Running Your Race
Heb. 12:1-3
Intro.
Ill. - Eric Liddell “The Flying Scotsman”
(Note - Read about Eric Liddell’s life at the end of Sermon notes)
(If possible play the theme from the movie "Chariots of Fire" some time during the service. Dino, the Christian concert pianist, has an excellent tape of it.)
Eric Liddell won the Gold Medal running in the 1924 Olympics against great odds. But that was not the greatest race that he ran. The greatest race that he ever ran was the one that every Christian is in.
Whether you realize it or not – If you are a Christian, you’re in a race. Salvation is the gift that puts you in the race. How you run that race and finish it is my message for today.
From our text for today I want us to learn about this race the every Christian is in.
I. Run the Race that is before you. – Your race.
II. Run with Patience.
The Christian race is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. A marathon is 26 miles 385 yards.
Every marathon has three parts.
• The Start
• The Second Wind – When you feel like giving up.
• The Finish line
Illustration
By 7 p.m. on October 20, 1968, at the Mexico City Olympics Stadium, it was beginning to darken. It had cooled down as well. The last of the Olympic marathon runners were being assisted away to first-aid stations. Over an hour earlier, Mamo Waldi of Ethiopia had charged across the finish line, winning the 26-mile, 385-yard race looking as strong and as vigorous as when he’d started. As the last few thousand spectators began preparing to leave, they heard police sirens and whistles through the gate entering the stadium. The attention turned to that gate. A sole figure, wearing the colors of Tanzania, came limping into the stadium. His name was John Steven Aquari. He was the last man to finish the marathon in 1968. His leg was bandaged, bloody. He had taken a bad fall early in the race. Now, it was all he could do to limp his way around the track. The crowd stood and applauded as he completed that last lap.
When he finally crossed the finish line, one man dared ask the question all were wondering.
"You are badly injured. Why didn’t you quit? Why didn’t you give up?" Aquari, with quiet dignity said,
"My country did not send me seven thousand miles to start this race. My country sent me to finish."
III. Lay aside every weight and sin.
Bitterness – Discouragement – Faithlessness – Laziness – Selfishness
IV. Keep your eyes on Jesus.
How do you keep endurance? – Keep your eyes on Jesus.
The Three “L’s”
• Let us run the race
• Lay aside every weight
• Look unto Jesus
V. There is a reward at the end of the Race
In the Greek Olympics, the winners were given crowns made of laurel wreaths. These were crowns that soon withered and corrupted. We as Christians will be given crowns for running the Christian race.
1. The Incorruptible Crown – I Cor. 9:24-25 (Vs. 25)
The Crown for Striving. – This is given for keeping under subjection one’s body.
2. The Crown of Rejoicing – II Thes. 2:19-20
The Crown for Witnessing. – For winning people to Christ.
3. The Crown of Righteousness – II Tim. 4:8
The Crown for loving the Lord’s Appearance
There is a difference between loving the Lord’s appearing and loving our disappearing.
• Some Christians want the Lord to come back so he can take us out of the mess we are in. This is not loving our Lord’s appearing.
4. The Crown of Life – James 1:12
The Martyrs Crown – For enduring Suffering.
5. The Crown of Glory – I Peter 5:1-4 (Vs. 4)
The Crown for Shepherding – The pastor or elders crown for feeding the flock of God.
Conclusion
In the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. Great Britain’s Derek Redmond was expected to win the gold medal for his country. As the race started everything started well. Some time during the race something went wrong. Derek felt a pain that caused him to fall on the track. He went down with a torn right hamstring. Even though he experienced excruciating pain, he struggled to his feet, pushed away the medical attendants who had rushed out to help him, and started to hop on one leg in a determined effort to finish the race.
When Redmond reached the homestretch, a large man in a T-shirt that said “Have You Hugged Your Kid Today” and a hat that said “Just Do It” came out of the stands. He pushed his way through the security guards and ran to Derek Redmond and hugged him. It was his father. "You don’t have to do this," he told his weeping son. "Yes, I do," whispered Derek through his pain. "Well, then," said the father, "we’re going to finish this together."
That’s exactly what they did. The son’s head was sometimes buried in his father’s shoulder, but the two men stayed in Derek’s lane and crossed the finish line together as the crowd looked on, then rose up, cheered, and wept
Eric Liddell
One of Scotland’s greatest athletes, Eric Liddell was born in China, the son of Scottish missionaries. It was while he was attending Edinburgh University preparing for the ministry that his talent for running came to light. He won the 100 yards and the 220 yards for five successive years at the Scottish Athletic Championships.
Liddell was an unorthodox sprinter. Coming out of his starting holes, Liddell ran with abandon, head tilted toward the skies. When asked how he knew where the finish line was located, he replied in his deliberate Scottish brogue, "The Lord guides me."
Selected to run for Britain in the 100 metres in the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, Eric waited excitedly for the posting of the Olympic heats for the 100 meters and the 4X100 and 4X400 relays, his best events. He was stunned upon learning the preliminary dashes were on Sunday. "I’m not running," he said flatly and then turned his attention to train for the 200-meter and 400-meter dashes. He considered Sunday to be a day set apart for the Lord; and he would honor his convictions at the expense of fame.
On Sunday, July 6, Liddell preached in a Paris church as the 100-meter heats were run. Three days later, he finished third in the 200-meter sprint, taking an unexpected bronze medal. He quietly made his way through the heats of the 400 meters but was not expected to win. Shaking hands with the other finalists, he readied for the race of his life.
Arms thrashing, head bobbing and tilted, legs dancing, Liddell ran to victory, five meters ahead of the silver medalist.
"The Flying Scotsman" had a gold metal and a world record, 47.6 seconds. Most of all, Eric Liddell had kept his commitment to his convictions of faith. He gave the secret of his success as "I run the first 200 metres as fast as I can. Then, with God’s help, I run harder."
The next year, Liddell returned to China, where he had been born to missionary parents, as a teacher and missionary. In 1932, he was ordained as a minister and married in 1933.
He traveled throughout China sharing Christ in isolated communities, forcing him to leave his wife and children behind, was the result of insistent prayer. "Complete surrender" was his description of this attitude.
In March of 1943, Liddell, along with other Americans and Brits, entered a Japanese prison camp. He was appointed math teacher and supervised a sports program. He arose each morning to study his Bible and was the cheer of the camp.
But his health deteriorated rapidly. A brain tumor ravaged his body with severe headaches. Shortly after his forty-third birthday in January 1945, Liddell collapsed. His last words, spoken to a camp nurse, were, "It’s complete surrender."
Upon learning of Liddell’s death, all of Scotland mourned. Heaven rejoiced.
His athletic prowess and his principles became the subject of the film "Chariots of Fire." The film won four Oscars, including that for "Best Film" in 1982.
