Jesus Is Greater | Enduring Suffering

It's great to be with you this morning.

It's great to be opening scripture this morning.

I've met most of you, but my name is Josh.

I have the joy of serving as pastor here at the Garden Church

and glad you're here. Thanks for thanks for being here

this morning. I hope that it's a gift to you,

a joy to you if you're in that process of exploring spiritual

community. We're some pretty average,

ordinary, normal humans just on this journey together of trying

to become a little bit more like Jesus, trying to learn how to

love like Jesus in the places that we live, work and play each

day. And there's a spot for you here.

Come, come grab me, grab anybody with a lanyard after the

gathering love to talk to you, to pray with you, to support you

however we can on this journey. So this morning as I as as

Rachel named we are we are in Hebrews chapter 12.

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

We're actually wrapping up our series through the book of

Hebrews that we've been in over these last several weeks, and it

is this morning. Such a beautiful text of

Scripture and an encouragement, a challenge to not lose heart,

to not grow weary, but to persevere.

Burnout is something that has become like almost ubiquitous in

our culture, right? I think if you think back to

these, the olden days before 2019, right, it seems like

burnout was there was a time, maybe some of you will still

remember this, when burnout was something that we talked about

mostly in terms of like ER docs and social workers, like, you

know, some high, high functioning executives, some

people who had very intensive demanding jobs.

It seems the conversation seems to be more narrow, but now I

feel like it's, you know, everywhere.

How many of you would say I'm one of the people raising my

hands here? This is not a shame thing, but

how many of you would say that I've experienced some level of

burnout at some point in my life, something that I'm aware

of. I relate to a factor, man.

There's a lot of hands up in the room.

And this morning as as we come to the end of this series, we

find a community that is wrestling with some of the same

symptoms, some of the symptoms that we see in burnout, losing

heart, growing weary and fearing we're coming to that place of,

of withdrawal or even quitting. I had a probably my most

significant brush with burnout happened just a few years ago.

A bunch of you knew me at that time, so may or may or may not

have named it in in that way. But because I'm up here talking

a lot, a lot of you know my story our our story.

Some of you have been a big part of that story.

Back in 2019, my wife and I made what felt for us like a pretty

bold, pretty courageous decision to step into church planting to

starting a new congregation. And that felt risky for a lot of

reasons. But we were also filled with a

lot of vision, a lot of excitement, a lot of possibility

and imagination for what could be.

And as we kind of gathered this small group of, of people and,

and prayed together and, and dreamt together, began sharing

practices to try and emulate the life of Jesus, began serving in

our neighborhood and, and trying to extend the love of Jesus to

people that we were connected to.

Like it was, it was a super beautiful season.

It felt like something really precious was going.

People were growing in community and new people were showing up.

There was some energy and vitality to this beautiful thing

that was happening. And then almost exactly a month

later, the news broke that there was this crazy novel coronavirus

spreading that would change the world for the next few years,

really up until now, but particularly in 2020-2021.

I mean, many of you were in that journey.

You were either part of this spiritual community at that time

or or perhaps another community. And, and you remember it like

the world, at least in Boston, like just shut down.

Everything froze, right? These intimate moments of

community that we were sharing around dinner tables all of a

sudden were on Zoom, which at first felt like kind of OK, and

then like a year later did not feel OK at all anymore.

There were all these these new people coming and attaching.

And then all of a sudden we were in this moment where it's like,

how does a new person get connected on Zoom?

It just doesn't like I don't, I don't.

No more barbecues were happening.

And, and you know, I could sense that like this, this thing that

we've been working on that we, we had all of this momentum was

really like it was fading. And my first, my first impulse

in that moment was to double down, to like go faster, to go

harder, to push more. And so I kept summoning more

internal energy to try and try to overcome the hurdle, to

overcome the challenges to, to show up in ways that were

needed. And it, it felt like we're just

running on ice, you know, that feeling like it's like the, the

energetic input is not commensurate with the output

that is happening. And internally, you know,

different people, I'm sure experience that differently.

But for me in that space, there was this, this, this feeling of,

of growing discouragement internally, like, you know, this

thing that we've been working so hard at, this thing that we've

been dreaming of. Like, I'm not like, are we going

to get to where we need to go? Like, is this going to happen?

