Faster, Higher, Stronger: Taking One for the Team

(Sorry I'm late posting this ...)

This is the 8th 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. As a Christian, perhaps you feel the call to do more, be better, try harder for God … but what if the person, the church, the community you‘re "stuck" with doesn’t get it … doesn’t see things as you do … isn’t going in the same direction as you … is holding you back? What then?

1 Corinthians 9

Commentary

Context, context, context! Recall the reason for Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth: some members of the church thought that they were more spiritual than the rest, in part by virtue of certain spiritual gifts. They questioned whether they needed to put up with the less spiritual members of the church. Worse, they insinuated that, by virtue of their greater spirituality, they didn’t need to abide by the same moral laws as "lesser Christians." Paul’s answer to such posturing is simple: there is no "us" and "them"; we are all in this together, bound by one spirit, one mind, one body, one faith, one baptism, and one Savior; we are to accord weaker members respect.

v22 I became weak. The temptation is to succumb to all sorts of sin in the name of being like "the weak." Paul uses the term 8 other places in this letter: 1 Cor. 1:25-27 (2 references); 4:10; 8:7-10 (3 references); 11:30; and 12:22. Nowhere in the letter does weakness refer to sinfulness. Rather, weakness may refer to the quality of one’s faith, or it may refer to worldly weakness. If worldly strength does not lead to a godly end, then maybe occasionally the absence of worldly strength is the way towards God (1 Cor. 1:25-27).

1 Cor. 8—which might well be viewed as the immediate context for this passage—is the best indicator of how to interpret this verse. In that chapter, Paul says eating or refraining from eating meat sacrificed to idols is of no spiritual value; however, he refuses to allow his attitude to cause trouble for others. If others of weak faith are convinced that eating the meat is sinful, he will refrain from eating that sort of meat when with them.

How does this interpretation help us understand v19-21?

v24-25 The games. The church in Corinth would probably have interpreted this reference to "the games" as the Isthmian Games, which were held on the isthmus of Corinth every two years, before and after the year of the Olympics. In these games, the crowns were either made of wild celery or pine needles. (Talk about a crown that will not last!)

v27 If one wants to develop a theology of asceticism or a theology of losing one’s salvation, this is certainly a good verse to camp on. However, such theologies are taking the verse out of its context—a personal application of v24-26 to Paul. Paul will have nothing of living by a gospel different from the gospel that he has preached to others.

At the Olympic Games, athletes would have to stand before an altar to Zeus and swear that they had abided by the proscribed training regimen for the prior 10 months. Paul is illustrating a faith where belief is put into practice: an athlete committed to the games trains, and a Christian committed to following Christ surrenders his/her rights for the sake of community.

Application

In February of 1980, a ragtag bunch of college kids led by a college coach stunned the hockey world by winning the gold medal in ice hockey, beating a seemingly invincible Soviet ice hockey team in the medal round. [1] Herb Brooks had taken a bunch of young kids from rival schools and molded them into the best-conditioned and most mentally team in the competition.

However, the team did not begin that way. During the six months of training prior to the Olympics, USA played to a 3-3 tie against Norway. Immediately after the game, coach Herb Brooks ordered his team onto the ice for a series of exhausting drills, dramatized in the movie Miracle. Herb Brooks said of his techniques for breaking down the independence of the players and molding them into a team:

I had to get them out of (their) comfort zone and bring them here [raising his hand] and I kept notching the high-water mark, and I didn't let them slide down. They wanted to go back where they didn't have to deal with the sacrifices and the stresses and the anxieties and paying the extra price …

Brooks was famous for pithy sayings commonly known as "Brooksisms", e.g.:

This team isn’t talented enough to win on talent alone.

Everybody is important, but not too important.

You’re looking for players whose name on the front of the sweater is more important than the one on the back.

This cannot be a team of common men, because common men go nowhere. You must be uncommon.

A few years later, the USOC decided to send pro teams to the Olympics … 'Dream Teams,' they call them. But now that we have 'Dream Teams,' seldom do we get to dream. [2]

Ken Morrow, one of the USA hockey players and later a successful NHL player, later said:

All of his teams overachieved because Herbie understood how to get the best out of each player and make him part of a team. And like everyone who played for him, I became a better person because I played for Herb Brooks.

