WHOSE FINAL LAP?

 

Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth (Isaiah 42: 1-4a).

In my high school days I ran a few 400 meter races. I remember our coach telling us that it was one of the weirdest track events because it combined elements of sprinting and of long distance into one race.

I find the school year can be somewhat like that: an 8 month long-distance sprint. And just like the 400 meters requires circling the track four times, today – Feb. 24 – we are beginning the fourth lap of the SEPT-APRIL school year, with half a semester to go.

Living life as if it is a 400 meter race does not work very well. When we live this way:

·   We always feel rushed.

·   We do not feel as if we can take unplanned “side-trips” but must only stay within the boundaries of the track.

·   We are so focused on the finish line, that the people that we are on the track with are not so much “flesh-and-blood human beings to get to know” as they are fellow-racers.

·   The scenery around the track can’t be given the time to be what it is: a combination of the beauty of God’s world and the brokenness of sin in the midst of which we find our calling.

Running life like a 400 meter race diminishes us, others, God and his world.

There’s another way to look at this final fourth of the academic year. Almost all of this quarter is filled with the season of Lent, the 40 days from Ash Wednesday (March 5) to the glorious climax on Easter Sunday (April 20). Lent navigates the final lap of Jesus’ ministry on the way to the cross and the open tomb.

In the verses above, Isaiah describes what this final lap looks like:

·   This race is driven by the Holy Spirit, not the finish line.

·   It does not call attention to itself; it quietly and gently follows the Spirit’s leading.

·   The racer is able to go slowly enough to notice the bruised reeds and smoldering wicks – the ones who are struggling and lost – and is able to STOP and care for them.

·   The racers are fully aware of how broken life is, but do not become discouraged or burned out; they persevere, pursuing justice and mercy in all they do.

Do you experience the tension between these two types of final laps inside your own heart? Every morning I need to pray, “Lord, grant me the grace and courage to run YOUR race and not mine. Guide my feet on the LENTEN path.”

The chaplains’ office will be providing our community with many encouragements to live out this prayer for the remainder of the school year. Stay tuned….