We were running on the kind of a shoestring budget of funded by

people that Josh grew up with and grandma and, you know, small

donations. And then my wife lost her job.

We had a kid. The financial burden started to

mount. And there was just this, this

internal angst and wrestling this, this hope that had like

been dashed in some ways. Not that not that everything was

bad or things had fallen apart, but it was just like, this isn't

going the way that I hoped, the way that I expected.

This is so hard. Maybe it would be easier to just

dial back the intensity to not try so hard to not pray so hard

to not work so hard to, to, to maybe put some effort and energy

over here and some things that are maybe less meaningful that

I'm less called to, but also feel less risky and a little bit

more safe. I share all of this this

morning. Not so that you know, you'll

feel bad for me or, or take care of me.

I'm I'm really OK. God has beautifully redeemed

parts of the story and by God's grace, you know, we have a

beautiful community here this morning.

But, but I, I name it to kind of put a face on a dynamic that I

think, even though I assume that most of you have not attempted

to start the church during a middle of a pandemic that I bet

most, if not all of us can relate to in one aspect or

another. Because in one way or another,

we've all been there, right? We've, we've been in this

moment, this, this kind of Arc where we struck out in faith, we

tried to do something in our spiritual lives, in community.

We, we, we took a bold step of faith and then we hit

resistance. Maybe it was external

resistance, maybe it was internal resistance, but things

just didn't, they didn't go how we hoped, they didn't go how we

planned. There was an experience of, of

discouragement, of growing, of growing weary and, and perhaps,

perhaps even if like reduced expectations, like lowering the

bar of, of faith, lowering the bar of effort, a bit of

withdrawal. And maybe in that moment, you

found yourself going through this arc of, of striking out,

hitting resistance, growing weary, being discouraged of, of

slowing or stopping altogether. Maybe you found yourself on the

sidelines. Perhaps for you, this looked

like a new spiritual practice, like you felt convicted by God

to spend more time in Scripture or maybe to pray it at certain

hours of the day. And, and you, you struck out

with great enthusiasm. But over time, it was hard.

There were interruptions, things faded.

Maybe for you, you, it was some area of contribution.

You, you began to, to lead a group or to, to serve on the

worship team. So you began to, to, to gather

some guys for Bible study. And it just didn't go quite how

you hoped. You got some difficult feedback.

Somebody stopped showing up. You hit a bump and you've

noticed that you've pulled back. Maybe it had to do with like

forgiveness or boundary setting something in a relationship you

were, you were trying to build with somebody trying to to

really model what it looked like to live in community.

Well, man, it hasn't been easy. Maybe you tried to support

somebody who reached out for need.

You wanted to come alongside them or, or you wanted to launch

a missional initiative to care for neighbors in some way.

You really, you meant well. You, you struck out.

You, you, you put yourself out there and woof was heavier than

you thought. People didn't join you in the

way that you thought they would. It was lonely.

It was difficult. You hit resistance and so you

pulled back, you slowed or perhaps even stopped all

together. I think this is an experience

that many of us can relate to. Certainly this was an experience

that the first audience of this letter to the Hebrews knew very

well. This had been their experience.

They had had believed in Jesus. They had begun this journey with

boldness, with confidence. And then there had been some

resistance. There had been some pushback.

There had been some persecution. Things didn't go in the way that

they hoped. And now they were burned out.

They were they were counting the cost and they were they were

flirting with quiet quitting, not some like bold walk away,

put in your resignation, but just kind of a quiet like I'm

going to play at a different level.

I'm not sure that it's really worth it.

So chapter 12, we find the writer addressing this situation

directly. He's concerned that they are

becoming, as we see here in the text, entangled in sin.

He writes to them, warning them. He says don't lose heart, don't

grow weary. And you may be familiar as I was

preparing the verse occurred to me in Hebrews 10 verse 25, where

Hebrews 10:25

the writer tells them just a couple of chapters earlier.

He says to to let us not give up meeting together as the habit of

some as some are in the habit of doing.

I don't know about you, but I grew up in church hearing this

verse taught as you better be there on Sunday.

Don't you dare miss right? Show up every week.

You're not allowed to take a vacation, right?

You better be in the in the pews, in the in the seats on

Sunday morning. I'm glad you're here.

