Title: Olympians Recover from Injuries
Text: Hebrews 12:12-13
The Big Idea: Spiritual Olympians, with a “go for the goal” mindset, recover from injuries.
Series: Spiritual Olympians: Going for the Goal, is based on Hebrews 12:1-13 and designed to coincide with the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, August 8 – 24 and beyond. It is a series developed from Go for the Goal: Become a Spiritual Champion, Mainstay Ministries.
Introduction:
Athletes get injured.
If you Google “Olympic Injuries” you will immediately pull up a bevy of articles, photos, and videos highlighting the accidents and injures suffered by Olympians.
In this photo we see Olympian Sarah Hammer being attended to after crashing her bicycle in competition.
Project Photo Slide: United States’ Sarah Hammer grimaces in pain after crashing during the Track Cycling Women’s Points Race, at the Beijing 2008.
In this slide you see Hungarian Olympian weightlifter being attended to after dislocating his elbow during the lifting competition. It was a gruesome injury which made the point that the human body has limits. When those limits are exceeded… things break.
Project Slide Photo: Janos Baranyai of Hungary is attended by officials after he was injured while competing in the men’s 77 kg group B weightlifting event during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games on August 13, 2008.
When an athlete is injured he or she may have to undergo surgery and most certainly will require extensive rehabilitation in order to return to form in order to compete again.
Spiritual Olympians are also susceptible to injury… in fact books have been written about the wounds suffered by Christians.
Perhaps you have read C. S. Lewis’ book, A Grief Observed or seen the 1993 film about his life, Shadowlands.
Gene Edwards wrote a book originally titled Crucified by Christians which has subsequently been published under the title Exquisite Agony.
Years ago I read a book by Dwight Carlson titled Why Do Christians Shoot Their Wounded?
U.S. Army Corporal Pat Tillman walked away from a 3.6 milion dollar contract with the Arizona Cardinals to serve his country in Afghanistan, only to loose his life because of “friendly fire.” (CNN.com, Army Finds Tillman Probably Killed by Friendly Fire, 5/31/2004)
Stonewall Jackson, a southern general during the civil war died on the battlefield, mistakenly shot by his own men… that’s friendly fire.
This month the Preaching.com website published a sermon by Michael Milton, Senior Minister of First Presbyterian Church in Chattanooga, TN titled Hit By Friendly Fire: What To Do When Christians Hurt You. (preaching.com/printerfreindly/11550487/)
If you are a Christian it is likely that you will be injured in some way by life and you may even be hit by “friendly fire.”
In one church we served there was a family who attended. The grandparents attended, the parents attended, and the grandchildren attended... but the daughter and her husband did not attend. They were in their late thirties and had two children, both of whom attended, completed Confirmation Class, and were involved in the youth ministry.
One day I asked the daughter why she and her husband never attended church and she said, “When I was seventeen years old (and she named the lady) came up to me after church and told me that my legs were too heavy to be wearing a skirt like that.” She said, “I was so hurt and so angry that I never went back.”
I know there are those who say, “Oh, that’s just an excuse.” And others who say, “It’s time she got over it.” But who is to say the depth of hurt a misspoken word can do to another person. How may little girls become bulimic and anorexic just because someone told them they were fat?
During the last six weeks we have used the athlete metaphor and chronicled the life of a Spiritual Olympian.
We have noted that Spiritual Olympians:
• Remember the Crowd of Witnesses.
• Remove Friction Factors and Signature Sins.
• Run with Perseverance.
• Reach for the Goal.
• Respect Divine Discipline.
Today we are going to talk about how the Spiritual Olympian Recovers from Injuries.
• Spiritual Olympians Recover from Weariness and Injuries!
Spiritual Olympians do not need to lick their wounds and nurse their injuries for years and years and years and years.
The writer to the Hebrews knew that the Christian life is a marathon and that the likelihood of exhaustion and injury along the way is very real.
