Racing Tips
Introduction
The Christmas season is upon us and in just a few weeks time we will all be opening presents and hopefully spending quality time with our families. We have much to be thankful about. We are fortunate that we can freely worship in our country. We are also grateful for the many rights and personal freedoms that our government protects. Our personal freedom and rights, however, came with a price. Forty-four hundred Americans in the American Revolutionary War made the ultimate sacrifice to secure for us the freedoms we have today.
Our faith is also built upon the suffering and trials of the small minority of prophets, martyrs, and saints that believed in the coming Messiah. In today’s epistle reading from Hebrews 11:33 – 12:2, we pay tribute to the forefathers that paved the way for coming of our Lord. More important is that these men and women of faith serve as our guide and encourage us to race towards Christ and receive that promise that waits. Looking at today’s scripture, we see a long litany of trials that ancient kings, prophets, and people of faith suffered to prepare the way for coming Lord. We learn about God’s Old Testament saints that were hunted, mocked, thrown to the lions, thrown into raging fire, and even sawn in two (Isaiah). While God delivered some of these saints, others bore the marks of torture and were killed. Despite their trials, the Old Testament saints never received what was promised in their lifetime – they died before being delivered by Christ. These Old Testament forefathers in many ways are similar to our fallen soldiers who perish before the outcome of a battle or war is decided. They remained steadfast and faithful through adversity and died before God’s promise to them could be fulfilled.
Today, we have received the promise of salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus Christ gives us full access to the Kingdom of God. Even though the doors of the Kingdom are open, we see a world that can care less whether it gains access. Instead, our world races off to find worldly pleasure in the latest fad, lust, or delight that can satisfy its most instant desire. In retrospect, perhaps this is why many people sarcastically equate the world’s folly as the “Rat Race of Life.” The Rat Race of Life is a product of our unwillingness to be patient and truly experience life and God’s creation. Fast food, instant coffee, remote controls, audio books, express checkouts, and speed dating are indicating that our culture cannot wait on anything. Not only do we want instant service, but also we’ve become impatient with others and cannot comprehend why complex personal problems cannot be solved within the time span of the average sitcom. The Rat Race of Life is a 100-yard dash to the finish line where winners have the most toys, travel the greatest distances, know the most people, and exert the most influence. The Rat Race of Life feels terrible. It is like being eternally cast in the game show “Supermarket Sweep” and where we are called upon to scoop the most groceries into our carts before time runs out. Being caught up on the Rat Race of Life tires the body, dulls our minds, and deadens the soul.
The Rat Race of Life certainly stimulates our basic senses, but it leaves the soul impoverished. Just as fast food satisfies the body’s hunger, fast food does not nourish the body. Our bodies ultimately need nourishment to maintain a high level of efficiency – they do not need junk food. The Rat Race of Life is the junk food of the soul. More stuff is not better. Instead, better is better. Let me explain. When athletes train for an important contest, they want to maximize every aspect of their training. They adhere to strict diets, exercise important muscle groups, get proper instruction, and alter their workouts to allow their bodies to recuperate. The Rate Race of Life is not the type of contest our Lord wants us to enter because it is an undisciplined mob free-for-all. This is not our calling, this is not our game, and this is not our race. We can never win the Rat Race of Life.
Instead, St. Paul envisions the Christian lifestyle as a long-distance race to salvation. Here we find Jesus Christ at the finish line with his arms open wide welcoming us in to the blessedness of the Kingdom of God. According to St. Paul, Christians are engaged in marathon and we are to train appropriately. The Rat Race of Life has contestants grabbing haphazardly at trinkets on the “Supermarket Sweep” shelves. In contrast, the Christian marathon to salvation involves discipline, moral conviction, perseverance, consistency, and the ability to listen to advice. Our road to salvation is not easy and St. Paul gives us advice about four things that will help us in our spiritual training.
Take Advantage of the Home Field Advantage Fan Base
The first item that we should be aware of in our spiritual training is to take advantage of the home field advantage and the local fan base. We have countless prophets, martyrs, and saints that have gone before us and know our struggles. They have lived holy, disciplined, and virtuous lives for the glory of God. They have passed from the struggles of this life into the blessedness of the Kingdom. Our Lord, along with His heavenly witnesses is praying for our salvation and is encouraging us in our efforts to reach salvation. In addition to those who have achieved their heavenly crowns, we have countless brothers and sisters in the faith that are on our side cheering us on in our struggles. Unlike earthly contests where there is only one winner and each contestant is pitted against each other, all people are united in a common struggle towards God’s Kingdom. Helping each other reach the finish line is encouraged and leads to our own attainment of salvation. Let us harness the energy of encouragement from our Lord, our fellow Christians, and saints gone before us knowing that they want us to reach our heavenly home.