Can you see in this story what God is trying to do to us? Paul is urging the Corinthians to be willing to take one for the team, to be willing to accommodate the faith of weaker brothers and sisters, to not insist on one’s own way (even if, especially if, one prides oneself on being "the star of the team"). Waiting for slower, weaker Christians usually means surrendering our rights and our ideas for how we think life should be.

Why are we so unwilling to accept that God desires to remake us into a fantastic team? If Herb Brooks could take a bunch of college kids—admittedly not even the best hockey players of their generation—and mold them into a dream team, how much more is our Father in heaven ready to mold us into a dream team. Could it be that the biggest barrier to building such a team is ourselves?

In the movie, when Brooks was lambasting the team after the tie with Norway, he only relented on the drills when one of the players demonstrated that he was willing to surrender his sense of self and be a part of something greater. [3] Maybe by surrendering our sense of what a Christian should be and do and meeting others on their terms (dare we say loving others?) we open ourselves to becoming part of something greater as well.

Points to Ponder

Look up Paul’s other references in 1 Corinthians to weakness: 1:25-27; 4:10; 8:7-10; 11:30; and 12:22. When we insist on what we think is a better way to practice our faith and try to get others to follow, are we always practitioners of a stronger faith, or can we unknowingly be advocating a weaker faith? How can we know the difference?

How would you turn the above Brooksisms into Christian proverbs? (e.g. "You don’t have enough faith to get by on faith alone. You need to give up on your idea of what success looks like and be willing to be a part of a different sort of team that God is building.")

End Notes
1 - Although many remember the game against the Soviets as the gold medal game, the Americans had to beat Finland two days later in order to win the gold.
2 - Since 1980, the US men’s hockey team has never come close to winning another gold, earning only silver in the 2002 Winter Olympics.
3 - In reality the drills ended when one player broke his stick in frustration! However, the point is still the same: the team won because a bunch of self-imagined stars were willing to put themselves aside for the sake of something else.

Faster, Higher, Stronger: What Will it Cost You?

This is the 7th 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. After leader LoLo Jones hit the 9th hurdle in the 100-meter finals and faded from 1st to 7th in the final few meters, the TV announcer said (more or less), "Ordinarily you’d say, ‘Wait ‘til next year,’ but these are the Olympics, and her next chance is 4 years away. She’s 26 now, and you have to wonder if she’s up for training for another 4 years." Over the last four years, Jones worked at Home Depot, at a gym as a personal trainer, and at restaurants as a waitress in order to accommodate her training schedule. She scrimped to save money by leaving her air conditioner off during hot Louisiana summers. Another four years of training? Indeed!

Like Lolo Jones we can stumble—not in the Olympics, but in the testing of our faith. The determination to get up and undertake training (again!) until we achieve success can seem so hard, and the day of victory can seem so far away. What are we to do?

2 Timothy 2:1-7

Commentary

The context of Paul’s letter is key to understanding this passage. Paul is writing to Timothy from prison. Indeed, I believe this to be the last of the letters that Paul wrote that made it into the Bible. Throughout the letter, Paul is urging Timothy to "handle truth" correctly (2:15), to steer clear of contentious & quarrelsome teachers who distort the truth (2:23-3:5), to preach and to teach faithfully (4:1-5). This is the arena in which Timothy (and Paul) must persevere.

v2 The reliable transmission spiritual truths across four generations of Christians is in view here: Paul to Timothy; Timothy to reliable men; and reliable men to others.

v3 John Calvin says of this verse that Christians must learn a different form of spiritual combat. As "soldiers", Christians don’t throw down their spears, neither do they "contend fiercely and haughtily" with their foes; rather, they must "learn what it is to ‘possess their souls in patience’ (Luke 21:19)."

v4-6 These three verses are parallel constructions intended to give three perspectives on the same main point. The main character in each—soldier, athlete, or farmer—demonstrates delayed gratification. Hard work is endured for the sake of a later reward—praise, a crown, or a portion of the harvest.

For the soldier, the Roman code of Theodosius commanded, "We forbid men engaged on military service to engage in civilian occupations." Soldiers could neither marry, nor engage in agriculture, commerce, or industry. They were soldiers only—nothing more or less.

