Going the Distance (on what matters)
Opening Illustration:
"He didn't win a medal. In fact, he came nowhere near. But, in defeat and in pain, he came to represent something much more profound and enduring than many sportsmen achieve in illustrious careers. Akhwari was never likely to win the marathon, but his chances were wrecked when, perhaps because of the effects of the high altitude, he succumbed to cramps that slowed his progress. If that was painful, then worse was to come after he was involved in a melee of athletes jockeying for position. Akhwari fell to the ground, gashing his knee and also causing a dislocation. He also smashed his shoulder against the pavement. Most observers, seeing his injuries, assumed he would pull out and go to the hospital. Instead, he received medical attention and returned to the track to continue his race. His pace, of course, was now much lower, but his resolve to complete the event remained intact. Eighteen of the 75 starters had pulled out; he did now wish to add to that number. And so, more than an hour after the winner, Akhwari crossed the line in the last place, cheered home by a few thousand spectators who had remained in the stadium after the sun went down. By the time he reached the stadium, he was limping and the bandage around his leg was flapping in the breeze. He was asked why he'd carried on, and his response has gone down in sporting history. “My country did not send me 5,000 miles to start the race,” he said. “They sent me 5,000 miles to finish the race.”Akhwari recovered from his injuries and continued running long-distance races. He finished fifth in the marathon at the Commonwealth Games in 1970 and also ran the 10,000m at the same championships. He was a good runner, but his performance, courage, and dedication in the face of adversity is what history will remember him for." (https://www.olympic.org/news/marathon-man-akhwari-demonstrates-superhuman-spirit)
Scripture Text:
The apostle Paul looked at the Isthmian Games around him during his time in Corinth and he saw an illustration of the Christian life. He wrote:
1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.
The Christian life is like a race. It is not a sprint, but a marathon. Unlike the sporting events in the world around us, we are not in competition with one another. We are in competition with ourselves, but even so, we can lose.
In Paul's final letter to a young pastor named Timothy, he wrote, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." (2 Timothy 4:7).
The alternative rock band Cake produced a song that is often played at races and sporting events. The music video shows a well-dressed executive running through an office building, down a street, through a field to the ocean, and swimming towards sunset. The lyrics of the chorus are revealing. They are, "He's going the distance, he's going for speed, she's all alone, all alone in a time of need... but he's going the distance." He is winning, or finishing one race while losing the one that really matters.
There is much to be said for finishing the race. But, it matters which race we are in, which direction we are running, and what our motives are. The phrase "Going the distance" means finishing what one begins.
The topic of our lesson for this evening is Going the Distance.
Preaching Points:
1. Know Your Opponent
1 Corinthians 9:24
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.
There is no idea here of competition with others. As Christians, we are meant to help our fellow Christian, not compete with them. One of the major problems in Corinth was the spirit of competition that dominated the churches there. They were immersed in the waters of their culture, swimming in them and drinking them in. They enjoyed doing things like putting their names on things that they would donate money towards. In Philippians 2, Paul says that we should in fact seek the welfare of our sisters and brothers rather than seeking to beat them out of anything.
So who are we in competition with?
There is a story of a small village in a European nation where there was a renegade wolf that was devastating the livestock and no one was able to capture or stop him. After many failed attempts during one meeting of their village council an old man stood up and proposed that he would intervene in the wolf's antics. When asked how, he said that he would simply continue to follow the wolf, stalking him until he caught him. And so he did. Once he saw the wolf once, he began stalking the wolf. He just followed him around until the wolf was worn out from running. We like the wolf must keep running because the old man is behind us.
We are in competition with ourselves. And if we are going to win, we have to run in such a way as to win the prize.
To win the prize we must be running in the right direction. Some of the worst plays in sports history are those where a football player like James Marshall captures a fumble and runs in the wrong direction in order to score points for the opposing team. Then there are moments when a basketball player, playing defense may inadvertently knock the basketball in for the opposing team when trying to block.
One young man observed that sometimes someone may score for the other team when they used to play for that team.
The idea is competition with oneself. We must know ourselves, our weaknesses, our strengths. Your enemy is not your sister or your brother, or even your fellow human being, it is the old man who is your enemy.
How do we run in such a way as to win the prize?
2. Discipline Your Self
1 Corinthians 9:25 (G. Fee)
Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.
Some people try to live the Chrisitan life like the young child who idolizes his favorite baseball player but never puts in any time training. He watches all of his favorite game replays on YouTube. He fantasizes about hitting home runs while sitting on his couch. He has a collection of baseball cards and knows all the stats. However, he never spends time inside, sedentary. He loves to talk baseball. When this young child finds himself at-bat, he is going to be struck out every time. He has no practice.
Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. Winning in sports takes work, winning in the Christian life, takes work. Those in the Isthmian games had to train for ten months prior or they could not even compete.
God has given us means of grace, spiritual disciplines, and practices, by which we learn self-mastery. We cultivate the spiritual fruit of self-control. Why do I pray, fast, give, worship, celebrate, attend corporate worship, study, meditate? Am I trying to twist God's arm or beat the devil? More than anything else, I am to trying to win against myself.
It's like the old Pogo cartoon where he says, "We have found the enemy and he is us."
Many times the enemy is like basketball players who trash talk. He will speak to you about your weaknesses and try to get you to fear. If you allow his words to find a place in your head, he wins. You have to fill your mind with God's Word. He says that you are victorious!
Entering the game does not guarantee to win. It takes work. We must finish and finish we must, but we must finish on the right team and we must discipline ourselves if we will.
While we are focussing on self-mastery we must remember that the race we are running is ultimately about keeping the two great commandments that relate to relationships: Love God and love others.
3. Go the Distance (on what matters)
1 Corinthians 9:26-27 (G. Fee)
Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
Those who endure to the end will be saved.
The Christian life is ALL about relationships. People who say things like, "I'm not here for you, I'm here for God really miss the point."
Our world is filled with idols that try to get us running in the wrong direction.
Going the distance means that we have loved others well.
Paul ends this short paragraph by referring to himself as an example, as he does in 11:1, "Follow me as I follow Christ." He says in Philippians 4:9, "Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you."
Paul was a person who learned self-control. He was not reactive to the things happening around him. He was connected to Heaven.
He mixes metaphors saying he is a runner who has his eye on the prize and a boxer who is in the ring intentionally dealing blows to his opponent. If you are going to go the distance and win, you must know the goal. The goal is what we often call "heaven." The goal is to live with the Lord Jesus in the next order of things, the world to come. It is a prize beyond all prizes. The participants in the games received a wilting celery crown, they may have become famous, and someone may have set up a statue or monument to them. But all of those things are temporary. The eternal crown for which we strive is everlasting.
I want to remind you of your goal this evening.
Some people take Paul's metaphors to extremes that we know Paul cannot mean because of his other writings. Paul says he keeps under his body. Does he mean some kind of asceticism? Does he mean that he literally whips himself? No, he is simply telling us about the need for self-restraint. He uses the body as an illustration. The body is NOT sinful, but the body represents the whole of who we are and it is ourselves which we must place upon the altar. We must present our bodies as living sacrifices, wholly acceptable unto God which is our reasonable service.
For Paul, some of the bumps and bruises he received were those he received as he did the will of God. He lived his life as an example of strict discipline. And his life was one of loving God by preaching the gospel. His life was one that took him on some very difficult journeys and all along the way we find him interacting with others.
One of the things about the Christian life that is different from the Isthmian games or the Superbowl is that the place we practice is not before the game. The Christian life is lived out in the thick of it all. It is easy to live the Christian life in a room locked up somewhere, but God calls us to interact with other human beings and it is in that context where we win if we keep the goal in mind and live a life of discipline.
Application
Jesus said that the whole law is summed up in this: Love God and love people.
The Christian race is one that is won by love.
We may never face many of the difficulties that the apostle Paul faced, but we face our own challenges that give us the opportunity to show Jesus to the world.
Maybe you have had some difficulties and haven't been playing the game or running the race as you should...
Conclusion and exhortation
"The story of "Wrong Way Riegels" is a familiar one, but it bears repeating. On New Year’s Day 1929, Georgia Tech played UCLA in the Rose Bowl. In that game, a young man named Roy Riegels recovered a fumble for UCLA. Picking up the loose ball, he lost his direction and ran 65 yards toward the wrong goal line. One of his teammates, Beeny Lom, ran him down and tackled him just before he scored for the opposing team. Several plays later the Bruins had to punt. Tech blocked the kick and scored a safety, demoralizing the UCLA team.
The strange play came in the first half. At halftime, the UCLA players filed off the field and into the dressing room. As others sat down on the benches and the floor, Riegels put a blanket around his shoulders, sat down in a corner, and put his face in his hands.
When the timekeeper came in and announced that there were 3 minutes before playing time, Coach Price looked at the team and said, "Men, the same team that played the 1st half will start the second." The players got up and started out, all but Riegels. He didn’t budge. The coach looked back and called to him. Riegels didn’t move. Coach Price went over to where Riegels sat and said, "Roy, didn’t you hear me?" The same team that played the 1st half..." (https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermon-illustrations/7681/wrong-way-riegels-by-jeff-strite)
