“Shaping Up for the Race of Faith”

Scripture Reading:  I Corinthians 9:24-26

September 11, 2005

 Rev. Dr. Carol Kerr

 Blue Point Congregational Church 

Sports has started for the fall.  You drive by the sports fields in Scarborough or along Portland on 295, or in Falmouth, where we live, and you drive by newly minted teams starting to do the long hard work of training.  There are soccer teams, football teams, field hockey, track teams.   You see them lined up all leaning to the left, as the ground has tilted, stretching their ham strings.  You see them rolling on the ground, like tumble weed, in some new football drill, practicing for when they get hit in a game, and not to drop the ball. You see them jogging in slow motion herd of hopeful cross country runners, getting their aerobic capacities up.   By the end of the season they and their team will be able to run, and throw, and jump in ways that they never thought possible at the beginning of the seasons.  At some time whole stadiums will roar out for  their truly inspiring moves.

Practice and drills are not new.  In fact, the apostle Paul must have seen athletes practicing two thousand years ago, particularly track and field.  As he walked by and watched these athletes practiced he admired their dedication to what they were striving for.  It occurred to Paul that the spiritual life needs that same kind of dedication.  He writes in 1 Corinthians 9:24-26,

Remember that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize.  You also must run in such a way that you will win.  All athletes practice strict self-control.  They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.  So I run straight to the goal with purpose in every step. 

Again in another place Hebrews 12:1-2, Paul says,

Since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses (spiritual examples) to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress.  And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us.  We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish.

Many of us parents have signed our kids up for these fall sports.  Many of us will be standing on the side lines cheering away.  We will be standing in the sunshine.  We will be standing in the rain.  We will be cutting orange halves for the team.  We will be washing out water bottles.  And we will be desperately searching for that one soccer sock that always seems to get lost 30 seconds before we absolutely have to go!

 We also have signed our kids up for Sunday school.  Paul has a point, if our kids are going to be any good at being Christians, if we want them to run the race of faith, to win the eternal prize that will never fade away,  they have to have the same dedication, practice, team building and training that they need for soccer.   Sunday school and the church, we are their coaches.  So we have to stick with it and follow through.  We have to find that lost sock for soccer and likewise we have to dig out that Bible from underneath the bed and flip it open late at night to read one more Bible story.  We have to get our kids to practice, likewise  we have to round up the troops on Sunday morning, find more socks, change the shirt that just got milk spilled on, clamber out the door and into the car (30 seconds after we were suppose to be at church!) and go! 

Now, as everyone knows if you get in shape as a kid and then when you become an adult say, 18 years old you never do anything athletic again -- you will not stay in shape.  Watching tennis on TV. is not the same as playing it.  Sorry!  The good news is this though.  People use to think that with aging athletic ability necessarily had to decline.  Not so!  Recent studies have shown that if you stay active, and in shape your physical capability will stay in shape way into old age.  For instance, if you are a couch potato from the age of 18 your physical capacity will over the years in a curve that goes like this….  If you stay active, your physical capacity will pretty much stay the same and drop only slightly.

It is the same for church.  As Clarence Jordan says, “You can’t raise live chicks under dead hens!”  If we want God to touch the lives of the young children and youths in our churches, then the lives of adults will need to be touched and changed.  The congregation itself, not the Sunday schools, is the primary formative experience for the young.   We need to expect 80% of the congregation to be involved in some experience of faith development if we expect 80% of our kids to go to Sunday School. (Transforming Congregational Culture, Anthony Robinson, page 78)  We can’t be spiritual couch potatoes.  We all have to join the team, get in shape, practice and run the race for the eternal prize.  

My husband, David, and my 9 year old son, Ian are going to ride their bikes in a 50 mile marathon for MS in a few weeks down in New Jersey with Dave’s brother.  They have been getting in shape all summer.  In order to keep track of how they are doing, they have a sports diary.  They are using The Carmichael Training Systems Cyclist’s Diary. Chris Carmichael is the man who coached Lance Armstrong, 7 time winner of the Tour de France.  In the introduction he explains why you want to keep a training diary. 

The most successful athletes put the past to work in shaping their futures.  Your training diary is a unique record of the things that worked, and the things that didn’t work, in training and competition.  We are all striving to achieve our goals and progress as athletes with each passing year.  You are most likely strong, faster, and more skilled than you were when you first rode a bicycle, but like every athlete, you still have room to improve.  This training diary can reveal the path you took to get where you are today, and help you create an action plan for the future.

We as adults need to have make our own spiritual training diary.  We need to set our goals for the year.  Then keep track of  how we are doing.  What works well.  What does not work well for us.   How much closer are we getting to our goals.    We do it for sports, why not do it for God.  So, you will see today an insert in your bulletin.  (adapted from gForce by Bo Boshers)  In it there are questions for you to think about.  Get a pencil out and get ready. 

