GOD'S GREAT NEWS for MAN'S GREAT PROBLEM - Romans 1-8

The Middle Mile

Here's a poem describing the defining struggle of most of our lives. The poem is called The Middle Mile:

The gun goes off, the crowd roars,
The race is begun, the glory: your's.

Adrenaline rushes, the wind at your back,
Your power surges, you're ahead of the pack.

A corner you turn, you look up with a smile
But it stretches before you: the middle mile.

It's flatter than flat, and hotter than hell
Where it will end, no one can tell.

The wind at your back turns around to your face,
Glory behind, ahead commonplace.

No one to see you, only One taking note,
No map to guide you, dust in your throat.

You're in the middle mile, where the race must be run
It'll rarely be easy, it'll rarely be fun.

On that track will be measured all that you are,
All your credits and riches won't take you too far.

It's a terrible place: there's no turning back,
The start has been started, the goal's what you lack.

Not daring to stop, what else can you do,
Your eye on the goal, you keep pushin' through.

Your side aches, your heart pounds, there's little but pain,
Your sweat flows, your eyes sting, but slowly you gain.

Far greater than your take-off, deeper than your smile,
There's a pace now, a pattern, that runs out the mile.

A new wind is blowing, not behind, not before,
But in you and through you, the breath of the Lord.

You crest the last hilltop, at the setting of the sun,
His arms are there open, His two words: "Well done."

The most important part of our race as Christians is not our rush out of the blocks when we are converted, nor is it even the glorious end when our Lord says, "Well done:" it is that long middle mile, where our race is really run. Today we will speak of God's wisdom unto victory in the middle mile.

Distance Runners Before Us

There have been many distance runners who have run the course before us, running as champions. Abraham's departure from Haran must have been exciting: he embarked on an epic adventure. But then when he arrived in the land, and set up his altar, the middle mile stretched long before him. Famine came. Egypt looked like a haven, so in fear he left the course for a while to lie and relax in Egypt. But his course had to be run, and the course lay in Canaan. After twenty-five years of slow running, he hit the wall: God asked him to sacrifice his son on the altar. Abraham obeyed, finding a faith and lordship that marked him as a model of faith forever. He pushed through, and ran his course well.

David's course started out with a mighty gunshot of glory: unexpected anointing by the prophet, declaring he would be king ... the heroic slaying of Goliath ... and his early successes as a military general, when he slew tens of thousands. But at his pinnacle of glory, Saul became jealous and David was introduced to his middle mile: some 17 years in the wilderness of Judea, fleeing a rabid king intent on killing him. David ran the course by writing poems and psalms to God, and by heroic self-restraint when he wouldn't kill Saul in the cave ... twice. He won the victory wreath for his middle mile when he wrote his lament, singing "how mighty are the fallen," heaping glory and praise on Saul his enemy.

Jesus' life is marked by the two great events still etched into our calendars: His birth at Christmas and His resurrection on Easter. Jesus came into the world heralded by a choir of angels. His death and resurrection were the most significant events in the history of the world. But perhaps the most crucial years in Jesus' life were the Silent Years, those 18 years between 12 and 30. That was His middle mile. It is enshrouded in fog and mystery. Those were the years he apprenticed at a carpenter's bench. Joseph probably died during those years, so Jesus had to assume the responsibilities for a whole family. Jesus studied intently in those obscure years, learning the compassion that defined his life. He contemplated the Servant Songs of Isaiah during those years, reading in them the agony and glory of His mission. We know precious little about this middle mile in Jesus' life, but His character was proven along that quiet course ... the character that changed the world.

And Paul himself, writing about hope and perseverance in Rom. 8:24, 25, knew whereof he wrote. His conversion was accompanied by a lightning bolt of heavenly light and a thunderous heavenly voice. After he was healed from blindness, he went to Jerusalem in the strength of his flesh, ready to win the Jewish world. But all he won were bitter arguments. God had to get him out of town to get him beyond himself. He was sent to his own wilderness in Arabia, a wild land full of desert dunes and men as stubborn as donkeys. Perhaps Saul learned about his own stubbornness there, yielding and running beside his Master at the Master's pace through his own middle mile. What Paul writes about here in Romans chapter eight, he lived in his own life, as he ran the race.

