Last night I had the pleasure of attending the Tri-County Conference Junior High Track Meet in Highland to see our son, Ched, run. Ched has been training for the 100 and 200 meter races and as I arrived I check the event flier to see when those events would go off. It wasn’t but a few minutes later that Ched came trotting over and told me that he wasn’t going to run the 100 or the 200 meter races but, instead, would be running one leg (of a 4 person team) of the 1600 meter race. After telling me that, he just took off, happy to be a part of the day’s event, while I tried to figure out what was going on.

All season long, in every track meet that Lebanon Junior High had gone to, Ched had run the 100 and 200 meter races. Now, at the event which means the most in terms of Conference standing, he is asked to run a race he hadn’t trained for, to make a hand-off of the baton that he has never tried, and to do well enough with his teammates to give Lebanon some points in the standings. Then, to top it off, the 1600 meter relay race is the LAST event of the day: instead of getting to watch Ched mid-way through the races, I now know that I will be sitting for a couple of hours watching and waiting for the one ‘real’ race that I came to see (at least in this parent’s eyes).

About a half of an hour later, Ched came running up to talk to me when the announcer for the meet made the ‘first call’ for the 800 meter relay and Ched turned to me and said, “I’m running this race, too,” which was the first I had heard of that, then he turned and ran down the bleachers, across the infield of the track, and met up with his teammates to warm up and get to their positions. He left me sitting in the stands, somewhat confounded by the events which were unfolding, uncertain as to how he would handle running races he hadn’t prepared for (and that dad hadn’t given him any of his wisdom and insight on), and wondering how he would do. So I did what every parent does at that point: I sat back to watch and then, when his team started running their event, I stood up and started cheering them on.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that slings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endure the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1-2)

It occurred to me as I watched Ched find his stride in his races that it is not always the races that we prepare for that we find ourselves running and, sometimes, it is the races we haven’t prepared for that mean the most for the team. The key is trusting the coach to know what our abilities are and where we can do the most good with the gifts we have.

‘I can’t do that’ or ‘I haven’t prepared for that’ weren’t phrases that were in Ched’s vocabulary yesterday in the track meet. He was just happy to be with his friends, his teammates, on the journey, sharing with them the laughter, the tears, the sweat, the anxiety, and the joy of the challenges along the way. When the coach told him he was going to run the anchor leg of two different relay races, he said, ‘Fine.’ When I pointed out to him that he had never handed off a baton in a relay race, he picked up, first a water bottle off of the ground (which I promptly told him to throw back down . . . you never know where it’s been!) then found a baton and one of his best friends who taught him all he needed to know in about 3 minutes and 2 practice runs. It did not occur to him that these new events might give him trouble: what he saw was an opportunity to contribute to the success of the team . . . and he did it well.

Last weekend some members of our congregation attended a ‘Visioning Retreat’ at DuBois Center and those who attended spent a great deal of time looking seriously at our ‘team’ and the goals which are before it.  There was a lot of discussion as to what ‘races’ needed serious attention, and even more discussion regarding who might be willing and ready to run those races. By far, it was one of the best conversations members of this congregation had about faith, mission, ministry, being a congregation, and being engaged for Christ in the community. Throughout the course of the entire weekend, I did not hear anyone say, ‘We can’t do that’, ‘We haven’t trained for that’, or ‘It’s too long of a race for me’. What I did hear was, ‘How can we do that?’ ‘Who would be the best people to head that up?’ ‘ How will this proclaim who we are as Christ’s people and invite others to share in His ministry?’

Wherever I looked last weekend, I saw and heard people stepping up to the starting line and getting themselves in position to run the race. I heard the Eternal Coach calling out names and teammates responding. I saw and heard laughter, tears, sweat, anxiety and joy as the race, in its’ various stages was being laid out and the strategies were planned. I observed a number of people truly become a team as each one found a time and a way to say to the Coach, ‘Use me where you will.’

From where I sat last night at the Tri County Conference Track Meet, Lebanon won the entire meet before a race was ever run, because everyone had a part in the outcome and took their place seriously. Ched ran the best races he had run all season, though he had never run those events before and I cannot remember being quite so proud of him because he reminded me, ‘The first priority is not winning, it is getting on the track and running the best you can.’  “The race isn’t to the swift, nor the battle to the strong . . .” (Ecc. 9)

As the congregational planning moves forward, as the mission and ministry of Jesus Christ is engaged in this place and time, listen to the Coach call your race, feel His Spirit strengthen you, step on the track in confidence, then run the best you can: the Team is counting on you.

Ched: Thank you for teaching me all over, again, about running, winning, and team play.  Last night you set the standard in Christ for us all to follow.