, they had to amputate his leg, and they did it quite high. When he was getting treated, he was frustrated at the care and the lack of cancer research at the time. He didn’t want to sit at home and do nothing. He was going to do something about it. He was going to run across the entire country of Canada to raise money. He wanted each citizen to donate a dollar, which would have raised $25 million. To accomplish his goal, he would run a marathon’s distance each day until he finished. He started in St. John’s in Newfoundland with little fanfare. Word quickly spread about his run, which he did on one prosthetic leg. By the time he reached Ontario, he was a national celebrity, and treated like one. However, his run was not easy. He often got horrible blisters from the constant running. He got shin splints and extreme fatigue. Despite this, he pressed on. Terry’s run lasted 143 days before he had to stop due to the cancer coming back. In Philippians 3, Paul compares our Christian life to a race, similar to the one that Terry did. Like him, the apostle says we have a reason to run. Like him, we keep our eye on the goal. Like him, we are also encouraged along the way. Our Christian life is like a race.
Terry ran to raise money for cancer. Paul has a reason to run as well, that is, to live a Christian life. The Apostle says, “that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus had made me His own.” Jesus is His reason to run. Jesus has made the apostle His own. The greek word here translated as “made me His own” literally means “to grasp” or “to take hold of.” I find that to be a helpful imagery. Jesus had grasped and taken hold of Paul that day as he headed to Damascus. The Lord had other plans for him. He pulled him from his previous life and ways. He pulled Paul out of his sin and into the Lord’s grace. The apostle was made Christ’s own through His death and resurrection. He belongs to Jesus. He is the Lord’s.
Therefore, Jesus is the reason for his run and his Christian life. The apostle wants to attain the resurrection of the dead and (where he will be) to be perfect. However, he is not perfect, and says so twice in our text. In fact, he won’t be perfect this side of heaven, nor will we. Despite that, he pursues and runs on to make heaven, where he will be perfect, his own, like Jesus made him His own. He is pursing eternity for that goal. Paul wants to live in his calling, serving and living in the Lord. Paul is not going to stand on the sidelines. He wants to live in his faith and in the Lord.
Like the apostle, we too have a reason to run, to live a Christian life. Like Paul, we are made Christ’s own. We belong to Him. We are precious, prized, and His people. We were made His own when He took hold of us in the waters of Holy Baptism. It was there that He put His loving arms around us, and gifted us grace and the Spirit. It was there that we started the race and began to head to the goal that He has already won for us, eternal life, heaven. It was at our baptism that He began His work in us to make us like His Son. We live for Jesus, and we run for Him. We have a reason to run.
Now, in any race, when your run, you need to keep your eye on the goal. Terry’s goal was the western coast of Canada, of which he tried hopping to on one leg. As Paul runs toward the destination/goal of heaven, he says, “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” The word for “straining forward” is also the same word in Greek used to describe a racer going hard for the tape. You can just picture Paul with his head bent down, his arms in the shape of a “L”, or robot arms as I call them, bursting forward, panting hard, bolting to the tape.
As Paul pursues his goal, he doesn’t look back. He doesn’t look back at his past accomplishments with pride. In verses 4-5, he listed some. He said he was circumcised on the 8th day, a pure-blooded Israelite, a Hebrew speaker, a faultless Pharisee, and blameless according to the Law. He didn’t look back at those things because they hindered his relationship with God. They didn’t earn him any favor in God’s eyes. He also didn’t look back at his past sins and struggles. He didn’t need to because in Christ, he was righteous and right with God. He was forgiven. Looking back on these things only distracted him from the goal, eternal life. He kept his gaze fixed forward. He could only pursue the goal because Christ had won him salvation.
It is the same for us. For when running, when living our Christian lives, don’t look back! At soccer practice, I made the kids do endurance training this year, and they loved me for it. To help with motivation, I would have my fastest runner wait, and give the rest of the kids a head start. If the runner passed you, it meant you had to do another lap. Once the time limit would be up, and as I would send out the runner, many kids would be looking over their shoulder. However, as they did, they would run slower. Others bumped into other kids. Their strides would become broken. Looking back gave them no advantage. In our Christian lives, we aren’t to look back either.
We don’t look back at our sin and shame, for the blood of Jesus covers and pays for all of these things. Through faith in Him, we are declared righteous, or innocent in God’s sight of these sins and shame. These sins are not held against us and they don’t define us. We move forward in Christ, and in His grace, heading to the destination that He has won and opened up for us. We don’t need to worry about our relationship with God. For in Jesus, it has been made all good. We don’t have to look back and wonder if it is fine, nor do we have to fear if we are right with God. We continue on in Christ and in His grace, looking forward, not looking back. Looking back doesn’t help. Keep your eye on the goal.
As the race goes on, the runners are encouraged and strengthened by others as they run. Terry was. Paul was. We are too. Every year at Concordia, the Lakeshore Marathon would run through campus. The Pre-Seminary Student association and cross country team would work together to operate a water table for the numerous runners. We did this for a few hours because everyone got to us, the halfway point, in a variety of different times. Once people would stop passing through, we would fold up the tables, and bring everything in. One year, after we finished cleaning up, a young girl was going through, way, way behind everyone else. Her face was blood red, her hair a sweaty mess, and her body language said she was exhausted. She could hardly continue on. Next to her though was her mom and brother, who were encouraging her to continue on despite her frustration.
Our God does the same for us. As we live our Christian lives and heads toward the goal, the Lord doesn’t sit or stand on the sidelines. He doesn’t yell encouragements from afar. Rather, He is with us, on the course, walking besides us like the girl’s mother and brother. He puts His loving and strong hand on our back, and encourages us forward. He strengthens and cheers us with His Word when we are tired, faint, and feel like we can’t continue. He gives us the Lord’s Supper to do the same. Luther once said: “There are so many hindrances and temptations of the devil and of the world that we often become weary and faint, and sometimes we also stumble. Therefore, the Sacrament is given as a daily pasture and sustenance, that faith may refresh and strengthen itself so that it will not fall back in such a battle, but become ever stronger and stronger.” The Lord strengthens us through the body and blood that forgives us of our sins. He will get us home and help us make it to the finish line. He encourages and strengthens us on the way.
Our Christian life is a lot like a race. We have a reason to run. We keep our eyes on the prize. We are encouraged as we go. So, what are you waiting for, you have a race to run! IN JESUS’ NAME, AMEN.