For the athlete, the rules to be obeyed were not merely the rules of competition, but also the rules for training. Athletes are routinely disqualified for failing to follow the rules of the contest, like USA’s Wallace Spearmon, who was DQ’d in the 200-meter race in the Olympics this week for stepping on a lane line. However, athletes can also get DQ’d by training outside of the rules—doping, for example.

For the farmer, things get a bit trickier. v6 can be translated, "The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops," or, "The farmer should first work hard [then] receive a share of the crops." Inasmuch as in the OT God was supposed to receive the first fruits of the harvest, and Jesus gives a parable of tenant farmers failing to turn over the harvest to the landowner (Matt 21:33-46), the second interpretation seems better, and it also fits with the delayed gratification illustrated by the soldier and the athlete.

Application

To appreciate what Paul is saying, we must learn to hear Paul with a fresh pair of ears. To us, Paul is the super-Christian, apostle to the Gentiles, preacher of a gospel of grace, the first missionary, and the founder of churches across half the Mediterranean. In hindsight, we see Paul as a great success story. However, consider the evidence at the time of Paul’s letter:

Paul was a prisoner, probably awaiting his execution. Certainly he saw himself nearing the end (4:6-8).

Paul had been deserted (4:16); some former disciples actively opposed him (4:14-15); some had wandered into heresies (2:14-18).

Around the Mediterranean many of the churches Paul had founded were struggling; most notably, the church in Corinth had spurned Paul in favor of other teachers (2 Cor. 11:1-15).

Even in Jerusalem, in the headquarters of the early church, Paul was accorded only grudging respect. The Christians in Jerusalem were still mostly Jewish Christians, following the Jewish law, worshipping at the temple. On Paul’s final trip to Jerusalem, they had countered Paul’s testimony of what he had done on his mission trips with reports of thousands of Jewish converts who were zealous for the law and who were offended by Paul’s gospel of "cheap grace" (Acts 21:17-36).

Paul was asking Timothy to take over his ministry … a ministry that appeared to be floundering.

Indeed, Paul was asking Timothy to preach of gospel of the grace of God, a future resurrection, and the imminent return of Christ, but what if Paul had gotten it wrong? (2:16-18)

Thus we see Paul having to fan the flames of Timothy’s faith (1:6) and to urge him to pass on the faith to reliable men! The temptation, of course, is to believe the lie: that all that work has been for naught; that one’s faith is empty, wrong, or misplaced; that other people have figured it out better; that God has passed on by; that our chance has come and gone. Don’t believe it!

To focus on the trials, the delayed gratification, and the desired prizes of the soldier, the athlete, and the farmer is to miss the force at work behind the scene. The soldier labors to please his commander, but one must assume that his commander is invested in the success of his soldiers. The athlete competes to win by the rules, but the officials are invested in preparing the arena, enabling the athletes to run, and validating the victors. The farmer labors to obtain a harvest, but the God of creation will produce the harvest. In all of our struggles, in the world, in church, and in life, God does not stand on the sidelines, waiting to see if we will succeed for fail; rather, God is in the trials with us, striving with us.

Lolo Jones has had to deal with failure before. After failing to qualify for the 2004 Olympics, she told her coach she wanted to retire from track. Her coach replied, "I'll see you at practice tomorrow." So it is for us in our faith. We can tell God, "I’m ready to pack it in, to give up, to believe the lie," and God says, "I’ll see you at practice tomorrow." I don’t know what Jones, a Christian, will decide about the 2012 Olympics, but I believe that God is ready to pick her up and continue to work in her. Likewise, God is going to show up today, tomorrow, and the next day in our lives, regardless of whether we see signs of success or not, for, "If we are faithless, he is faithful, for he cannot disown himself" (2 Tim. 2:13).

Points to Ponder

Could it be that Paul, in urging Timothy to pass on the faith to reliable men, is preaching to himself as well?

The rigors of Olympic training are hardly new. The Greek philosopher Epictetus said 1,900 years ago:

Would you be a victor in the Olympic games? So in good truth would I, for it is a glorious thing; but pray consider what must go before and what may follow, and so precede to the attempt. You must then live by rule, eat what will be disagreeable, refrain from delicacies; you must oblige yourself to constant exercise at the appointed hour, in heat and cold. You must abstain from wine and cold liquor; in a word, you must be as submissive to all the directions of your master as to those of a physician. (The Golden Sayings of Epictetus, CIV)

The discipline required of an Olympian is matched by the discipline required of a Christian: Jesus said:

Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'

Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:28-33)

How do Jesus’ words here fit with Paul’s illustrations of the soldier, the athlete, and the farmer? Just for fun, try rewriting Jesus parable using a soldier, an athlete, and a farmer. Do you see that for all their hard work, they still need God to intervene? Why do we insist on trying to do it ourselves?