1. Spiritual Olympians may become tired and get hurt along the way.
• “So take a new grip with your tired and stand firm on your shaky legs.” NLT - Hebrews 12:12
• “Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees.” NIV - Hebrews 12:12
The original language speaks of:
a. The hands as having been wearied. The image is of arms and hands hanging at one’s side, limp and useless… energy spent.
b. The knees having been paralyzed. The image of legs and knees feeble and without strength as though affected by a stroke. If you have ever had a stroke or observed a stroke victim, there is often the loss of strength.
The spent Spiritual Olympian is likened to an athlete who can not lift his arms and hands and who is so spent that their legs are shaky and nearing collapse.
Christians may become exhausted when they push themselves beyond their limits… when they fail to establish limits and protect themselves. We call it burn-out.
We burn out or crash and burn when we do not take care of our physical and spiritual selves… when we serve Christ and his Church in our own strength. When we find ourselves running on fumes and at last out of gas, we shut down.
Our daughter was a quarter mile runner in high school and college. One of my most precious memories is of watching her from the balcony overlooking the indoor wooden track at the University of Chicago. There she was… the starting pistol fired and she seemed a bit of a blur in the midst of seven other runners thundering around the short wooden track. I was so proud when she won her heat.
But I recall another race when she was in high school, when she rounded the fourth turn and headed for the tape and was looking to win when she just dropped mid-stride onto the track.
We rushed her to the hospital where she underwent a battery of tests after which the doctors concluded that sometimes, under extreme stress and strain, the mind says that’s enough and shuts you down.
Christians can overdo and Christians can burn out and suffer the effects of weary hands and shaky knees, so to speak.
And, Christians may get burned in the course of the Christian life and be injured in ways that they just don’t feel like that they can continue the race.
It doesn’t take much. It can be the outcome of a congregational vote. It can be an ill-chosen spoken word or a perceived slight.
David Mains cites a laundry list of potential injury instigators: Hurt feelings and angry words. Money issues. Changes in church you don’t like. Accusations, catty remarks, and gossip. Clashes of egos. Opinions about worship style. Major feelings about minor things like the color of the nursery. Criticism of the pastor. Power struggles. Arguments over who can use the church and what they can do when they are using it. Someone being territorial and bossy… and on and on. You probably have your own ideas about things that hurt others. (David Mains, Recover from Injuries, P. 2)
A man left our church because we “talked about” installing a windowed- wall in the opening where the folding door separates the sanctuary from the overflow area so the room might serve multiple purposes. It doesn’t take much to get our noses out of joint, so to speak.
However, just because we get tired or injured does not mean we remain tired and injured. God wants us to get well. God wants us to recover. God does not want us permanently sidelined and out of the race.
2. Spiritual Olympians plan to recover, be well again, and finish the race.
• “Mark out a straight path for your feet…” NLT - Hebrews 12:13
• “Make level paths for your feet, so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.” NIV – Hebrews 12:13
If you play fantasy football and if your fantasy football quarterback was Tom Brady or if you are a New England Patriots fan, you were no doubt devastated to learn that Tom Brady had been injured during their season opener with the Kansas City Chiefs and would miss the rest of the season. It hurts when the most valuable player and three-time Super Bowl champion is side lined by an injury.
But here is the upside. Tom Brady will have surgery to repair the damage done to his knee. Tom Brady will go through rigorous rehabilitation. And Tom Brady will be ready to start the 2010 NFL season. He will get well and he will play again.
That is the hope God has for every Christian who gets tired or hurt in the course of running the race of Christian living.
He says, “Lift up or get a grip with those tired hands and stand firm on those shaky legs.” He says, “Mark out a straight or level path for your feet.”
I think the concept of marking out a level path suggests preparing the way so you can continue the race… I think it means you get well so you can keep going. But the question is, how do we get well when we are totally exhausted or badly injured?
The image implied is that the runner may have been competing on an uneven surface. The circumstances of life were such that he stumbled or fell or was injured in some way. The text suggests that if the runner is to continue without further injury he or she needs to run on level ground where the likelihood of being further disabled is eliminated.
One version of verse 13 reads, “make straight or level paths for your feet, so the limb that is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.”
The implication is this: Failure to restore or rehabilitate will result in continued uselessness, but restoration will result in healing.
