THE GAME OF LIFE
I Cor. 9:24-27
INTRO.- ILL.- A man was discussing his tennis technique with a friend. He said, “My brain immediately barks out a command to my body: ‘Run forward, and fast.’ It says, ‘Start right now. Drop the ball gracefully over the net and then race back to position.’”
His friend replied, “And then what happens?”
He said, “And then my body asks, ‘Who, me?’”
Brethren, when it comes to most forms of exercise, tennis or whatever, our bodies often ask, “Who, me?”
And most of us have found that we as we age our bodies keep asking more and more, “Who, me?”
ILL.- Several years ago my son Shane and I had an Olympic set of barbells in our garage at Anna. If you put all the plates on the bar it would weigh about 310 lbs. One Sunday evening we were getting ready to go to church and my daughter and son-in-law were visiting
with us. In fact, he was going to preach Sunday night and it was a good thing.
Shane, Chris (my son-in-law) and I were in the garage and I decided I would deadlift that 310 lbs. I thought, “I can do this, because when I was 28 years old I could deadlift 435 lbs.” I bent over that weight and strained and tugged several times and my body said, “Are you crazy or what?” Needless to say, I did not lift that weight, not even a little. And before we went to church that evening I had to take 6 Ibuprofen and two extra strength Tylenol.
As much as we hate it, as we age our bodies don’t respond as well as they once did. And most of us are not into any kind of exercise except for that hand-to-mouth exercise that we get at the dinner table. We’re pretty good at that, but it’s not an Olympic sport!
But the Olympic spirit is in the air! And most people have been watching the Olympics! In fact, they say that a staggering 3.7 billion people will watch the Olympics in Sydney for the allotted 17 days. And even though we may not be exercise enthusiasts, most of us still enjoy watching the summer Olympics.
The Olympic spirit is in the air. At least, in Sydney, Australia, where some 110,000 spectators assembled for the opening ceremonies.
And of course, the opening ceremonies are always exciting and fun to watch on TV. Quite a show, to say the least. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN TO THE OLYMPICS PERSONALLY?
The Olympics are considered by some to be the greatest show on earth where 11,000 athletes from nearly 200 nations join together in a common bond and competition to see who best athlete is in their respective sport.
I read that Sydney spent 7 years and about $2.6 billion dollars preparing for the games. Just a thought, but I wonder what the Lord must think? All that money spent on sport and having fun while millions have not heard the gospel of Jesus Christ!
A LOT OF EYES ARE ON THE OLYMPICS THROUGH THE MEANS OF TELEVISION. And if you haven’t watched some of the events, I’d encourage you to do so just for the sake of being an American patriot. Because we’ve there and we’re trying to do our best.
The most important thing about the Olympics is people. That is what it is all about. People from all over the world, competing in a sport they love and have talent in. Most of them are people just like us. They’ve just been blessed with a different talent than what we’ve been given.
PROP.- In this message I want use some of the Olympic sports to illustrate the Christian life. In Scripture we find athletic words or terminology to describe the Christian life. And in a sense, the Christian life is something of a grueling athletic event. It could be called the game of life. I have two points to share.
1- The games
2- The goal
I. THE GAMES
I don’t know how many different events or types of sports there are in the summer Olympics, but there are plenty...something for everybody to watch and enjoy. What’s your favorite?
ILL.- I saw a recent survey where people were asked what was their favorite summer Olympic sport. What is yours? 45% of the people surveyed said they liked the gymnastics the best. But, of course, that was before the track and field events had even started. I like most of the events, but prefer the track and field events since I was a runner.
But there are all kinds of events or types of sports: archery, badminton, baseball, basketball, beach volleyball, boxing, canoe/kayak, cycling, diving, equestrian, fencing, field hockey, gymnastics, judo, mountain biking, rowing, sailing, shooting, softball, swimming, table tennis, track and field, triathlon, volleyball, water polo, weightlifting, and wrestling. That’s most of them.
Some of these Olympic events are possibly mentioned in Scripture and do remind us of the Christian life.
1- BOXING.
I Cor. 9:26-27 “I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, 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.”
What good does it do to beat the air? No good at all. It just makes a person look like an idiot. Like he’s gone made or something else. If you’re going to hit something or box something, make it count! Do some damage!
ILL.- We have an Olympic heavyweight boxer named Michael Bennett who is trying to do some damage and make a difference. At one time he was convicted felon serving seven years in an Illinois state prison for armed robbery. Today, he is a soft-spoken
29-year-old who learned to box in prison and is now looking to win the gold medal at the Sydney Olympics.