Faster, Higher, Stronger: No Time to Think

This is the 6th 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. We live in a spectator culture. We watch and we may know theoretically how certain things are done, but if we don’t do them ourselves, in some sense we can’t really say that we know them.

Today’s Olympic moment begins with a poser: Which is harder to hit, a major league fastball, or an Olympic women’s softball? [1] Although a softball is admittedly bigger, the reaction time is less for softball, because the rubber on the pitcher’s mound in softball is only 43 feet from home plate (as opposed to baseball’s 60 feet, 6 inches). For a Randy Johnson 95-mph fastball, the batter has .39 seconds to see the pitch, decide whether to swing, and then swing. For a Jennie Finch 71-mph softball, the batter has only .38 seconds! [2] After the 1996 Olympics, star pitcher Lisa Fernandez pitched against a MLB all-star lineup, striking out the likes of David Justice and Bobby Bonilla. It’s all about reaction time.

1 Timothy 4:1-8

Commentary

v1 later times. Not necessarily "last times." Don’t go too eschatological here. The word for time here doesn’t refer to clock or calendar time, but rather a season.

v2 seared. The word here can also mean "branded." There are three main interpretations of this verse: (1) the liars are branded with the mark of Satan; (2) the liars are branded (marked) by their teaching as false teachers; and (3) the consciences of the liars are scarred (and insensitive).

v3 This is an illustrative list of vile teachings, not an exhaustive list. What sort of other teachings does Paul oppose in his other letters? John Calvin says of this verse, "The doctrine of faith is destroyed as soon as the worship of God is infected by such corruptions."

v4-5 Compare this with Acts 11. What kinds of teachings are nullified in the account in Acts?

Application

Where do sermon ideas come from, and whatever possessed me to do a series of sermons with Olympic themes? Rick Hall was in my office one day and he said, "As an athlete, I cannot be thinking about what I need to do, because the action happens too quickly. If I have to think about it, I’m going to fail. I can’t think as fast as I have to react. I have to train myself to be able to react without thinking about it." In the same way—and this was the point Rick was making—as Christians we cannot be thinking about what we need to do as fast as life is coming at us. We need to train ourselves to react without having to think about what’s right or wrong. As Rick was speaking, I thought of 1 Timothy 4:8, and a sermon series began to take shape.

Where does life come at us so fast that we cannot react in time if we have to think it through? How about:

Forgiveness: If you have to think about forgiving the one who has done you wrong, you’ve probably missed the moment—and you have given the devil a foothold.

Generosity: If you have to think about giving your time, your money, or your self to another, your motive is suspect—are you gracious, or calculating?

Gossip or Vulgarity: If you have to monitor your speech that closely, what escaped before you reigned in your tongue? ("Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry." James 1:19b)

Certainly there will be occasions when we need to reconsider what we have done, or go back and make amends, or even go back and do something more. The point is not to operate without thinking; rather, the point is to have a bias for godliness.

One way to think about working on a bias for godliness is to compare it to speed training, overspeed training, or assisted sprinting in sports. These various techniques trick the body into thinking that it can really move faster than it’s used to moving. For a distance runner, it might involve sprinting short distances at a faster pace than one’s long distance pace. For a sprinter, it might involve running downhill, building up more speed than one could achieve a flat track. For a thrower, it might involve throwing a lighter-than-normal implement. None of these techniques is really the way to operate in the long term—these techniques are just tools for tricking (or conditioning) the body into doing something new.

Perhaps some of those diabolical teachings—celibacy, fasting, and all the rest—could be viewed the same way. Plenty of saints, ascetics, advocated renouncing material comforts and embracing a life-style of self-denial as a way of training the soul. However, the saints would certainly agree that these disciplines were not themselves the way life, for either the present life or the life to come. None of these techniques was really the law of how to operate in the long term—these techniques were just tools for tricking (or conditioning) the soul into seeing or doing something new. The bane of our human existence is that we take a discipline, a special occasion, or a fanciful story (aka myth) and try to make it into a new law of how to live.

