[Phil Beauchene] Derek Redmond was determined. He had to finish the race. Period.

He was a young British runner, one who had sky-rocketed to fame by shattering his country’s 400-meter record at age 19. But then an Achilles-tendon injury forced him to withdraw from the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, and he endured five separate surgeries. When the Summer Olympics arrived in Barcelona in 1992, Derek Redmond was absolutely aching for a medal.

On the day of the 400-meter race, 65,000 fans packed themselves into the stadium, anxious to witness one of sport’s most thrilling events. High in the stands is Derek’s father Jim, a faithful witness to every one of his son’s world competitions. According to ESPN.com, Jim is wearing a T-shirt that reads, "Have you hugged your foot today?"

The race begins and Derek breaks through the pack to seize the lead. “Keep it up, keep it up,” his father Jim says to himself. Heading down the backstretch, only 175 meters from the finish line, Derek is a shoo-in to win this semifinal heat and qualify for the Olympic finals.

But then Derek hears a pop. It’s his right hamstring. He pulls up lame, looking as if he has been shot. His leg quivering, Derek begins to hop on the other leg, and then he slows down and falls to the track. Medical personnel run toward him as he sprawls on the ground, holding his right hamstring.

At the very same moment, there is a stir at the top of the stands. Jim Redmond, seeing his son in trouble, begins to race down from the top row. He is pushing toward the track, sidestepping some people and bumping into others. He has no right or credential or permission to be on the track, but all he can think about is getting to his son, to help him up. He is absolutely single-minded about this, and isn’t going to be stopped by anyone.

On the track, Derek realizes that his dream of an Olympic medal is gone. The other runners streak across the finish line, with Steve Lewis of the United States winning the race. Tears pour down Derek’s face, and all he can think is, “I’m out of the Olympics – again.” But when the medical crew arrives with a stretcher, Derek tells them, "No, there's no way I'm getting on that stretcher. I'm going to finish my race." And so he lifts himself to his feet, ever so slowly and carefully, and he starts hobbling down the track.

Suddenly, the crowd realizes that Derek isn't dropping out of the race. He isn’t limping off the track in defeat, but is actually continuing on one leg, in a fiercely determined effort to make it to the finish line. One painful step at a time, each one a little slower and more agonizing than the one before, Derek limps onward, and the crowd begins to cheer for him. The fans rise to their feet and their cries grow louder and louder, building into a thundering roar.

At that moment, Jim Redmond reaches the bottom of the stands, vaults over the railing, dodges a security guard, and runs out to his son -- with two security people running after him. "That's my son out there," he yells back at his pursuers, "and I'm going to help him."

Jim reaches his son at the final curve, about 120 meters from the finish line, and wraps his arm around his waist. "I'm here, son," Jim says gently, hugging his boy. "We'll finish together."

Derek puts his arms around his father's shoulders and sobs. Together, arm in arm, father and son struggle toward the finish line with 65,000 people cheering, clapping and crying. Just a few steps from the end, with the crowd in an absolute frenzy, Jim releases the grip he has on his son so that Derek can cross the finish line by himself.

"I'm the proudest father alive," Jim Redmond tells the press afterwards, with tears in his eyes. "I'm prouder of him than I would have been if he had won the gold medal. It took a lot of guts for him to do what he did." Together, they kept a promise they had made to finish the race, no matter what. (Rick Weinburg, “Derek and dad finish Olympic 400 Together,” ESPN.com, http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/espn25/story?page=moments/94. Retrieved November 9, 2004)

[Henry Brinton] Father and son. Together, to the finish line. Jesus and his heavenly Father had this same intense and intimate relationship, and they shared the same single-minded dedication to the completion of Christ’s ministry on earth. “I am in the Father and the Father is in me,” said Jesus to his disciples on the night before his crucifixion (John 14:10). They were bound together – bound as tightly as Derek and Jim Redmond -- as they approached the finish line of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

There is a lot to be said about this bond between Father and Son, but today’s passage from John indicates that this incredible relationship doesn’t end when Christ completes his mission – in fact, it continues and it includes each one of us. In our times of stress and strain and pain and need, Jesus promises, “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you” (v. 18). Like Jim Redmond rushing out of the stands to help his son, Jesus comes to us in the form of the Holy Spirit – he gives us a Helper who will be with us forever (v. 16). When we receive this Spirit of Christ we discover that Jesus’ intense and intimate relationship with his Father is something that we can be part of as well – it’s a relationship that is available to us when we are in times of deepest crisis. “On that day,” Jesus assures us, “you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you” (v. 20).

We never have to cross our finish lines alone.

So how does this relationship sustain us as we face, day by day, what William Shakespeare called “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune”? What does our connection to the Spirit of Christ do for us when we are facing a failing grade in a final exam? (Yes, college students, we know what time of year this is. Our prayers are with you!) What does the presence of the Spirit do for us when we receive a cancer diagnosis at the doctor’s office, a pink slip in the paycheck, a call about a death in the family, or a rude rejection from a friend or neighbor or romantic partner?

For starters, the Spirit of Christ is a Spirit of life. Because I live, promises Jesus to his followers, “you also will live” (v. 19). The amazingly, awesomely good news of the gospel is that Christ has conquered the power of sin and death, and the same God who raised Jesus from the dead will give life to our bodies through his Spirit that dwells in us (Romans 8:11). No matter what tragedies come our way, whether they are academic or medical or vocational or emotional, we can hold tight to the promise that Jesus gives us the gift of life – life in this world, and life in the world to come.

“What is your only comfort, in life and in death?” asks the first question of the Heidelberg Catechism, a Protestant teaching tool that was written way back in 1562. The answer is as true today as it was almost 500 years ago: “That I belong – body and soul, in life and in death – not to myself but to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.”

I belong to Jesus Christ, and his Spirit gives me life. This has been good news for me, as I have struggled with grief and loss and personal frustration. It is good news for any of us as we find ourselves limping toward a finish line.

The Spirit of Christ is also a Spirit of love. “They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me,” says Jesus to his disciples; “and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them” (v. 21). The love between God and Jesus is never limited to a supernatural Father-Son relationship – it spills over into our lives and saturates us with acceptance and affection and acknowledgment. When Jesus says “I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you,” he is inviting us to swim with him and his Father in a sea of heavenly love (v. 20).

But as we jump in the water with Jesus, we are required to swim with a particular stroke. “I give you a new commandment,” says Jesus, “that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another” (13:34). Loving one another is the particular stroke we use as we move forward with Jesus and his father.

When your teenager is feeling defeated, love one another. When your medical test is disturbing, love one another. When a family member faces a lay-off, love one another. When there’s a death in the community, love one another. When a friend has been rejected in a romance, love one another. “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples,” says Jesus, “if you have love for one another” (13:35).

The point of this passage is that we’re not supposed to run or swim or struggle in isolation. We’re supposed to help each other and be helped by one another. The good news of this Scripture is that support is not a sign of weakness -- we’re supposed to be supported. Supported by each other. Supported by the Spirit of Christ. Supported in the same manner that Jim Redmond supported his son as he approached the finish line.

"I'm here,” says our loving Lord, in every time and place and situation. "We'll finish together." Amen.