Time to Get up and Run

August 17, 2025 Hebrews 11:2912:2 Time to Get up and Run 10th Sunday of Pentecost Year C Prelude Call to Worship (Inspired by Psalm 80) One: Turn again, O God of hosts; look down from heaven and see; have regard for this vine, the stock that your right hand planted. Many: The world is ablaze around us with pain and suffering, natural disasters and human schemes, injustice and brokenness. One: Create again, O God of Fire; respond to the needs of your people and shepherd us to be good stewards of your creation. Many: Let your Holy Fire meet the infernos that seek to consume us with refining and renewing power. One: Redeem again, O God of hosts; ignite a flame within your kingdom that will spread as a wildfire of righteousness and love. Many: Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved. (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Cheryl Lindsay) Opening Prayer Caring God, we come before you eager to recognize the ways you care for us even in challenging moments. We celebrate this time of congregating…gathering in person and online to lift our hearts, our minds and our spirits in a time of praise and petition. Some of us are discouraged, filled with anxiety and questions. Some of us are celebrating because we are in a positive life moment. Some of us are questioning why we’re here; others are confident, claiming this space and time to honor you, to build up our lives and to strengthen your church. Accept each of us, Holy Creator, meeting us just where we are and luring us to step closer to you, to your Son, Jesus, our Christ, and to your Holy Spirit. AMEN. (Disciples of Christ Center for Faith and Giving) Song Holy God we Praise your Name UMH 79 A Sermon for all Ages What is Faith? • Faith…is it cotton candy or caramel? Explain that some people have a confused or uncertain concept of what faith is. Have you ever eaten cotton candy? You might put a big blob in your mouth, only to have it seemingly disappear as the sugar evaporates on your tongue. If our faith is in fairy tales, it might be sort of like that disappearing cotton candy experience. Allow students to sample the cotton candy. On the other hand, try something that will stick, like caramel or peanut butter (watch for allergies!). These are things that really stick with you. True faith in God relies on something of substance. It sticks with you and satisfies you, like peanut butter! (Or caramel. Or…something else sticky, your pick!) Faith is what sticks with us, when people, situations, things fade and disappear. Encouraged to think about out faith – who are the people, situations, things that stick with us and support us. God sends them in our life in order to complete the task ahead of us – we all have a job to do, a race to run. Think of those who stick with us, remember one person who stick with us through all that we go through – that person is Jesus. Passing of the Peace Scripture Hebrews 11:29 - 12:2 Sermon Time to Get up and Run This is the beginning of the school year. We honor this occasion with the blessing of the back packs. As preschool kids, youth, college students, teachers and others return to school – we will see a parade of backpacks. I have heard that the hottest trend in backpacks are from the company sprayground. They cost up to $150, and they come with all kinds of shapes and characters. In Japan, backpacks are a big investment, because not only does it carry books, but it is designed to protect the child in all sorts of situations. There are a lot of school districts that are going with the clear bag policy, like me, so that they can see what is inside of the backpack. For a young child starting school for the first time, picking a backpack can be a big deal – often times they will want a backpack that had a picture of their favorite super hero - like superman, or batman, or even the Hulk. Today the theme of or lesson for today is heroes. But not the type that we would see on the outside of a book bag. But the ones that we would put on the inside of the bag. The heroes that we carry with us whereever we go. We carry the memories of our personal heroes. Those heroes encourage us, inspire us, when we are ready to give up they are our strength, when we are going through hard times, they support us. A father was sitting on the floor with his three boys getting ready for bedtime prayers. The two older boys were having an argument about their action figures. The issue was whether Superman was better than He-Man. One boy said that Superman could fly, the other countered that He-Man had bigger muscles. And so it went, back and forth, while the youngest boy, Nicholas age four, just watched. Dad turned to Nick and asked: "So who's your hero, Nick?" Without batting an eye, Nick tilted his head, gave Dad one of those "Well, Duh!" Looks, grinned and said matter-of-factly, "You are, Daddy!" That father said it was one of the happiest moments of his life. What a privilege to think that someone really wants to be just like you, but what an awesome responsibility! (1) We all have heroes, don't we? And I'm not talking Superman, Batman, Buck Rogers, Power Puff Girls or any of the other superheros of the comic books or cartoons. I'm not talking about the characters portrayed by John Wayne, Randolf Scott, Vin