I enjoy sport fishing for bass. A few years ago I owned a fishing boat. In the off season I decided to replace decks beneath the swiveling pedestal seats. And as I was lifting a new fitted sheet of 3/4” marine plywood into place, I heard a snap and felt an excruciating pain in my left bicep muscle. When I looked I could see that the muscle had torn but I assumed it would eventually heal. Four months later, when I could not curl my arm to lift a dinner plate from the kitchen sink, I realized it wasn’t going to heal. So I went to see a surgeon who gave me a good scolding and reattached the ruptured biceps tendon and muscle as best he could.
If we don’t take steps to get well… we won’t get well and we will never be able to be back and actively engaged in the race.
Application: So how may we respond to God’s Word today?
We get well by putting ourselves in a place where God can restore us.
Step One:
We must identify or name what has disabled us.
• To a blind man Jesus asked, “What do you want me to do for you?” Mark 10:46-52
• To a man who had been sick and paralyzed for thirty-eight years Jesus asked, “Would you like to get well?” John 5:6
We would never think of going to a therapist who proscribed lobotomies for whatever troubles our minds or a surgeon who was willing to operate on us willy nilly… we want a specific diagnosis and then we ask for the appropriate treatment for our illness. So it is with God…
Step Two:
We must not let our weariness or injury separate us from our faith community. We are most vulnerable when we are separated and alone.
• “Be careful! Watch out for attacks from the Devil, your great enemy. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour.” I Peter 5:8-9
Spend a few minutes watching Animal Planet and you will be keenly aware of the way lions single out and isolate their prey.
• “And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn one another, as the day of Christ return is drawing near.” Hebrews 10:25
The tendency in the animal world is for an infirm or injured critter to go off to suffer and die alone. Many people are like that… we burn out or we get burned and our response is to isolate ourselves and lick our wounds. The place to be is with the people who love us and want to see us get well.
Step Three:
We must practice the art of forgiveness and letting go of the hurt others cause in our lives.
• In Matthew 18:21-22, Jesus responded to a question from Peter who had asked, “Lord, how many times should I forgive someone who s ins against me? Seven times?” “No,” Jesus replied, “seventy times seven!”
• Paul counseled, “Get rid of all bitterness… instead be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ forgave you.” Philippians 4:311-32
Children often get scrapes, bumps and bruises and have the scabs and scars to prove it. I’m sure you are familiar with the admonition, “Don’t pick your scab!” When you pick a scab it reopens the wound and prolongs healing.
Every time you are tempted to pick your scab remind yourself to forgive and ask God to give you the grace to do so.
Step Four:
We must remind ourselves that we are followers of Christ!
• When Jesus invited the twelve to be his disciples he said, “Come, follow me.” The same invitation is extended to all who would be his followers, “If anyone would be my disciple, he must take up his cross and follow me.” Luke 14:25-27
What we do when we are weary or hurt is an indicator of just who it is we are following. Do we drop out of the race or do we continue to follow the Christ who has called us to follow him?
Step Five:
We must, by all means, finish the race God has set before us.
• “And let us run with perseverance 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.” Hebrews 12:1-2
Conclusion:
Michael Milton tells of when he was an insurance salesman during the days when the agent actually went to the homes of his clients each month to collect their premium. He said that on one visit, as he sat in the living room chatting with the family, he noticed the clock on the wall was wrong. It said it was 9 o’clock, when in fact it was noon. He began to notice that month after month when he visited, the clock was always stuck on 9 o’clock.
One day he asked about the clock and with tears in their eyes the couple told him that 9 o’clock was the exact time their son had died ten years earlier. The clock had stopped in their lives.
Lots of things can stop our clocks… burn out or being burned by friendly fire, so to speak. When we let the clock stop and continue to live in that moment of weariness or hurt, we cannot move forward in the race God has set before us.
Spiritual Olympians, if you are weary or injured today, I urge you to reset your clocks and begin to move forward so God can restore you and strengthen you for the race that is yet before you. (www.preaching.com/printerefreindly/11550487/)
Today is a good day to reset your clock and reenter the race God has set before you.
