In the last of our series ‘Running The Race’, we looked at the different stages in life (perhaps summarised best by Shakespeare’s words in ‘As You Like It’ about the seven ages of man) and how faith is essential to each stage. At every stage of life, the challenge is to keep our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith, and to fix our eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen. (2 Cor 4:18)

If we have been blessed with a Christian upbringing, we have had a good start to life. Eternal life starts when we accept Jesus as our Saviour, and at whatever age this happens, we realise that faith and grace are essential to life. To start a race well means to be ready and focussed. Heb 12:1 urges us to ‘throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles’, and Jesus reminded us that we need to seek first God’s kingdom (Matt 6:33). It’s so easy to let anxiety and the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke God’s word and make it unfruitful. (Matt 13:22) To start well means to set our hearts on things above. (Col 3:1-2)

We need, though, to continue well. The Galatians came to faith ‘by means of the Spirit’ (Gal 3:2) but soon wanted to love by the ways they already knew, such as circumcision. Paul had to speak strongly to them (Gal 3:5, Gal 4:10-11) to remind them that faith is an ongoing part of the race. In the middle part of our lives, we may be tempted to rely on ourselves rather than God, but we need to keep on running. The things we learn in the mountain top experiences need to be lived out in the valleys as well. God will give us the strength we need to keep on running. (Is 40:29-31)

To win a race means to finish well. Paul knew this and commented on this in 2 Tim 4:6-8. We have to keep on running, even perhaps when age and infirmity make that difficult for us. Our times are in God’s hands (Ps 31:15), and we need to aim to retain physical health where possible (which will require self-discipline) and to continue with spiritual practices, including prayer, reading God’s word and having fellowship. It’s easy to focus on the negatives of old age, but we can grow in wisdom and spiritual strength even as outwardly, our energy wanes. God is able to keep us going!

This morning, we continued our series ‘Running The Race’ (Heb 12:1-3) by thinking about the relay race in the Olympic Games. Here, we see 4 individual runners competing as a team, running individually and yet needing each other to complete the race. This is a parable for us, for the Christian life is personal, but is not meant to be lived in isolation. God made man and said it was not good for him to be alone (Gen 2:18); the family is the cornerstone of society, because this was God’s plan! Similarly, as important as the family is, the church is also compared to a family (1 Pet 2:17), demonstrating that we are not meant to live life on our own. We are called to share our faith, to pass on the baton of faith to our children and to future generations, in the same way that passing on the baton is an essential component of a relay race. Ps 78:4-7 reminds us that it is our responsibility to teach the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, His power, and the wonders He has done to future generations.

Sadly, our society has become more individualistic and selfish, not valuing the family or the role of the village in raising a child. We need to understand that God’s plan for the world starts with sharing our faith with our family members, intentionally teaching them God’s word and how to pray in the same way that we consider it important to teach our children to feed and clothe themselves. We cannot abdicate this responsibility to the state but must understand that faith matters must be taught and that we live out our faith in a world which needs to see God’s love through our everyday actions and through the community known as the church.

The church is described as a family, though the Bible understands all about jealousy, quarrelling and rivalry in families! Nonetheless, it praises unity and reminds us that we share a common bond with other believers through the death and resurrection of Jesus. Paul urges us to ‘bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.’ (Col 3:13-14)

The church is also described as a body, made up of different parts, all of which are important for our general health (see 1 Cor 12:12-19). In the same way, we all have different functions in the life of the church, but we are all chosen by God, valued and valuable, and all are needed. The gregarious extrovert has a role to play, as does the contemplative introvert. We need the person who relishes administration and the one who loves to be messily spontaneous. We need people who are practical and good with their hands and those who can reason and debate logically. We need everyone. The church is the one organisation that can never say, “Go away, we don’t need you.” Just as relay runners have different strengths, so too we work together in different ways to become stronger than the sum of our parts!

Team sports are important in the Olympic Games; life is rather like a team sport too. We need each other, and as we work together, we can pass on the baton of faith and show the world what a life of faith looks like.

Last week, Dave brought us a challenging word from Luke 6:27-38, reminding us that love is a choice. In these days of social unrest, it is easy to feel incensed by the injustice we see all around us and to feel that violence is the only way our voice can be heard. A similar feeling was present in the United States in the 1960s when Martin Luther King Jr was preaching a message of racial equality and facing great opposition from the white Americans who did not agree with him. Instead of resorting to retaliation and violence, he reminded us that we are called to love our enemies, do good to those who hate us and bless those who curse us, praying for them. This seems an impossible task and one which many of us do not even attempt to do. Jesus reminds us, however, that love is not a feeling; it is a choice.

