DESERT PALMS PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Sun City West, Arizona

Trophies Of Life

A Sermon Preached by the Rev. Dr. David S. Hodgson

June 27, 2010

Isaiah 40:28-31

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. 29 He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. 30 Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; 31 but those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

Hebrews 12:1-2

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

            My text this morning is taken from the Book of Hebrews, Chapter 12, Verse 1: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us.” Let us pray for understanding. Open our hearts, O God, wide enough to make room in them for this moment in time that we may feel your presence. Open our minds that we may think in new ways and entertain glimpses of your wisdom as you see fit. Accept our worship, O Lord, for all that you yet intend to accomplish with each of us. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

            Life has long been compared to a marathon race, beginning at birth and stretching across a span of years to death. Perhaps the reason why that metaphor evolved that way had something to do with the way it began. The first marathon race was run by a man named Pheidippides. He was an Athenian herald who ran with good news of victory all the way from the plains of Marathon, where the battle had been fought, to Athens, a distance of twenty-six miles, three hundred and eighty-five feet. He announced the victory and dropped dead. Hence, the comparison to life stretching from one end to the other. The marathon race: an image of life. Excuse me for a minute. 

Bruce, are you saving those seats over there? Bruce: No, not really. David: Aw, you always save seats next to you, but if she’s not here now she’s not coming, so … Save one for me. Bruce: Got it. Duane, there’s room over here. You don’t have to stay up there in the choir loft all by yourself.

            [As Duane begins to walk toward the ‘saved’ seat]: Duane, you’re a marathon runner, are you not? Duane: I am. I was. David: How many years of your life have you been running? Duane: Forty. David: Forty? And of all the races you have run in, how many have you won? Duane: I’ve run in about five hundred and I won about eighty percent of them. [Applause.] David: It’s always been a puzzlement to me why otherwise intelligent people have tried to run marathon races, because the one thing they all know is how the first one ended up. Right? Does it take a lot of training to get ready to be a runner? Duane: It does. 

David: Linda, you’re a runner, are you not? Linda: Well, yes I am, but how can you tell? David: Because every time I fall exhausted you’re just getting your second wind. You know the Bible, and runners most especially know the Bible. Are there any verses in there that talk about

preparing for a race, or why we should prepare for the race? Linda: Well, let’s see. Hmm … In the twelfth chapter of Hebrews, Verses 12 and 13, it says, “Lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather, be healed.” Will that do? 

            David, to Duane: How were your knees forty years ago? Duane: Forty years ago I remember watching these old-timers when they would run—I was thirty-nine when I started—and I never knew, at that age, what age does to you. David: How did you used to prepare for a race? Duane: Depended on the race, really. How long it was, whether it was a track race or road race or golf course race. There were the short runs and the long runs. Hopefully I would eat well and rest well. David: You have kept in good shape. Duane: I hope so.

            David: What was it that motivated you to run in the first place. Duane: I’ve always been a runner. In high school I was in the backfield playing football and college, I was in track, then I took twenty years off. I saw a race coming up in the nearby town so I thought, “Well, let’s see what we got left.” So that kind of got me started. Then as I went on, over the years, it dawned on me after my dad got sick, as so many people do … He started having leg trouble. Soon he lost one leg, then he lost the other one. I had heard that to keep in shape, eat well, and so on, it helps you to stay away from that condition, so I think that’s one of the main motivations I’ve had to keep at it. David: Your dad had diabetes? Duane: Yeah. David: He had lost both legs? Duane: Yes. Then later on, the same thing happened to my older sister. She lost one leg from diabetes and then passed away from the disease. That kept me going.  David: So you’ve been running for both your dad and your sister, then? Duane: Running away from diabetes. 

David: Whether you’re running away or running toward, it’s a wonderful discipline. Has it been a spiritual discipline for you as well? Duane: Oh, very much so. David: How? Duane: The running, the conditioning, I guess, and the prayers that went along with it, have taken me through a lot of the challenges of life, physical, psychological, emotional. David: So did you pray before the race or during the race? Duane: Most of the time I prayed during the race. Most of the race, prayer was, Lord, help me by doing this, which would condition me to help other people, not just my running. David: So it’s not just winning; it’s how you ran the race? Duane: Yeah.

David: Linda, the Bible must say something about how we stay focused in the midst of a race. Linda: How ‘bout this? In first Corinthians, 9:26, it says, “While I do not run aimlessly I pummel my body and subdue it.” How’s that?  David, to Duane: Do you pummel your body? Duane: Some people think I do. For me it’s exercise and health. David: The image of running aimlessly is interesting, isn’t it? At least in a race you know where you’re going. Duane: Most of the time—I’ve been lost a couple of times. David: Have you really? Duane: Trouble is, I was leading the race. David: It’s not good to get lost when you’re leading the race. You want to tell us where you got lost? Duane: I guess Minnesota, mainly. It was strange country. I got lost, but I ended up okay. David: You were in strange country or Minnesota is a strange country? Duane: Oh, no, Minnesota’s God’s country. 

            David: When you run twenty-six miles or whatever, what do you do? What do you talk about? What do you think about? Duane: Every race is different, I’ve found. You think about where you are, what’s happening to your body, breathing, energy and so on. It depends. There is one thing. I remember my first marathon, I got about half way and then started walking. I came back the next year, same race, got half way and I got hyper. I wanted to run in the last thirteen miles. Sometimes you have to pull yourself back, first time you do it, but you have to keep going. 

