Epistle Philippians 3:14-4:1
Gospel Reading Luke 13:31-35
On Perseverance, Patience and Persistence
There was once a man who, with his dad, farmed a little piece of land. Several times a year they would load up the old ox-drawn cart with vegetables and go into the nearest city to sell their produce. Except for their name and the patch of ground, father and son had little in common. The old man believed in taking it easy. The boy was usually in a hurry ... the go-getter type. One morning, very early, they hitched up the ox to the loaded cart and started on the long journey. The son figured if they walked faster, kept going all day and night, they'd make market by early the next morning; so he kept prodding the ox with a stick, urging the beast to go faster. "Take it easy, son," said the old man. "You'll last longer." "But if we get to market ahead of the others we'll have a better chance of getting good prices," argued the son.
Four hours and four miles down the road they came to a little house. The father smiled and said, "Here's your uncle's place. Let's stop in and say hello." "But we've lost an hour already," complained the impatient son. "Then a few more minutes won't matter. My brother and I live so close, yet we see each other so seldom," the father answered slowly. The boy fidgeted and fumed while the two old men laughed and talked away an hour. On the move again, the man took his turn leading the ox. As they approached a fork in the road, the father led the ox to the right. "The left is the shorter way", said the son. "I know it", replied the old man, "but this way is much prettier."
"Have you no respect for time?" the young man shouted. "Oh, I respect it very much! That's why I like to use it to look at beauty and enjoy each moment to the fullest."
The winding path led through graceful meadows, wildflowers, and along a rippling stream ... all of which the young man missed as his anger grew within, and boiling with anxiety. He didn't even notice how lovely the sunset was that day. Twilight found them in what looked like a huge, colourful garden. The old man breathed in the aroma, listened to the babbling brook, and pulled the ox to a halt. "Let's sleep here," he sighed. "This is the last trip I am making with you," snapped the son. "You're more interested in watching sunsets and smelling flowers than making money!" "Why that's the nicest thing you've said to me in a long time," smiled the dad.
A couple of minutes later he was snoring, as his boy glared back at the stars. The night dragged on slowly, the son was restless. Before sunrise the young man shook his father awake. They hitched up and went on. About a mile down the road they happened upon another farmer, a total stranger trying to pull his cart out of a ditch. "Let's give him a hand," whispered the old man. "And lose more time?" the boy exploded. "Relax son. You might be in a ditch sometime yourself. We need to help others in need, don't forget that." The boy looked away in anger.
It was almost eight o'clock that morning by the time the other cart was back on the road. Suddenly, a great flash split the sky. What sounded like thunder followed. Beyond the hills, the sky grew dark "Looks like a big rain in the city," said the old man. "If we had hurried, we'd be almost sold out by now," grumbled the son. "Take it easy, you'll last longer and you'll enjoy life so much more," counselled the kind old gentleman.
It was late afternoon by the time they got to the hill overlooking the city. They stopped and stared down at it for a long, long time. Neither of them said a word. Finally, the young man put his hand on his father's shoulder and said, "I see what you mean, Dad." They turned their cart around and began to roll slowly away from what had once been the city of Hiroshima.
In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus says, “Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Jesus is calling us to take the easy path, not necessarily the quickest but the most beautiful, the most peaceful. To be yoked to Jesus is to be like Him, knowing the Father and having a peace beyond understanding is knowing that God through His Son has you in His care, it’s all planned out for you. Here’s a thing, when you are on a long journey and the scenery is interesting, when it’s beautiful and eye catching, when it’s exciting, isn’t it strange how you focus on the view, and you forget just how long that journey is. The view through the eyes of Christ is awesome, beyond measure and His peace overcomes every obstacle.
The father and his son in the story went the long way, the cart was still as heavy and the journey was still as hard, but to the father the journey was a joy, because he stopped to savour the moment, he breathed in the fresh air, he enjoyed the view, he smelled the scent of the flowers and he rested along the way, he had peace. Now there’s an alien concept to many of us in today’s world - rest! “Oh I haven’t got time for rest - too busy”.
HEY!! On the seventh day, GOD RESTED!! So you think you are greater than God? The son just wanted to get there, so he focused on the end, thereby missing all the good stuff in-between. In this Lenten season, I believe that the core question we should be focusing on and trying to get to grips with is, "Just exactly what does it take to persevere in the way of Jesus?" Because make no bones about it, if our lives in Christ are not lives of perseverance, then we are stagnant and our lives are a waste of time because we are doing nothing to further the cause of Christ to advance the Kingdom of God here on earth.
Helena and I have over the years enjoyed several visits to the cinema and theatre, as well as watching films at home on TV or DVD. As I sat preparing for this evening, I realised that the films we have watched over the past few years have one thing in common; all of them are about Perseverance, Patience and Persistence. The life of Pi, Les Miserables, The Hobbit, Faith Like Potatoes, The Impossible, Fiddler on the Roof. The latest addition to our collection was a film called “Lion” If you haven’t yet seen it, take some tissues with you when you do.
Job 17:9 - The righteous keep moving forward, and those with clean hands become stronger and stronger.