The first question is “I was ___________ years old when I became a follower of Jesus.”   When was the first time you realized you were planning on running the race of faith?  There are two ways this might have happened.  One is there was a specific time and place where you definitely dedicated yourself to Christ.  Many people call this moment being “born again.”  There is another way this could happen which is in fact more traditional.  Following Jesus was not a specific decision on a specific day, but more like following a wonderful fragrance.  One day you smelled something in the air, just a puff or two that was fabulous.  Then another day, you smelled it again.  One time you start to wonder “Where does that fragrance come from?”  So you start to follow it.  You search out places for the smell.  The closer you get the more wonderful the aroma.  Roses and cinnamon and orange and something indescribable that makes your eyes water.   One day you realize that most of your life now is spent on the search.   When did you become a follower of Jesus?  What was the day you realized that this was really the most important thing in your life?  You might even put down today.

The next thing you are to do is check off all that apply.  Since becoming Christian I have become more like Christ in the following ways….  First way,  “I have shared my faith with someone I care about.”  Is there someone in your life who is your spiritual accountability partner?  In other words, do you have a church coach.  This is someone who you share your spiritual goals with.  Someone who will encourage and pray for you to stay committed, and you do the same for them.   This isn’t about lecturing, or someone who knows everything about the Bible.  Rather it is about someone who can listen to your experiences without judgment and share their own.  If you saw a flaming red branch as you were driving along, and it reminded you of the glory of God, can you share that with them.  If you had a dream, as I did, of passing, can it be true, a Christian peace pipe and inhaling the smoke of the Holy Spirit.  Can you share that with them, without feeling stupid.  Can you be honest and say how much of the Bible you would like to read.   And if you don’t do it, talk to them about why it is so.   I think this is probably the most important thing we can do, is get a church coach. 

The line to check off if it applies to you is since becoming a Christian , “I have a greater desire to become more like Jesus”   If you ask an athlete who do you admire in your sport they quickly rattle off one or two names that they admire and want to be like.  For my son Ian it is Lance Armstrong.  In fact, he bicycles with his Dad and wears a Discovery Channel team shirt, just like Lance did on the Tour de France this summer.  These people are mentors who the athlete keeps in his or her mind, and tries to be like, as close as possible.  If they can do it, I can do it, is the thinking.  Through imitating our mentors we discover the heroic potential in ourselves.  It is the same for Christians.  Christ is the one who ran the race of faith the best and is number one in the “Church Hall of Fame.”  Through our imitation of Christ we discover Christ-likeness in ourselves.   A famous spiritual path is called “The Imitation of Christ.”  That is that we actually imitate the life of Christ.  For instance, we become non violent or we work to heal people, or we give to the poor.  In other words, do we follow the example of Jesus and place a loyalty to Jesus above every other human tie.  As the disciples said, “Lo, I have left everything and followed you.”  (Mark 10:28)

Next, since becoming Christian I have become more like Christ as  “I look forward to spending time alone with God.”  What if the team had practices three times a week.  On Monday, you call the coach and said, “You would love to go to practice but you have to go grocery shopping.  I can’t run well if my stomach isn’t full after all.  See you on Friday.”  The coach might say, “Well O.K.”    Friday comes along and you call the coach again and say, “Hey, I would love to be there, that new drill sounds like great fun, but I have to work late at work.  See you on Sunday, definitely.”  The coach might say, “Well O.K., but you are missing a lot.”  Then Sunday comes along and you call the coach and say, ‘Look I can’t possibly come, I have the lawn to mow, and frankly, I have to catch up on my sleep.”  The coach might kick him off the team.  But God never kicks us off the team.  God is a nice coach and simply says, “I really need you on the team.  Can you rethink your priorities?”   “Sure I will God.”  Well the person keeps skipping practices.  But one day there comes the big playoff game.  It might be a divorce.  It might be your children leaving for college and an empty nest.  It might be serious illness, or the death of a loved one.  It might be a hurricane.  This time you can’t skip out of the game.  The game is upon you.  Will you be ready to play as well as you would have if you had gone to the practices.  The answer of course is no. 

The next question is,  “I am more loving with my family and friends.”  I happen to be listening to public radio yesterday.  The commentator was talking about how there was a listing recently published of who were the football athletes who got the highest salary.  Even though they have won the Super Bowl three times in four years, only one of the New England patriots was on that list, Vinatieri.  The Patriots are a super team, not because they have super star players but because they work together as a very effective.  Spiritual life is a team sport.  It is not just about us going off on a mountain someplace meditating.  It is not just about us watching Billy Graham on the television.  Rather it is about us learning to love and sharing that love with others.  1 Corinthians it says,

Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude.  It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth.  It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  ...When I was a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways.  For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face.  Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully know.  And now faith, hope and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love. 

