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Never Give Up

Vicar Todd Liefer
July 4, 2010

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The Word of God that strengthens us this day comes from Galatians chapter 6, especially the 9th verse: "And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up." Dear friends in Christ:

The 4th of July. While, of course, this is Independence Day, a day when we celebrate our freedom and country, July 4th also marks a very sad day in the history of America. A day when our country bid farewell to a great American hero. On July 4th, 1939, over 60,000 fans gathered in Yankee Stadium to say goodbye to a baseball legend.

Second only to Babe Ruth, in the 1930s this man was a home-run king of his day, a power-hitter with a lifetime average of .340. Nicknamed the "Iron Horse," this man had a 2130 game streak—he never missed once, always on the field—even with fractured bones and once a broken thumb. He refused to give up. Never tired. Never weary. He displayed the kind of strength and persistence any player would covet.

Then came 1938. All of a sudden, the strength wasn't there anymore. His batting average dropped below .300, home runs became more and more scarce. By the next year, he was struggling to make even the most basic catches. Finally, he took himself out of the starting lineup, ending his 2000+ consecutive streak. Soon, it came out that he had a rare form of a degenerative disease: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. But you might know it as Lou Gehrig's disease.

Baseball hero Lou Gehrig was losing control of all his muscles. Every day, he'd get weaker and weaker. And finally, on July 4, 1939—71 years ago today—Lou came before Yankee Stadium to say goodbye. While he declared he was the luckiest man on the face of the earth, everyone was still bewildered by what had become of the Iron Horse. 36 years old … all his strength, all his power … gone. America hoped that maybe there would be a cure, a way to bring the man back to baseball. But you know, and might even remember, it never happened. Less than two years later, the whole country mourned as Lou Gehrig's body finally gave up, and succumbed to the disease.

Many of us—myself included—have very little idea how physically exhausting a disease like this must be. But I do know, and I'll bet you do, too, what it's like to be weary in other ways. I know that many of you live each day just pushed to the brink. There is so much to do. You may have a job—maybe even a job you love—but it demands so much of your time. Late nights, early mornings …day after day after day. And for those of you here who are unemployed, you know what it's like to be weary. Searching the internet for openings, sending off resumes, waiting for interviews, and repeating that again and again and again. For those of you with families, with spouses to care for, food to make, children to drive here and there, a house to keep clean, it can be exhausting. Some of you are caretakers for the elderly, and this can be a job that demands your attention 24/7. And there are always grocery store runs. Cars that need fixing. Bills that need to be paid.

I know that many of you live in this exhausting cycle every day. It's tough. It runs you down. In the church, we often talk about our vocation. That's just a fancy word that means, "whatever God has put you here to do." My vocation, for example, is that I'm a husband to my wife Kelly, I'm a son, a younger brother, I'm vicar to this congregation, I'm a Seminary student, and I'm waiting to be a father in the coming months. These are all my vocations. All the things God has put me here to do.

If you're wondering what your vocations are, just look around you. Look at all the things, and all the people God has given you to care for. Those are your vocations. Spouse, parent, child, employee, boss, coach, student. The list goes on and on.

And when we're living the way God wants us to, we do the best, most faithful job we can in our given vocations. If we're a spouse, we're the best spouse we can be. If we're a child, we respect our parents. If we're an electrician, a cook, factory worker, or work in some sort of office, we're the best, most honest employee that we can be.

Many of us have a lot of vocations, but like I said before, it's tough. It's demanding. It's exhausting. And it's so easy to become discouraged, because you can never do your job good enough. Never. You can always be a better father. A better mother. A better spouse. A better son or daughter. A better employee. You may even be surrounded by people who remind you of that constantly. What's worse, is that often you never really see the fruits of all your labor. You raise kids just to see them go astray. You try to help out a family member, but they won't listen. You work all day just to come home to a complaining spouse. You go above and beyond at your job, and no one notices. In all your vocations, you work and work and work, all the fruits you see are reduced to a card on mother's day, a call on your birthday, and maybe a few extra tasks added to your plate at work.

