...Keeping the faith

“…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.