Thanks for being here. I think it's good for us to be

together. I don't think that's what that

verse is talking about. See, the problem the Hebrew

Christians faced was not that they were not routinely

attending enough. It, it was the, the danger of

attrition, the danger of pulling back, which of course could be

manifest by not attending, but could also be manifest in a lot

of other ways. Because don't you know it isn't

it true that you can show up to church every Sunday and still

not have really deep spiritual community?

You didn't even grow up, go go to group every week and still

not have really deep spiritual community.

It's so easy actually to like to withdraw, to pull back, to guard

yourself, to be a little bit distant, a little bit cautious,

right? It's it's the the person who has

like a relational issue roiling in the background, but chooses

only to name the prayer request of Grandma's hip because it's

safe, right? It's we come into church and we,

we put a brave face forward, We smile, we look good, we dress

up. But but do we let other people

into what's actually true for us?

Do we share what's real? The places where we're

struggling, the prices where we're exhausted, the prices

where we're hurt? Just the other week, somebody

came to me and, and their, their life was a mess and they, they

were naming, they were saying, hey, like, I don't, I don't know

if this is like, I don't know if other people like it's, I'm not

sure it's good for me to be around other people in this way.

This happens to me all the time. I'm like, I think you are a gift

right now because you're allowing yourself to be seen.

And so many other people here are in the same spot or a

similar spot right beneath the surface.

There are things going on. There are tensions, there are

losses, there are griefs, there are challenges, there is

suffering. Are we allowing ourself to be

seen? There's a lot of ways to quiet

quit even if you show up on Sunday.

The problem that the the Hebrews faced was not the danger of just

not attending often enough. It was the danger of withdrawal

and attrition. Mark Twain once said that most

men die at 27. We just bury them at 72.

He was naming A dynamic that's real, right?

Because very often we in our lives, we hit obstacles, we hit

pain points, we hit losses. And at some point there's an

internal conversation we may not even be fully aware of that we

say, like, I just maybe it's just safer over here.

Like if I don't just really, if, if I don't try to forgive that

person, if I don't try to reconcile that relationship, if

I don't like, if I make my life small enough, if I make my life

safe enough, if I like make my life guarded enough, I can just

avoid all of that. We get in these conversations so

easily and so often that aren't about running the race.

They're about self protection. And it is into that context that

that the writer of Hebrews speaks.

And he offers here for us this morning three powerful, three

beautiful resources for runners who are at risk of stopping

short of the finish line. Three race day resources, if you

will, so that we can, as he says here in in verse 1 of chapter

12, run with perseverance, the race marked out for us so that

we can run with perseverance, the race marked out for us.

And the first resource we see here in verse one, we're going

to call, we're going to fall call the cheer squad.

All right, so many of you are familiar.

I know some of you have been in a conversation in the South end

group for months now about Hebrews Chapter 11.

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

Hebrews 11 is probably the most famous section of this letter.

You probably know it or are familiar with it.

It's it's often known as like the Hall of Faith because it's a

it's this description of all of these, all of these people who

are heroes of faith. They're people who have struck

out in confidence and boldness, who lived well, who persevered

in faith. It tells their stories how they

face down difficulty and and push back and persecution and

yet continued. And at the very outset of

Hebrews chapter 12, it's this group the writer refers back to

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

here in verse one when he describes them as a great cloud

of witnesses. A great cloud of witnesses.

And under a month, the best runners in the world will

converge awfully close to here for the signature event and

distance running the Boston Marathon.

Many of you will go out and cheer and celebrate the racers.

I think some of us are going to be running not me, other people

And marathons are of course long, right?

Famously the the the the guy who was kind of the the name came

from who first did it died immediately upon completing the

race. 26 two .2 miles is a it's a feet of endurance.

It's a it's a long ways. Thank you, Aaron.

Let me try to fix this. Beards are not compatible with

sound systems. And while it's definitely

survivable to run 26.2 miles, it's not easy right?

It, it, it takes some things, especially at mile 20 when you

hit heartbreak hill and you're trying to power up this steep

incline after already taking such a grueling race.

I am not a serious runner. I run very casually and very

part time about one day a week, very slow.

But one thing even I have learned is like, I like, it is

so hard for me to run by myself. Like I, I just, I don't do it.