Hope in Unseen Certainties - 8:24, 25

Paul tells us of the struggle of living in this world which is not our home, waiting through long years of painful suffering for the day when our adoption as God's adult sons is announced before the watching universe. We suffer now, waiting for the promised glory to come. Paul tells us the secret of our waiting in vs. 24, 25: "For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one also hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it." The key, stated five times in two verses, is HOPE.

We have said it before, but it bears saying again: our modern understanding of "hope" is far different from the "hope" Paul tenders us. I recall the '92 Presidential elections when Bill Clinton touted himself as the icon of hope, the man from Hope, Arkansas. He put himself forward as a man rising from the midlands, achieving success despite his humble beginnings, a man from Hope whose hope had triumphed over adversity. He offered himself as the great white hope of America. It was a flag-bedraped, red, white and blue hope that he offered. But now five years later, that "hope" will quite likely be indicted for lying to a federal grand jury, he will probably be charged with obstruction of justice, and he may even be impeached. The "hope" that he offered was a vague wish; a promise with absolutely no substance; a chimera. His "hope" was smoke and mirrors, offering nothing real, fading into the reality of his long-standing history of immorality.

In utter contrast, the hope Paul calls us to is based on absolutely solid ground: the promises of a God whose word never fails. Our adopting Father God has promised to consummate our adoption as adult sons, resurrecting our bodies and installing us as honored inheritors of His divine estate. Those promises culminate God's long history of redemption, beginning at the dawn of time in the garden. Our hope is a certain sure expectation of His final redemption of our bodies, when He reveals us as His sons. His word is true, His promise is sure, our future is guaranteed. We hope in a certainty.

But it is an unseen certainty. We have the outstanding record of God's faithfulness across the long years recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures, an amazing track record of faithfulness to His word and commitment to His promises. We read how the life, death and new life of Jesus Christ fulfilled literally hundreds of promises God made about Him. There are so many fulfilled promises recorded in the Bible that we would be patently foolish not to believe that this God is true to His word. We hope for what is unseen at this present time, but we can read at any moment about thousands of years of fulfilled promises made by this God who is our adopting Father. We hope in an unseen certainty, but there is a track record that makes us certain that what is now unseen will be unveiled before the watching eyes of all creation. Today we hope in an unseen certainty: it will certainly one day be visible reality.

The challenge here is to live our lives in the middle mile based on the unseen realities rather than the very visible calamities that surround us. We look at our job situations and see very little hope at times: products failing, customers who won't sign on the dotted line, promises offered by superiors that are quickly forgotten and never remembered. We consider the cost of living as we grow older in a world that no longer values the contributions of those over 50, and we worry about college costs, wedding expenses, and retirement costs. There are times when the bleakness of life stretches before us for miles to a hot and merciless horizon. Let's face it: if we are living based on what we can see, we will go crazy with horrifying "what ifs," we will work ourselves to the bone, and we will lose all sense of balance, as we seek what the Gentiles seek: security in the dollar.

But Paul wants us to cup the flame of hope in our lives. To guard it from the winds of discouragement, to protect it from the rains sent by the enemy to douse it out. Against the security of the dollar he challenges us to find security in God alone. He challenges us to live in our three-dimensional world of time and space by principles from the eternal dimension of heaven. Most men and women live by quantified observables measured in bank accounts, stock options, and title deeds. We live by faith in the promises of God in the Bible, cupping the flame of hope in an unseen certainty.

There is a story I know that spotlights hope in the unseen certainty when the storm rages. It is from the Book of Virtues (pg. 760), written by James T. Fields, entitled The Captain's Daughter:

We were crowded in the cabin,
Not a soul would dare to sleep --
It was midnight on the waters,
And a storm was on the deep.