Perseverance in the way of Jesus doesn't mean mere survival or safety, as it did in most of those films I mentioned. It certainly doesn’t mean adopting personal safety as a core value. We as Christians, as followers of Christ Jesus, are called precisely into the places of suffering and death, even at risk to ourselves, to make God's reign and the power of Christ's resurrection tangible and known.
"What is it that helps people to persevere in following Jesus, no matter what?"
For early Methodists, when push came to shove, it was the class meetings, those small "bands of sisters and brothers" meeting weekly in one another's homes to sing, pray, read Scripture, and help one another live out the General Rules that most directly helped that happen. So what are we today, as a worshipping community doing in the here and now that supports and encourages Perseverance? It may be a house group, a fellowship group, a Bible Study group. Whatever it is, it needs to be open to all – churchgoers and non-churchgoers, Christians and non-Christians; it needs to be regular; it needs to be challenging, encouraging and inspiring.
1 Chronicles 16:11 Search for the Lord and for his strength; continually seek him.
One day George Muller began praying for five of his friends. After many months, one of them came to the Lord. Ten years later, two others were converted. It took 25 years before the fourth man was saved. Muller persevered in prayer until his death for the fifth friend, and throughout those 52 years he never gave up hoping that he would accept Christ! His faith was rewarded, for soon after Muller's funeral the last one was saved. Now THAT’S Perseverance, Persistence, Patience! Perseverance is a tough word to hear in the Northern Hemisphere, at least, because in general we value instant gratification and short-term pleasure over longer term gains. We tend to fear and avoid risk, pain, and death at every turn. I wonder how many of us have ever undergone anything like the training that last year’s Olympians went through.
1 Cor 9 Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.
I don’t think many of us here today engage in such rigorous and demanding training – and we certainly don’t do any such training in our Christian walk, training that prepares us for a lifetime of following Jesus. We find it hard to Persevere in many things in life, so why should our faith be any different?
Listen - by Perseverance, the snail reached the ark. That simple, unpretentious little quote is one of my favourites. I can just picture the snail wheeling along and wheeling along and wheeling along; all the while being passed by those who were bigger, faster, stronger, sleeker. Yet in the end – because of his Perseverance, the snail made it just as surely as the cheetah. Encouraging for those of us who are closer to the snail than we are to the cheetah.
In our reading from Philippians, Paul calls the still fairly young community of Christians in Philippi into Perseverance in the way of Jesus in the face of real opposition; urging them to stand firm. The New Living Translation puts it this way “brothers and sisters, stay true to the Lord.” We too, you and I, we are called to stand firm in Christ, the one who continues to transform us all. Stand firm, Persevere. Stand firm, Paul says, "in imitating me and those who live like we do."
It is Christ himself who will at last both bring and complete our transformation into the body of his glory; but it is we who, in the meantime, must stand firm, must persevere in practicing the way of Jesus where we are here and now. The word of God is full to overflowing with promises of Perseverance and endurance from our God who is faithful and just and who loves us. Psalm 138:8 The Lord will work out his plans for my life - for your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever.
So it is with the necessity of imitating Christ, you can follow the example of those early Christians. Stay in practice. Stay limber. Stand firm. Persevere. Remember - “The greatest oak was once a little nut who held its ground.”
Our gospel reading focuses on the Persevering longing of Jesus. And with that Persevering longing, and not apart from that, we see first Jesus' willingness to back his longing with direct actions. Jesus doesn’t just feel for Jerusalem, he acts in the face of the reality that such action can lead to his own suffering and death. He says to the Pharisees, “Go tell that fox, Herod, that I will keep on casting out demons and healing people today and tomorrow; and the third day I will accomplish my purpose. Yes, today, tomorrow, and the next day I must proceed on my way. Jesus had more work to do in Galilee, and he would do it, no matter what. Death awaited him not in Galilee, but in Jerusalem, and he would go there and, yes, be killed, when the time was right, but first he had work to do.
This same commitment to Persevere to complete the mission of "casting out demons and healing people" where we are, even in the face of opposition and death threats, is the first calling of Jesus to us from this reading today.
The second is to persevere in love even for those institutions that have a track record of harming us or people like us, even if we are likely to face suffering and death as a result of our continued expressions of love. Let me share with you a couple of scriptures, in closing. and if you take nothing else home today – take these words with you. Let them take root in your heart, and let them produce fruit in your life.
Hebrews 12 - Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.
Jeremiah 29:11
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
God knows your future, he has it all planned out for you, just be Patient, have faith and be at peace knowing that He is in control, from the beginning, before you were even born God has had a plan for you. Stay yoked to Him, don’t try to rush it, be at peace, be Patient and continue to be faithful, showing goodness and love to others and having joy in the Lord, because your salvation is secured, knowing that everything else will happen in His time.
Arriving at your destination too late or too early can often be a disaster; you are meant to be where you are at this precise point, no sooner or later. If that father and son had arrived earlier they would have perished along with the rest of Hiroshima. The old man’s timing was just right.
God bless you 🙏🏻