Diesel, Tom Cruise or any other Hollywood heroes. I'm about real people who have influenced us. Those people whose live and accomplishments have impacted us in such a way as to give us hope. When Napoleon was seeking to motivate his tired, dispirited troops in Egypt fighting almost in the very shadows of the great pyramids of that land, he said to his men, "Remember, forty centuries are looking at you." We could say the same thing this morning-sixty centuries of believers are looking at us. "Surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses...." Who are the heroes that you carry with you through life? Well in our scripture for today in the book of Hebrews, Paul talks about the heroes of faith that we keep with us. In chapter 11, Paul not only names some of the biblical heroes of faith, he names the situation where they had to step out on nothing but faith and they became an example for people for ages to come. Many of those people never saw the fruition of the dreams that guided their life, but they still passed that dream on to the next generation. Many of those people entrusted their hopes and dreams to us. There is a saying that we are our ancestors wildest dream. Paul encourages us to carry those people with us, when we fulfill their dreams. Whereever we go, we carry a cloud of witnesses with us. I have a pastor friend out in Texas who shared with recently about his son. In his mid-teens he became addicted to drugs. Even after several treatment programs, he still could not shake the addiction. Finally, in desperation he attempted to commit suicide and almost succeeded. When he regained consciousness, he was terribly disappointed that he had failed. He told his parents that he would do it again as soon as he could because he did not want to live anymore. Both of his parents had been through the Walk to Emmaus experience. Word got out in the Emmaus community about the boy situation. Hundreds of these people started praying for him. Not only that; they sent hundreds of cards to this boy while he was still in the hospital, even though they did not know him personally. A wise Christian psychiatrist started working with the young man. He extracted this promise from him: I will not try to kill myself again until I have sent a thank-you card to all the people who have written to me. By the time he had written literally hundreds of thank-you cards, God had somehow broken into his depression; he no longer wanted to kill himself. In fact, he was really on his way with the help of Christ to conquering the addiction. Indeed, all of us are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses, grandstands filled with angels and saints cheering for us. Speaking of grandstands of witnesses…. It was baseball season in a small Pennsylvania town. If you know anything about Little League baseball, you know it is also a time when little boys' hearts and egos are on the line. A certain ten-year-old boy had ridden the bench most of the season. But in the championship game, his coach finally called him up to bat. The little boy's whole extended family had turned out for this very special game. His parents, brothers and sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, second cousins, you name it, they were all there, cheering and clapping and shouting words of encouragement. The little boy swallowed his anxiety and stepped up to the plate. He gripped the bat and stared hard at the pitcher. Whoosh! The pitch flew by him. Strike one! From the stands, his family cheered him on. "You can do it! You can do it!" So he lifted his bat again and waited for the pitch. Again he swung and connected with air. Strike two! His shoulders started to slump and his hands began to sweat, as he stared down the pitcher one last time. The ball flew by for strike three! The other team jumped and shouted for joy, while the little boy's teammates gave him the silent treatment as they left the field. Our little batter slumped over on the dugout bench, put his head in his hands, and began to cry. But his crying was interrupted by the sound of his father's voice: "Son," he said, "the game's not over." Lifting his head, the boy saw his family, all of them, even his frail grandmother, spread out across the field, waiting to play. They began cheering loudly as the boy picked up his bat. His father pitched the ball, and the boy swung. Crack! The ball flew into the outfield, and the boy took off for first base. As he rounded the bases, cousins, uncles and aunts shouted words of encouragement. Somehow, all those able adults were unable to corral the ball he had hit. As this little boy headed for home plate, his father stood behind the plate and welcomed him with open arms. They celebrated his home run by lifting him on their shoulders and carrying him around the field. (1) What a magnificent reminder of today's text. And what a magnificent reminder of who we, as a Church and the people of God, are called to be and do. Take a few minutes to think about all those people whose shoulders of faith you have climbed. Give thanks to God for their faith and faithfulness. And then think about all those who look to you and are lifted by you on the shoulders of your faith. Give thanks to God for allowing you the privilege of being a Saint for someone else. As