“…I have fought
the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” 2Tim
4:7
We are in the season of races. As I write this, the Chicago
Cubs have secured another shot at redemption on their road to the World
Series. The Cubbies, as their long
suffering fans affectionately call them, have not had an easy time of it throughout
their long history. The Cubs
were established in 1876 and are the longest playing franchise in its original
city. In 1906, the Cubs won a Major League record 116 games, finishing 116–36 and posted
a modern-era record winning percentage of .763, before losing the World Series four games to two. The Cubs won
back-to-back World Series championships in 1907 and 1908, becoming the first Major League team to play in
three consecutive World Series, and the first to win it twice. The team has
appeared in a total of ten World Series. The Cubs have not won the World Series
in 108 years, and they had not won the National League pennant in 71. The cause, of course is that famous or
infamous “Billy Goat Curse”
In game four of
the 1945 series, the Curse of the Billy Goat as allegedly
laid upon the Cubs when Wrigley ejected Billy Sianis, owner
of the “Billy Goat Tavern” came with two box seat tickets, one for him and one
for his goat. Wrigley demanded the goat
leave the park due to its unpleasant odor. Upon his ejection, Sianis uttered,
"The Cubs, they ain't gonna win no more." The Cubs lost game four,
lost the series, and have not been back since. That is until yesterday.
While
scrolling through my Facebook page earlier this week, I saw a photo of my son
holding my 8-month old grand-son on his lap, both decked out in Jets green
bemoaning the fact that, even at this early juncture in the football season,
they are no longer contenders. But you don’t have to feel sorry for the little
guy; his Mom is a rabid Giant’s fan and will quickly break out the blue
wardrobe in time for him to be happily bounced on her knee as they switch to
the team that is still in the race.
And of
course, there is that other race going on…the one we all can agree has
definitely gone on far too long. The one
that will mercifully be over by the second week in November. The day cannot
come soon enough for me. We have endured
more hours of politician pundits parsing all sorts of campaign speech than we really
want to think about as we are being bombarded by debate clips, sound bites from
rallies and dinners, and more opinions from talking heads who argue among
themselves over who won what and where and why. It will be over soon.
In today’s
New Testament Reading we hear the words attributed to the Apostle to the
Gentiles, Paul in one of his Pastoral Letters to his students and companion
Timothy. Timothy was the child of a Jewish mother and a Gentile father. He was
sent by Paul to settle some dispute with the early Church at Corinth. One thing
about these letters is evident: we read them in vacuum. We don’t know what the other half of the
correspondence looks like. But they also give us insight into the workings and
philosophy of the early believers.
In this
letter Paul shares with Timothy his disappointment at being deserted and
defenseless in his journey of faith.
His persecution is real, and he is tired. He is sounding frustrated and
exhausted. Many of us in this time and place feel the same kinds of
frustrations with our own work, and like Paul we need to understand that our
work has value. Paul tells us :“I have fought the good fight, I have finished
the race. I have kept the faith”. Notice
Paul does not claim that he has won either the fight or the race. He has fought mightily and completed his
race. We should all hope for the same thing. Being number one is not in Paul’s
sphere. His number one is not the world’s number one.
This past
week I received the news that a dear friend had died. We met when we were in our early twenties.
She was a friend of my sister’s who became my friend as well. She and the guy in her life…later her
husband, were two wild and crazy kids. After they were married they were sent
to Malawi with his job, and there they found Jesus. Their children and church
work became an important part of their lives together. Once they returned to England…his birthplace,
they became lay preachers and were eventually ordained to the priesthood in the
Anglican Church. They shared ministry in
a small struggling working class parish in Canley near Coventry where she ran mothers’
groups, teen groups and cooked large and authentic Italian meals for everyone in
the neighborhood. He led liturgy and ran Bible study. Together they were a
formidable clergy team. About six months ago, she found out she had inoperable
cancer, and died surrounded by her family on Thursday morning.
She did not
win her fight with cancer, yet she did fight the good fight. She received no
prize for running the programs and touching the lives of so many, but she did
finish the race. And I have no doubt
that she kept the faith. My hope for all of us today is that we, like Paul and
my friend, will preserver and have the grace and faith to do the same.
