City Life Starter

Written by Paul Lane

The Word

¹² Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, ¹³ and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. ¹⁴ Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. ¹⁵ See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; ¹⁶ that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. ¹⁷ For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.

Hebrews 12:12-17 ESV

³ Strengthen the weak hands,
    and make firm the feeble knees.
⁴ Say to those who have an anxious heart,
    “Be strong; fear not!
Behold, your God
    will come with vengeance,
with the recompense of God.
    He will come and save you.”

Isaiah 35:3-4

Reflection

When we perform a space mission, we have tons of rules and procedures we have practiced with, argued over, and have come to know intimately.  During the mission there are important check points, at which we go through a check list to confirm that everything is as expected.  Sometimes we have problems to work through, and we need to fix something, or fly the space craft a different way.  And if everything meets the standard, we make a decision to proceed. 

During this time the leader of the team, the Flight Director, goes around to each position and asked if they are ready to proceed.  We call this the GO/NO-GO poll.  When your position is called, if everything you are responsible for is fine you may respond with either, “I am GO Flight” or “I am GO to Press (i.e. GO to Proceed)”.  Usually the “I am GO to Press” is used after you have been working through some particularly difficult problem.  So, you might say, “We have checked the device and confirmed that it is working;  We loaded extra supplies and replaced the part; or, We re-ran the checklist and completed all of the task, and with that we are GO to Press.”

In our scripture today, the writer of Hebrews is encouraging us to work through our problems, get into good shape and to press on.  We are directed to (.v12) “…lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees…”, and we need to (.v 13) straighten our paths and heal up.  We are to (.v14) strive for peace and seek holiness, which is the goal to which we press.  We need to (.v16) watch out for bitterness and avoid immorality, the consequences to which can be devastating.

The picture above is the mission control team for the Apollo 13 mission from the 1970’s. During that mission, the spacecraft had a massive failure and it looked like we might not get the crew back. However, the support team on the ground worked diligently to solve a string of problems to get them back safe. The people in this room paved a way for my career, and a number of them trained me, so that I might run the race of keeping crews safe. They taught me the expertise and the spirit of how you get to a “GO To Press” call.

Application

It is a dangerous thing we seek to do, live a Christian life.  We are to live a life of innocence in the middle of a chaotic and hedonistic (pleasure seeking) world.  So, we need rules and procedures, like what is in the Bible, to learn practice, and know intimately.  We need checkpoints in our community life, to help us confirm that we are following the plan we have been given.  And we need GO/NO-GO moments to make sure that we are ready for the next thing.  And having found that everything is ready, we need to press on and run the race set before us, with boldness, and with the fear of the Lord.

Finally, it is interesting to note that tears do not equal repentance.  Just because someone cries when they are caught does not mean that they have repented.  A heart change is needed for repentance.

Prayer

Dear Lord,

Thank You for providing for me and showing me the way to follow in Your way.  I know that it was up to me to remember everything, I would fail.  But You send Your Holy Spirit and You give me a great fellowship to support me as I proceed.  Help me to not only proceed myself, but to also be a support for others, that they can know Your way and follow Your path.  In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.