I hope he does! Might give him a new start in life. At least, in professional boxing perhaps.
Michael Bennett is going to be punching Cuba’s Felix Savon in order to win the gold. But the apostle Paul said that we needed to punch ourselves. He said, “I beat my body and make it my slave.”
He didn’t mean that he literally punched his own body. Some boxers do that sort of thing though. I’ve seen them punch themselves in the head. Looks kind of silly to me, but I think they do it to psyche themselves up.
Paul used boxing as an illustration to say, “I’m going to gain control over my body instead of letting it beat me or control me.”
Gal. 5:16 “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.”
I think we all have to admit that there are times when our fleshly desires or passions get the best of us. Or at least, they have given us some trouble. But by the grace of God and the help of the Holy Spirit, we can get the body under the Lord’s control!
Ps. 119:11 “Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I might sin against thee.” Thy Word, O Lord, have I studied, labored over, memorized and learned in order to have control over my body instead of it controlling me.
It’s a very real struggle that we’re all faced with. And if we are going to win this fight we must get into God’s Word! There is power in the Word! Knockout power!
2- WRESTLING
Eph. 6:12 “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
Wrestling is something I really don’t enjoy very much. At least, not the professional kind. It’s more entertaining and craziness than wrestling, from my viewpoint. But Olympic wrestling is the real stuff. And the wrestling match we’re involved in is the real stuff too. Paul said that we are in a wrestling match with the evil one called Satan.
And the quickest way I know to lose in this match is just to lay down (or lie down) and let the devil have his own way.
ILL.- A certain atheist died and left his farm to the devil. The courts, after deliberating on such a ridiculous set of circumstances, decided the best way to carry out the wishes of the atheist was to permit the farmland to grow up in weeds, to allow the house and barn to remain unpainted and to rot down, and to permit the soil to erode and wash away.
The court said, “THE BEST WAY TO LET SATAN HAVE IT IS TO DO NOTHING.” And the best way to let Satan have your life is to do nothing!
James 4:7 “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
Brethren, I don’t want the devil in my life! I’ve seen enough of him. I’ve had enough of him and his business to last me a lifetime. I want him vanished from my life as much as possible because he’s given me plenty of trouble already. BUT HE WON’T LEAVE ME ALONE UNLESS I PUT UP A FIGHT!
And the same goes for you too. How do you put up a fight? Go to church regularly, faithfully. Stay in God’s Word. Pray without ceasing. Get involved in some kind of Christian service.
When you fill your life with Christian activity there will be no time for unchristian activity and the devil!
3- RUNNING.
The Christian life is similar to running a footrace.
I Cor. 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.”
Heb. 12:1 “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.”
II Tim. 4:7 “I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
Ah, ha, here’s my meat and potatoes, so to speak. Running is my sport; long distance running, that is. To most people, long distance running is running a mile. But that’s child’s play. Running a mile is just warming up.
Of course, in the Olympics we have all kinds of distances for running. There are the sprinters who run the 100 meters, 200, 400, etc. There are the milers, the 5k runners, the 10k runners and there are the marathoners who run 26:2 miles.
Brethren, I really wish that the Christian life was just a short sprint. Personally, I think it would be a lot easier to finish if it were, but it’s not.
The Christian life is more like the marathon race. It’s a long race. A hard race. An enduring type of race which takes a lot of something, a lot of guts and grit to finish. Of course, I know about marathon-running since I entered 14 of them but only finished 11 of them. Yes, it’s one thing to enter a marathon but it’s another thing to finish the race.
And there are many people who jump on the Jesus’ bandwagon but never finish the race. There are many people who walk the church aisle, confess their faith in Christ and are baptized into Christ but eventually they drop out of the race for some reason or another.
In marathon-running it’s called “hitting the wall.” And that’s when the runner basically runs out of gas. He runs out of carbohydrates in his body and the going gets really tough because he’s running on fat tissue which is not premium fuel! It’s very low-grade fuel.
I’ve “hit the wall” several times in running marathons and it makes you just want to quit, which I did several times.
Brethren, we need to do everything we can to keep people from dropping out of the race! And from dropping out of the church! When you’ve got someone running alongside you and cheering you on, it’s make a big difference as to whether you are going to finish
the race or not.
ILL.- One time I was running a marathon in Huntsville, AL, and I was not having a good day. I was really struggling. I think I “hit the wall” very early in the race. My family was situated about the halfway point. When I came up on my family, Shane who was about 9 years old at that time said, “Dad, you better get going!” (As if to say, “you don’t look so good.”)
