Vicar’s reflection: Wednesday of Holy Week 2025

Hebrews 12.1-3
1Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, 2looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.
3Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart.

I don’t think that I have ever used the epistle readings set for these days of Holy Week in previous years’ reflections. We have heard the gospel readings and reflected on them in the past. We have pondered the Old Testament and the psalms set for each day. Once we used the ancient service of Tenebrae to frame our devotions, but there is always a first time and it has been interesting both to see what readings our lectioneers (if there is such a word) choose for these days and then to engage with the texts.
On Monday we read from the letter to the Hebrews and heard how Jesus is both priest and sacrifice for us, winning for God’s people eternal redemption, paying the cost of our sin and opening up for us a way to worship the living God.
Last night’s reading was from 1 Corinthians. A reflection on how unlikely the cross, as God’s means of salvation, was and is and a consideration of God’s acts in choosing us to be His people.
This evening we look at the cross in a very different way. In our passage Jesus is set before us as an example to follow. He is described as the pioneer and perfector of our faith, the trailblazer, who through his endurance and perseverance passes through the suffering and shame of the cross to take his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. The cross here is an obstacle to be overcome. Jesus, as in the famous passage we read last Sunday from Philippians endures ‘even death on a cross’ so that ‘at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Perseverance. Our writer chooses a great example to illustrate it for us: running a race…a marathon more than a sprint. The idea of putting in the time, practicing, keeping going…or (as the Bishop at Monday’s transferred Chrism service in the cathedral put it) ‘going again’ relates well to sport but (on the surface) finds few homes elsewhere. ‘It’s too hard’…’I can’t do it’: children in school easily get frustrated when things don’t go their way. Music teachers pull their hair out trying to persuade their charges to practice – to really practice, not just play the bits you can already play but stretch yourself, learn something new, play those scales or diminished 5ths.
We want instant reward…and we can get it in some places, in some areas of life. But, on the race track, with the long-distance runners or the rugby team trying to climb the league we realise that effort is required, commitment, steadfast determination.
Don’t get me wrong. These things don’t ‘save us’: God in Christ does that. But he does look to us to follow His way. The good news is that it leads to a ‘crown of glory’, the bad news is that it involves struggle and effort. My guess is that, as with long distance running, there are moments that come for all of us when we ‘hit a wall’ when prayer and loving faithfulness are hard. Trying to be a reconciling presence in our families, seeking to be a good neighbour, being prepared to step up and take responsibility for shaping our community through volunteering or giving, these things become costly and can hurt. Exhaustion, burn out are not uncommon in the church. Vicars ask too much, lean on too few, forget that everyone else has a life and a home and a family…and…and…and. We need one another. We need to carry one anothers’ burdens. Like a sports team we can compensate for one another, support each other. I think of those memes occasionally seen on Facebook of long-distance runners, hardly able to stand, who are supported by their teammates who know the pain, who know the desire to cross the line and are prepared to help rather than just plough on across the finishing line themselves.
Our passage reminds us that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses in this journey of faith. Folk sat alongside us this evening, faces we see each week in church, people no longer with us but who we believe are cheering us on: ‘stay true, don’t give up, another step…another step, you can do it.’ With them there are myriads of others from across the world and down the ages. The redeemed people of God who know that this Christian life is not easy, that it involves cost but that it also brings great joy. This year we’re reminded that we are cheered on by Ninian and Margaret, by Helen and Catherine. We sit here under windows dedicated to the memory of previous vicars, to my right we have the apostles Paul and James and Peter. Opposite me I can see Hilda and Oswald. As we gather we know there are Christians living in fear for their lives who, like us, have embraced the way of the cross. We think of them, we pray for them. ‘Run’, ‘run the race’ – fix your eyes on Jesus, keep following in His footsteps. As we turn towards Maundy Thursday we shape our lives again around His; we allow Him to mould us to reflect His life in ours and, passing through the wall we find new strength, we take heart and reach for the joy of Easter beyond.