David: How about the people you run with? Do you find them getting discouraged along the way? Duane: Not really. I remember when I started marathoning, it was with some college professors, doctors and others from Mankato and we had a lot in common. Yet, I don’t think we got … sometimes disappointed, but not discouraged. David: I happen to know you encouraged at least one young female runner to cross the finish line with a sense of triumph. Tell me about that.    Duane: I suppose the most I enjoyed in the races is when young people were around me and I could encourage them along the way. This one, I guess the second to last race I had of two of them over in California. It was a 5k, a three-mile, I guess it was, and there was a gal I caught up with. She was just dragging. I talked to her a little bit trying to encourage her. When I realized the race was ending up about a block or two ahead, I told her that, and man! did she perk up.

At some of these races there are photographers all along the way. They take pictures of you and of course they want to sell you your picture. They sent me this picture of her and me. It was just when she perked up and her eyes were just toward that goal and her smile was there, and she was just … in perfect form. Man! I tried to get that picture to her. I don’t know if she ever got one of herself. She didn’t have a number on her front; she had “Boys, boys, boys”. So I don’t know if she was interested in winning or not, but she was interested in boys. I tried a year to find that girl and never have found her. I thought that picture would be a real asset to her life. 

David: I’m sure you’ve been a great encouragement to people across the years, young and old in life, as they have run as well. Staying focused is important. These are some of the trophies that you have won. How many trophies have you won? Duane: Oh, I’ve never really counted them. I suppose maybe fifty altogether. Other things along the way and I gave half of them away. I put on a race once and I gave ‘em away to the winners of those races. David: Isn’t that nice. So, what’s it feel like to cross the finish line and know you’re first? Duane: Good. David: Do you feel sorry for all the people you left behind. Duane: No, not in a race. I don’t remember if I ever did. I remember once I was coming to the end of a race at the track. I was running with a high school kid. He’d sprint ahead; I’d catch him, he’d sprint ahead. Somewhere toward the end of the race, I suppose from here to the wall there, I just slowed down and let him beat me ‘cause I figured hey, it’s more important for him to cross that line first than me. So … it was fun.

David: When we first came out here I decided to hike up North Mountain. It’s not really a height for you. As I started up on it, an elderly gentleman, had to be at least in his seventies or eighties, ran past me on the way up. When I stopped for my first breather, he was running back down again. I’d walk on a little farther and he came running up again. He did that seven times while I was still working my way up. I was telling Duane that story and he knew the man by name. It was one of your cohorts, Duane. Duane: I don’t think I’ve ever beaten that guy. 

David: The Bible must say something about how we finish a race. Linda: Here, in second Timothy, 4 and 5, “The time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who have loved his appearing.”

David: Thank you. Well, you have not finished the race of life but your days of running for trophies are probably coming to an end. Duane: Most likely. David: You’ve got one knee replaced and have to have the other one done? Duane: Yes. David: Tough. How does that feel? Are you getting exercise? Duane: Getting ready. It still feels better than the one I just had done. I’ve done a lot of heavy work my whole life, landscaping, carpentry and stuff. That perhaps is as much the cause of my knees being hurt as the running. So I know exercise is supposed to keep your joints lubricated and so on. David: When the doctor put that new knee in what did he say about the condition of your bones? Duane: I told my wife that I had bones about like a forty-year-old instead of an eighty-year-old. David: Way to go. Duane: We’ll see what the other one looks like. 

David: But in terms of running for trophies it’s probably time to lay your trophies down, is it not? Duane: You remember that song, “The Old Rugged Cross”, where it says, “’til my trophies at last I lay down?” For years when I would come to that part I would almost cry because I realized, what are they, compared to what Christ has won for you? David: Yes. 

I have a colleague in ministry named Dick Hamlin. He works as a hospice chaplin, and he says, “To finish well is to begin anew.” His theory is that the best way to start the next endeavor is always to finish the last one well, and he applies it to life in the way we finish to get ready for eternal life. But it’s true with everything. It’s true of this interim time. The best way we prepare for the new chapter is to finish this one well, and I think it’s true of all experiences.

We’re getting ready for our thirtieth anniversary celebration in November. The committee that is working on the anniversary book asked me to write something in the opening paragraph, and we invited Jim Hagelganz to write something for the conclusion. Were you here when Jim was here as pastor? Duane: Not as pastor, but afterward. David: He writes this:

Thirty years ago it began: a group of venturesome pioneers saw the vision of a great church in Sun City West. They began to build. You, their successors, continue that vision. Great things are accomplished in the name of Christ, not only a beautiful campus, inspiring worship, but a mission that reaches from hearts here to around the globe.

David: Sounds like a race, doesn’t it?

Challenges have come; some pretty tough, but you’ve persevered and remained loyal to your calling. As we continue to grow older there is important work yet to do here and in our world. Encouragement comes through these often quoted words: 

Keep on keeping on. 

Good times come. 

Keep on keeping on. 

Tough times come. 

Keep on keeping on.                                                                       

Keep on keeping on until the course is finished, the race is won and the crown is yours. May each of you bask in God’s blessings as you keep on keeping on.

-         Jim Hagelganz          

Sounds like him? Helping us cross the finish line too. 

Now, Bruce is also a runner. I don’t know if he’s running toward something or away from something, but he’s saving you a seat over on that back. Duane: I thought he was saving it for a girl.  David: Well, you can go sit there … Bruce: It’s yours, Duane. David: Thank you, Duane.