Psalm 138, 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1

Harriette Thompson is 92 years old and on May 31, 2015, she became the oldest person to complete a marathon. She finished the San Diego Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon in 7:24:36.

Harriette is a cancer survivor, a concert pianist, and grandmother of 10. She has run the San Diego Marathon 16 times since 1999, missing only the 2013 race as she battled cancer.

2015 has been a challenging year for Harriette as she lost her husband of 67 years to cancer in January and dealt with painful wounds on her legs, a result of radiation treatment she underwent to treat squamous cell carcinoma. Many of her family members and friends have battled cancer. And this is why she runs for a cause – the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society for whom she has raised more than $100,000 in 16 years of running the race.

As far as she knows, Harriette is cancer-free right now. Last year she clocked the fastest time for her age group and this year she became the oldest finisher. Two world records in two years. Harriette says that as long as she is able to, she will continue running the San Diego race.

She gets lots of encouragement, including being cheered by quite a crowd as she crossed the finish line. “It’s funny,” she said, “all you need to do is get to be 90-something and you get lots of attention,”

Of course Harriette gets lots of attention. Most people don’t even get to 92, let alone run marathons.

This is what Paul had in mind when he said that about our physical being gradually decaying (2 Corinthians 4:16). Do we need reminding? Don’t we know it well enough? Well it is simply true. We all get old and even though Harriette Thompson’s body is fit enough to have finished another marathon, it too is showing signs of wear. As I often say at a funeral, “In the end there is an end”. But, as I also say at a funeral, for those who know Jesus, death is very much a beginning – the beginning of a whole new life. That life is in Jesus the Christ and it is the life that is already at work renewing us day by day.

It is important to know Jesus personally. He promised his followers that he would have things set up for them in the life beyond. So get to know Jesus while you can (if you don’t know him already). That way, when you go to meet your maker it won’t be for the first time.

Yes, Paul reminds us that we’re all dying but he doesn’t stop there. He says, “For even though our physical being is gradually decaying, yet our spiritual being is renewed day after day” (v16). We are getting more alive as the days go by. One old Christian put it this way, “One day, people will say I’m dead, but don’t you believe it – I’ll be more alive than I’ve ever been.”

Paul said it this way: ‘We know that when this tent we live in—our body here on earth—is torn down, God will have a house in heaven for us to live in, a home he himself has made, which will last forever.” Doesn’t that make you feel better?

So …
It is good to look after one’s body – eat healthily, keep fit, optimise stress and so on. But, since the outer body is fading away the need is to nurture the inner life, the life of the spirit, which is the real you. Paul writing to Timothy said, “Physical exercise has some value, but spiritual exercise is valuable in every way, because it promises life both for the present and for the future.” (1 Timothy 4:8)

We’ve spent the last 8 weeks saying that everything God made is important to God. Are we now saying that only the inner life matters?

No. We are saying that it is very easy to neglect the life of faith. Faith deals with what we can’t see (see: Hebrews 11:1) and it’s very easy to get so taken up with what we can see that we neglect – even discount – what we can’t see. We are surrounded by people who are telling us that God and all that faith stuff doesn’t exist and is of no account, whereas in fact, the stuff we can’t see is the vitally important part of total reality.

I talked last week about seeing as God sees and how important and helpful that is. We need to see all that is real which is much more than just the physical. I say it again. We can’t do without spiritual sight and understanding. Therefore, diligently nurture your spiritual life; your faith vision.

We generally think in individual terms but this applies just as much to the church, the body of Christ, as to the individual disciple. We together are the body of Christ.

The Pew Report is a big survey of the church in the USA, conducted recently. They told us what we already know, that church attendance is declining and that many younger people are choosing not to participate in faith-based institutions. Christ’s body is suffering some decay.

But we do not lose heart.
Although our outer body – the visible part – is wasting away, yet our inner being is being renewed day by day. Although the institutional church is in decline in the western world, the body of Christ, the universal church, is on the rise. Even in the USA Christian life is being renewed. Even in secular NZ Christian life is being renewed. We see with eyes of faith signs of renewal all over the world.

We do not lose heart because God is always at work in us, through us and among us. It is not we who are renewing ourselves; the Holy Spirit is doing the work. Because God is doing it we can rely on it.

We do not lose heart. Although we are constantly challenged by the secular environment in which we live, I want to encourage you to soldier on. It is worth it. You are not foolish and you are not alone. God wants you to do this and he wants to do this with you. We are important to God. What we do is important to God.

Let this video remind you of your significance in God’s eyes
Video “Insignificant” from ODB.

We do not lose heart because Jesus won’t let us go and he won’t let his body die. We are being renewed every day.