We see this in the vows taken by couples when they marry, promises to love ‘for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow.’ It is not the language of feeling or of romance or of affection. It is the language of choice and decision. We may ask how do we love our enemies when we do not feel like loving them or how do we do anything which we do not want to do? The answer is that we choose to do so. It is all about making a decision, making a choice, and then following that choice through. He summarised it by saying, ‘Do to others as you would have them do to you.’

This means forgiving others – because we need lots of forgiveness ourselves. It means blessing others – because we need blessing ourselves. It means behaving towards other people in the way that we want God to behave to us. When we make good choices, the measure we receive returns to us in full and we know blessing from God.

Tonight at our ‘Little Big Church’ service we looked at the Olympic Games and learned about being part of God’s winning team. The Olympic Games feature many individual and team sports (32 in the current Olympics), but every contestant is part of a team representing their country. The Games in their current format have been going on since 1896, and the Paris Olympics happening now is the 33^rd modern Olympics, but the origins of the games lie in the Greek events which went on in Olympia from the 8^th century B. C. to the 4^th century A.D. Then, winners used to receive a crown made of laurel leaves; now, the top three contestants in each event receive gold, silver and bronze medals in an awards’ ceremony where the national anthem of the winning country is played.

We are all individuals, but when we experience and receive the love of God, we are born again into His family and become part of God’s team! The children worked together to colour in Ephesians 3:17-18, reminding us that together, we all need to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of God. Children were then awarded medals urging us to ‘be part of God’s winning team’ as we listened to the Phil Wickham song ‘Hymn of Heaven’ and reminded ourselves that victory has already been purchased for us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ:

‘And on that day, we join the resurrection
And stand beside the heroes of the faith
With one voice, a thousand generations
Sing, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain.”
“Forever He shall reign.”

So let it be today we shout the hymn of Heaven.
With angels and the saints, we raise a mighty roar.
Glory to our God who gave us life beyond the grave.
Holy, holy is the Lord.’ (‘Hymn of Heaven’, Phil Wickham)

This morning we looked at Hebrews 12:1-3 in light of the Olympic Games currently happening in Paris. Running features frequently in the Olympics, but we are reminded in these verses that life is more like a marathon than a sprint, and what is required to run well are the three Ps:

1. Preparation
2. Perseverance
3. Perspective

Preparation

Athletes need to prepare well for races; they have to practise day-in, day-out. They must run unencumbered; we are urged to ‘throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.’  Just as athletes have to watch what they eat and drink and say no to many good things in order to devote themselves to their sport, we have to get rid of anything which may distract us from God and count ourselves dead to sin. (Romans 6:11-14). Denial of self and self-discipline are essential parts of discipleship (Mark 8:34, 1 Cor 9: 25-27).

Perseverance

Perseverance is required in sporting success; we have to keep going, no matter what. This is especially seen in marathon running, when athletes often ‘hit the wall’ and feel too weak to continue. We need ‘huponome’, that stickability which will keep us fuelled at all times; we need to be filled with the Spirit (Eph 5:18) so we can keep our spiritual fervour without burning out.

Perspective

Athletes train so rigorously and run with perseverance because they have their eyes on the finish line, on the gold medal, on the prize. We need to fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith; the Message version of these verses tells us ‘Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever.’ We have to have an eternal perspective if we are going to run with perseverance the race marked out for us. We have to understand that ‘what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.’ (2 Cor 4:18) We have to truly believe that God rewards those who earnestly seek Him. (Heb 11:6) We have to grasp that we are part of an eternal story, that our short time on earth is part of something much greater than ourselves. When we look at Jesus and study His life, we see that He kept going, right to the cross, and we see how He did this: ‘He endured the cross and ignored the shame of that death because He focused on the joy that was set before Him; and now He is seated beside God on the throne, a place of honour.’ Even Jesus could have given up before the finish line, but He looked beyond the shame and ignominy of death on the cross to our salvation.

May God give us the strength and determination to keep on running with perseverance the race marked out for us so that we may reach the finish line and hear His commendation: ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.’ (Matt 25:21)