ON A CLEAR DAY

On a windless day when not even the dust floating in the air moves around, the ocean often looks like a blue-green sheet of glass. And when there are waves coming across that

I've surfed on days just like this (not me here)

sheet of glass, it really is a spectacular and amazingly fun time for us who like to surf. I've been out on many days when the sun was just beating down blazing hot and the water was a clear crystal blue. Below me I've seen sharks swim by; even a whale one time and countless other kinds of sea critters. Those experiences go back 46 years and continue today, though the clear water doesn't happen here in Saint Augustine, the mud-water ocean capital. As much joy as that brings, there's many other things that bring even greater joy: meeting Jackie before she was my wife and then marrying her, birth of a child, grandchild (no great ones yet!), seeing an old friend again, connecting with
Jackie, before we were married

family, etc. But there's one thing written about in the Bible that is pretty awesome too. The Apostle John said it:

"I could have no greater joy than to hear that my children are following the truth."

He was writing to a church and the children he had in mind were those who had given up their own pursuits to pursue a new life in Christ Jesus, our King. He was an old man by this time and I'm pretty sure, since humans continue to be human and we continue to behave like we always have, that many of "his children" had given up, thrown in the towel, bailed, rejected, just said "no" to pursuing Christ any longer. I'm kind of an old man and I'm beginning to see more and more that some of those who started the Christian life when I did with great zeal, vigor and even lots of fruit, have just quit. Difficult to understand is an understatement because I have seen how good God is and how loving, compassionate and patient He can be. Why quit? There's plenty of reasons to be found. For example, one friend of mine decided he was just going to live out his life out apart from God. That decision came after he'd lived for Christ for over 20 years. Another one lost his job, went unemployed for over a year and turned to alcohol for comfort, which took him deeper in the hole until he finally quit coming home to his wife and kid and found himself divorced and left alone.

What happened? People crash because they do. People don't crash because they don't. There, that's simple enough. I guess the "Why" question is the one that begs an answer. I've thought about that a lot and in my pea-sized brain I simply don't have a good answer. Maybe we should look at the "Why" from another perspective: "Why not?" Why do some people finish the marathon and others don't? When I compare the Christian course to that of a marathon, there are some similarities. In Hebrews 12 it tells us:

"...since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith."

That's some pretty good advice, don't you think? If you try and run a marathon like a 100-yard sprint, you won't finish. If we think that we'll finish the marathon quicker with an additional 10 gallons of water strapped to our back, we will need to get used to disappointment. That's what "sin" is like. The water looks and sounds like a good idea until we try and carry that additional 70 pounds to the finish line. Sin looks like a good idea at times, but it weighs us down and, like the runner's water, can even cause us not to finish the race. Should we forget who the author and finisher of faith is, we will surely stumble.

Some start off fine, but then they forget about Jesus. How do you remember Him? Do as Paul said to do: Pray without ceasing. Continually confess Him as Lord and remember who you are--a sinner. In the Orthodox tradition we have a prayer we've used that began with the Desert Fathers in the 400s. It goes like this: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. I've gotten into the habit of letting this run through my mind throughout the day. Sometimes I will use it to make supplication for those I know have special needs by changing have mercy on me, a sinner to have mercy on this one or that one. In doing this, I confess Jesus as Lord, I confess Him as Messiah, I acknowledge the Trinity (No one can say Jesus is Lord but by the Holy Spirit and if He is the Son then there must be a Father), I pray for others and I humble myself by acknowledging that it's me, the sinner, doing this prayer. With all that going on, it makes forgetting who the Author and Finisher is very difficult. In fact, it keeps Jesus at the forefront of my being.

I've also been reading 2 Peter and found a passage that I've read many times yet never had it impact me as it did this last time. It says:

"To those who have received a faith as precious as ours through the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ: May grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given us everything needed (Everything) for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Thus he has given us, through these things, his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of lust, and may become participants in the divine nature (By escaping from corruption we begin to become like Him). For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith (Jesus is the author of our faith, but we must support it) with goodness, and goodness with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness, and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love. For if these things are yours and are increasing (they increase as we run the race and support our faith) among you, they keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For anyone who lacks these things is short-sighted and blind, and is forgetful of the cleansing of past sins ("forgetful" can cause a lot of problems). Therefore, brothers and sisters, be all the more eager to confirm your call and election, for if you do this, you will never stumble. For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you (Does that mean if I don't walk in this way there will be no entry made for me?). Therefore I intend to keep on reminding you of these things...." (Peter kept reminding them because he didn't want them to forget Jesus.)

So there's the marathoner's race course that finishes in the Kingdom of God. It's kind of like a scavenger hunt--as you run along there are pieces of the puzzle to pick up and put together. In Chapter 2:15-22 there is an opposite type of passage that tells you how to find your way out of the Kingdom of God and gives us insight into why people don't finish the race:
"...They have left the straight road and have gone astray, following the road of Balaam son of Bosor, who loved the wages of doing wrong, but was rebuked for his own transgression; ...These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm; for them the deepest darkness has been reserved. For they speak bombastic nonsense, and with licentious desires of the flesh they entice people who have just escaped from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption; for people are slaves to whatever masters them. For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overpowered, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment that was passed on to them. It has happened to them according to the true proverb, ‘The dog turns back to its own vomit’, and,‘The sow is washed only to wallow in the mud.’
Peter is clear about what he is talking about in both passages. Don't forget that both passages are written to the same people, the same church and he is talking to Christians. It is my hope that those I have talked to recently will recover from their stumble and find their way back onto the course and begin the race of endurance. And for you who actually read all the way to the end of this thing, I pray you will remember to pray, remember it is Jesus who is the Author and Finisher, and remember to pray for me that I too will continue to pursue Christ. May Christ, the giver of life, continually grant you His divine and unending mercy.

Bob