GIVE UP TO GO UP
GOING FOR THE GOLD:
How to be a World-Class Christian
Hebrews 12:1a
August 1, 2004
Series Introduction:
This month the Olympic games will be returning to their origins in Athens, Greece. Once every four years the best athletes from all around the globe gather for competition. Their sports are many. Their talents are varied. Their ambitions are one. To stand on the top flight of the platform with a gold medal around their neck as their country’s flag is raised and national anthem played. What does it take to win the gold? What does it take to be a world-class athlete? It takes sacrifice, determination, focus and endurance to achieve this phenomenal feat.
Although many will compete in each event only one person can finish first. Only one athlete can win the gold. All other competitors will return home having failed to achieve their goals. And although they are some of the best athletes in the world many would consider them losers for there can be only one winner.
However in the Christian life this is not the case. In the Christian life we can all be winners. We can all bring home the gold. What does it take to be a world-class Christian? It takes sacrifice, determination, focus and endurance. We are going to look at each of these over the next few weeks and so I encourage you to decide today to go for the gold.
Sermon Introduction:
It has been said that you have to “give up to go up.” That means in order to rise to the top there are some things that you have to let go of because they are holding you back. There are some things that you have to give up if you are going to make progress. This involves making sacrifices.
World-class athletes understand that they have to give up to go up. While others are munching on chips and sodas they are snacking on health food bars and vegetables. While others are lying on the couch watching sports on TV they are in the gym working out. Most of the Olympic athletes that will be competing in Athens are not like the professional athletes who earn enormous salaries. They are regular people who make a living by holding down regular jobs. And that means that they have to give up most of their “free time” to train for their sport.
To be a world-class Christian you will also have to give up to go up. There are things that you will have to say no to while everyone around you indulges in them. There are sacrifices that you will have to make and things that you will have to go without.
However, all this talk about giving up things and sacrifice doesn’t sound very appealing. You might be thinking that you’re not too interested in that. Why is it that some people are willing to make the necessary sacrifices to take their athletic performance to the next level and some aren’t?
The same could be asked of believers in Jesus Christ. Why are some willing to make the necessary sacrifices to grow in Christlikeness while many won’t? In today’s passage we will see what it takes to develop the willingness to give up to go up.
1. Be motivated by previous champions.
1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses,
The image here is of an athlete who is participating in the ancient Greek games. As he prepares for the race that is about to be run he looks up into the stands and sees the crowd of cheering fans and is inspired by them to do his best.
Many times athletes have credited a cheering crowd of fans with giving them the extra motivation they needed to fight back and win the game or contest. That is why so much importance is placed on having home field or home court advantage in team sports. The crowd can literally change the game.
One of the most touching moments in the Sydney Olympics was when Eric "The Swimmer" Moussambani of Equatorial Guinea swam in the 100-meter free style qualifying heat. The 22-year-old African had only learned to swim the previous January, had only practiced in a 20-meter pool without lane markers, and had never raced more than 50 meters. By special invitation of the International Olympic Committee, under a special program that permits poorer countries to participate even though their athletes don’t meet customary Olympic qualifying standards, he had been entered in the 100-meter men’s freestyle.
When the other two swimmers in his heat were disqualified because of false starts, Moussambani was forced to swim alone. Eric Moussambani was, to use the words of an Associated Press story about his race, "charmingly inept." He never put his head under the water’s surface and flailed wildly to stay afloat. With ten meters left to the wall, he virtually came to a stop. Some spectators thought he might drown! Even though his time was over a minute slower than what qualified for the next level of competition, the capacity crowd at the Olympic Aquatic Center stood to their feet and cheered the swimmer on. After what seemed like an eternity, the African reached the wall and hung on for dear life. When he had caught his breath and regained his composure, the French-speaking Moussambani said through an interpreter, "I want to send hugs and kisses to the crowd. It was their cheering that kept me going."
As Christians, we have a cheering section encouraging us on when we are tired and calling out to us to do better when we are feeling at our best. The author of Hebrews says, “We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses.” What in the world does he mean—great cloud of witnesses? The author of Hebrews is telling us that we are a part of something much richer and deeper than we know. (Dr. Bruce Emmert/SermonCentral)]
What are we a part of? In this case the stadium is not just filled with fans. This stadium is filled to capacity with the great champions of the past. These men and women are the heroes of the faith who are enshrined in God’s Hall of Fame in chapter 11. Abraham. Moses. Joseph. Rahab. King David. And on and on the list goes. So many that the author cannot even list them all. They are all in the stadium to watch you compete. Now tell me. Do you want to make a fool of yourself in from of them? No way! Look at them and be inspired be motivated to do and be your best for God. Follow their example. Seek to be like them. If you are not motivated, you will never be willing to make the sacrifices needed to become a world-class Christian.
Can a little motivation really make that much difference? "I’m so depressed and I can’t get any dates," the 300-pound man told his minister. "I’ve tried everything to lose weight."
"I think I can help," said the minister. "Be dressed and ready to go tomorrow at 8 a.m."