The spiritual life is a team sport in another way.  That is Christians learn and grow together with other believers.  This is the next question since becoming a Christian, “I have a greater desire to learn and grow together with other believers.”    Why is it so important to be part of a Christian team and go to church?  The Holy Spirit works through the church.  Maya Angelou describes her experience of going to church from a little child on up to an adult. 

Church was the first public place where I came child to spirit to Christ.  Literally, church introduced me to my very first friend.  Louise and I both thought the preacher talked too long.  Mrs. Sneed sang too loudly and Brother Williams got too wild when he prayed.  …we both giggled at the same time and cried just as piteously when we were chastised. 

Every time I feel the spirit, I know I am immersed in the essence of church.   That knowledge changes my voice.  I speak more softly and choose my words more carefully…out of my heart…I am blessed.  I am in church. 

I cannot define the breadth and depth and width and height of church, but church can define me always.  It slides the skin over my muscles and allows my lungs to inspirate and fill so that hallelujahs like rain come from my mouth.  Hallelujahs fall like rain from my mouth. 

Church is where I go when I want a certain fulfillment, and church is where I don’t have to go because it is always with me, holding me up, propelling me forward, sustaining me. 

The next question is, “I am more willing to help and serve others.”   Mission is the word we use in church when we talk about helping and serving other.  Jesus told us to do mission and comes out of a response to God’s love and an awareness of what God has done to us.  I heard the most extraordinary journal of Kent Hannan who lived in Haiti and works for Beyond Borders, a Christian non-profit organization which focuses on education and literacy training.  He wrote and essay called, “Empty for Love.”  He talks about a dull hollow ache in his chest and he wanted to fill it.  He saw how easy it is to fill what he calls the echo chamber clanging for God with other things, like radio, Starbucks coffee, the latest hip book store on the corner, 500 stations on cable TV.   This would distract him from the real race for God.  So he moved across cultures to live in a tin house with Hatian farming family.   Stripped down to the bare essentials he found the only thing he had was prayer which  led him to think about doing something small but tangible that would help one of his young neighbors  Stripping down to the bare essentials, that is what Paul saw the runners back in his time do.  He suggested we Christians do the same so we don’t have any excess baggage weighing us down.  Mission is stripping down to help others. Paul says, “ let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress.”

The last question is since becoming Christian “I believe everything I own is a gift from God and belongs to God.”  The truth of the matter is that exercise, practice and drilling doesn’t create great athletes it brings out the natural ability that in born in our bodies already.  Likewise I believe that becoming spiritual athletes and running the race of faith brings out the seeds of faith that were planted by God in us before we were born.  

THERE WAS A LITTLE THREE YEAR OLD GIRL WHOSE MOTHER AND FATHER JUST BROUGHT HOME HER NEW LITTLE SISTER.  ONLY DAYS OLD, THE THREE YEAR OLD ASKED HER MOTHER IF SHE COULD BE IN THE ROOM ALONE WITH HER SISTER.  HER MOTHER AT FIRST SAID, NO.  SHE WAS WORRIED WHAT MIGHT HAPPENED UN SUPERVISED.  BUT THEN THE LITTLE GIRL KEPT ASKING HER.  SHE INSISTED ON BEING ALONE, NOT WITH HER MOTHER.  FINALLY HER MOTHER CONSENTED BECAUSE IT SEEMED SO IMPORTANT TO THIS OLDER SISTER.  SO WHEN THE LITTLE GIRL WENT INTO THE ROOM, HER MOTHER, OF COURSE LISTENED OUTSIDE THE DOOR OUT OF SIGHT.  SHE HEARD HER TIPTOE UP TO HER NEW BORN SISTER, ONLY A WEEK OR SO OLD AND ASK HER.  “TELL ME ABOUT GOD.  I THINK I AM BEGINNING TO FORGET.” 

To conclude, we have signed our children up for church today, just like we sign them up for sports.   Becoming a good Christian is much like practicing for a sport.  Yet it is not just about the children training.  It is about us as adults training for Christ and running the race to win the eternal prize.  In a minute after the next hymn, “Lord, I Want to be a Christian” I am going to ask you to use this list as a reference and write below the two or three ways you would like to develop and deepen your faith.  This will be the start of your spiritual training diary for the year.  If we stay in spiritual shape, if we practice continually, our souls won’t age, they won’t even decrease a little like our bodies will.  Rather, if we stay in spiritual shape in the end we will win the race and be able to say like Paul said in 1 Timothy 4:7  “I have fought a good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful.”  We will be able to win the eternal prize.