part of that time of reflection on the Saints in your life and those for whom you are a Saint, I'd like to give you the opportunity to light a candle in their honor and memory as a reminder of the light of Christ which shone through their lives and touched you. When you're finished we'll close with prayer. I can picture my family, many who have passed on now, in the grandstands of my mind – cheering me on in life. Paul encourages us to remember those cloud of witnesses, but most importantly to remember the our most important encouragement comes from the biggest cheerleader of all – Jesus Christ. Jesus took us to the cross, to give us strength through the challenging times. But Christ rose from the dead to give us strength to stay faithful to the end. Paul says that sometimes life is like running a race. When we run, we should run with our heroes, and Jesus in the back pack on our back. This year, our tags to keep on our life bags, says God has your back. God go with you wherever your bag takes you. God will see us through the finish line. So it is time for us to get up and run. I know that some of us don’t run anymore. Some of us don’t run like we used to. Some of us have never run, some of us can’t run. But we can all keep the faith. We can have enough faith to look up to God, to let go of our sin and fear, and to take a leap when we can’t see the finish line. We have a whole story book of people who kept the faith in tough circumstances, and kept going. Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard had it right; - to believe in God or even make the attempt to understand the nature of God is to make a leap of faith. Reinhold Niebuhr said, “Nothing worth doing is completed in one lifetime, therefore, we must be saved by hope. Nothing true or beautiful makes complete sense in any context of history, therefore, we must be saved by faith. Nothing we do, no matter how virtuous, can be accomplished alone, therefore, we are saved by love.” So think about it now, what is the race you are running? What are the obstacles, what are the achievements? Where are you in the race? Can you see the finish line from here? Are you just getting started? Who are the witnesses that have encouraged you? Who is your lead runner? - Jesus. In the race of life, let’s follow the example of all the faith heroes who have gone before us, let us ignore everything that gets in the way of us being disciples that we can become heroes, les us remember Jesus who did not give up because of the cross, but faces the pain and disgrace and not sits in heaven on the right side of God. Keep the Faith. Amen. Song I am a Soldier of the Cross UMH 511 A Back to School Prayer Heavenly Father, we come before you with hearts full of gratitude for the new school year and the opportunities it brings. We ask for your presence and blessing upon our students, teachers, and staff as they begin this journey. We pray for our students, that you would grant them curious minds, a love for learning, and the ability to grasp new concepts with clarity and understanding. We ask for your protection over them, both physically and emotionally, shielding them from harm and helping them to build positive and supportive relationships. May they find joy in their studies and grow in wisdom and knowledge throughout the year. We also pray for our teachers and staff, that you would equip them with wisdom, patience, and compassion as they guide and nurture our young people. May they be a source of inspiration and encouragement, fostering a love of learning and a positive classroom environment. We pray for families, that you would grant them strength, peace, and patience as they navigate the challenges and joys of the new school year. May they find opportunities to connect with their children, support their learning, and build strong family bonds. Lord, we ask for your blessing upon our schools, that they may be safe havens of learning and growth for all. May your presence be felt in every classroom and hallway, guiding and protecting all who enter. We thank you for your faithfulness and for hearing our prayers. We ask all these things in your precious name. Amen. (Google AI) Lord’s Prayer Back to School Hymn God of all Learning (See Insert) Bless backpacks Stewardship Moment Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook Community Time – Joys and Concerns Benediction Additional Illustrations There's an old legend told among the peoples of the Hebrides. It's the legend of the god of the sea, who always wanted a child of his own, a human child. And once it almost happened. They were going between the islands, some of the peoples, in small canoes. And the ocean god tossed his waves, causing one of the canoes to capsized. The passengers fell into the water and a young boy among them almost drowned, though they fetched him back from the waters. "But," said the god, "I shall not worry, for I was able to toss a wavelet into the little one's heart. He will come back to me, because the sea is in his soul." It's like a short story by H. G. Wells, "The Door in the Wall." A little boy, about six years old, is wandering about, and he comes to this white wall and there's a green door in it. He opens the door, and when he goes in, he enters a country of enchantment ” a world of charm, where