January 18, 2009
Morning worship
Text: 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Subject: Your Christian Walk
Title: Setting the Pace to Finish Strong
Thirty – nine years ago this May I graduated from high school in Troy, MO. I was an average student. I did well I the classes I wanted to do well in and didn’t do as well in classes that bored me. One of the classes that I did excel in was French. I took French I my sophomore year, followed by French II in my junior year. I was so good in French that the other students hated me. Our French teacher always graded tests on a curve and because I really liked the class and for some reason it seemed to come naturally to me, I seldom got less than a 98% on a test. That set the curve pretty high so most of the other students ended up with B’s and C’s. Now, the reason that I did well in French class was that I made up my mind to do so and then I went to work. I worked very hard at the foundations of the French language structure. I dissected sentences, I conjugated verbs, I learned to spell correctly, I did everything that I need to do in order to build the right foundation. That was French I. French II brought much of the same along with countless hours listening to tapes and imitating the French vowel and consonant sounds. At the end of two years I thought that I was done with French. The school only offered two years. But the teacher recognized that there were two of us who were head and shoulders above the other students and she offered French III for the very first time. It was then that we began reading French novels and poetry and going deeper into the structure of the language. Now what I learned back then has never benefited me in any way. I’ve never been in a job where I needed to know French. I have never run into anyone who spoke French and needed an interpreter. But, after thirty – nine years some of what I have learned has stuck with me.
Let me share a stanza from a poem that I learned back then.
Le ciel est noir, la terre est blanche;
Cloches, carillonnez gaiement !
Jésus est né, - la Vierge penche
Sur lui son visage charmant.
Pretty cool stuff huh? Now if I could just remember what it meant! I can translate it a little bit but not too much.
The reason that I am telling you this is to show you that with the proper foundation and motivation there is nothing that will ever be too difficult for you. And whatever foundation you build upon will carry you through in your Christian walk until the end. If you build your foundation on self you will struggle through your faith walk, but if you build it upon faith in the word of God you will make it through till the end.
I can only speculate what might have been had I responded to God’s grace as a younger man. But it is never too late to build a foundation and finish what you have begun.
Today I want to look at seven things that will enable you to finish the race.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Lord open my eyes to see and my ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.
1. Runners win by moving forward. 24Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Last week I shared with you about the seed principle – how what is sown in you through faith in Jesus Christ needs to cultivated and nurtured with the right things. The world is full of runners and each of those runners is running toward a final destiny – believers running toward heaven and unbelievers for hell. Columnist Herb Caen wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle: "Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle; when the sun comes up, you’d better be running." Spurgeon wrote likewise: "If you are not seeking the Lord, the Devil is seeking you. If you are not seeking the Lord, judgment is at your heels."
In the Christian life, it’s not enough simply to wake up. We are called to run, to become more like Christ, to press ahead in godliness. You cannot win a race by going backwards. Everyone, even the most mature Christian, falls occasionally. But when you fall you need to fall forward into the arms of a loving God and not fall backward into your old life. Hebrews 12:1-2, 1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith…
2. Runners run to win the prize. Run in such a way as to get the prize. I ran varsity track in my sophomore year in high school. I ran both 110-yard high hurdles and the 220 low hurdles. I could never finish above third place in any meet that I ran in. I do remember that toward the end of the track season we were at the Bowling Green invitational meet. There were about six other schools there. I ran well enough in my heat to make it to the finals of the high hurdles, but I knew that unless I changed something I would never have a chance to win. As I waited for the finals of my event I went to our coach and told him I was going to try something different. Before I would always count out five steps between hurdles and always jump on the sixth step. That way I was always leading with my right foot. This time I was going to try stretching my steps out just a little further and count out four steps and go over on the fifth. That would require leading alternating my feet on each hurdle. It worked!!! Do you think that is why Paul admonishes us in Romans 12 to be transformed by the renewing of our minds? You see if we continue to run the way we have always run we will continue to see the same results that we have always gotten. You see, I could have kept on running my races and been satisfied with third place finishes. Jim Bourisaw could have been satisfied with 2nd and 3rd place finishes in his weight lifting competition or Larry Baker could just be an OK fisherman. . But you see, we have something engrained in us that we were not going to be satisfied with second place. We knew that there was something better waiting for us. Maybe it required doing something just a little different or trying something we had never tried before but it required change in order for us to reach our full potential. Paul made the most of every opportunity in his faith walk. 1 Corinthians 9:20-22, 20To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.
3. Runners are willing to train. 25Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. We have some young people who are faithful to come on Thursday nights to lift weights. Their goal is to get stronger. They are in training. We also have some who come for guitar lessons. They are in training as well. In weight training Jim pushes the participants to their limits to make them stronger. Last Thursday our guitar and keyboard specialists were quite upset with me because I gave them two new songs to learn. They weren’t any harder than any of the other songs they had grown comfortable with. They were just different. I began pushing them out of their comfort zone and they didn’t like it. They will be better for it but they didn’t like it. In the same way as these two examples you need to train for what God has called you to do. Not everyone has the same specific calling on their lives, but we all have a general call that we are commanded to respond to. We are all called to witness. You have to train for that. How do you do that? By Practice! Maybe you have been given a specific spiritual gift. How do you learn to be used in that gift? By using it when the Holy Spirit moves upon you to do so. 1 Corinthians 12:4-6, There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. If you somehow think that you can wait until you get good at something before you do it you never will. But if you are willing to go into training you will find that the more you train two things will happen. 1) it gets easier. 2) You get better.
