Based on Paul’s 2nd letter to Timothy, chapter 4, verses 6-8 and 16-18, this is actually the 3rd ‘version’ of this and was given at the Wanda (IL) UMC on October 24, 2021. The first version was written for and given at the Lynnville (IL) UMC on October 24, 2004, and the 2nd was given at the Hartford (IL) East Maple Street Chapel on January 3, 2010. The only differences were in my ‘examples’ of how different people ‘run-the-race’!

NOTE: The first video is of the entire service… the second is Just the ‘message’!

       Believe it or not, I was quite the sprinter when I was in school! Of course, I was some ninety pounds lighter then, but I could ‘fly like the wind’ when there was a need for it. People who would see me go by would swear, later, that my feet weren’t even touching the ground, and indeed, that was truly how it felt, sometimes!

       Now, growing up on the farm I had no time nor interest in participating in any kind of sports, but PE was a daily requirement back then, and on occasion, I had a chance there to ‘show my stuff’, if you will. I recall one 880 relay race when I was a senior that shocked everyone, including the coaches. As usual, I had been among the last chosen to be on any team… (As I have said before, sports were never my forté!)… and I chanced to be on the team with Jerry, the class bully and tough-guy. (He had been ‘held-back’, as they say these days, two or three times and was far bigger than most of the rest of us.) It had been decided that I would run the first segment of the relay, while Jerry would be the anchor man, so as to hopefully make-up for any of the rest of us lagging behind the others, and I was ‘psyched’! I mean, if I messed up, I would not only look bad in front of everybody, but I would probably be beat-up by Jerry afterwards!

       The time came… I took the baton and lined up on the starting blocks… the starting gun went off… and I was gone! Suddenly, everybody was cheering and yelling my name, but I didn’t have time to figure out why until I was ready to hand-off the baton to the next person on our team… just before I did, I glanced behind me to see how close the others were. Imagine my surprise when I saw that the closest runner to me… and this is not an exaggeration… was barely more than half-way around! We had a 100-some meter lead! And you know what? For all of that, between two of our team dropping the baton and Jerry’s not being able to run… (Did I mention he smoked like a freight train?)… we won by only a couple of feet! But, we won! Even the coach came up and said, “Luebbert! Never knew you had it in you!”

       So, yes, I was quite the sprinter! But that 220 meters that I ran as one-fourth of an 880-relay was about my limit… anything over that and I lost my wind. So when the time came that we all had to run the mile… and were told that if we didn’t, we wouldn’t pass… I was worried! I knew that the secret was to take it slow and easy, and to pace myself at a steady rate, but how was I to do that? Finally, I was struck with the solution… at least one that worked for me!

       I came to realize that the beat to the Turtles song, ‘Happy Together’, perfectly matched the rhythm that I wanted my legs to move to… so when the time came and we all started around the track, I began singing, in my head, ‘imagine me and you… I do… I think about you day and night… it’s only right’… thinking that whole while about my girlfriend, how that song applied to us, and how proud she would be of me that I did it! And I not only did it, I finished ahead of several others that day! I mean, there were no 4-minute-miles by anyone, but all of us ran one full mile without stopping! And odds are, most of us were thinking something along the lines of what Paul writes as he says, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

       This is the second epistle Paul wrote to Timothy from Rome, where he was a prisoner and in danger of his life. Matthew Henry’s Commentary notes that, “It appears that his removal out of this world, in his own apprehension, was not far off, especially considering the rage and malice of his persecutors; and that he had been brought before the emperor Nero… Interpreters agree that this was the last epistle he wrote. The scope of this epistle differs somewhat from that of the former, not so much relating to his office as an evangelist, but to his personal conduct and behaviour.”

How many of you remember being taught, ‘It’s not whether you win or lose, its how you play the game that counts’… and how many of you taught it to your children as well? But let me ask you… who ran against Abraham Lincoln in each of his two campaigns for president? Can you name more than one Republican candidate who ran against LBJ during the sixties? Name 5 countries that Rome conquered during the time of the Caesars. For all of that we are taught different, it is, generally, the winners in life that are remembered!

