Around here in Boston Patriots Day is famously known for “The Boston Marathon” in which runners from all over the world participate. I watched with keen interest as the gun shot went off for the 116th Boston Marathon. Upmost in every ones mind was the question “Who will get the grand prize worth of $150,000 this year”? In the midst of soaring temperatures, a total of 27,000 were registered, out of which 22,426 runners started the race of 26.2 miles. A record number of 4,574 opted out of the race even before it began.
More than 21,000 people completed the race. However out of these crowds two Kenyans, Wesley Korir and Sharon Cherop emerged as the winners. The most spectacular win to watch was the win of Joshua Cassidy of Canada who broke the world record in a wheel chair. He was born with neuroblastoma a rare cancer commonly found in the spine and abdomen.[1]
As I pondered on this heated contest, I asked myself certain questions. What were the reasons for those who quit the race before it even started? What helped Joshua become a victor against all odds? What motivated many who complete the race even though they knew that they were not going to win? What made Kenyans the winners?
I see a lot of similarities between the regular Marathon and the race that Christians are called to run. The Marathon is not a team sport. Each individual has to run the race for themselves, no one else can do it for them. Winning and loosing totally depends on the individual runner. Similarly, each Christian has to run his own race. What can we learn from a veteran runner the apostle Paul about the race in I Cor 9:24-27? Three things: The preparation for the race, the road blocks and how to run the race to win.
I. PREPARATION FOR THE RACE:
At the time of Paul’s writing, sports were an integral part of religious ceremonies. Paul was alluding to the Isthmian Games in his letter to the Corinthians. They were held during a festival in honor of Poseidon, the Greek god of the earthquakes and water, also known as the god of the sea.[2] The festival consisted of foot races, horse and chariot races, jumping, wrestling, boxing and throwing the discus and javelin. The prizes in these games were perishable wreathes. To the Greeks these were events of patriotic pride, a passion rather than a pass time.
Paul uses the analogy of a race to explain to the Corinthians that Christian life is some what like running a race. He reminds them by saying, “Don’t you know that in a race all the runners run but only one gets the prize? Paul challenged the believers not to run for the sake of running but in such a way that they will get the prize.
Many could run a Marathon but what does it take to win the prize? Do you think those who ran the Boston Marathon got up that day and said ‘Oh I am going to run the Marathon today’? No! They must have been thinking about it and preparing for it way before the race began.
Health experts say, “Training for a marathon takes intense preparation, dedication, and skill. It is imperative not to allow race-time decisions to counteract the hard work and planning of the last several months to a year.”[3] If that’s what goes into preparing for a Marathon what kind of preparation goes on as Christians get ready to run the Christian race? In the passage Paul shares how he prepared himself for his race.
In vs 26, we read, “Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air.” What does this say about Paul? This shows that Paul was not simply running aimlessly, he had an aim; he had a goal, a focus and a purpose.
What was his aim? Well for one it was to win the prize, but what kind of prize? Was it gold, or millions of dollars? In Phil 3:8, Paul states what his real goal in life was, “What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish that I may gain Christ...”
Knowing Christ Jesus was the chief goal of Paul. He never let that go out of his sight. In order to reach that goal just like the athletes he disciplined himself. He says, “I beat my body and make it my slave.” It is expressed clearly in the Amplified version of NIV, “But (like a boxer) I buffet my body (handle it roughly, discipline it by hardships) and subdue it.” (I Cor 9:27)
If knowing Christ was Paul’s chief aim what is yours in life? How are you preparing yourself to reach it? Paul went into strict discipline so that he would not be disqualified for the prize. What does that discipline look like for us today? It includes daily reading and meditating on God’s word, worship, prayer and fasting. It means saying no to the flesh and saying yes to the Spirit. It means to walk humbly before the Lord and with one another.
When I first gave my life to the Lord my only aim was to please the Lord by the way I lived. As a young Christian I developed the daily spiritual disciplines of reading the bible, praying, fasting, sharing my faith etc. Nothing else mattered then; all that mattered was me and my Lord. Of late I realize that my passions and my loyalties are easily divided. Oh how I long for the olden days. If we are not careful we run into the road blocks in our race.
