Hebrews 12: 1-3 Take Jesus’ Cue: Run the Race with Glory on the Brain

Hebrews 12: 1-3 Take Jesus’ Cue:  Run the Race with Glory on the Brain

Today is our final sermon on mental health- and we’re wrapping up our series with a positive and encouraging look at the way Jesus’s own perseverance offers us hope that we too can run our race with glory on the brain.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart.”

This Lenten journey together has been weighty. So good, but also heavy, because mental illness is no joke. In fact, what we know from research is that for the most part, our mental health issues—whatever they may be—won’t completely disappear, ever. We can manage symptoms, we can develop coping skills, we can find relief in sharing our journey with others, and we can treat brain chemistry imbalances with meds. But for the most part, mental illness remains in our lives whether we like it or not. So the final question we’ll consider today is this: what will sustain our wellbeing through the highs and lows of our mental health journeys?

Here’s the short answer: exercise. Is that what you thought I was going to say? I selected this metaphor of Paul’s about running the race of life, because our mental, physical, and spiritual wellbeing is all tied up together. And when we run the race of life, particularly with mental illness at our heels, we need to be prepared. We need to exercise our bodies, minds, and spirits. It works like preventative medicine: Getting ahead of our mental illness before it knocks us off our game. The world of therapy around mental illness and substance abuse uses language like preventative factors verses risk factors in our lives. Biology matters, yes, but if we have more preventative factors in our lives, we’ll fare better than if we have more risk factors. Like a spectrum of health, some risk factors are unavoidable, but the good news is this: we can all do something to enhance the preventative factors in our lives. And we do so by using Jesus’ example of perseverance despite the difficult circumstances he inherits in life.

I want to start with physical exercise. Plenty of research has occurred on the impact of physical exercise on mental health. It’s intriguing to me- in part because this is one of my personal “preventative factors” for anxiety and depression. When I begin to sense my anxiety levels rising (for example, when conversations between my beloved husband and I become a little less rational)…I go for a run, or do jumping jacks, or something. And 30 minutes later, the situation doesn’t seem so dire after all. One study mentions, “Aerobic exercises, including jogging, swimming, cycling, walking, gardening, and dancing, have been proved to reduce anxiety and depression.” If you’d like some of the biochemical details of it all, it says, “These improvements in mood are caused by exercise-induced increase in blood circulation to the brain and by an influence on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis; thus, on the physiologic reactivity to stress. It’s affects include the limbic system, which controls motivation and mood; the amygdala, which generates fear in response to stress; and the hippocampus, which plays an important part in memory formation as well as in mood and motivation.” That’s actually pretty amazing, right, the way our physical and mental health is so intertwined? Moral of the story, when you’re feeling down- turn on some music and dance!

Alright, now for the second part: mindfulness exercise. This one may seem a bit more intuitive when it comes to mental health, but it takes intention, persistence, and support from loved ones to really work, not to mention reducing the stigma of asking for help. Exercising the mind can take so many forms: seeing a therapist, self-initiated therapeutic practices, and meditation are just a few examples. If you recall the 2^nd week of this series, I mentioned Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. This is especially helpful for mood disorders like anxiety, depression, thoughts of suicide, etc. And the cool part of CBT is that you can practice on your own. Although I would recommend learning from a trained therapist at first, this type of mindfulness exercise is pretty accessible- now even with smartphone apps! One I’ve just learned about is MoodNotes; it allows you to track your thoughts/ feelings/ behaviors and reflect on how true to reality they may or may not be. If smartphone apps aren’t your thing, one of the simplest and most effective ways to exercise your mind is by joining a support group. An intentional, safe space for sharing your story and receiving the stories of others who “get it.” Every Thursday at 5:30pm we have a NAMI support group meet at the church- you’re welcome to come! Wouldn’t it be great if we started even more support groups like this within our congregation?

The final exercise is spiritual. Now simply by nature of your being here today, you are including a really important preventative factor for mental health into your life. So well done, you’re committed to exercising your spirit here in worship. One way you can commit personally to continue this spiritual growth is by incorporating prayer and meditation into your daily routine. If this feels hard to sustain, you’re not alone. When you get a bit off course, I’d suggest trying a simple gratitude exercise. Take a few moments each day to pray in this way: “Thank you God for….” It’s amazing what gratitude can do for our wellbeing.

Exercise (of the physical, mental, or spiritual variety) is not a magic cure-all. It does, however, hold promise for sustaining our perseverance on this race of life. When we grow weary of our exercise routines, when it feels as if risk factors are outweighing our preventative factors, remember Paul’s words: “We are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses.” I do not, you do not, none of us run this race alone. I hope you’ve found encouragement in hearing and sharing stories of mental illness this Lent. I know I have. And next week on Easter morning, we’ll remember together THE story that ignites our spirits into living hope for a new tomorrow. Jesus is the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. So how about it? Will you commit with me to running our races together, like Jesus did, with perseverance for the sake of God’s glory? Who knows but all this exercise might just be worth it: “so we might not grow weary or lose heart” even through the ups and downs of mental illness.