And yet, the Life Application Commentary tells us that, “It is important to note that Paul made no claim to having won the race; he was content with having finished it. Marathon runners know the exhilaration of finishing the grueling miles of that race — they are thankful just to cross the finish line. Completion is a significant accomplishment, revealing incredible endurance and determination. In Acts chapter 20, in his farewell to the elders in the Ephesian church, at the end of his third missionary journey (prior to heading to possible imprisonment in Jerusalem), Paul had said, “I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me — the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace”.”

       In Luke, chapter 18, verses 9-14, we find Jesus teaching some of His disciples…

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men — robbers, evildoers, adulterers — or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

       Believe it or not, God is not interested in who won the pennant races this year, nor even the World Series! He doesn’t care about how many points any one NASCAR driver has, nor who won gold, silver or bronze in the Olympics! He isn’t worried about who makes the most money or drives the newest car or owns the biggest house or has the most clothes or the thickest stock portfolio or any of the other hundreds of things we humans tend to judge each other by… His only concern is for our soul… His only concern is that we are running the race with every bit of effort that we as individuals can muster! He’s not asking you to win! He’s not asking you to run faster and harder than anybody else! But He is expecting you to run!! And He expects you to run with as much dedication and willpower that YOU are capable of! For you see… in this race… if you’re not one of the runners… then you are one of the losers!

       Now, I do want to point out that not all of us will run in the same way… and there are as many ways to run this race as there are people. Just as finding a song that I could use to pace myself with helped me finish that mile run in high school, there are many things that each of us are capable of doing to take part in God’s race. Some of us may teach, some may sing or play an instrument, some may read and interpret, some may smile and give comfort to a stranger, others may help feed or cloth a needy friend… everybody has their own way… their own step and cadence… in how they run… the important thing is that you are running!

       One of the very first things I did when I had moved back down here in 2006 was to set-up what back then was called a ‘Blog’… and even though I have had to ‘move’ it from one company to another over the years, Everything that I have Ever posted on there since 2006 is Still there… ‘though I must admit that there have been gaps of time that I posted nothing! Today, it can be found at ‘scluebbert.com’…

Whenever I pass out my cards, I always tell people, if you’re looking for a particular subject to do a ‘search’ using just the ‘scluebbert’, add a space-or-two, then type most Any subject, such as ‘dog’, ‘cat’, ‘pig’, ‘snake’, ‘cheerleaders’, etc… IF I have written about it a link… or Several… should come up to take you there! Some very few of these ‘posts’ are ‘political’ in nature, some are papers and/or projects I did for college or other venues… but Most are, obviously, various sermons and articles that I have written through the years. And, Yes, most start with a personal story of some sort, and a Lot of those are Funny ones! The earlier posts are all just ‘manuscript’, but over the last year-or-so I have been recording and adding a video of a ‘live’ version almost every week. And Also Yes, if you know me at all you know they are very ‘conservative’.

       Now, other than spending the money for the website and to list each posting on the World Wide Web, the only format I’ve used to share these to the ‘public’ is Facebook… and as you may Also know, Facebook does Not approve of much of Anything one might consider ‘Conservative’! So, as disappointing as it was, it was no real surprise to note that even though I might ‘share’ each week’s post Multiple times throughout the week, it seems as if almost nobody ever sees them… at least on Facebook! Yes, I have a Number of followers around the world who read/listen to my ‘Blog’ each week… but almost nobody in This country!

So, since my health has kept me from getting-out and participating as much as I’d like in things here at Wanda and throughout the Conference this last summer, I opted to PAY Facebook to set-up what they call a ‘commercial’ page and to have them ‘Push’ my posting! But… THEY get to choose Where they post it!  So… Yes, I started getting 2-300 ‘hits’ per week and a number of people liking and following the site… But the ‘Hate’ mail that I started getting FAR outweighed any of the ‘positive’ comments!!!

One person wrote, ‘What you accept as holy scripture is just one more myth. Something goat herders … told each other in their caves to pass the long summer evenings.’ Another wrote quoting multiple scriptures from both Old & New Testaments, but in absolutely No order, trying to build a ‘case’ that ‘Christianity’ was actually ‘of Satan’, and actually quotes passages from a book of Satan to back-up his statements! And IF I, or anyone else, tried to ‘talk’ to them and explain where/why/how we believe the ‘Breathed Word of God’, they would Really ‘go-off’!

