Past the Wall

In the summer, fall and winter of 1986 I trained for the Dallas White Rock Marathon.  I don't know what possessed me to want to do this 26 mile run, but I guess the old "it was there" thing might have been working in the back of my mind.  But, whatever, I trained in the Louisiana heat, the sultry fall weather, and the breezes of October, heading for a December race.  On the day of the race it was 35 degrees and drizzling rain.

In a long distance race you might have heard about "the wall."  In running "the wall" is a time when your body has expended all of the energy it has stored, and you are truly "running on empty."  You are only moving forward by the power of your will to finish.  It is a very real and painful thing, but to finish the race, you must overcome this barrier.  In my race, that cold December day, a very unexpected thing got me past that wall.  At the 19th mile a lady (truly a saint sent from God) was handing out bags of LIFESAVERS.  While it is not a candy I would normally choose, I grabbed those LIFESAVERS like a big fish hits a lure.  They were the most wonderful candy I ever tasted (before or after) because my body needed just a few calories to overcome the fatigue and pain of "the wall."  I finished the race and have the medal in my office to prove it!

I learned several things from this experience.  First, "the wall" is real.  Mine was physical that December day, but I have encountered many walls since that marathon race.  People, projects, finances, worries, real and imagined barriers, events and spiritual battles have all been "walls."  Right now we are running toward the "wall" of moving from the United Methodist Church to the Global Methodist Church, and there are lots of "walls."  Paperwork, approvals, communications with attorneys, pressure from our current conference, getting funds collected, and a fair amount of connectional bickering have filled my days during this time.  All the while, life, church and weekly responsibilities continue.  We are excited that our Youth and Children's Ministries are moving in a good direction (some good announcements will be forthcoming).  Moonlighter's will happen this coming Saturday (doors open at 5:30pm so get your tickets).  I am always excited as we prepare worship and music for Sunday.  But "walls" are real.  I think of Nicodemus as he listened to Jesus tell of being born again and of the decisive movement of God's Spirit.  John 3 tells this story of God's seeing and tearing down that wall!

Second, with walls we must understand we need help.  The "guy thing" is to say, "I will just bust that wall down."  But with all of the battles we face, help is needed.  Some walls can't come down with human power.  Nicodemus could not save himself.  He neither had the information (knowledge of God's plan and Spirit) or the ability (he couldn't save himself) to overcome the wall.  God's Spirit teaches us as we invite the Spirit into our lives.  God's Word leads us to listen, learn and get past the barrier of our ignorance.  Jesus teaches Nicodemus, "You must be born again ... and you must let God's Spirit take you where you cannot go yourself."

Finally, it is clear from the word that Nicodemus has a knowledge barrier.  His human logic is blocking his spirit's ability to understand God's message to people.  He has run out of spiritual calories to finish the race.  So Jesus says, "you must be reborn."  Jesus says Nicodemus needs to die to the self he has known, so that he can be born into the light and life Jesus offers.

I hope that as you face your "walls" this week, you realize Jesus and God's Spirit are right there with you.  Like that lady at the 19th mile of the race course, Jesus is ready to give you something that will get you to the end of the race.  Others will offer you the buzz words of this present darkness.  Empty calories will be offered in the form of human-devised justice, convenient kindness, inclusion, tolerance and many virtues.  But none of these things have virtue without the foundation of God's word and the "founding" in Scripture.  So Sunday, we will offer the Christ who is the only just one, the only source of true kindness, the one who offers inclusion through belief in Him, the one who tolerates my mess-ups but won't leave me mired in them, and the one who is the teacher and demonstrator of virtue.  Wesley said, "Offer them Christ" ... and that is what we will do!  And, with Jesus, we can finish the race God has set out for each of us.  Randy