'Tis a fearful thing in winter
To be shattered by the blast,
And to hear the rattling trumpet
Thunder, 'Cut away the mast!'

So we shuddered there in silence --
For the stoutest held his breath,
While the hungry sea was roaring
And the breakers talked with Death.

As thus we sat in darkness,
Each one busy with his prayers,
'We are lost!' the captain shouted
As he staggered down the stairs.

But his little daughter whispered,
As she took his icy hand,
'Isn't God upon the ocean,
Just the same as on the land?'

Then we kissed the little maiden,
And we spoke in better cheer,
And we anchored safe in harbor
When the morn was shining clear.

What a triumph of hope over darkness!! And what an encouragement to the young men and women here, the boys and girls, who are often used by God to bolster the flagging hopes of their elders. Hope is there for us to latch onto, and we need it to make it through.

But hope is still an unseen certainty, and we live in an uncertain world. It is in the uncertainties of our lives that we have to cling to the promises of God. Many of us have heard the story of Dennis Byrd's amazing recovery from a terrible injury. Dennis was a defensive lineman for the New York Jets, and while playing a game on Nov. 29, 1992, Dennis's neck was broken. He lay unmoving on the field, paralyzed from the neck down. He was a fine Christian man, but he had just turned the corner to a terrifying middle mile that would be the measure of his character.

He made a miraculous recovery at first, actually moving the big toe on his right foot on day three after the injury. But at the three week point, discouragement set in. Dennis said, "One afternoon, just before Christmas, I felt like I'd made a lot of progress, but I was still so far from doing anything close to walking. I couldn't even lift my leg. I could flex some of the muscles, but I couldn't make it move. And my hands were so limp. I wondered if I was truly strong enough to handle all this. I wondered if I could take it. And then a voice came to me, a voice as clear as any I'd ever heard. And it said, 'Be strong, my son. You will walk again.'" Dennis did walk again.

At the moment of weakness along the middle mile, we have to come to the point of simply trusting in the promises of God. That is hope. The hope that sustains.

Perseverance - 8:25

So, part of the secret of pushing through the middle mile is to run in hope of the unseen but certain finish line. The other part of the secret is when we hit stride: when we persevere, no matter what.

My hero of perseverance from this century is Winston Churchill, the man who lived the dictum, "Never give up!" My hero of perseverance from the last century is Abraham Lincoln. Here is his checkered resume, up to the year he was elected President in 1860, compiled by an unknown chronicler:

1816 His family was forced out of their home. He had to work to support them.

1818 His mother died.

1831 Failed in business.

1832 Ran for state legislature -- lost.

1832 Also lost his job -- wanted to go to law school but couldn't get in.

1833 Borrowed some money from a friend to begin a business and by the end of the year he was bankrupt. He spent the next 17 years of his life paying
off this debt.

1834 Ran for state legislature again -- won.

1835 Was engaged to be married, sweetheart died and his heart was broken.

1836 Had a total nervous breakdown and was in bed for six months.

1838 Sought to become speaker of the state legislature -- defeated.

1840 Sought to become elector -- defeated.

1843 Ran for Congress -- lost.

1846 Ran for Congress again -- this time he won -- went to Washington and
did a good job.

1848 Ran for re-election to Congress -- lost.

1849 Sought the job of land officer in his home state -- rejected.

1854 Ran for Senate of the United States -- lost.

1856 Sought the Vice-Presidential nomination at his party's national convention got less than 100 votes.

1858 Ran for U. S. Senate again -- again he lost.

1860 Elected President of the United States.

Lincoln persevered. His attitude made a huge difference. After losing a senate race, he said, "The path was worn and slippery. My foot slipped from under me, knocking the other out of the way, but I recovered and said to myself, 'It's a slip and not a fall.'" (Both the resume and the quote from Chicken Soup for the Soul, pg. 236, 237).