Next morning, a beautiful woman in a skintight exercise suit knocked on the man’s door.
"If you can catch me, you can have me," she said, as she took off. He huffed and puffed after her.
This routine went on every day for the next five months. The man lost 115 pounds and felt confident that he would catch the woman the next day. That morning he whipped open his front door and found a 300-pound woman in a jogging suit waiting for him.
"The minister said to tell you," she began, "that if I can catch you, I can have you."
(Allan C. Boyer in Reader’s Digest)
I have a feeling that he never ran faster.
Bob Kuechenberg, the former Miami Dolphins great, once explained what motivated him to go to college.
My father and uncle were human cannonballs in carnivals. My father told me, "go to college or be a cannonball." Then one day my uncle came out of the cannon, missed the net and hit the Ferris wheel, I decided to go to college. (Newsweek)
As you can clearly see, a little motivation can go along way. As you look up into the stands this morning I want you to notice one of the fans that is watching you. His name is Abel. Engraved on his bust in God’s Hall of Fame are these words: “By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead” (11:4). Can you see him there in the stands cheering you on this morning? Be motivated by him to give God your best this morning. Abel didn’t hold anything back from God. He gave God his all. He gave God the very best that he had to give and he made the Hall of Fame.
Let me tell you a little secret this morning. Not only can each of you win the gold, but also each of you can make the Hall of Fame. That is not true of any sport, but it is true of the Christian life. In sports just giving your best effort isn’t always enough. Sports history is littered with the names of unknown men and women who gave their sport everything they had, but never won championships, or earned multimillion dollar contracts, or made the All-Star team. Why? Because in sports it’s not giving your best, but being the best that counts.
However that is not true with God. He wants you to be your best, not the best. Your goal isn’t to be the best Christian in this church, but to be the best Christian that you can be. That is what God requires and that is what God rewards. But it will require sacrifice. You will have to give up to go up.
What do you have to give up to go up? What are you putting ahead of God in your life? What is consuming so much of your time that you don’t have time for church or for serving in ministry? What is taking up so much of your budget that you don’t have enough left to pay your tithe? You have to give up to go up. Be motivated by the previous champions like Abel to give God your best.
2. Choose what is great over what is good.
1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders
A more literally rendering of the Greek word here translated as “hinders” is weight. The RSV says, “let us also lay aside every weight.” The ancient athletes used to practice running with weights strapped to them kind of like the modern ankle and wrist weights that you may see some people use today. The idea was to build up their strength during their training. Of course they would lay aside these weights when it was time to actually compete. What would help them during training by building muscle would hinder them during the race by slowing them down.
You see we need to be aware that at some point the things that have helped us can hinder us. We need to realize that at some point we may need to lay these things aside and go on without them. These things are not necessarily wrong or sinful. They just aren’t the best.
Not all of our choices are between black and white. Not all of our choices are between what is right and what is wrong. Many of our choices are between what is good and what is best. Those are the really tough choices. Sometimes we have to give up what is good to go up to what is best.
To become a world-class athlete it is not about having a good training program, but having the best training program. It’s not about have a good coach, but having the best coach. It’s not about having a good diet, but having the best diet. It’s not about having a good game plan, but having the best game plan. To become a world-class athlete one must realize that good isn’t good enough. You see to have a good training program would actually be a hindrance if you were competing against someone with a great training program.
When skater Michelle Kwan was 13, the junior skater went behind her coach Frank Carroll’s back, submitted her application for senior competition for the next Olympics, and prepared herself for a spot on the team. Kwan then pleaded with her coach to allow her to compete with skaters older than her, with more savvy, and proper conditioning to peak at the right moment.
At that time, Carroll was still an unknown coach, Kwan an obscure skater, and the coach was caught in an awkward dilemma of sending the precocious but eager teenager early to senior competition, where maturity is the standard of excellence, and girlishness, play, and braces are frowned upon.
Coach Carroll, worried about, horrified for and protective of his prized student at the same time, set the youngster aside, gazed seriously at his prized student, and told her: If you want to be a senior, you have to learn what it takes. You have to give up your baby feelings, that I’m tired, or I’m sick. You have to suffer.
Kwan was delighted with her coach’s consent, took his advice to heart from then on, and spinned, jumped and skated her way to unprecedented heights (Los Angeles Times 1/4/93 – Victor Yap/ SermonCentral). There’s nothing wrong with being girlish when your only 13. But she had to sacrifice. She had to give up what was ok to go up to what was great.
As your eyes look over the crowded stadium this morning I want you to notice another man in the crowd. Cheering you on is a man named Abraham. God’s Hall of Fame records this about him: “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going … For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (11:8,10).
Here is a man who knew how to give up in order to go up. The Old Testament book of Genesis reveals to us that Abraham had it pretty good where he was. He had become very wealthy for he had accumulated many possession as well as servants and slaves (Genesis 12:5). But he gave it all up to go up with God. He gave up his country, his people and his father’s household so that he could move up to a city whose architect and builder is God. He gave up what was good to move up to what was great. Be motivated by previous champions like Abraham to choose what is great over what is good.
