Film Friday In the French comedy Oh My Goodness, a group of nuns decide to enter a local cycle race to raise money for their run-down hospice – there is just one small problem, they are not expert cyclists and one of them doesn’t know how to ride a bike. So they embark on a hazardous training programme, and then things are further compounded when a group of rival nuns also enters the race. This does not deter our heroes though, they are dead set on winning the race and getting the money they need. You could say – they are women with a vision. The writer of the book of Proverbs assures us in chapter 19 v 18 of his book, that if people do not have a vision, they can fall apart. Which reminds me of the hymn – ‘Be Thou my vision…’ a prayer that God would be our vision, that we would have our sights set on him. Especially when life gets hard.
The writer of the book of Hebrews chapter 12, describes life as a race, and those of us competing are surrounded by a huge crowd of witnesses, not unlike being in an Olympic stadium. As we run we are cheered on. And this crowd is no ordinary crowd, Hebrews 11 describes the huge amount of believers who have run before us, and I like to think they might be saying, ‘We made it, don’t give up, you can make it too.’
Hebrews 12 goes on to tell us how to keep going – by fixing our eyes on the one who has given everything to help us keep going. Jesus. The one who is the very heart and lifeblood of our faith. We run because he has run the race before us – he is a our strength and our inspiration, our goal, and the one who cares deeply for us.
The nuns were not great cyclists but it didn’t stop them going for it. Just yesterday in a talk I described Christianity as being a bit like the ragged and chaotic music genre punk rock – you didn’t have to be good musically to join in with it. The same is true with Christianity, you don’t have to be good at it, you can just have a go. Make a start. You and I are invited to join in. Follow me, Jesus says today, as he will say again tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that… keep going, don’t give up.
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