Points to Ponder

What do you struggle with? Forgiveness? Generosity? Gossip? Vulgarity? Purity? Anger? Pride? Selfishness? Your assignment for the week is to discipline yourself to have a bias for godliness. Think of the situation that you struggle with; now, determine what you want your response in that situation to be, and commit to that response. For example, if you struggle with forgiveness, perhaps you could resolve to simply say, "I forgive you," (and none of the usual sarcastic and judgmental stuff) whenever someone this week tells you they’re sorry. If you struggle with generosity, perhaps you could resolve to give something to everybody who asks you for help this week. Think of it as your speed training for the week. (Note: It’s not the law for the rest of your life—that’s the point of the sermon—it’s just a technique designed to help you get past where you are stuck.)

Compare what Paul says here to 1 Tim 1:3-7; 2 Tim 4:1-5; TItus 1:10-16. How do these other passages shed light on today’s text?

End Notes
1 - Softball has been an Olympic sport since 1996, but 2008 marks the last planned softball competition. Why? Many opined that the USA women’s team was just too good. Going into the 2008 Olympics, the USA softball team had won every gold medal. In 2004, the team went 9-0: outscoring the opposition 51-1, with the lone run coming in the penultimate inning of the final game; yielding only 17 hits in 56 innings; and winning 4 games by the slaughter rule. Sports Illustrated dubbed that team "The Real Dream Team". As of August 16th, the 2008 USA softball team was 5-0: outscoring the opposition 36-1; yielding only 4 hits in 34 innings; and winning 3 games by the slaughter rule. For a brief history of U.S. women’s Olympic softball, check out: http://www.usasoftball.com/folders.asp?uid=153
2 - The math here assumes both pitchers are stepping off the rubber towards home plate, so the distances of the thrown pitches is actually less than the distance to the rubber. For more baseball/softball physics, go to http://sportsfigures.espn.com/lp_math_reaction03.htm

Faster, Higher, Stronger: Spiritual Aerobic Exercise

This is the 5th 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. Today’s question is: Where and how are our struggles won?

Are they won by force of will—rising to the occasion when the struggle is the hardest?

Are they won by doing nothing--trusting God to pull a miracle?

Are they won beforehand—in prayer and preparation when we can think more clearly?

Today’s Olympic athlete was never an Olympic champion, although he was the preeminent U.S. distance runner and 8-year world record holder in his prime. Kansas high-schooler Jim Ryun in 1964 was the first high school miler to break a four-minute mile, and to this day he remains the only high school junior to have done so. As a senior, his 3:55.3 was the U.S. record and it remained the U.S. high school record for 36 years. This was the last time an American male high school track athlete set a U.S. record. As a high-school junior, Ryun qualified for the 1964 Olympics at 1,500 meters, but was eliminated in the semi-finals. Running for the University of Kansas, Ryun was the 1967-1969 NCAA indoor champion and the 1967 NCAA outdoor champion in the mile; in 1968, he was the NCAA outdoor champion in the 2-mile as well. Recovering from mononucleosis, Ryun nevertheless garnered a silver medal in the 1968 Olympics in the 1,500-meter race. Beforehand he had predicted that 3:39 would be good enough to win in the high altitude in Mexico City. He ran 3:37.8, but lost to Kenya’s Kip Keino.

We had thought that 3:39 would win and I ran under that. I considered it like winning a gold medal; I had done my very best and I still believe I would have won at sea level ... I didn't get any credit for running my best and no one seemed to realize that Keino had performed brilliantly.

In the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Ryun was tripped during a qualifying heat in the 1,500-meter run and did not finish. He remains, possibly, the best American track star to never win Olympic gold.

To this day, Ryun remains legendary for his workouts. As a high school senior, he routinely ran 85-100 miles per week, and in preparation for the 1972 Olympics, he pushed himself up to 120 miles per week. A typical Ryun high school workout might consist of running 440 meters in 60.5 seconds or less (i.e. fast enough to qualify for the Maine state track meet) … 20 times … with only a 1-minute rest between each!

Hebrews 12:4-13

Commentary

discipline. Based on word repetition, is there any doubt about the major theme? The word appears in the NIV 10 times as either a noun or a verb. The word refers to the instruction of a child; as a blank slate, a child cannot be expected to know right from wrong and must be corrected, perhaps painfully, when necessary.

