My day began as I (figuratively) tied my half windsor of substitute teacher suit. I filled in for one of the professors who had gone to the conference for the weekend. We talked about a biblical view of humanity in the Foundations of Faith class. I was able to pull a creed that I had made in my Biola theology class on the topic of humanity and use that to aid in the class. In the front of the classroom a "Smart Board" made me feel like a graffiti artist. A Smart Board is a hybrid between a white board and a powerpoint projector. You are able to control the powerpoint by touching the board and you can write notes on your powerpoint that get saved to the file. So naturally what I did (resorting to being 12 again) was draw mustaches on the photos of people in the presentation. I know there is a bit of teacher/professor in store for me somewhere in my future; it was just too much fun!
I then put on my Sunday best because the campus pastor was gone and I had been quick to volunteer for that opportunity. That week leading up to this Wednesday I had been wrestling with what I should speak about at chapel. The LORD put it on my heart on Sunday night during a prayer time: endurance. There were so many students that seemed to have mountains blocking their path and for some the path seemed poorly marked. I had a certainty that I should be speaking on that topic. The next thing that I needed to do was to see what the Bible has to say on the topic. I looked through a number of passages and saw some good stuff. There was one passage that I was trying to stay away from, but it was the one I ended up choosing: Hebrews 12:1-13. Not that there is anything wrong with this passage, I just thought there might be something more applicable. I just like that passage too much. So I studied that passage, reading and re-reading it, looking at commentaries and footnotes, modeling my message in the style of Tim Chaddock from Reality LA. I really like the way that he does a good job at making the passages hit home for the audience (aka good hermeneutics). I even got to choose some of the songs for the worship band to play on the same topic. You can see my notes from the sermon below.
The mask I put on was of event planner. The RS's had our weekly meeting together and we were planning events for the students. This particular event that we were planning was a Halloween Party. We set a budget, decided on some games, food, and had fun doing so. Each week our staff meetings are like mini-parties because we always share a lot of laughs. They are always a good mid-week re-energizer.
Later that afternoon I put on the Bob Dylan shades and had a "jam session" with one of the students. He played guitar, I accompanied on the harmonica and we played anything from hymns to contemporary songs. We are practicing to have a few songs in our repertoire for a future chapel. It would be fun and would be a different, folkier style than the worship norm.
My night job is a yellow taxi driver uniform. I took the students to Fred Meyer (the local pseudo department store) for a "town run". While we were shopping one of the students asked me if I would go half in on some potatoes to make fried potatoes with him. One thing led to another and I put on my "toque blanche" (or chef's hat) and we fried up some potatoes for other students.
Before heading to bed I put on my counselor coat and gave input for a student on finding his meaning and purpose in life. Probably the most important clothes I'd wear all day. Exhausted from a day full to the brim I headed back to my cabin and descended into dreamland I reflected on how the dreams of the students remain lackluster at best.
Pray that the LORD would allow them to dream big for His glory and praise God that I did not have to put on the star badge of policeman.
Like I promised, here are my notes from the message I gave at chapel:
Enduring for another moment for a lifetime
Open with me to Hebrews 12:1-13
Pray
Father God,
Thank you for the ways in which you use trials for our good.
We pray that we would learn from your word today and that your Spirit would
illuminate this passage for us, that it might penetrate our hearts. LORD, I
pray for all the struggles, temptations, and weariness that students and staff
alike on this campus may be experiencing. Would you, Jesus be our north star to
guide us in faith toward yourself.
We love you. In Jesus name,
Amen
If you’re running a 26-mile marathon, remember that every
mile is run one step at a time. If you are writing a book, do it one page at a
time. If you’re trying to master a new language, try it one word at a time.
There are 365 days in the average year. Divide any project by 365 and you’ll
find that no job is all that intimidating.
- Charles Swindoll
As a distance runner myself I fully appreciate the metaphor
of a running a race that this passage gives us. I have had my fair share of
successes, but none of them have come easily. In fact, I have had to endure
much suffering to achieve my goals.