he's perfectly loved, and fully accepted. And he wants to stay there, but for some reason he can't. For the rest of his life he's haunted by that country. He's haunted by that place where he was most himself. And he spends his life trying to find it again. What are the question marks in your life? What are you asking? "Does my life have meaning? Is there a purpose for it all?" Do you know what those questions are? They're the echo of eternity, still bobbing in your soul. They're the call of the Western Sea, and they're the enchantment of heaven. And the meaning of your life, the full meaning of your life, is still ahead of you. Because you won't find all the answers to your questions till you cross the River Jordan, till you open the door in the wall that Jesus has unlocked. There, by the grace of God, all questions will become one question. And this is the question you will hear. It's the question Jesus posed to Peter one day. It's the question at the heart of every other question: Simon, do you love me? Child of eternity, do you love me? And when we find the answer to that question, the rest of our questions form the doxology. And there we will be: Lost in wonder, love and praise! Dynamic Preaching, Collected Sermons, by Wayne Brouwer Have you heard the story about a man who slipped and fell while trying to clean the limbs from his roof? He slid down the steep shingles, slipped over the eave, and barely managed to grab hold of the gutters. Dangling there three stories from the earth, the man looked to the heavens above and shouted “My God can any body help me?" Suddenly time stopped, the clouds parted and a voice from heaven said, “Have faith, turn loose." The man took one more glance at the ground below, then looked back to the heavens and said, “Is there anybody else up there who could help me?" Phillips Brooks came up with this acrostic from the word F-A-I-T-H. Faith stands for “Forsaking All, I Take Him." Many things about tomorrow, I don't seem to understand, but “Forsaking all, I take Him." Many things that happen today are more than I can comprehend, but “Forsaking all, I take Him." Many things about yesterday continue to drag me down, but “Forsaking all, I take Him." When living by faith I feel no alarm, “Forsaking all, I take Him." LOOK UP, LET GO, TAKE THE LEAP OF FAITH. ChristianGlobe Networks, Inc., Faith Breaks, by J. Howard Olds Richard Black said, “What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls a butterfly." In Verse 13 we read, “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance." It is a leap of faith when you believe there's someone out there. It's a leap of faith when you believe that someone cares. The last year has taught me to live by faith. I don't know about tomorrow. The problem with life is that it has an “if" right in the middle of it, but I know who holds tomorrow and today I choose to live. I want every second, minute, hour; I want to live today. For years I've been telling the story about Desert Pete. A man was dying of thirst when he came upon a pump right out in the middle of the desert. There was a baking soda can tied to the handle with this note inside, “This pump was all right the last time I used it. I put a new sucker washer into it which ought to last a good long while, but the washer dries out and the pump has to be primed. Under the white rock I buried a bottle of water. It's out of the sun and all corked up. There's enough in it to prime the pump, but not if you drink some first. So pour about a quarter of the water in and let it soak to wet the leather. Then pour in the rest medium fast and pump like crazy. You'll get water. Have faith. When you get all you want, fill her up for the next fella. Signed, Desert Pete. P.S. Don't go drinking up the water first, you have to prime the pump." II. TO HAVE FAITH IS TO MAKE A LEAP. Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones in the movie, The Last Crusade, is searching for the Holy Grail—the cup reported to have been used by Christ at the Last Supper. He comes at last to a cliff's edge and a vast cavern beneath him. The Holy Grail is on the other side. Surveying the situation Indiana Jones says, “It really is a leap of faith." Yes, Jim, Joe, Janice, Joy—it really is a leap of faith. Are you willing to jump For years I've been telling the story abo Psychologists say—look within. Opportunists say—look around. Optimists say—look ahead. Pessimists say—look out. Christianity says—LOOK UP. Look all the way up until you gaze into the eyes of the One who is looking for you. Fix your eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of your faith. Where was the victory for Abraham? When he took that first step on his journey to Canaan and claimed God's promise. The rest was commentary. Where was the victory for David? When he took that first step forward, bent to pick up a rock and claimed God's promise. The rest was commentary. Where was the victory for Noah? When he took that first step and drove the first nail into the ark and claimed God's promise. The rest was commentary. Where was the victory for Moses? When he took that first step away from Pharaoh's family and joined his own people and claimed God's promise. The rest was commentary. Where was the victory for Joshua? When he took that