Grace for the Race

A year-end ditty by Jim Levander

I have been thinking much about sin, guilt, grace, shame and doubt. I am struck by how many believers don’t have a great understanding of the grace they say they have accepted. And because of this, I believe, many don’t have great assurance of their faith and find themselves overwhelmed by besetting sins – spinning their wheels in their Christian life. Perhaps the following analogy will help.

            Consider a high school girl – Ellie might be her name – at a track meet, who is scheduled to run the 4 x 400m relay with three other girls on her team. She is a junior who has been on the track team since freshman year. She knows the coach and the coach knows her strengths and weaknesses. He has helped her get stronger, run faster and find more endurance and overcome many of her early failures and setbacks. He has cheered her on and prepared her for this day. The coach has called her to run this particular race and to run the last leg because he is certain she can shine here.

She is less certain. Her high school track career is not all she had hoped it would be, because she’s not all she hoped she would be. She likes the coach and is proud to be on the team, but doesn’t think she really deserves her place on it. As the gun goes off for the start of the race, she cheers on her teammate. But the cheers die on her lips when she starts thinking about herself. Am I really ready for this? It’s hard to believe the coach even wants me on the team, much less in this race. She looks down at her right ankle which is all wrapped up. It was a stupid injury where she did something the coach had told her not to do and paid for it with a bad sprain. Yes, it was better now, and the coach was forgiving and helpful in her recovery. But, really? How could I be so stupid? I feel like a letdown for the coach and the whole team.

The second girl – her friend, Sarah – takes the baton and sets her sights at holding on to their small lead in the race. Now there’s a dedicated runner, Ellie thinks to herself. The coach gave Sarah an award for the “Most Improved Runner” after their last meet. And she deserved it. Nobody on the team has pushed herself to go farther and faster than Sarah this season. And she has done so with a smile on her face and a grateful heart towards the coach. There is no arrogance or one-upmanship with her. I couldn’t be like Sarah. I’m too lazy. Sometimes I’m even jealous of others who seem to do better than me. I’ll never get any awards. The coach will probably replace me in this race at the last minute. Sarah hands off the baton with a smile and a “Go Janie!” to the next teammate. They are still in the lead.

As the other runners clear the track, Sarah gives her an encouraging squeeze on the shoulder and the coach moves Ellie to her place. Ellie is still struggling to understand why the coach would still want her run – why she’s even considered to be part of the team. I’ve never been really good at running. “Remember how we worked on your strides and keep those arms moving,” the coach tells her. I don’t have what it takes. “You’re gonna do great out here today. This is your race and you can do it.” I’ll do something stupid again. “Don’t think about your ankle. It’s healed and that’s all in the past.” The coach will hate me when I lose. “You’re my finisher, Ellie! I will be at the finish line when you break that tape!”

The coach turned to leave the track. Janie was entering the last turn. Desperately, Ellie grabbed the coach’s arm. “Do you really think I can do this?” Her eyes were wide, starting to tear up. “I – I don’t feel – I’m not –”

The coach looked her full in the eyes. He gently cupped her hand within his. “Yes, Ellie,” he said, nothing but tender confidence in his face and in his tone, “You’re my special girl for this race. I have planned this race for you to finish it. I have built into you and readied you for this moment. The past failures and issues are gone. Now, RUN!” He exited the track quickly as Janie rounded the bend.

The girls cheered her to go. And Ellie began to run. The plastic baton slapped into her back-stretched hand – the same hand the coach held. One quick look back at him and his smile confirmed the truth she had been fighting for too long – he really did care about her and wanted her on this team. Her fears melted.

Ellie ran. With all her heart. And the coach was there when she broke the tape.

Analogies only go so far. The coach represents Christ. Ellie represents the believer who is struggling to believe. Believing the lies of shame (I’m not good enough, I don’t count, God can’t love me, I won’t make it), rather than the powerful, enabling truth of grace which Christ holds out. The analogy falls apart, because Christ is in the race with us, spurring us on. He doesn’t just train us from the outside, but transforms us on the inside. It is not just the care of a coach he offers, but the radical love of God. There is great mercy to forgive our sins and great cleansing power in the blood of Christ. He is able to remove the injuries from every failure and sin. He has gone ahead of us to the prepare the way. Our endurance to run the race comes from the Spirit planted within and the hope in Christ, who is the Author and Finisher of our faith. The Anchor of our souls. Make no mistake, we have to come before Christ, the coach, and bow the knee to Him alone as our Savior and Lord. And this is where the riches of God’s grace toward us begin. Our chains fall off – sin and shame are no longer our masters.

            But this is where believers get so stuck sometimes. They get caught up in the aftermath of their own failures and sins that they experience after they first come to Jesus. They lose sight of the grace of God and, though they dutifully confess their sin, they doubt the assurance that God really forgives and they miss accepting the cleansing power of grace. Grace is the only power to run the race well, so when we “try harder” to run in our own power and prove ourselves to God, every failure adds to the downward spiral of shame. The person in this awful cycle tends to believe that if they accept forgiveness, they treat grace as cheap. They know all the doctrine that Jesus died for our sins and took our punishment on the cross, but they live like there is still payment to be made and they must pay it. They know you can’t earn forgiveness, but practically that’s what they seek to do. They want to climb out of the hole they are in rather than accept His hand. All their climbing efforts slide them further into the pit. There is nothing cheap about taking His hand, accepting God’s grace, finding His forgiveness and then running this life with the effort and power that was intended for you. So, I say GRACE and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Some passages to lean on: Jeremiah 31:31-34; Psalm 32:1-7; Psalm 51; John 10:7-30; Romans 8:28-39; Hebrews 6:19-20; Hebrews 12:1-3; 1 John 1:5-2:2