But, but if, if you're out there in the, in the couple of times

that I've actually run in a race, right with other people,

it's a whole different experience than solo running.

If, if you run in a race, you know this, like there, there are

people along the way they're cheering you on there there.

I've been much more in the cheer zone than in the actual race in

my life. But there's all of these these

fans who are, who are celebrating, who are high

fiving, who are encouraging you, who are blowing whistles and

making noise and holding up silly signs to help you keep

going. Social scientists have actually

like quantified this. They, they have have studied

race day performance and and documented that that these cheer

zones actually increase that the hormones that help you to feel

encouraged. They, they pick you up and push

you forward faster and more enthusiastically.

You're not imagining that it feels easier.

It's actually easier when there's somebody rooting for

you. And the writer of Hebrews wants

us to know at the very outset of this letter that we are not

running this race by ourselves, that we are witnessed.

Have you ever thought about this?

Like, I think like we think of the spiritual life as a as a

solo journey a lot of times. But in this image that we have

here in the book of Hebrews, he says, hey, there is a whole

cloud of witnesses surrounding you.

This is not an individual trek or expedition.

You are part of a glorious community that crosses time and

space. Right now, Moses is in the

grandstands along with Archbishop Tutu, right?

Paul and CS Lewis, Martin Luther King and King David.

They're up there. They're observing, they're

watching. They're cheering you on.

They're celebrating in Luke chapter 15.

Luke 15 · chapter mention

Jesus claims that there is rejoicing in heaven over 1

Sinner who repents. I'm not sure exactly how this

works. I'm not sure who can see what

and when and how it all happens. But there is a very real

encouragement that the writer of Hebrews intends to communicate

by virtue of the fact that we are not alone, but rather a

cloud full, surrounded by, enveloped by a community of

people who have faithfully run the race and are cheering us on.

Every time we reach for our Bibles instead of our phones and

apps in the morning, every time we make that hard decision to to

to press into a relationship where something is off to to

confess or to repent, to ask for forgiveness instead of just go

sing or avoiding, a cheer goes up.

There's a celebration every time we choose to be generous rather

than self protective and greedy. Every time we step into a space

of faith. There's a whole community

watching, witnessing, celebrating, pushing us forward.

What a beautiful image. We are not alone.

The first resource that the writer of Hebrews gives us for

race day is that we're part of a community.

We can keep going because we've got the most epic cheer zone in

history, which is right there encouraging us, calling us

forward. And it's not just the analogy

doesn't work perfectly, but you know, it's not just people who

are on the sidelines either, right?

It's our fellow racers too. I won't belabor this point

because we talked about it recently, but community is so

important in the spiritual life, right?

That's why back in Hebrews chapter 10, the verse that we

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

already referenced, the the writer of the book talks about

how we need to encourage each other and spur each other on to

good deeds. He says don't pull back from

that community of faith. Don't quit because you need each

other. You need to be in each other's

corners, supporting each other, encouraging each other,

providing accountability and and support so that you can keep

going. The race of faith is not

intended to be a solo 1. We're in it together because of

our baptism. But there's a second resource

that the writer of Hebrews points us towards and we might

call it our, our kit, if you will, our kit.

He says here in Hebrews chapter 12 and verse one, let us throw

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles

us. The group word here that hinders

is, is cost. It just means like a weight, a

burden and impediment, something that is in the way, something

that is impeding forward movement.

We have a, a bunch of runners in our community, at least our

Strava group tells me so. We also have a bunch of hikers

in our community. And both of these are beautiful,

worthwhile endeavors, but they are not the same.

Some of you do both and you are very aware of this, right?

You would not bring the same kit to a month long hike of the

Appalachian Trail as you would to race day at the Boston

Marathon. Like, can you, can you actually

picture this silly image for just a minute, right?

Can you imagine showing up with the full hiking gear at the

starting line of the Boston Marathon?

Everybody's there and they're like short shorts and tiny, tiny

shoes and they've got just their their watches on and that's

pretty much it. They're they're bibs.

They're ready to go. And here you are and you've got

like a tent and a filtration system, 3 changes of clothes.

You've got your rain gear, you've got your snacks, right?

You've got your trekking poles are ready to go.