II. THE ROAD BLOCKS IN THE RACE:
A Marathon training center describes common road blocks for the runners such as, “lack of time, excess weight, hills, and injuries.”[4] If the runners are not careful to follow instructions even a simple thing like “a clothing tag” can throw someone of the race.
Are there road blocks in the Spiritual Marathon? How can we identify them? Paul encourages Hebrew believers to run a “light race” by throwing off everything that hinders. Sin hinders us from running the Christian race effectively.(Hebrews 12:1) In the life of a Christian some times road blocks come in the form of opposition from people and hardships. How can we overcome these road blocks? Paul exhorted the believers to, “Consider him (Jesus) who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and loose heart. (Heb 12:3)
When we look at what Christ had to endure from sinful men what you and might be going through will become negligible. In fact scriptures tell us to “Endure hardship as discipline; For God is treating us as his Children.”(Heb 12:7) Think of that for a moment! Do I have to endure hardships as a child of God? As an exercise motto says “No gain without Pain.”
Some times we have a faulty view of Christianity. We think following Christ means always having a mountain top experience, always getting our way or being on the top. It is not necessarily so. God wants to train his children. In Hebrews chapter 12 Paul quite frankly talks about how that training doesn’t seem pleasant but painful to us at the time. He also reminds us that if we allow God to train us we will be changed people.
The test of a true child of God is how we handle hardships. Do we endure them as Christ endured the cross? Or do we resent and become bitter towards God, ourselves, church and every one else? It is helpful to know the road blocks and certainly imperative that we prepare well for the race but that doesn’t necessarily make us win the race at the most it will help us to cross the finishing line. But how can we run in such away we can win the prize?
III. HOW TO RUN TO WIN?
In the Boston Marathon thousands of runners participated and many of them completed the race but only two Kenyans won the prize. What made the Kenyans win twenty Marathons in the last 22 years? Is it their wiry legs, or their lean bodies? Well that may be one factor but as the study tells us, “They win because of the way they perceive distance, have a sense of possibility and the willingness to endure extreme challenges.”[5]
Trailing the leaders by 200 yards when the Boston Marathon slogged through Heartbreak Hill, Wesley Korir passed them one by one until he took the lead. I like what the ABC news reported, “Singing religious songs as he trudged along the scorching pavement, the native Kenyan — a permanent resident of the United States — retook the lead in the final mile to cross.”[6] Isn’t it amazing the ABC News noticed the faith of Korir. In an interview in 2011 this is what Korir had to say, “Running is not my destiny," he says. "Running is just a stepping stone of what God's prepared for me. God has put something so amazing for me out there. This running, it's not Wesley--it's not the end of me. God has put in my heart helping the poor of Kenya."[7]
What can we learn from this? The secret of winning the race for Korir is not so much his preparation, practice or his physical stamina but I believe it is his focus on God. Similarly, what can help us win our Spiritual marathon? It is our focus on Christ. Paul encourages the Hebrew believers with these words. “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus the author and the finisher of our faith who for the joy set before him endured the cross.” (Heb 12:2)
Only by keeping Jesus as our reference point and through persistence and endurance can we win our Christian race. Our race is not a short sprint (100 meters) dash. It is a long drawn-out Marathon. Where are you today in regards to your race?
Are you one of those who quit the race even before you began? Or are you like the Galatians believers who started of well but were thrown off course and stopped running? (Gal 5:7) Do you feel like giving up totally because it is getting too hard and difficult? Cheer up! Don give up! Don’t looser heart, we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses who completed their race and won their prize. Now it is our turn.
If you persevere in your race like the apostle Paul did in the end of your life you too can say “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. 2 Timothy 4:7-8.
In the earthly Marathon there is only one perhaps two winners get the prize but the good news is that in the Spiritual Marathon all of us can win the grand prize provided we run by the rules, therefore let’s run in such way we will win the prize. Amen.