The passage is notable for two other things:

(1) It quotes Proverbs twice. v5b-6 quotes Pr. 3:11-12, while v13a quotes Pr. 4:26; both chapters of Proverbs urge the child to trust godly wisdom instead of trusting in the world, or trusting in self.

(2) We are given a set of contrasts from which to deduce God’s wisdom:

v5-6 scorning discipline vs. accepting it;

v7-8 enduring discipline as a legit child vs. missing discipline as a bastard;

v9-10 discipline by human vs. godly fathers;

v11 immediate vs. delayed fruits of discipline.

Application

As a track and cross-country coach, runners frequently complain, "Coach, I’m really tired." My response is usually, "That’s good; now you’re ready to get some work done." For any kind of distance training, the logic is more or less the same:

burn up your energy reserves,

then concentrate on specific workouts targeted to improve: increasing oxygen capacity & processing; increasing tolerance of lactic acid waste; relaxing the body under stress; or improving speed & strength.

Technically speaking, not all of these are aerobic conditioning, but the point is this: most training happens after you have been stressed a bit and worked up a sweat—that is the physical state where the real training can start.

Nevertheless, every year there is a kid who doesn’t get it—a kid, usually a nice kid, who says, "Coach, I cannot run today. I’m sore, I’m tired, I just can’t do it." They’re not hurt or injured; they’re not sick; but every day they have an excuse why they cannot run the whole workout.

Generally speaking, at the high school, cross-country and track are not cut sports. Show up; keep your nose clean; do the work; get a letter. It’s simple. I’m happy to coach all the kids, regardless of ability. However, the athlete who consistently opts out of the workouts has effectively opted off of the team; I didn’t cut the athlete, the athlete (if one can be called that) has cut himself/herself.

It’s the same when God trains us. Spiritual training has nothing to do with what we can do on our own power; spiritual training happens when our reserves are spent and we have to rely on God. What will the Spirit have us do now?

Some training is tiring, but doable, like forgiving someone over and over (Matthew 18:21-22).

Some training is hard at first, but becomes easier as we do it more, like
giving (2 Cor. 9:6-11).

Some training is hard and gets harder as the stakes go up, like martyrdom (John 21:18-19).

Just as I can only coach when athletes are ready to follow direction, God is only able to be the kind of father that trains his children when his children are ready to follow him. Those who refuse to follow are not illegitimate children because God wants nothing to do with them; they have become illegitimate because they want nothing to do with him.

Where and how are our struggles won? They are won during practice. They are won during the mindless repetition of mundane trials we come to handle unconsciously. They are won during focused periods of more intense trials that strengthen us and increase our capacity to handle trials. The will, the desire, that counts is not the fire in the belly during competition—it is the desire that shows up every day for practice.

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.

Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;

but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles;they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Isaiah 40:29-31

Points to Ponder

At first glance, v12-13 appears to refer to Isaiah 40:3-4 (and Mark 1:3, et al):

A voice of one calling:

In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make
straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.

Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, 
the rugged places a plain.

Read Proverbs 4 and Isaiah 40. Does the preparation of a level path serve the same purpose in each? Which seems to fit better with today’s passage?

How much does the discipline, or training, in today’s passage depend on God, and how much does it depend on you? What parts depend solely on God? What parts depend solely on you?

Faster, Higher, Stronger: Tough Love

This is the 4th 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. Sometimes the stress to be more & better seems more than we can bear—or is it?

At the 1976 Olympics, Shun Fujimoto of the Japanese men’s gymnastics team competed in the pommel horse and the rings with a broken leg after breaking his right kneecap during the floor exercises. Fujimoto later said that the pain during the pommel horse was excruciating, but manageable; however, he knew that the rings would be practically impossible. The pommel horse did not require a dismount; however, in the rings, the dismount and landing was a vital part of the score. A teammate helped Fujimoto up onto the rings. Although the pain during his performance was horrible, in the back of his mind, Fujimoto knew that he would have to stick the landing from a height of 8 feet in order to garner a winning score for his team.