There's some bear repellent and some bug spray.

You've got a little gas stove and, and, and a titanium

skillet. Like, I mean, you are ready for

every eventuality. By mile 8 you are going to be

dead maybe before then, right? This is not, you are not

appropriately kitted up for the event at hand.

You'd be carrying some obstacles.

And I, I share this analogy because I think it's so helpful

for us to consider to imagine like what is the right kit for

the journey we are on? What is the right kit for the

journey we are on? This is such a helpful vision

for us because I think many of us, honestly, people who have

grown up in the church or, or come to faith, we've been

trained in an imagination that that focuses on what is allowed

and what is not allowed, right? We've got an imagination for sin

in our minds and we know that like these categories are, are

out of bounds. I'm not supposed to do these

things. If I do these things, God will

be mad at me and maybe I will be punished.

And so, so long as I'm not doing those things, then I'm cool,

right? As long as I don't cross the

line over here, then I'm fine. And look, there are things that

are harmful, things that are dangerous, things that you

should not do. For sure.

Sin is a real thing. I don't mean to minimize that in

any way. But also I wonder if we if we

sometimes end up relating to to sin, relating to, to boundaries

in the Christian life. Almost like my dog growing up

did. Like my dog was named Ribbon.

She was a goofy dog. And one day she experienced a

new boundary because she went into the kitchen and ate my

brother's birthday cake off of the kitchen table and my dad had

it out. You know, there was lots of

screaming and swinging and, and after that, the dog was very

clear that she was not allowed to enter the kitchen, right?

There was a clear boundary. Anytime she, you know, crossed

into the kitchen, it was a big thing.

So she, she had learned that she's a smart dog.

She knew she wasn't supposed to go in the kitchen, so she would

not go into the kitchen. I mean technically she would not

go into the kitchen, right? Because her entire body would

absolutely be in the kitchen. But she would, she would have

like 1 paw all the way back, right?

As distant as possible. There was like there was 1

toenail that barely touched the threshold of the kitchen door

right in her imagination. Like following the rules was

just like getting as close as possible without breaking the

rule. And friends, I think sometimes

this is how we I know sometimes this is how I relate to relate

to sin, right, relate to boundaries.

It's like how close can I get without getting in trouble,

right? Like can I, you know, am I

allowed to go right to here? Like we didn't technically have

sex because there, you know, there were some clothes that

stayed on. You know, we there was we I

didn't technically I didn't there, there's this like we're

right here at the boundary, right, attempting to cross some

like invisible line where we think in some way that will

incur punishment. And I just got to say like, I

get it. And also, like, what an

unhelpful way to relate to this. What what a better image the

writer of Hebrews gives us here in terms of entanglements.

Because again, there are things that you just should not do as a

Christian, as part of the Christian life.

But honestly, the vast majority of stuff that needs to be purged

from our lives isn't immoral. It's not like wrong technically,

it's just bad kit, right? It's it's just not actually

helpful for the race ahead. Like you can have a drink, cool,

but like, is it serving you? You can, you can afford that,

yes, like, but does that actually get you that the

happiness that you want? Right.

You you can make that choice. You're like you're allowed to

set up your relationships in that way.

You're allowed to set up your finances in that way.

You're allowed to, to set up your priorities in that way.

But what race are we running friends?

Like what is our goal? What is our, our tell us, what

is the finish line that we are chasing?

I, I fear that that sometimes we're setting things up in a

certain way where we're like, how much like I, I want to get

to heaven when I die. And so like, I'm determined to

get over there, but while getting there, how much like

pleasure and comfort and security, right, and everything

else that I, I like, how much of how much of all of these things

can I possibly get and just just creep over the finish line by a

hair? Friends, the writer of Hebrews

points us towards a future, points us towards a vision where

where we are, we are shedding everything that doesn't work for

the purpose of love. Like he says that that that tell

us here is love, God, love your neighbor with all your heart,

soul, mind and strength. If we are going for that as hard

and as fast as we can, like, what would we put down?

Like, what are those things in our life that maybe are OK?

Maybe it's our phone, maybe it's those gummies.

Maybe it's that relationship that you know, just really isn't

serving you. What is it in your life that

you're holding on to right now? And like, OK, like you're,

you're free, you're allowed. But the question is, is it

serving you? The writer of Hebrew says, hey,

guys, I want you to persevere on this race.

