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Proper 26, Year C
October 31, 2004
Christ Church, Covington
“He ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him” (Lk. 19:4).
I guess everyone has heard by now about the “Presidential Race”. The two
principal candidates are running hard; each is straining to cross the
finish line first. Passions are high because the stakes are high. These
candidates are stretching themselves and sweating hard; there’s even a
fair amount of jostling and elbowing to get ahead. What a race, with the
potential to rearrange the national landscape.
Now here’s the Apostle Paul: “Do you not know that in a race the runners
all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you
may win it” (1 Cor. 9:24). Paul, of course, is not talking about the
political process, but about the life of faith. Or here’s the author of
the Letter to the Hebrews, “Let us run with perseverance the race that is
set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith”
(Heb. 12:1-2). And of course in our Gospel we have Zacchaeus, who is
running and stretching himself so that he can see Jesus.
So the question for us today is how we are “running the race” in the life
of faith. I have no doubt that all of you are used to competing. My
experience of you is that you all know how to exert yourselves in every
area of your lives, to break into a good sweat for the sake of things that
you value. I encourage you to persevere. In work, in family life, even in
recreation: just go out on the Trace some Saturday or out to the local
soccer fields. Can you feel yourself running the race?
Having said this, we still come back to running in the life of faith. Are
we running like we want to win? Are we straining to reach out for the
victor’s crown? In our Collect for today we pray that “we may run without
stumbling to obtain [God’s] heavenly treasure”. Without stumbling, without
shuffling, without hesitation or weariness. Like Zacchaeus in our Gospel,
are we willing to run to catch a glimpse of Jesus? The strength that we
need for this race can only come from God, and not from ourselves. But it
will require that we run the race, that we compete for the prize. Again, I
encourage you to persevere.
Christ Church, Covington, is running a race; I know, because I’m running
alongside it! Let me tell you, this is a race worth running, though every
so often I can feel myself out of panting and out of breath. I wouldn’t be
competing if it wasn’t worth it. My vision is of a parish that sets
standards of excellence in forming people in the Faith: adults, teenagers,
and children. Christ Church ought to be the place where we value the best
of prayer and worship in the Anglican tradition, and where we are
intentional about welcoming newcomers and exert ourselves to do so. The
vision includes seeing our property and facilities as instruments of our
mission, and growing spiritually so that we can experience the joy of
being good stewards. My commitment is to a Christian community in which
people are cared for and cherished by those who are here. Our call is to a
parish that reaches out into the community on multiple levels, but
especially to the neediest. My vision is for a parish that builds upon the
possibilities for ministry that Christwood and Christ Episcopal School
open up for us. Christ Church, Covington can help to build up the life of
the entire Church on the North Shore. If we compete in this race, we will
want to win, for it will make all the difference.
I believe that if we run to achieve these goals as a parish, we will find
fulfillment of our own vocation as Christians. The race that Christ Church
is running is to fulfill its mission. We need God’s help to win, but God
needs us to run. God needs our passion to respond to his own. Are we
willing to invest ourselves in this race? Are we willing to reach out and
grasp the prize?
The Rev’d John Bauerschmidt is Rector of Christ Church, Covington.
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