Some jobs are too big to be done alone. They require a team.
Maybe you’ve always been one of those folks who were among the first chosen, even as a kid. Or you could be more familiar with the feeling of standing alone, one of the last to be chosen; unwanted and uncomfortable. Either way, you’re going to find a challenge in today’s message .
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Some people made their mark on history in ways that seem to be individual accomplishments. Thoughts of people reaching the summit of Mount Everest come to mind, or Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon. But the more you consider them, the clearer it becomes that even those accomplishments involved teams. As I considered an accomplishment that could be identified as totally “individual,” I arrived at a marathon runner. I figured that surely running 26.2 miles is a “solo accomplishment” of extraordinary merit, and totally a one-person effort. I figured wrong, very wrong.
Today’s verse says MAY THE GOD WHO GIVES ENDURANCE AND ENCOURAGEMENT GRANT YOU TO LIVE IN HARMONY WITH ONE ANOTHER.
If anyone understands endurance it’s got to be Eliud Kipchoge, the 36-year-old Kenyan who holds the current marathon world record; breaking the previous world record by 1 minute and 18 seconds at the Berlin Marathon. He also took the Olympic Gold marathon medal in both 2016 and 2020. Kipchoge ran the marathon distance on 12 October 2019 in Vienna and achieved a time of 1:59:40, becoming the first person in history to run a marathon in under two hours.
Far from being a solo accomplishment, it was a master class in teamwork. His team identified a six-mile route along the Danube River that was flat, straight, and close to sea level. A rotating team of seven-at-a-time runners drawn from the who’s who of the running world ran ahead of him in a wind-blocking formation. A pace car projected a laser in front of Kipchoge and set the correct pace. A cyclist rode alongside and provided him with hydration whenever he requested it. Without taking anything away from Kipchoge and his amazing accomplishment, it was a symphony of planning and execution not a solo event.
ENDURANCE AND ENCOURAGEMENT are key elements of any significant accomplishment; but HARMONY is the glue that holds everything together. That’s as true in great missions of eternal significance as it is in the realm of sports. As we serve Jesus and proclaim His Kingdom, we who follow Him need to have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.
HARMONY is not achieved by everyone singing the same single note. It is multiple notes of different tones being sung at the same time, blended together to accomplish what none of them could on their own. By definition, the differences create the harmony. Each note, blended with and yet distinct from the others, creates the depth of the tone. Even the psalms speak of harmony, teaching us how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity.
MAY THE GOD WHO GIVES ENDURANCE AND ENCOURAGEMENT GRANT YOU TO LIVE IN HARMONY WITH ONE ANOTHER
Harmony requires both endurance and encouragement; a determination to forgive and move forward in unity. Apostolic teaching appeals to us in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of us agree; that there be no divisions among us, but that we be united in the same mind and the same judgment. Christ is the key member of our team. He requires that we have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. And above all these we must wrap an outer cloak of love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
How late you were chosen for THIS team has no impact. Jesus empowers us as we serve Him together. When Christ is the center and we work together in harmony, “TEAM” becomes an acronym.
Together Everyone Accomplishes Miracles.
MAY THE GOD WHO GIVES ENDURANCE AND ENCOURAGEMENT GRANT YOU TO LIVE IN HARMONY WITH ONE ANOTHER