I want you to run as fast and as far as you can.

I want you to cross the finish line in record time.

I want you to set APR. He says, what's what's the kit

going to be? What needs to get stripped away,

What needs to get laid down so that you can run the race with

endurance? The first thing is the crowd.

The second is the kit. But then lastly, finally, he

also points us to the most important pacer of all time,

Jesus. We read here in verse 2 of

chapter 12, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfector

of our faith. For the joy set before him, He

endured the cross, scorning it's shame, and sat down at the right

hand of the throne of God. Consider him, He says, who

endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not

grow weary and lose heart. This is the vision that we are

to, to fix our attention on, to fix our eyes on to, to

continually put before us so that we can run with

perseverance. It's training our attention on

Jesus. This is what this argument has

been all about through this whole book.

This is why the author has gone to these paints to say, hey,

you're paying attention to the angels, you're paying attention

to Moses, you're paying attention to the law, to the

sacrifices. Jesus is greater than all of

that. Keep your attention trained on

him because Jesus, he says, is the pioneer and the perfector of

the race. He did it first, He did it best.

He's the guy. You've got to follow what we see

here when we when we train our attention, when we look at

Jesus, we see first of all, that that love, that joy is, is is

better than just avoiding the pain and suffering of the race.

And I, I honestly love this because I think some of us want

to believe we, we get in a story where we imagine that like the

Christian journey is supposed to be pain free.

It's supposed to be suffering free.

If you're doing it right, it shouldn't hurt.

It shouldn't be uncomfortable. Maybe that's not your story, but

I know it is some people's and, and there's nothing in this text

about this, right? There's the assumption is the

the opposite. It's that there is going to be

difficulty, there is going to be challenge, there is going to be

pain and push back. Jesus experienced that.

He experienced scorn, he experienced shame, he

experienced rejection. It doesn't say that those things

were like not a big deal for Jesus.

And so he did a great job. It says it was there, it was

present. And yet for the joy that was set

before him, he endured the cross.

See, Jesus himself too had his eyes fixed attentionally on what

was important, the will of the Father, the reconciliation of

all humanity and creation that was possible through his

sacrifice. Jesus had the joy, the

imagination, the image of that that reconciled world and

humanity of things set right and put back together in front of

him. And he said that joy is great

enough that like, I can literally be crucified and I can

keep going. Friends, for us, Jesus is the

pioneer. He's the perfector.

He is the one that shows us that that like suffering is going to

happen. But it doesn't have to be the

defining thing. If you're running, I can tell

you sure you know this. If you've run at all, it kind of

stinks. It's not actually very pleasant

to run. Like it's, it's, it's fairly

uncomfortable. Like as you're running, you're

my body. I'll just speak for myself.

This your experience may vary, although probably not like as

I'm running every step, especially you get up a mile, a

couple miles, a few miles and my body is just screaming at me.

It's like, stop, please stop, please stop.

Please. This is uncomfortable.

This is painful. We don't need to do this

anymore, right? Internally it wants to to

negotiate out of the discomfort and and if I begin to focus on

like my experience of running, I will absolutely stop running.

I'm don't even need to make it back to the car.

We're just going to call an Uber from here, right because because

my body is uncomfortable, my lips are burning.

I got a cramp in my side. My knees hurt because I'm old.

Like it's just not very fun to run again, my experience.

But the the goal is not to focus on the running itself.

Like if you were focusing on the pain and the discomfort that

that's going to shape your experience.

But in a race, one of the things that will often happen, in fact,

the fastest times to ever be achieved, right?

People are running with Pacers. And this is what happens if you

get a little run crew together, right?

You get some other people. You, you stop, you stop focusing

on yourself. You stop even, it's not even

about like visualizing the finish line.

You're just like focusing on the shoulder of that person who's

right in front of you or right beside you, right?

You're just trying to keep up with that, Like you're just

trying to steady, keep going at that rate.

And when the the locus of attention and focus moves

outside of yourself and you begin to focus on somebody else

who is running the race, well, what happens?

There's more endurance, there's more energy, there's more

capacity to keep running faithfully.

