October 27, 2013 | 9:30 and 11:00 a.m.

Faith to Endure

Patrick Daymond
Pastor, Memorial Presbyterian Church, Long Island
Fourth Presbyterian Church

Psalm 65
Joel 2:23–32
Timothy 4:6–8

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
2 Timothy 4:7 (NRSV)

That is why faith, wherever it develops into hope, causes not rest but unrest, not patience but impatience. It does not calm the unquiet heart, but is itself this unquiet heart in man. Those who hope in Christ can no longer put up with reality as it is, but begin to suffer under it, to contradict it. Peace with God means conflict with the world, for the goad of the promised future stabs inexorably into the flesh of every unfulfilled present.

Jürgen Moltmann

In the passage from our New Testament reading, we find a song of victory. It was from a jail cell in Rome that Paul uttered these words, sensing the end of his life drawing near. Sharing with his young apprentice Timothy what seems to be his last will and testament, Paul writes, “As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

Paul speaks these words after now having completed three missionary journeys to spread the gospel throughout Asia and Europe. Along the way, Paul encountered enormous challenges. Paul testifies in his second letter to the church at Corinth that he had been whipped and beaten, shipwrecked and adrift
at sea, imprisoned, pursued by those seeking to kill him, and constantly enduring hunger and other physical discomforts. You would be hard pressed to find someone in all of history that sacrificed more for Jesus Christ than did Paul. However, in Paul’s estimation, his sufferings for Christ were worth it all.

Paul says, “I fought the good fight.” Now let me say, if I may, that this term should not be confused with its erroneous usage by congressional leaders in Washington, D.C., to characterize the absurd and senseless events of the past month. The fight Paul speaks of is of a different kind. You see, in a good fight
there are no losers—only victors. A good fight is one whose result liberates both the Goliaths and the Davids. A good fight is one that ultimately gives life rather than takes life. A good fight is also a catalyst whose aftermath creates a multiplier effect that moves us closer to a fairer, more just, and more loving society.

Vernon Johns, often called the father of the American civil rights movement and more famously known as Martin Luther King Jr.’s predecessor at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church of Montgomery, Alabama, was also a participant in the good fight. Born in 1892 in segregated Virginia to poor parents who did not have enough money to send him to school, he educated himself and later attended Oberlin Theological Seminary. There his academic achievements made him a scholastic class leader, displacing Robert M. Hutchins, the future president of the University of Chicago.

In 1947 Johns found his way to the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. From the pulpit, he spoke out against racial issues and castigated his congregation for ignoring them. He was a freedom fighter who was unafraid to speak truth to power. Though his congregation and others attempted to thwart his effort,
he continued to do what he felt was right, calling attention to the injustices of that day. In the 1994 made-for-TV movie about his life, entitled The Road to Freedom, Johns is portrayed by the great actor James Earl Jones. And in that movie there is a quote by Dr. Johns in which, explaining his persistent actions, he says to one of his parishioners, “My father always taught me, ‘Son, if you see a good fight, get in it.’”

I imagine that Vernon Johns drew the strength to fight against injustice by looking to the example of heroes in the faith like Paul. The same was likely true of the early reformers of our Protestant tradition. This is Reformation Sunday, and today Presbyterians and other Protestants gather to celebrate our common faith tradition. On October 31, 1517, an Augustinian monk by the name of Martin Luther marched up to the church doors in Wittenberg, Germany, and posted his ninety-five theses—ideas about the reformation of the church—which he proposed for debate. The result of this protest was the historic eruption of what we now know as the Reformation.

The Reformation was a key turning point in human history. Since then the world has never been the same, and we have been made the better, all because of those who dared to stand up against what they perceived as errors in the practice of religion. They were persons of strong faith, deep convictions, great intelligence, high moral standards, and tremendous courage. It was their enduring struggle to fight the good fight that has afforded us the opportunity to live into the radical freedom of God’s amazing grace and limitless love.