That was not exactly the kind of encouragement I needed at that time. I was hoping for something like, “You’re looking good!” Or perhaps, “Hang in there! Be tough!”
Brethren, we need to come alongside those who have slowed up and are walking and cheer them on! How? BE AN ENCOURAGER, NOT A CRITIC! BE A HELPER, NOT A HINDERER! BE A BOOSTER, NOT A BOOER! (or whatever that is)
Is there someone out there who is struggling along life’s road? Someone who is having trouble and you know about it? Then go cheer them on! Lend them your ear! Give them your prayers! Share their cares! Have a heart. Care. Listen. Pray. Help anyway you can because we’re all in this race together and we need to help one another all we can.
The Christian life is a tough act. Life is a tough act. LET’S GIVE SUPPORT TO ONE ANOTHER AS BEST WE CAN, NOT THE LEAST WE CAN!
ILL.- In the 1968 Mexico Olympics, Steven Akhwari of Tanza-nia fell during the marathon. Bloody and limping, he entered the stadium so far behind that only a few thousand spectators remained. He was asked by reporters why he continued to run. Akhwari said, “My country did not send me 5,000 miles to start the race. They sent me to finish the race.”
Let’s set our minds and hearts on finishing the race and helping all others to finish as well.
These are just some of the events of the Olympics.
II. THE GOAL
Phil. 3:14 “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
Obviously, the goal in the Olympics is to win the gold medal. As of yesterday morning, the USA had 20 gold medals, 12 silver and 18 bronze for a total of 50 medals. They were leading China who had 39 medals and Australia 3rd with 37 medals.
Many people think that America dominates certain sports and should always get the gold medal, but that’s not true.
ILL.- Take, for example, Olympic weightlifting which I also used to compete in. Back in the 50’s and 60’s America could compete with the world in weightlifting and win some gold medals but not anymore. Now, however, since they have women’s weightlifting in the Olympics we’ve had something of a “comeback.” The men can’t do it so the women have! DO YOU LIKE THAT?
Little 105 lb. Tara Nott from the USA won the gold medal in her class. And big Cheryl Hayworth in the over 165 lb. class won the bronze medal by lifting 319 lbs. in the clean and jerk.
You name the sport: track and field, weightlifting, swimming, gymnastics, etc. THEY’RE ALL AFTER THE GOLD MEDAL, IF POSSIBLE!
But the beauty of the Christian life is that we are not striving to win a gold medal! All we have to do is finish the race and God is going to give us a crown of glory that will last forever! And it’s for everyone who crosses the finish line and no matter what place they finish!
I Cor. 9:25 “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 crown that will last forever.”
Rev. 2:10 “Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.”
Hot Dog! That’s the crown we’re shooting for! It’s lasting! It’s eternal! It’s never-ending! It’s gloriouis! Far better than any gold medal awared here on earth!
ILL.- I won a gold medal (simulated gold) in 1972 at the Iowa State weightlifting championships the lightheavy division. I really did! BUT NOW I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHERE THE MEDAL IS and it’s really not important anyway! At one time it was important but it’s not anymore!
The only thing that is important to me now is that crown of glory! Amen?
ILL.- An executive hirer, a “heat-hunter” who goes out and hires executives for other firms, told this story. He said, “When I get an executive that I’m trying to hire for someone else, I like to disarm him. I offer him a drink, take my coat off, undo my tie, throw up my feet and talk about baseball, football, family, whatever, until he’s relaxed. Then, when I think I’ve got him relaxed, I lean over, look him square in the eye and say, ‘What’s your purpose in life?” It’s amazing how many top executives fall apart at that question.
“I was interviewing a man one time, had him all disarmed, with my feet up on his desk, talking about football. Then I leaned up and said, ‘What’s your purpose in life, Bob?’ And he said, without blinking an eye, ‘TO GO TO HEAVEN AND TAKE AS MANY PEOPLE WITH ME AS I CAN.’”
Brethren, what’s your purpose, your ultimate purpose or goal in life? Our goal in life is not winning gold medals no matter what form that may take: making money, having fun, chasing after rainbows or whatever.
Our ultimate purpose or goal in life should be to go to heaven and take as many people as possible with us!
Paul said, “Run in such a way as to get the prize!”
CONCLUSION---------------------------------------
ILL.- Poem “Don’t Quit”
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you must, but don’t you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a fellow turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out.
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow -
You may succeed with another blow.
Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man.
Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victor’s cup.
And he learned too late when the night came down,
How close he was to the golden crown.
Success is failure turned inside out -
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar.
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit,
It’s when things seem worst that you mustn’t quit.