And and the writer of Hebrews here says Jesus is a great pacer

man. Like I get you are running right

now. This is an unfamiliar course.

You've never completed it Right now it seems like this thing

just never ends. It is it just all hills?

What is going on? But he says, hey, this guy like

it's actually doable. This guy crossed the finish

line. He got there.

Just don't worry about when you're going to get to.

Don't worry about what your GPS says.

Don't worry about how long or when you're going to get there.

Like fix your eyes on this guy and keep going.

Keep running. Keep that attentional focus

locked in in front of you and keep running.

Jesus is the pioneer and perfector of our faith.

When we look at Him, we are sustained.

We, we, we see that the, the, the vision, the joy, the the

love, the intimacy, the reconciliation is better than

the pain that we're suffering. It's worth it.

And we see that the the race is winnable and we see that the the

finish line is glorious. Says here he sat down at the

right hand of the Father. There really is an end, a place

of rest that we can enter into. As we talked about this a few

weeks ago, friends, I don't know where you're at this morning.

Everybody here in this room is probably in a different place,

but I've conversations with a lot of you.

I know there are people in the room carrying really heavy

things, losses, addictions, disappointments, diagnosis,

pain, and and I don't know what your particular circumstance is

this morning. But I do know that if you will

fix your eyes on Jesus, if you will move the the attentional

locus of your life from what's not working for you to Jesus,

and if you will keep going, that you will be inspired and able to

persevere. You're in suffering this

morning. Look to Jesus, friend, you're

you're navigating depression this morning.

Look to Jesus, you were doing really great and then that that

addiction put its hooks back in you and pulled you back in.

Look to Jesus, friends. If we look to Jesus, if we fix

our gaze on him, that's why we each week that we come together,

why we worship and sing, it's why we celebrate communion.

It's an invitation because we need week after week.

And honestly, you need it day after day, maybe hour by hour to

return your gaze, to fix it on Jesus so that we can keep

running. What does all of this look like

for you this morning? Where's the rub for you in these

three resources for race day? Are you tired this morning?

Worn out, burnt out, exhausted, depleted, hurt?

What would it look like for this morning?

For you to to to, to root into that community of witnesses,

both to to recognize that you are being witnessed and to allow

yourself to be seen to move beyond Grandma's hip.

We can pray for that too, but also to bring what is real for

you into community in a space where it can be tended to,

supported, and even healed. What's that that community of

runners, that cloud of witnesses look like for you?

You're going to need those relationships if you're going to

run with endurance. What is the cloud look like for

you? What's the kit look like for you

as you inventory your life? If somebody were to do a a, a, a

budget analysis, a time analysis, a practice analysis,

what would they conclude? The tell us was the thing that

you are running for, chasing, pursuing?

Are you going for a maximal pleasure, maximal security,

maximal accomplishment? Or are you running the right

race, the race of love, in a way where anything that gets in the

way is stripped aside? Not because.

Not because you're not allowed to carry it.

Because it's not serving you and you are committed to

relentlessly running as fast and as far on this journey of faith

as you can. Lent is a classic time where we

inventory our lives and set things down, friends.

Not because you should. Not because you have to.

Not because you're going to get punished.

Is there something that's in your way this morning that's

holding you back, that you can release, that you can put down,

that you can repent of to help you be a little lighter, a

little faster, a little more persevering on the race?

Or maybe you just need to look to Jesus.

Actually, I don't know about the first two.

You definitely need to look to Jesus always, over and over

again to build practices, to build habits, to build a life.

That constantly puts Him, His glory, His beauty, His

faithfulness in front of your face.

It's the only way to keep going. Friends, as we move into a time

of reflection and response to this Word, today, I want to

invite you to do business with God, whatever that looks like

for you. It could be right in your seat.

It could be up here at the front on these carpets.

If you want to come and pray with somebody, I'll be at the

front. I'm happy to just hold space and

pray for you. Friends, I invite you this

morning to not leave here without getting clear for

yourself what the race you are on is all about and how you can

run a little bit more faithfully, a little more

perseveringly this week. Jesus, we ask that you would

meet us here, that you would help us to fix our eyes on You,

and that no one would come up short of the finish line, that

we would run well. And here at the end of the day,

well done, my good and faithful servant.

You've run your race well.