But then Paul goes on to say, “I finished the race.” In a real sense, Paul was able to endure whatever obstacles and challenges crossed his path. And we too need to endure in the face of things that may be hard but are worth whatever effort we need to invest to achieve them. Many of us were captivated and in awe a couple of months back when, after five attempts, Diana Nyad, at the age of sixty-four, became the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without the protection of a shark cage, swimming 110 miles from Havana to Key West. She failed in her four previous attempts, unable to overcome the effects and threats of jellyfish stings, life-threatening lightning storms, and sharks circling below her. But she refused to give up on her dream until she walked up on that Florida shore. She was determined not to quit.

And Nyad’s story serves as an inspiration to us all. The stings of sickness, the severe storms of self-doubt that, at times, drown out our hope, those sharks that threaten to destroy our very being can stifle the pursuit of our goals and dreams. Yet the only thing standing between us and either victory or defeat is our willingness and ability to endure.

If you want to achieve something great in life, you must be willing to work hard to get there. When what you want does not come easily, do not quit trying. Endure. Indeed endurance is a concept easily understood but difficult to master. How many marriages have ended because someone gave up and walked away too soon? How many great ideas have been lost for failure to follow through? How many career ambitions have been traded in for something less difficult and less challenging because of an inability to endure to the end? There is nobody in all of history who has ever achieved anything of substance who has not mastered the ability to endure through life’s struggles and difficulties. Theodore Roosevelt once said, “Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, and difficulty. . . . I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.”

But Paul still has more to say. Not only has he finished the race, but he says, “I kept the faith.” This is a difficult thing in today’s society. This world in which we live teaches us that there’s no need for faith but rather that we have all that we need; that no matter what confronts us, with enough energy and courage, we can forge ahead and brush aside all obstacles and obstructions that impede our path. It is the notion that we can always take charge of our lives. It is the reason, I believe, so many people love to quote William Ernest Henley’s Invictus, which says:

It matters not how straight the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll
I am the master of my fate;
I am the captain of my soul.

Now that sounds real good, and I must admit I’ve even quoted those lines a time or two with great conviction, and perhaps you have as well. But as strong, smart, and resourceful as any of us may be, there are times when we need to hand our situation over to God. There are times when relying on our own strength and resilience is not enough. We have run the race as far as our legs can carry us. We have fought a good fight as far as our strength could take us. We have endured all that can be humanly endured. Nevertheless, the problem is still there. The pain has not gone away. We are all out of options and out of ideas and out of ammunition. And that is exactly where God wants you to be, because after you have done all that you can, that’s when God can step in and do what only God can.

It’s been wonderful returning here to see how the ministry and mission of this great church continue to proceed ahead. This beautiful building just behind me, constructed for the glory and mission of God, is a testament of the enduring faith of this congregation. When I was serving here as a pastoral resident, it was still but a thought. At every turn there were obstacles and obstructions impeding the progress. But this congregation did not waver in its commitment to finish the work. And after you had done all that you could do, giving of your time, your talents, and your treasure, that’s when God stepped in and did the miraculous.

And yet there is more work to do, because even though the physical structure has been completed, a spiritual work yet remains. The work of the church has never been at the heart the construction of buildings but the transformation of lives—a work that will not reach its completion until Christ returns. Thus, there is call to endure, to remain committed to the work by continuing to give of your time, your talent, and, yes, your money, which you are being called forth to do today on this Commitment Sunday. It is a call to endure; to sustain the church, its work, and its mission, to proclaim God’s mighty acts; to be the living stones of the spiritual household of God; to cast a light that continues to shine in the city.

As you move forward in ministry in this upcoming chapter, this next 100 years here on Michigan Avenue, surely there will be mountains to scale, valleys to face, and rivers to cross. But if you endure with committed faith, nothing shall be impossible for you. Faith proclaims that if there’s a life you can live it. If there’s a mountain you can move it. If there’s a problem you can solve it. If there’s an addiction you can break it. If there’s a sport you can play it. If there’s a game you can win it. If there’s a book you can write it. If there’s a class you can teach it. If there’s a job you can do it. If there’s a song you can sing it. If there’s a gospel you can preach it. And if there’s a mission you can fulfill it. So keep going. Don’t ever stop. Never quit. Ask God to give you the grit and the determination to endure to the end. Amen.