Train Incredibly Hard So That You Will Always Persevere and Never Quit
The second item that we should be aware of in our spiritual training is to train hard so that we will always persevere in the face of adversity and never give in to the enemy. Athletes know that their track meet, their football game, their swim meet is the product of their training. If someone trains properly, nothing new is discovered on the day of competition; they simply put into place the game plan that they developed long ago. Christian training, commonly known as discipleship is the process where we learn to overcome the pressures and trials of this life by examining our thoughts, words, and actions in accordance with the Word of God. The first step in discipleship is placing Jesus Christ first in our lives. We develop our faith by disciplining and training ourselves to follow our Lord’s teachings. Our spiritual training eventually takes hold when our lifestyle changes so that we no longer live, but Christ lives in us. When we live entirely for the Gospel of Christ, the Kingdom of God becomes our focus and fulfillment. Spiritual training is difficult, long, and obstacles such as temptation and personal tragedy challenge our faith. It’s interesting to point out that the Greek word for race is agona, where we derive the modern word agony. This implies that Christian training is difficult and a lot of work. Yet, if we hold steadfast to our training we will be able to overcome each trial and use it to strengthen our faith. Eventually, circumstances will have no effect on our spirituality because we will see Christ working in each situation. Circumstances will serve to enhance our faith and we will be brought closer to Him with each trial. By staying in the race, we are guaranteed to finish. Our only challenge is not to give up on God.
Stay Lean and Carry No Excess Baggage
The third item that we should be aware of in our spiritual training is we need to stay lean and carry no excess baggage. Back in high school, I was a long distance runner. My cross-country shoes were as light as a feather and my uniform weighed even less. Even the lightest weights seem heavy if you have to cart them over long distances. For example, try running with two pound weights in your hand. When you first pick them up, they seem pretty light, however after running with them for one-half hour, they seem to weigh more than the Brooklyn Bridge. Less weight is faster and competitive runners are lean because they cannot compete with extra pounds. Likewise, the Christians must be free from the weight of sin in order to finish the race to the Kingdom of God. Sin weighs us down. It sticks to the beauty of our soul and tarnishes the soul’s brilliance and effectiveness. When we are engaged in sin, it dampens our spirits and causes depression; it takes away our competitive edge, it causes us to be critical of others, and it separates us from God. Sin that is not purged will eventually take over a person and lead to their spiritual death.
In our religious tradition, the sacrament of confession releases us from the guilt and emotional burden of sin. Confession purges us from sin’s weight. During confession, we receive the divine forgiveness of Christ for any sins that are confessed. Through confession, we receive spiritual counseling and through our repentance, we receive a new start, a new beginning. In our understanding, repentance is more than just being sorry, but it is a realization of what was done and the gaining of a new perspective and vision how to set our lives on the right path. Confession, repentance, and a disciplined Christian lifestyle keep our souls lean and conditioned so that we can finish the race to God’s Kingdom. Repentance removes the excess weight of sin.
Keep Your Sight on the Finish Line
The fourth item that we should be aware of in our spiritual training is keeping our sight on the finish line. When I ran cross-country, we traveled to many parks and cross-country courses that were many miles from my high school. Before we ran any race, the whole team would walk through the entire course so we could plan our running strategy. Usually, during our walkthrough the coach would point out various markers along the way that we could use to gauge our distance to the finish line. This was important because our spirits would be uplifted for each marker that we passed during the race. These small achievements encouraged us to race past the next marker, and the next until we finished the race. Even though the markers encouraged us along the way, we were primarily focused on the finish line. Runners are told not to look around or look back because these distractions can throw off their stride or slow them down. Christians also must be fixated on the finish line and run towards the Lord standing at the gates of the Kingdom. Throughout the course of our lives, we sometimes become distracted and preoccupied with the many temptations that captures our immediate attention. These distractions slow down our spiritual progress, they may make us stumble, go off course, and can disqualify us from the race. Having our sights set on the finish line gives us the discipline needed to run at a steady pace perfecting our technique, and finishing in peak form.
As I wrap up, I want to point out that there is no mystery in achieving salvation. St. Paul equates gaining entrance into the Kingdom of God with running a distanc race. The question to all of us is what race event are we entered in. Are we entered in the Rat Race of Life or are we running the race of perseverance to God’s Kingdom. Unfortunately, those engaged in the Rat Race of Life, eventually wind up where they plotted their course. When they arrive at their final destination, they will recognize that that they signed up to the wrong event and entered a race they could not win. Those who run towards Christ eventually arrive in His Kingdom provided that they trained accordingly. Four things that help us along the way are: our Lord and saints’ encouraging prayers, our discipleship training, the purging of sin and its effects from our lives, and having our sights focused on Christ. I pray that we train each day by running the race of salvation by first placing Christ in our lives and by dedicating ourselves to performing good works and virtue. So how about it? Who’s up for some spiritual exercise? Amen.