Of all of trials that I had to face, the largest obstacle
came at me in February of 2008. I was a
sophomore at Biola University where I was a part of the track team. A week
after qualifying for the indoor national meet I began to experience some shin
pain while I was running. This escaladed to the point that I could no longer
run. I went to see the athletic trainers at the school and they prescribed that
I should ride a bike for a few days instead of running because it is a lower impact
activity, meaning there is less pounding on my shins. I had been cycling for a
few days and my shins were showing only slight improvement. On the morning of
February 28th I went out for a bike ride and was picking up speed as
I descended a hill. A man driving a gold sedan was coming up the hill. The man
made a left turn onto a side street right… in …front …of …me. Having no time to
react I collided with the side of his vehicle, hitting and cracking his
windshield, flying like a rag doll over the vehicle I landed twenty feet down
the road on the left side of my body.
The next thing I know I am in the LA County Hospital and I am
a broken mess. A nurse asked me how I thought that I got to the hospital and
responded by saying that I rode my bike there. It was the only explanation that
made sense to me. The last thing I knew I was riding my bike, and then I was at
the hospital. I had in fact taken a much more direct route to the hospital. I
had cracked the helmet that I was wearing (by God’s grace), broke my shoulder,
some ribs, and my hip. I had been transported to the hospital by helicopter and
had emergency surgery done on my broken hip. I now carry around a titanium
plate and six screws there. The doctors had given me an outlook that I might
never run again.
The recovery from a complex injury of this sort is not a
quick process. In fact the arduous journey was one that felt at times like two
steps forward one step backwards. The first literal steps that I took were not
until I was able to put weight on my hip. This took nearly four months for my
hip to be weight bearing. I went through countless hours of physical therapy
trying to regain strength enough to walk.
During this time of enduring hardships I had to have faith;
faith that God, as loving father, had a purpose for the pain, and faith that
God would see me through this time. Sometimes it was hard and frustrating when
things didn’t happen as fast as I wanted them to and believe me there were
plenty of times I wanted to give up trying. But I had changed motivations now.
Now I wanted to get back to running so that I could be a testament to God’s
grace. Giving him the glory for my running was the goal. I had a couple of
passages that were instrumental with giving me that comfort, hope and
perseverance and one of those is the passage we just read.
The author of Hebrews provides here a look into what we need
to endure, why we need to endure these things, how we are to endure, and how
long we must endure it.
What to endure
First the author is writing most likely to a group of Jewish
believers. We can infer from the text that some of the members of the church to
whom he is writing have to endure persecution (13:3). Along with the
persecution that the church was experiencing they also have to endure hostility
(3), weariness (3), discipline (5), struggles with sin (4).
Why endure
Ultimately why we are to endure is because we want
something. That something is our goal, it is what we set our eyes upon. The
author here argues that we should want a deeper relationship with the Lord
Jesus and that we should fix our eyes on him. We need to first understand verse
five and six that show that God disciplines his children. He loves his children. Read verses seven and eight. He
disciplines us as children to make us respect him more. Also we will enjoy a
greater relationship with the father when we endure. Verses 10 and 11 show how
endurance will bring greater holiness, fruit of righteousness. Also the author
assures us that the trials are for our good (10).
How do we endure
According to this text we should look to the example of
those who, through faith have endured great trials. The chapter before talks of
how Able, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Samson, David and others endured
because of their faith. But the greatest example of endurance is found in
Jesus; he endured temptations for power from Satan in the desert, he lived a
perfect life and ultimately he endured the excruciating torture of the cross,
scorning its shame and sat down in the place of power. We see that Jesus calls
us to cast our weariness on him to take the load, (like Thomas’ burden he was
carrying during the New Hope Fundraiser).
How long to endure
We are called to endure until the Kingdom comes fully. We
have an advantage over those in the “Hall of Faith” because we are living in
the inaugurated kingdom. But it is not here in full. So we have to endure until
Jesus returns in power, making all things new.
With my eyes fixed on Jesus I was able to endure the
hardships of getting back to running (something the doctors told me was not
likely) and I have exceeded the times that I ran before I was injured. I hope
my story helps you also to persevere through trials.
Application
Now, I want you to take five minutes and get with two others
and share and pray for one another: What in your life have you gone through
that you endured? How can you use that story as an extension of the “Hall of
Faith”? What currently do you need to endure? (maybe school work, struggles
with sin, weariness, homesickness, tension in a relationship, etc.)
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