True Grit

Recently, Hollywood decided to remake the movie True Grit. Now I haven't seen the movie yet, but it looks pretty cool. The main character looks like one of those men who has been around a while and is, as they say, tough as nails. I'm always a sucker for those movies. I love it because you know that they've struggled through life. They aren't afraid to have their backs against the wall and seem to work well under the pressure. They're the kind of person where no matter what they're up against, you're confident that they'll make it through. They live lives of endurance.

Several years ago I participated in a 12 hour bike ride. It started at midnight and went to noon. It was so much fun, but so incredibly tiring. I was absolutely exhausted afterward. In that time I was on the bike for about 6 hours, while a friend of mine did the other 6 hours. Not to mention that I got the midnight shift, so I was in the dark for a very good portion of the ride. It is rides like these that really put your endurance to the test. The reason that it tested my endurance though, is not because it was simply a long ride. It tested it because it was a long race. I had to push myself the entire way to go as fast as I could without burning out. If it was just a long ride I could have taken my time, gone through slowly and not worried about how many laps I had completed. Endurance requires something different than simply finishing. It requires us to finish well.

One of my favorite books is called Roots of Endurance. It's by John Piper and is a biography of three men of Faith that endured incredible hardships during their lives. One of the men that Piper talks about is Charles Simeon. Now, I am utterly taken by the endurance shown in the life of Charles Simeon. He was remarkable in his love for God and in his ability to endure. Simeon was the pastor of the Holy Trinity Church in Cambridge for 54 years, taking the position almost immediately after graduating from there. The thing is that his congregation hated him so much that they would lock their pews every time he would speak so that nobody could use the pews. They would also hire an assistant to speak on Sunday afternoon rather than Simeon. They did this for 12 years! Now the obvious question here is what did Simeon do to warrant such a response and how did he handle it. Simeon preached straight from the bible every Sunday and sought to revive the faith in Cambridge. It seems that that was enough to turn his congregation against him. He spent all of his time trying to teach others about Christ and lead them to Him. Those who followed Simeon were ridiculed and despised just as much as Simeon was. Despite coming from a wealthy family and having a large inheritance from his brother, he lived in a small apartment and gave all the rest of his money to the poor. He would spend countless hours in scripture and prayer seeking out a deeply personal relationship with Jesus. All this despite the opposition against him. At one point Piper quotes Simeon in what I feel really shows the heart of Simeon in the midst of these trials. He said:

"... I prayed earnestly to my God that He would comfort me with some cordial from His word, and that, on opening the book, I might find some test which should sustain me. It was not for direction I was looking, for I am no friend to such superstitions... but only for support. The first text which caught my eye was this: ' They found a many of Cyrene, Simon by name; him they compelled to bear His cross.' ... what a blessed hint of my encouragement! To have the cross laid on me, that I might bear it after Jesus -- what a privilege!"

Simeon understood that in order to endure under these hardships, he must devote himself fully to God and to accept these trials as a privilege. What an amazing life of endurance!

Simeon's life was grounded in a personal relationship with Christ in which he shared in the hardships of Jesus. Jesus is of course our model for endurance. We see it often in scripture. The pharisees often plotted His murder along with attempts at turning all of His disciples against Him. He would lose friends throughout His journey and would be betrayed by one of those closest to Him. Jesus endured separation from the Father for the first time and endured the weight of all our sins so that we might have life. Jesus, the son of God, came to Earth, endured being mocked, cursed and spit on by the very ones that He came to save. The king stepped down from His throne and took the pauper's place in the gallows. He endured our punishment and suffered for our transgressions.

There is a spot in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers where Theoden, King of Rohan is locked in the main hall with the door barricaded and a swarm of orcs outside trying to get in, he says this, "What can men do against such reckless hate."

Aragorn responds, "Ride out with me."

Jesus has told us that the world would hate us, but that we must endure and continue to share the good news. Our backs are against the wall and Jesus is saying, "Ride out with me."