Sermon Synopsis for July 6, 2008

“Are We In Shape For The Race”
1 Corinthians 9:24-27; 12:24b-27 (Isaiah 40:31; Hebrews 12:1)

This week I spent a couple of days having a relaxing time in a cabin in the mountains. The first evening, our campfire time quickly ended when a black bear wandered into the yard.

It reminds me of a story …

Two hikers on a trail came around the bend to find an enormous brown bear about 75 yards up the trail. The bear spies them and begins running toward them at a full gallop. One hiker drops his backpack, sits down, throws off his boots, and starts lacing up a pair of running shoes. The other hiker says: "What are you doing? You will never outrun that bear!". The first hiker replies: "I don't have to outrun the bear..." (think about it)

When we are in a race we often think about who we have to outrun.

A fellow who entered the New York City Marathon tells the story …
“Last year I entered the New York City Marathon. The race started and immediately I was the last of the runners. It was embarrassing. The guy who was in front of me, second to last, was making fun of me. He said, "Hey buddy, how does it feel to be last?" I replied: "Do you want to know?" and I dropped out.”

Sports often means competition.

As Christians, the competition is not between believers.
Often we see our competition between other Christians, denominations, etc.
The enemy (opposing us) is not of flesh and blood.
We are the body of Christ – all of us – we’re not in a competition with other.

THE NEED FOR PHYSICAL / SPIRITUAL FITNESS

Physical fitness eludes us in many ways.

No one will ever accuse me of being an athlete. Sure I can participate, but I’m no athlete.
I remember my first visit in Iscayachi (A town straight up the mountain, Cuesta de Sama, above Tarija, Bolivia, about 11,000 feet above sea level) – we were to have a week of church meetings. I was invited to play soccer with the locals (I thought this was a good idea, it would help me fit in and get to know the people.)
It was a rough for the next few days – I could barely walk or speak – the locals had a good laugh at the missionary who couldn’t handle the exercise or the altitude. I won their hearts, but it nearly killed me.

There were some results: by the end of the week, a struggling congregation in a small mountain town was renewed with many new converts.

It was one of my few attempts at sports evangelism.

PAUL’S EXAMPLE

The Apostle Paul saw a lot of the Roman world. He had a determination to take the Gospel to people who didn’t grow up in the Jewish faith. This led him to people with drastically different practices than he was used to.

Ancient literature and Archaeologists tell us that, at the time of Jesus, Jerusalem had a large sports stadium just southwest of the temple mount. It’s not mentioned in any of the gospel stories or books of the NT. Jewish law prohibited Jews from attending or participating in Roman or Greek Sports competitions. When the apostle Paul took the Gospel to the gentile world, he was crossing many difficult cultural lines. One of them was Olympic style sports.

The Apostle Paul must have been a bit of a sports fanatic. He used sports to get a point across. Athletes need to be in good shape, healthy.

Today’s scripture passage is in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. Corinth was the location of the Isthmian Games (every two years, second in importance only to the Olympics). The Church in Corinth was not a healthy church (just read Paul’s letters).

Paul was concerned for the health of the church in Corinth – not the physical health, but the spiritual health.

The Apostle Paul used sports (racing in particular) to get theological points across. Maybe it’s an analogy of Paul’s life.

Make sure you are on the right track. Being part of a church, working together with the body of Christ, can keep us in line – so that we are not “running in vain.”
Galatians 2:2 – Paul checked with the leaders of the church “for fear that I was running my race in vain.” Philippians 2:16 – “that I did not run … for nothing.”

Don’t let others slow you down (in this instance the Judiazers were slowing down the Gentile believers) Galatians 5:7 – “You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth?”

Get rid of the things that hinder / Run with perseverance
(Not Paul’s writings) Hebrews 12:1 – Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witness, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

Paul’s desire was to “finish the race” (Acts 20:24) by preaching the gospel of
God’s grace. And he made it … 2 Timothy 4:7 – “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

Look at your own spiritual life – could you run a race?
I’m not sick … but am I healthy? Am I able to run the race?
Or will I give up when put to the test?

DO WE FEAR TRAINING? ARE WE UP TO THE TASK?

Sometimes we just don’t want to overdo it.

A physical education trainer was asked about the best way to start getting in shape.
He told them, “For those who have spent their teenage years in front of the TV, here is a little secret for building arm and shoulder muscles.

“Begin by standing with a 5-LB. potato sack in each hand ... extend your arms straight out to your sides and hold them there as long as you can.

“After a few weeks, move up to 10-LB. potato sacks and then 50-LB potato sacks, and finally get to where you can lift a 100 lb. potato sack in each hand and hold your arms straight for as long as you can.

“Next...start putting a few potatoes in the sacks, but be careful not to overdo it.

Paul says to the Corinthian Christians – You’ve seen the effort, the training, the discipline, these guys put into running – for a wreath of leaves that will wilt and die – how much more you should be striving for an eternal heavenly crown!!

Listen for the interviews with the winner at the Olympics coming next month (if it’s anything like in the past) – breathless they will say “This medal was worth all the hours and hours of training and practice and dedication….

The tasks we face as Christians are in their way far more demanding and significant than being involved in an Olympic final. We are called to bring love and light and peace and justice into the world – and proclaim God’s offer of eternal life for all his children.

It’s odd that some Christians seem to assume that all this can be done casually and without discipline, training or preparation!!

HERE'S AN EXAMPLE: A fellow prayed to God – Let me win the race – but he never does.
So he complains – “God, I didn’t win, you let me down!”

God replies, “You didn’t train, you didn’t exercise, you didn’t even enter the race. How do you expect to win?”

In most cases, God is not going to just hand us the prize; we need to put in our part.

Faith and Action – working together – will help us win the prize.

Do we, as Christians, as a Church, want to win the prize?
Are we putting in our part?

DO WE WANT TO BE HEALTHY?
What does it take to be healthy? Exercise? Good nutrition? Stress reduction?
The first step is to want (desire) to be healthy.

Do we want a healthy church?

A church is a group of Christians committed to working together for the common goal of serving Christ.

Paul wrote, “You (plural) are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”
Jesus deserves a strong and healthy body in this world.

In the next few months we will look at the things that help Christ’s body be healthy and strong, able to compete and able to win the race set out before us.

BIKING IN GOD’S KINGDOM
I like George M’s stories about his bicycling experiences. It shows great strength, determination and character. It’s the kind of stuff the Apostle Paul was talking about.

I remember December 1989; we were organizing the Christian Youth Olympics in Tarija. About 40 Bicyclists carrying the (symbolic) torch from Cochabamba (8,500 feet above sea level) to Oruro (11,000 feet) to Potosi (14,000 feet), across mountain passes (up to 17,000 feet) to arrive in Iscayachi (about 11,000 feet) to descend to Tarija (7,000 feet). (They carried their provisions and repair kits, there was not chase vehicle, they stayed together, helping each other out, we received a report by phone from each major town along the way.) We drove out about 15 miles to greet them, some of the local folks on bicycles & motorcycles– The team rode in together, triumphant, to cheers, they had completed the course, together!

It is doubtful that any one of them would have completed the course on their own. They needed each other for encouragement & help,

As Christians, this is something we can do … (not the bicycling), but completing the course, together.

Maple Grove has a strong history of service for Christ. This church has shown itself to be a strong and healthy body for Christ in this world:
Years of Bible Schools
Open Air Singing
Starting new churches
Sending mission teams & missionaries around the world

Let’s continue the race … let’s keep this body of Christ in the race, until we all win the eternal crown of glory.