Perseverance: the quality of never giving up. We hope in an unseen certainty. But it is a certainty. We are called to persevere in waiting eagerly for our promised day in glory. But let's face it, it is far easier to speak of perseverance while comfortably sitting in a Sunday morning pew. Perseverance is put to the test when Monday morning comes, or when the boss calls you into a private meeting with a sour look on his face and a knot in your stomach. When we are at the end of our rope, when we have gone through as much rejection as we can endure, when setbacks have piled up one behind another, how do we persevere then?

The Deeper Secret: Lordship - 8:23-25

An old Scottish preacher discovered the deeper secret behind perseverance in the middle mile, when the going is especially tough. Alexander Maclaren once said something deceptively simple: "The root of all steadfastness is in consecration to God." In more modern terms, the root of all perseverance is in absolute availability to Jesus Christ and submission to His lordship. We persevere when we revel in the fact that we are not our own, we are bought with a price.

There are many potholes and slippery stones along the middle mile. There are also very inviting watering holes and detours advertized with neon lights, tempting us to stop the race for a while, that we might renew our strength. But the strength to run the race is not our own; it was never supposed to be. The race is not our's to run; it is to be run by the force and vigor of another. And we are not our own; we are owned by another, whose race has already been run unto victory, who knows the course inside and out, who cares more about the outcome than we do ourselves. We will win this race only to the degree that we acknowledge the strength is not our own to run by, the course is beyond our skill to run, and we ourselves are not our own. We falter and fail until we realize this.

Isaiah knew this well. It is only when we know who God is as our owner and Lord that we persevere in the race. Isaiah comforted the believing remnant in the long middle mile of exile in Babylon with these famous words from Is. 40:28-31: "Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint."

When we see our God as the Everlasting God, the LORD, and we relate to Him as Lord in our own day-to-day lives and moment-by-moment choices, then we discover a strength lifting us up despite our human weaknesses. We discover that He does not become weary or tired. We discover the strength of the Lord giving us the power of eagles' wings as we run the long, middle mile.

Perseverance is found in absolute availability and submission to Jesus Christ. That is the deeper secret. Does He own your heart in every relationship in your life? Does He own your purse strings? Are His dreams for you the dreams you nurse? Does He have the place in your life to command you what to say and what not to say, what to eat and what not to eat, what to buy and what not to buy, what to do and what not to do? If not, then your middle mile will be long beyond your own endurance. If so, then you will discover the wind that is in you, coursing through you, empowering you with the breath of the Lord: the wind of the Spirit of God.

Conclusion: Victory in the Middle Mile

So, the secret of success along the middle mile of the Christian life is found first in cupping the flame of hope in the unseen certainties of God's sure promises, it is found in perseverance no matter what, and the deeper secret is found in yielding to the absolute Lordship of Jesus Christ over our lives.

The poem I read at the beginning, The Middle Mile, was inspired by the writings of Vance Havner. He wrote this about the middle mile: "It is on the intermediate stretch where the rosy start gives way to long desert marches, where the ordinariness of life bears heaviest on the soul -- it is there that we need to know how to keep the inner shrine aglow with the heavenly vision ...

"This grace of the middle mile the Bible calls 'patient continuance.' It is a wonderful art that few have mastered. It proves, as nothing else can, that character. And it gets least attention from the world because there is nothing very dramatic about it. There is something theatric in a big start or a glorious finish. There is nothing for a news reporter along the middle mile. It is a lonesome mile, for the crowd is whoopin' 'er up for the fellow who got through. It's a hard mile, for it's too far to go back and a long way to go on. But if you can keep a song within and a smile without on this dreariest stretch of life, if you can learn to transform it into a paradise of its own, you have mastered the greatest secret of victorious living, the problem of the middle mile."

May our Christ within give us a song for the middle mile; may He remind us to thank Him and praise Him no matter what, that our smile may be real; may we see through His eyes how our middle mile is a traveler's paradise, and may we yield all ourselves to Him that we may mount up on wings like eagles and fly through the middle mile to the finish line when we'll hear Him say, "Well done!"

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