3. Play by the rules.
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,
One thing that is required of all Olympic athletes is that they play by the rules. If a sprinter or swimmer gets out of his or her respective lanes they are disqualified. If a shot putter steps outside of the circle when he throws his throw is not counted. If an athlete uses performance-enhancing drugs like steroids, they will be banned from competition. If they win a medal and then test positive afterwards the Olympic committee will strip them of their medal. It is essential to play by the rules if you want to be a world-class athlete.
It is also true that you must play by the rules in order to be a world-class Christian. That is why the text says that we must cast off sin. Sin for the Christian is like breaking the rules. In his word God has established certain rules for living. He has established laws that govern our relationships with one another as well as our relationship with Him. When we violate these rules for living that is called sin.
A few years ago, at the 2002 Winter Olympics, there were five finalists for the Men’s 1000 Meter Speed Skating Race. During the final lap, the American and Chinese were out front with the Canadian and Korean skaters hot on their heels. Australia trailed behind obviously destined for last place. As they came around the last curve for the final straightaway stretch, suddenly, the Chinese skater slightly bumped the American and sent both of them careening into the wall as they spun out of control. With no time or space to get out of their way, the tangled mess caused the Canadian and Korean skaters to also spin out of control and join them in a tangled heap of arms and legs. The Australian skater pushed by the heap and shouted to the top of his lungs as he crossed the finish line, “Gold! I won the Gold!”
You see, he won the Gold for no other reason than he crossed the finish line! He finished the race! He was not the fastest. He did not set any records. He just simply didn’t quit or get tangled up in the mess around him. (Phillip Williamson / SermonCentral) That is the secret to winning the gold in the Christian life. You don’t have to be the best. You don’t have to be the fastest or the strongest. You just have to avoid getting tangled up in the mess of sin that is all around us. You must live a holy life in the midst of an unholy world. That is no easy task by any stretch of the imagination and is certainly an accomplishment deserving of the gold.
Once again I want you to turn your attention to the crowd in the stadium. I want you to notice a man in the crowd by the name of Moses. In God’s Hall of Fame it says this about Moses: “By faith Moses, when he had grown up … chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking forward to his reward” (11:24-26). He was looking forward to winning the gold.
Moses had his priorities straight and he was determined to play by the rules rather than trying to take a short cut to pleasure. The RSV says that Moses chose not to enjoy “the fleeting pleasures of sin.” Moses understood something that we would do well to understand. There is pleasure in sin but it is only a fleeting pleasure or a passing pleasure as another translations says.
A few years ago an Olympic sprinter from Canada by the name of Ben Johnson won the gold medal. Shortly afterwards he tested positive for performance enhancing drugs and so his gold medal was taken away from him and he was banned from competition. He cheated. He broke the rules and for a short time he enjoyed himself. He enjoyed the sense of victory as he crossed the finish line first. He enjoyed the cheers of the crowd has he took his place on the platform. He enjoyed the thrill of having the gold medal placed around his neck. And then it was all stripped away. No more gold medal. No more competition. The cheers turned to jeers and his celebrity turned into humility. His accomplishment turned into embarrassment.
The same is true in the game of life as well. You may cheat and break the rules and find pleasure in it for a while. But God knows. You will test positive for sin in your life and all of your so-called accomplishments will be stripped away. You can’t hide it from God. Athletes keep searching for different was to mask the drugs that they use. And they find a way to hide it for a while. But the testers always eventually find a way to detect what they are hiding and then they are caught. You might think that you are hiding it but you can be sure that your sin will find you out. Like Moses we need to learn to sacrifice our own immediate gratification for the sake of our long-term gain. Be motivated by the previous champions like Moses to play by the rules.
Conclusion:
In the Seoul Olympics, sailing competitions were under way at Pusan on September 24, 1988, with winds raging at 35 knots and playing havoc with the boats. Two sailors of the Singapore team, Joseph Chan and Shaw Her, were thrown overboard when their boat capsized.
Canada’s Lawrence Lemieux was sailing alone nearby in a separate event when he saw the sailors in distress. He rescued Chan, who was exhausted from struggling against the strong currents in his weighted sailing jacket. By the time Lemieux finished helping the Singapore team, he had fallen well behind in his race.
Judges awarded Lemieux second place—the position he was in when he went to the sailors’ aid—and the International Olympic Committee gave him a special award for his gallantry.
“It’s the first rule of sailing to help people in distress,” said Lemieux, downplaying the incident. (Bud Greenspan in Parade – Ted Sutherland/SermonCentral).
It is the same way in the Christian life. It is not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game that counts. If you model your life after the previous champions and learn to choose what is great over what is good and play by the rules, you will be a world-class Christian. You will make God’s Hall of Fame. And you will hear those most blessed of all words at the awards ceremony, “Well done good and faithful servant,” as God himself slips the gold medal around your neck.
Please email me if you use this sermon or a revision of it. Thank you!
hope@ewchurch.com