first step on his march around Jericho's walls and blew the first blast of air into that trumpet. The rest was commentary. Where was the victory for Nehemiah? When he took that first step and laid down the first new stone on Jerusalem's walls and claimed God's promise. The rest was commentary. Where was the victory for Esther? When she took that first step down the aisle towards King Ahasuerus and claimed God's promise. The rest was commentary. Where was the victory for Jeremiah? When he took that first step and bought a tiny plot of ground and claimed God's promise. The rest was commentary. Where was the victory for Daniel? When he took that first step into Nebuchadnezzar's presence and claimed God's promise. The rest was commentary. We, too, must first take that step in faith. Faith is the victory. We must trust our Lord and our Savior enough to step out by faith instead of by sight. For the past few weeks, we have articulated a new vision for this congregation focused on “touching hearts and transforming lives." We have organized our church and deployed our staff to embrace a mission of inviting, worshiping, discipling, serving, and healing. We have built castles in the air. Now it is time to put foundations under them. What keeps dreams from dying at daybreak? What enables a vision to be fulfilled in the heat of the day? This passage in Hebrews suggests two things: being faithful and being focused. Second, Paul makes a leap of faith here, he says: "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely." You see, while we carry this backpack full our "guys" and "girls," the heroes of our lives and faith. We also use that backpack to carry all the garbage of life, too. Because just like in every well told or well written story, there are heroes and there are villains; protagonists and antagonists. B. The hard part of our work of faith, is perseverance. Perseverance not just in the hard times, but in the easy times when things are going good, when we are feeling blessed. That's when we really gain strength. I'm not a runner but I know that you don't start out running the marathon. You start out running short distances, then run the 5k and then the 10k and keep adding distance to your run until you are a marathon runner. And then you begin trying to shave time off of that run. You do what ever it takes, you persevere. There is a Norwegian Proverb that says: "A hero is one who knows how to hang on one minute longer." Heroes of Faith are those who work and hang on until Christ says it's time to stop. And that's what Paul means here. We do what it takes to win the race of fait. We continue to hang on every day. Conclusion The truth is: You are the hero of your own story. You can choose which type of hero you want to be the anti-hero, the hero-turned villain, the valiant hero, the quiet hero who rises to the occasion and quietly slips back into the ordinary. But you are the hero of your own story. You determine what gets written on the page of the story. You determine how you play the role. You are the hero, the director, the writer and the villain. You choose what happens in your life. And that choice is made possible by the heroes you collect. You choose which "guys" and which "girls" go into the backpack of your life. And ultimately, you choose whether or not to accept the labels which have been stuck to your mirror. Because the WINNER of the great race of Faith, Jesus, the Son of God who died on the cross for your sake, has offered to clean your mirror up so you can look in the mirror and see His reflection. "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith." 1.Devotional Companion by Jeffrey Rasche. Abingdon Press, 1996. Pages 57-58. CSS Publishing Company, Inc., From the Pulpit, by Billy D. Strayhorn Well, it was getting ridiculous. Still, you’ve got to admire the man’s steadfast faith. You and I would have raised a few questions with God long before this. Yet there is an element of biblical faith in this man’s attitude. Not that everything that happens is an act of God. That’s not true. Some things just happen. We live in a universe of cause and effect. That’s the way God created it. We live by certain scientific laws. If you drop a book, it’s going to fall. If your toe is in the way, it’s going to get hit. And if it is a big book, it’s going to hurt. God didn’t cause that. It was an accident. Or perhaps, it was negligence on your part. But don’t blame God. Biblical faith gives God praise even in the midst of adversity because we know God is with us. FAITH IS AN ATTITUDE ABOUT LIFE. The biblical character Job questioned the reasons for his suffering, just as any of us would. But still he was able to praise God. Faith is a steadfast attitude about life. God is with me. Therefore I can endure any circumstance no matter how trying. Pastor Edward Markquart tells about three pictures that were published sometime back in a newspaper. Each of the pictures was of a man named Bill Sheridan. The first picture was Bill and his wife and their seven-month-old twins standing on a third floor balcony. Flames of shooting fire and billowing smoke could be seen behind this family. The caption beneath the picture read, “Throw the child.” The flames were crackling behind them; the parents were almost paralyzed with