4. Run for the right reason. Everyone in the world runs. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Some are running to great financial gain. Others are running toward more power. The world is running to satisfy the lusts of the flesh. The finish line ends when this life is over. Their banner at the finish line says, “he who ends up with the most toys wins.” The truth is this, “he who ends up with the most toys is still dead.” The world is running toward destruction. The church is running toward perfection. Our running brings glory to the Father. Philippians 3, 12Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. One of my favorite quotes is from John Bunyan, “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
5. Run with a purpose. 26Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. Do you know that you have been given everything you need to win your race? You have a purpose – a relationship with God the Father through Jesus Christ His Son. You have the power of the Holy Spirit available to you to enable to do everything that God has called you to. You have the promise that you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. All these things – purpose, power and promise can be rolled up in one verse. Ephesians 3:20-21, 20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine (promise), according to his power that is at work within us, (power) 21to him be glory in the church (purpose)and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. If you are running with selfish ambition in mind, if you are running without direction, if you are running just because that is what you thought you were supposed to do, it may be time to stop, bend over and put your hands on your knees, catch your breath, and refocus. If you are running without purpose you are just running and you may run out of gas before you get to the finish line. God never intended for you to get to that point. Running isn’t meant to be difficult. Jesus had this to say in Matthew 11:28-30, 28“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Did you get that? The race is meant to be easy. If it isn’t then you probably need to attach yourself to Jesus’ yoke and not try to do it all on your own.
6. Run under submission. 27No, I beat my body and make it my slave… Now I want you to understand something – this verse does not promote abusing your body in order to somehow draw you closer to God. There are many stories from the Roman Catholic tradition that suggest that many people have tried to grow into a deeper relationship with God or tried to please Him by doing just that. People would beat themselves with whips of rods in order to bring themselves into submission. In the Middle Ages so called “saints” would practice many types of self-denial and abuse to bring themselves under submission to the Lord. This is called mortification. Let’s look to see what the online encyclopedia “Wikipedia” says about this practice. Mortification of the flesh is sometimes difficult to understand from a modern perspective. In order to explain this notion, some compare it to the motto "no pain, no gain" associated with the practice of rigorous athletic training, demanding diets for weight reduction, and surgical operations to enhance or change physical appearance. In the same way that people who change their appearance through painful means will sacrifice and deny themselves in order to attain some physical or material goals, some people voluntarily perform self-inflicted sacrifices in order to receive spiritual or intangible goals, e.g. union with their god, a higher place in heaven, expiation for other people’s sins or balancing of karma, self-realization, or the conversion of sinners. Anybody up for a little of that? Why do you need to abuse your body when Paul simply meant that we are to make our bodies as slaves to what the spirit has already done in our inner man. Our bodies should be slaves to the spirit instead of the other way around? How does that happen. As I shared with you last week when you accept christ as your Lord and Savior there is a seed planted in you. That seed will grow according to what it is that you feed it. You can either pour into it life and joy and peace and power from the word of God, or destruction by the lies of satan. The word translated “beat” means to subdue as in “one’s passions”. Beating the flesh doesn’t have anything to do with harming your body. It is a spiritual act that places the flesh under the submission of the word.
7. Run according to the rules. In tandem with what I said in point six, running occurs under God’s guidelines and not man’s. 27No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. Running according to the rules requires that you put all your trust in the word of God and not in your own works. Even Christians want to know what they can do in order to receive all the promises that God has given us. The answer to that is “nothing”! You can’t do anything to receive them because it is already done. “By His stripes you are healed.” By his work on the cross you are saved. According to His word the Holy Spirit baptism has already been given. What must I do? John 6:27-29, 27Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval. 28Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” 29Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” The work that you need to do is to stop trying to receive God’s promise by doing something. You have to receive them by faith in the spirit man and then cultivate that seed by reading the word, hearing the word and confessing the word. Then you run according to God’s rules.
When I took French classes in high school I never thought that I would remember anything forty years later. I had no idea the impact that forming a firm foundation could have on my memory. I am pretty sure that each of you have a story of a foundation that you have built in your life over the years. Maybe it is the trade that you worked at for so long that you now could do with your eyes closed. Maybe it is the relationships you built over the years and you will never forget the friends from way back. On the negative side, maybe it is the bad habits that you picked up in your life and cannot seem to shake. Whatever it is, one thing you can be sure of, foundations are built from repetition and hard work.
The word of God today calls for you not to just be a runner, but to be a runner that finishes the race with plenty to spare. Be a runner that has purpose. Be a runner that has passion. Be a runner that has power. Be a runner that has God’s promises planted inside your spirit man so deeply that when you sem like you are running out of breath all you have to do is breathe in the richness of every promise and it will keep you going strong till the end. Never look back. Let’go back to my sophomore year on the varsity track team. That high hurdle event that I ran, where I decided to change my technique – it worked all the way up to the last hurdle. It was then that I took my eyes off the finish line to glance to each side in order to see where all the other runners were. I was a full step ahead of everyone else. It was then that I caught my trailing foot on the last hurdle and severely sprained my ankle and came in a disappointing forth. I had victory written all over me but when I look away from the finish – when I looke to see what was going on around me – I stumbled.
Do not take your eyes off Jesus. He is your firm foundation. He is your finish line. His word is the fuel that keeps you running with power and effectiveness. Don’t settle for anything less than victory.
Jesus didn’t give His life for you to be anything less than number one.