When the time came to dismount, Fujimoto completed a good, not perfect (although maybe perfect under the circumstances) triple-somersault landing. With gritted teeth that did not completely mask the pain, he smiled to the crowd even though his leg was now ruined, his kneecap dislocated, ligaments torn. Fujimoto would never compete again. Ironically, his score on the rings was a personal best, and the Japanese went on to win the team competition by .4 points, a 5th consecutive gold for the team. His doctor later said, "How he managed to do somersaults and twists and land without collapsing in screams is beyond my comprehension."

What would possess a person to sacrifice their body, and career, for a momentary prize?

Hebrews 12:4-6

Commentary

Curiously, many of the interesting Greek words in this passage—struggle (v4), resisted (v4), forgotten (v5), make light of (v5), rebukes (v5)—occur only in this passage in the whole NT. However, we can still interpret the passage with some confidence:

First, the quotation in v5-6 is from Proverbs 3:11-12, which is the tail end of a longer passage (Proverbs 3:1-12). This longer passage is a set of 6 pairs of verses, and each pair reiterates the same theme:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. (v5-6)

In our struggle against sin, we frequently err by trusting in what we think looks like the solution to the problem. When we do this, we sell ourselves out; worse yet, we sell God short.

Second, the references to discipline all refer to the instruction of a child. A child cannot be expected to know anything; a child must be keep safe until he/she can knows how to get around safely. However, on the other hand, since a child is a blank slate and must be taught right from wrong, part of the instruction is showing a child, forcibly if need be, the error of the child’s ways. (This type of discipline is referred to frequently in the NT, including Eph. 6:4, 2 Tim. 3:16, and Heb. 12:7, 8, 11. We will look at the Hebrews 12 passage next week.)

Third, the notion of rebuking believers dabbling in sin is common: Matt. 18:15; Eph. 5:11,13; 1 Tim. 5:20; Rev. 3:19. (Christians tend to shoot themselves in the foot by taking verses like these and sallying forth to beat up on non-believers. This is a misinterpretation of the verses. Worse, by ignoring the sins in our own house, we come under the judgment of non-believers who rightly see us as hypocrites.)

Lastly, every other NT use of the word punish (v6) refers to the scourging of Christ and believers during persecution.

Application

At first glance, these verses seem horrible. Who would want a father who punishes those he claimed to love? "I’m going to beat you with my belt, but remember, boy, this hurts me more than it hurts you." Yeah, right.

At the same time, what kind of sadistic god would want us to shed blood? What kind of father demands that kind of devotion, that kind sacrifice of life & limb? And for what? Shun Fujimoto, years later when asked if he would make the same choice again to sacrifice his body, simply said, "No."

But what if we have it all wrong? What if we have it upside-down?

We see denying ourselves, spurning temptations, avoiding sin as a sacrifice. God says it is not.

We see self-denial of these pleasures as pain. God says it is not.

We see our dutiful obedience and sacrifice as "karma" which obligates God to grant us success. God says it does not.

Our delusion comes from taking our eye off of the prize. The prize has never been success, prosperity, or even happiness. The prize has never been found in the world. God is the prize. God has always intended for him to be the source of our happiness and the result of all our striving. All those other things we strive after are false gods, and our love affair with those other things is sin.

… don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." [1] Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. James 4:4-10

If God is the goal, then following him should not be a sacrifice. If God is the goal, then putting every hindrance aside should not be painful. If God is the goal, then obedience should not be dully dutiful; rather, it should be joyous and jubilant. If God is the goal …

Do you see how far you (or we, or I) have strayed? Having our false gods ripped from us is going to hurt. (Now, whose fault is that?) Should God leave us alone and let us stray rather than risk the pain of straightening us out?

Points to Ponder

We have the idea that God is leading us toward a particular end or a desired goal, but He is not … What we see as only the process of reaching a particular end [e.g. obedience, trust, and with it a deeper relationship with God], God sees as the goal itself …

God’s training is for now, not later. His purpose is for this very minute, not for sometime in the future … What people call preparation [moment-by-moment obedience], God sees as the goal itself.

Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, July 28

The difference between you and Shun Fujimoto is this: Fujimoto destroyed his body for a momentary prize; you give up the things of this world (maybe even your own life) for an eternal prize. Fujimoto destroyed his body forever, but as you turn from worldly pursuits, the living God you serve will salve your wounds with healing, restoration, justice, and wholeness.

"I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first." (Mark 10:29-31)

End Notes

1 - Proverbs 3:34