fear, and someone was shouting to them from below, “Throw the child. Throw the children.” The next picture showed Bill Sheridan throwing his seven-month-old child into the air, and the caption said, “We will catch them.” The third picture was of the family--mother, father, two infant children--huddled together in safety, with the burning apartment in the background. They were crying with joy and fear. With a fire behind them and a forty-foot drop in front of them, they had literally made a leap of faith. (3) Peter Haynes tells a story about a woman named Judy. Like the unlucky man at the beginning of our message, Judy was the kind of person for whom everything always seemed to go wrong. If Judy went skiing, she would fall and fracture a leg or an arm. If she were walking down a country lane on a bright summer day and paused to lean on the end of a long picketed fence--it would topple, falling to the ground in one sweeping motion. Something always went wrong for Judy. One day she decided to bake bread. She took out the recipe and carefully gathered all the ingredients it called for, then followed it, step by step. There was a slight problem, however. Instead of adding one cake of yeast to the mix as required, she added one whole box--several cakes of yeast. You can imagine what happened. The dough began to grow and grow and grow. She added more flour--and it kept growing and growing. She added more water, and it kept growing. More salt, more wheat germ, more oil--and it just kept growing and growing. She tried cutting the mound of dough in half, pounding it, pleading with it--and it kept growing and growing and growing. Finally, in desperation, Judy went out and buried the huge lump of dough in her front yard. Within an hour, her father came bursting through the front door screaming: “THERE’S SOMETHING GROWING IN OUR FRONT YARD!!!” You know what happened. The heat of the sun beat down on that ill fated mound of dough--that unbaked loaf--even though it was buried in the ground, and brought the yeast back to life. It started growing again and BURST out of the ground! Even its grave couldn’t contain it, so irresistible was the life of that yeast which Judy had mixed in her bread dough. (6) I see Judy’s experience as a parable of the life of faith. Faith is a gift which must be received. Once we receive it and come to depend upon it, we discover that it is self-validating, and thus it grows and grows until it can overcome any obstacle, even death. “By faith Noah built . . .” and “By faith Abraham went . . .” and by faith, you and I can live victorious lives. I love an old story about a businessman who was in a strange city. He had an appointment late in the day, but in the meantime he had some time to kill. Driving around town in his rental car, he passed a little-league baseball game. He decided to stop and watch it for a while. He was standing just outside the third-base line. When there was a lull in the action, he asked the boy playing third base, "What's the score." The boy replied, "We're behind 18 to nothing." "That's strange," said the man. "You don't look discouraged." "Why should it be?" said the boy. "We haven't come to bat yet." Don't you love that spirit?! No matter how far we may be behind at the moment, we never give up or despair. With God on our side, there is always another comeback in us. The classic story of the tortoise and the hare illustrates the point. The tortoise won the race because he ran it with patience. The hare did not take the race seriously, was not conditioned for it, was careless and casual about its importance, and had no deep desire to do his best. To his chagrin, he lost the race he so easily should have won. The tortoise, plodding and persistent, enduring and determined, moved unswervingly toward the goal and won his laurels because he was prepared to achieve. He had the patience and the will to win. Despite the rocky relationship, occasionally there were glimpses of the man my Dad could have been. I remember one in particular. I couldn't' have been much older than 7 or 8. But Dad had a friend from work who was a giant of a man, at least to me. If I had to guess, from pictures I've seen, I'd say he was about 6' 6' or so. My Dad was only 5' 8" so it made for a comical sight, kind of like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito in the movie "Twins." I'm not sure but I think his name was Buck. And he was muscled like nobody else I've ever known. One weekend Dad and Buck and I went to this huge apple tree to pick apples. I picked up apples off the ground. Dad and Buck picked everything they could reach in the tree. And then I remember my Dad telling to climb the tree, pick the apples and toss them down. The problem was, I was so little, I couldn't even reach the first fork in the tree to start climbing. I also remember my Dad getting down on one knee with the other one out like a rung on a ladder. He stood next to Buck who took my hand while I climbed up Dad's leg, then his shoulders and onto Buck's shoulders and then into the tree, just like a set of stairs. I was a little monkey back then and once in the tree I didn't have any problem. I got to thinking about that in relationship to this passage from Hebrews. A saint is someone whose very life lifts you onto their