       Several commented, both on the post and to me privately, how shocked they were to discover the level of, not just disbelieve, but active Hatred so many have for God, the Bible, and Christianity! Our country… Our world!… is in serious trouble! Why?!?

       Because, WE… the ‘arms’ and ‘legs’ of Christ… are not holding-up Our end of things! We are NOT ‘running-the-race’ as we have been instructed to do… and will be held accountable for! Even in some of the classes I have managed to still take towards becoming a ‘Certified’ preacher again there have been those who ‘really hated’ and ‘disagreed/disowned/discounted’ the writings of Paul because they don’t ‘like’ what he says! One person wrote, on one of my posts, “Now people think that a letter written by a Roman, is the word of God.” I responded by explaining “Paul was certainly a Roman citizen… But his heritage was 100% Jewish, from the tribe of Benjamin! ( Philippians 3:4-6 ) He was chosen Specifically by Christ to speak for Him to US, the Gentiles…”.

       During some of all of this, I received the following in just a random posting on Facebook from an Unknown Author…

“The donkey told the tiger: The grass is blue.

“The tiger replied: No, the grass is green​.

“The discussion became heated, and the two decided to submit the issue to arbitration, and to do so they approached the lion.

“Before reaching the clearing in the forest where the lion was sitting on his throne, the donkey started screaming: ′′Your Highness, isn’t it true that the grass is blue?”​

“The lion replied: “True, the grass is blue”​.

“The donkey rushed forward and continued: ′′The tiger disagrees with me and contradicts me and annoys me. Please punish him”​.

“The king then declared: ′′The tiger will be punished with 5 years of silence”​.

“The donkey jumped with joy and went on his way, content and repeating: ′′The grass is blue”​..

“The tiger accepted his punishment, but he asked the lion: ′′Your Majesty, why have you punished me, after all, the grass is green?”​

“The lion replied: ′′In fact, the grass is green”​.

“The tiger asked: ′′So why do you punish me?”​

“The lion replied:

That has nothing to do with the question of whether the grass is blue or green. The punishment is because it is not possible for a brave, intelligent creature like you to waste time arguing with a donkey, and on top of that to come and bother me with that question

“The worst waste of time is arguing with the fool and fanatic who doesn’t care about truth or reality, but only the victory of his beliefs and illusions. Never waste time on discussions that make no sense… There are people who for all the evidence presented to them, do not have the ability to understand, and others who are blinded by ego, hatred and resentment, and the only thing that they want is to be right even if they aren’t.

“When ignorance screams, intelligence shuts up. Your peace and tranquility are worth more.”

       At the time, I shared this as a comment aimed at what I felt was the futility of trying to ‘argue’ with some of these people… But I came to realize that it is NOT what Christ teaches and Expects from us!!

       We are Told to teach others… to spread the ‘Good News’ of the ‘Salvation of Jesus Christ’… to Worship, follow, and OBEY God… in short, we are TOLD to ‘Run’!! And we RUN as proof to ourselves and to those who might be observing that we are Christians in more than name only… we are Christians in love… and in action… we are all running the race!

Let me close with this thought from The Life Application Commentary…

“As Paul reached the end of his life, he could look back and know he had been faithful to God’s call. Now it was time to pass the torch to the next generation, preparing leaders to take his place so that the world would continue to hear the life-changing message of Jesus Christ. Timothy was Paul’s living legacy, a product of Paul’s faithful teaching, discipleship, and example. Because of Paul’s work with many believers, including Timothy, the world is full of believers today who are also carrying on the work. What legacy will you leave behind? Whom are you training to carry on your work? It is our responsibility to do all we can do to keep the gospel message alive for the next generation.”

So I ask you… Are you a runner? Are you asking God, as the words of a Hymn say, to,

“Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to thee.

Take my moments and my days; let them flow in endless praise.

“Take my hands and let them move at the impulse of thy love.

Take my feet and let them be swift and beautiful for thee.

“Take my voice and let me sing always, only, for my King.

Take my lips and let them be filled with messages from thee”?

Are you doing all that you can do everyday to promote the goodness of God and the Good News of His Son and salvation? Are you truly letting God take your life and asking Him to consecrate it? And at the same time as all of this… are you working to pass on the torch to those that come behind us?