Faster, Higher, Stronger: Run to Finish

This is the 1st of a series of Olympic-themed sermons. The title of the sermon series, “Faster, Higher, Stronger” is the English translation of the Olympic motto: Citius, Altius, Fortius. The Bible exhorts us to faster, higher, and stronger pursuit of God in many ways:

James 1:19b Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry

Colossians 3:2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

Ephesians 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

If the world can appreciate excellence in athletic competition, how much more should we Christians appreciate—and strive for—excellence in spiritual competition? Paul says:

Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. (1 Corinthians 9:25)

If the world can ascribe spiritual significance to athletic competition, surely we Christians should be able to depict spiritual struggles in terms of athletic struggles, and that’s exactly what we will be doing over the summer.

Acts 20:17-38

Commentary

Paul is on his “farewell tour” from Macedonia to Jerusalem. All along the way he has met with members of the various churches he has founded during his career. He has asked the elders in Ephesus to come meet with him.

v18-21 Paul recounts his work in Asia, Macedonia, and Greece. Specifically, his gives evidence of the completeness and thoroughness of his work: his lifestyle; his perseverance through trials; the breadth of his preaching; and the range of his ministry to Jews and non-Jews.

v22-23 As grievous as Paul’s trials have been, Paul reveals that they are about to get worse.

v24 Finish the race / complete the task. There’s only one verb, but two direct objects, in this thought. The verb can variously be translated as “to finish”, “to complete”, or “to perfect.” The first object refers to a course, which may be a path or racetrack, or the course of one’s life (this word also used in Acts 13:25, 2 Timothy 4:7). The second object, (diakonia, which is where the word “deacon” comes from) refers to a ministry or a humble act of service. The NIV applies one verb meaning to the first object and another meaning to the second; however, we can simplify the central thought to, “if only I may complete the course of my life and the service the Lord Jesus has handed over to me.”

Testifying. The root word for witnessing/testifying comes into English as “martyr.” The tension for Christians is that our witness inevitably will lead to some kind of trial or persecution.

v25-38 What do you do when it is time to turn over your life’s work to the one who comes after? For Paul, these verses are a mix of two agendas: (1) the one who yearns to complete his commission gives evidence that he has not cut any corners; (2) the last task of his commission is to prepare his successors (here he mainly warns them of trials to come).

Application

Nobody remembers the winner of the1968 Olympic marathon; they only remember the loser: John Stephen Akwari of Tanzania. Halfway into the 26+ mile race, Akwari fell and badly cut his calf and dislocated his knee. Despite urging to quit the race, Akwari managed to slow the bleeding and made a makeshift bandage for his cut and strapped his leg together to give better support to his knee.

The winner had already left the stadium by the time Akwari entered and began his final lap to the finish line. Indeed, the stadium was almost completely empty by the time Akwari arrived. It was dark when, slowly, Akwari hobbled into the stadium, accompanied by a pace car with flashing lights and a camera crew.

Almost nobody was present to watch Akwari as he gimped around the track. His time was more than an hour slower than the winning time. [1] Of the 57 runners to finish the race, Akwari was dead last, more than 19 minutes behind 56th place. 17 runners started but did not finish the race for various reasons. When asked why he did not drop out of the race as well, Akwari replied, “You do not understand. My country did sent me 5,000 miles to start the race. They sent me 5,000 miles to finish the race.” There are lots of reasons for runners to fail to finish a race well:

Runners can start too fast. For distance runners, if they begin a race too fast, it’s practically impossible to recover; the energy has been burned, the runner’s limits have been hit too soon.

Runners can fail to have a strategy for the race. Even a race as short as 100 meters has a strategy for the various phases of the race. Even a short race is not simply about running as fast as one can.

Runners can fail to train correctly. Overtraining is just as bad undertraining.

Runners can lose focus during a race.

Runners can be overcome by unexpected problems during the race: weather, injuries, equipment problems, fan interference, officials, and just dumb bad luck.

Finishing a race frequently requires a runner to deal with all of these issues. “Expect the unexpected,” becomes the byword, and frequently the better prepared runner is the winner, or at least a finisher, while the unprepared runner is listed as DNF. [2] There are lots of reasons for Christians to fail to finish the course of their lives well:

They can start too fast. Life does not consist of the goodness of your intentions.

They can fail to have a strategy. What are your goals for work, family, community, church, or devotions? Simply reacting day-by-day is not a strategy.

They can fail to train correctly—that is, they can fail to be discipled. Much study with no purpose—no ministry—is as just as bad as no discipling at all. Who is training you and how is your training going?

They can lose focus during the course of their lives. “Repent & do the things you did at first” (Rev 2:4).

They can be overcome by unexpected problems. Jesus said, “In this world, you will have trouble” (John 16:33), so why do we persist in thinking that problems won’t occur?

Finishing the course of your life well will require you to deal with all of these issues.

Points to Ponder

Starting too fast with good intentions but no preparation is usually a disaster. Paul claims that he got his commission as an apostle on the road to Damascus when he first became a Christian (Acts 26:12-18). Best guess is that it took him at least 14 years before he went on his first missionary trip. What was he doing in the meantime?

Usually Christians talk about finishing the race using virtues like faithfulness, perseverance, wisdom, and righteousness. Where do you see these traditional virtues in the sports-oriented virtues of pacing, strategy, training, focus, and anticipation?

Pacing, strategy, training, focus, and anticipation—where are you falling short?

Are you training to finish the course of your life, or are you just getting by day-to-day?

End Notes

1 - The winning time of 2:20.26 by Mamo Wolde of Ethiopia was 1:04.51 faster than Akwari’s time of 3:25.17. For the full results, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1968_Summer_Olympics_-_Men%27s_Marathon.

2 - “Did Not Finish.”