shoulders so you can go higher and farther in this relationship with God. They lift you onto their shoulders so you get closer to the Kingdom of Heaven. Felix was a Cuban postman who decided that his duties as a mailman had prepared him for the Olympic marathon race. Since Cuba had no team at that time, Felix had to personally finance his trip. He did this primarily by running around and around the town square until a crowd gathered. Then he would give a fund-raising speech and accept contributions. When he finally had enough money to travel to the Games which were held that year in St. Louis, he resigned his job and set sail for New Orleans. Once ashore in New Orleans, he encountered a man who robbed him of nearly everything he had. Undeterred, he set out to run from New Orleans to St. Louis. Begging food along the way, he finally arrived in St. Louis half starved. The news of his determination arrived before he did and many fellow athletes rallied to his support. Robbed of his running gear, he cut out the arms and legs of his clothing to accommodate the intense heat and humidity of St. Louis. A fellow athlete loaned him a pair of sneakers for the race, but Felix insisted on running in his postman’s boots. His unusual athletic wear was a sight. I get blisters just thinking about it. Because of the oppressive heat, many of the 31 marathon runners did not even finish the race. But Felix was steadfast in his determination and ran far ahead of the pack. Unfortunately, as he passed an orchard he picked an apple and ate it as he ran. The apple gave him such a stomach cramp he had to sit on a curb to recover while others passed him. Even so, once recovered, Felix came roaring back into the race and finished fourth! (3) That’s determination, the kind of determination you and I need as we run the marathon of life. Some of us may finish the race like Felix in ill-fitting uniforms and worn-out boots. But with God’s help we will finish we will hang in there because a great cloud of witnesses is cheering us on. We will win, not because of who we are, but because of what we believe, that God is with us. God does not give up on us and we will not give up on God. And at the end, we will be victorious. "Going the distance" is a noble achievement. Many begin races that they never finish. It is always disheartening to a pastor to see middle-aged people drop out of the church "after the children are grown." Even more astounding is to see a person who has been a dedicated officer drop out of church when he or she yields a position of influence to another. "Going the distance...." That is part of the reason we join together as a body in Christ. Sometimes the race gets hard. We need each other for encouragement and inspiration. But there is one more thing to be said. "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfector of our faith...." There is someone else who has run the race before us. He has pioneered the way. He is our example, our model, our inspiration. That One is Jesus. When Roger Bannister ran the first four-minute mile many years ago, he accomplished something that many people said could not be done. But he did it. Now many athletes have run the mile in less than four minutes. Someone needed to show us that it could be done. Life is a marathon. We are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses. Our chief impediment is sin. The victory goes to those who are faithful to the finish. Our only hope is to look to Jesus who has run the race before us. Following his example and with his help, we can win the crown of victory. Pastor John Ortberg once said something that I think is enormously important. He was speaking on the biblical admonition to train for godliness. Here is what he said: "There is an enormous difference between trying to do something versus training to do it." Training means dedicating oneself to regular practice and discipline. Anyone can try to compete in the Tour de France bicycle race, for example. They might kill themselves in the process, but they can try it. Only someone like Lance Armstrong, who trains every day for the competition, can succeed. Are you "trying" to be a follower of Christ or are you "training" to be a follower of Christ? (2) Their story can be our story. For GOD IS STILL IN THE BUSINESS OF CREATING HEROES. A young man was listening as the great Boston preacher Phillips Brooks talked of the great days of the past when the United States was a growing nation. He told about the time when brave explorers traveled into areas that had not been explored. He told of those who risked, and sometimes gave, their lives as they helped develop the country. The young man heard Bishop Brooks tell of those who gave their lives that others might have liberty to study the Bible and obey God. These stories thrilled this youth and he said to the bishop, "I wish I had lived those far-off days; I think I too could have been a hero." The bishop replied, "My boy, every age brings its opportunity, and if you cannot be a hero now, you would not have been a hero then." God is still in the business of creating heroes. You and I can be heroic if we choose. Of what kind of stuff are heroes made? There are many ingredients of course that go to make up a hero. Let's center on the three most important.