Triple Crown (a Lectionary reflection by Steve Orr)

There are thousands of horse races every year, all across the planet. And while several countries have Triple Crown competitions, it is the U.S. Triple Crown that the world follows in the media. Many of us recently thrilled at American Pharaoh's win at the Belmont Stakes. Having already won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, the Belmont win made American Pharaoh the 12th Triple Crown winner in U.S. history, and ended a 37 year drought.

It's a competitive sport; and Thoroughbred Racing, though a smaller subset, is the most competitive part of that sport. Riders and horses train intensely for a period of years. Before the Derby, several horses are considered favorites. But when the Preakness is run, the Derby winner is the most favored horse in the race. The other riders know they must outperform the Derby winner if they are going to take the Preakness. And should the same horse win both the Derby and the Preakness, the competition for the Belmont is intensified by magnitudes.

Like all competitors, the owners, trainers, and jockeys understand that, regardless of the horse's physical abilities, they must win the mental competitions before the physical ones. For sake of discussion, let's call those mental competitions "races."

RACE ONE - Recognizing that there is a greater performance level: I like that Robert Browning quote for this "...a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?" The competitor must understand there is a gap between where s/he is and the greater performance level.

RACE TWO - Recognizing that there is a challenge to seek that greater performance level: Simply knowing there is a greater performance level isn't enough to bring about a win. The competitor must desire it and work toward it. They must accept the challenge.

RACE THREE - Recognizing there is a means to accept that challenge & bridge the gap through instruction and preparation: In short, it's a process and you have to start somewhere. Why not start with an instructor/trainer who is best qualified to lead you where you need to be in order to win? This is where the real work begins.

But wouldn't it all seem a bit absurd if people raced alongside those horses? Strange as that sounds, God calls us to do just that. This week's Lectionary selection from Mark 4 has within it a reference to a challenge in place between humans and God: how some people can understand enough of God's ways to rise above, to bridge the gap between God and humans, to be able to be imitators of God in their dealings with other humans.

Responding to Jeremiah's complaints that good things keep happening to bad people, God says, "If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you, how will you compete with horses?" (Jeremiah 12:5 English Standard Version) God uses a proverbial expression to help Jeremiah understand that his complaining reflects spiritually immaturity. There is more, much more, that God needs from Jeremiah. He really is calling for the young prophet to step up to a higher level, to "compete with the horses." But if he can't handle the day-to-day, then how will he handle larger truths? It's RACE ONE.

Jesus raised the very same concept when he asked "If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?" (‭John‬ ‭3‬:‭12‬ NKJV). Jesus is tossing down the gauntlet, issuing the challenge to seek the higher things. They need to accept the challenge to be more than they are. RACE TWO.

Finally, in this week's selection (Mark 4:33-34), we see that Jesus spent much of his ministry speaking in parables, and only in parables, to most of his audiences. Why? Because it's what "they were able to hear..." BUT, to those He had challenged, to those whom He expected to strive for that greater spiritual maturity, his disciples, "he explained everything in private."

We are called to be more, to know more, to do more; but we are not expected to just arrive there. Nor are we expected to strive toward that alone. Just as did Jesus' disciples, we have an instructor who will explain to us so that we may, in turn, help others to understand. RACE THREE.

The race is on. Are you in it?
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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/

Proper 6 (11) (June 14, 2015)
1 Samuel 15:34 - 16:13
Psalm 20
Ezekiel 17:22-24
Psalm 92:1-4, 12-15
2 Corinthians 5:6-10, (11-13), 14-17
Mark 4:26-34
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Eric is away this week, so the mice will play! :-) Please join our Lectionary Breakfast group Friday morning at 8:00. We're still at the Waco "Egg and I" restaurant and it's still the best hour of the day.

Enjoy the week!
Steve

Conditioning

Conditioning
(a brief Lectionary reflection by Steve Orr)

I was never an athlete.

For many of you, this comes as no surprise. For the rest of you, believe me, it's the truth. And should someone try to tell you different, just tell them I said it was that OTHER guy with this last name; not me. In fact, it's not so much that I wasn't an athlete as that I was horrible at anything athletic.

The closest I came to team sports was one brief summer in Little League. That was a disaster; couldn't hit, couldn't run, couldn't pay attention . . . Best to draw the curtain on that right now. And my situation wasn't for lack of others trying. I had older cousins who, seemingly, could do just about anything. They tried to teach me how to hold the bat without choking up, how to run from base to base ("No! Not THAT way!"), how to catch, and how to slide. I actually got pretty good at sliding. But the rest of it just didn't take.

That left PE class . . . the dreaded Phys-Ed.

Starting with the 7th Grade, my fellow students and I spent a portion of every other school day participating in a 40 minute version of whatever sport was in season. In the fall, we played football in PE (never understood the rules, so I was always a Lineman). In the winter, we played basketball (couldn't move AND dribble, terrible shooter). On rainy days (for some reason), we played dodgeball (big and slow, easy target). And in the spring, we played baseball (see above) and/or track & field (still hate this).

All through this, we were subjected to a form of torture called "conditioning." And that is the part I hated the most: sit-ups, chin-ups, rope climbs, push-ups, and running the bleachers. Imitating sports wasn't so bad: you got knocked down, you got up, you got knocked down again; simple. Exercising just to exercise?! Madness.

Many of my friends from those years (all of us "back of the pack-ers"), would be shocked to see me now. As I write this, I am recovering from my second night this week at the gym ... with a trainer ... doing *gasp* conditioning! Odd as it seems, I now pay someone to lead me through many of the very activities I hated when I was in PE class all those years ago. Things DO change :-)

Why, you may ask, do I do this? Spend two, three nights per week at a gym? The short answer is this: there are things I want to do---improve my health, lose weight, shape up---and I need a trainer to ensure I reach my goals. When I read this week's Lectionary passages, I immediately saw a parallel between the the Luke and Acts passages and my times at the gym.

When I am working out, I am focused on the moment; but my trainer is thinking about all of it: where I've been; what I'm doing right then; how that activity, in concert with others the trainer has planned, moves me toward the objectives; and what's next. It's kind of like that for the Apostles in those passages. They are told to expect someone who will serve as teacher and guide, someone who will help them achieve the goals set before them. They didn't know what was coming. But they believed the one who told them a helper would come. And they acted from within that belief.

When I'm in the throws of the third set of repetitions, and flagging, it is the calm voice of my trainer that keeps me going: "You can do this. Just a bit more. Almost there." My trainer knows what I'm capable of; knows how much more I can bring to the task; knows how much more will be required of me before I can rest.

The Spirit is like that with us. When the going gets hard, we need to listen for that voice deep inside: "You can do this. Just a bit more. Almost there."

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/

Ascension of the Lord (May 17, 2012)
Acts 1:1-11
Psalm 47 or Psalm 93
Ephesians 1:15-23
Luke 24:44-53

We're getting together Friday morning at 8:00 at Cafe Cappuccino (downtown on 6th, near the Courthouse). If you're in Waco, join us for breakfast and discussions of the coming week's passages.

No sit-ups required :-)

Enjoy the week!
Steve