I don't know if this is where you are today, but maybe some of you are just ready to give up. Walk right out of your marriage, and never come back. Leave home, and never call again. Pack up your office and just leave—no matter what the consequence. All these things—they're just too hard, too demanding, too exhausting. It might just seem a whole lot easier to just quit.

But before you do, before you throw in the towel, let me just say that you're in the right place today. If you're weary, tired, exhausted, ready to give up, Christ has come to strengthen you.

Christ himself knows weariness and exhaustion. He went his whole ministry, traveling from city to city, constantly being told to get out. Religious leaders at the time telling him he didn't belong. That he wasn't real …wasn't who he said he was. They looked at Christ—God himself—looked him straight in the eye and said, "Who are you to tell us what to do?"

Christ's ministry wasn't easy. Right up to the end. In the Garden of Gethsemane, just hours before he was crucified, Christ prayed to God the Father and asked, "God, if it's possible take this cup from me." But it wasn't, and He didn't. Which left Christ no other choice than to be handed over to the authorities, tried, convicted, beaten, nailed to a cross, and hung on a hill called Calvary. Talk about restless and weary, Christ hung on a cross, barely able to breathe, physically exhausted, only able to utter a few words, until his body finally gave up, and the crucifixion was over.

And on that day, all his followers, all his disciples, gave up. Their Lord was dead. There was nothing they could do. Three years. Three years of following this man in hopes of him being the Messiah. There was nothing left to do but quit, and go home.

But here we find that just when everyone else gave up, they had a God who never gave up on them. God the Father raised His son from the dead, tore open that empty tomb, and Jesus stepped out into the world with forgiveness in his hands.

That same Jesus is here today for you. If you feel that you are a failure, never good enough, not able to give enough, or serve enough, Christ has come today for you. He comes to you with mercy in his hands. He reaches out with forgiveness. All your failures, all the times you were just ready to quit, all the imperfections that weigh you down in your daily work, for all of those, Christ says, "You are forgiven." Christ says to you, "I have died so that you can find strength in me."

We'll never find enough strength in ourselves. We can go for a long time thinking that we've got things under control, but we'll end up falling flat on our face every time. But it's there, on the ground, with nothing to offer, that Christ comes to you, reaches out with forgiveness, and picks you up. Only Christ gives us the strength we need to press on in our daily life. And he's got that kind of strength today. Look at the cross. There you see evidence of one who gave up everything—all his strength, even his life—so that you can find strength in him.

Christ has come to strengthen you today. You are forgiven. You are loved by God. You have the kind of strength that can only come from a merciful God. We hear that in God's Word. You're about to taste and see that for yourself in Lord's Supper. The body and blood of Christ—the same body and blood that hung on the cross. The same body and blood that was raised from the dead. That same body and blood brings you forgiveness, the promise of God's love, and a promise that God gives you the strength to press on in your daily life.

But, when we leave this place, forgiven by God, what we find is that our daily life becomes much more than just pressing on. When we lean on God's strength, and not our own, what we find is that we grow to love what we do. We enjoy taking care of our families. It's a pleasure. And a privilege. We grow to find joy in our daily work. Is it hard? Yes. Is it demanding? Yes. But it's what God has given us to do … and we do it faithfully.

And you know what? Living out all your vocations, leaning on God's strength, comes with a promise. That's what St. Paul tells us when he says, "And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up."

You may not always see the good that your works are accomplishing. In fact, you may seldom see the good that your works are accomplishing. Sometimes, it may feel like your family is falling apart. Sometimes, it may seem like the words you say never really get heard. Sometimes, it may feel like your job is meaningless. It may feel like things will never get better. But to this Paul begs, and I beg you today, never give up. Never give up. The things you're doing are accomplishing great things in lives of those around you. Even if you can't see it. Your work is meaningful. It's making a difference.

Never give up. Your work may be hard and make you weary. But you have a God who is stronger than you can ever imagine. Never give up, because you have a God who will never give up on You. Amen.