STAY THE COURSE
Going For The Gold:
How to be a World-Class Christian
Hebrews 12:1b
August 8, 2003
Introduction:
This morning we will be continuing our series titled “Going For The Gold: How to be a World-Class Christian.” Last week we looked at the issue of sacrifice and learned that we have to “give up to go up.” This week we will look at another issue that is necessary to become a world-class Christian – determination.
If you are going to accomplish anything that is worth doing you are going to have to be determined because the really great things in life don’t come easy. If you want to become President of the United States one day, you have to be determined to do so. You have to dedicate much of your life to that pursuit. You can’t just out of the blue one year enter your name for candidacy and expect to have chance to win.
If you want to get a raise or a promotion at work, you have to be determined to get it. You are going to have to work hard and do a good job. You are going to have to put in your time. Promotions don’t happen overnight and for no reason.
The same is true of world-class athletes like the ones who will be competing in Athens this month. None of them were just going through the motions of life when out of the blue they decided to enter the Olympic trials last month. For years they have been determined to make the Olympic team. And that determination has driven them to practice and train and discipline themselves for this very time.
The secret to becoming a world-class Christian is the same. You don’t become a world-class Christian by accident or by chance. You have to be determined to become one. It is not just a matter of being a Christian for a long time. We have all know people who have matured physically without maturing mentally or emotionally. The same is true spiritually. You can be a Christian for years and yet have failed to grow into Christ likeness and produce the fruit of the Spirit. You have to be determined to practice spiritual disciplines like prayer and bible study. You have to be determined to obey God even when it isn’t easy or pleasant. You have to be determined to do what’s right even when no one is looking.
This week we are returning to Hebrews 12:1 to find three things that we must be determined to do if we are going to become world-class Christians and bring home the gold. Remember what I told you last week. This goal is doable. This goal is attainable. This goal is within the reach of every single person here today. Before we even get into these three things make a decision to go for it. Be determined to go for the gold. You can do it.
1. Get In The Game.
1blet us run
“Let us run.” Be determined to get in the game. These are simple words and yet they are so profound. No one in all of history has ever won a race that they did not run. That sounds so logical and yet it is not quite true. I was watching a special on the ancient Greek games earlier this week and learned something quite interesting. The rich would have their servants compete in the chariot races in the name of their master and if they won their master got the crown. One year a man had his slave compete not in his name, but in the name of a woman. He won the race and this woman was awarded the crown. Because she was the first woman to win an Olympic event some in modern times have held her up as someone who was progressing women’s right to compete. But historians say no. The man who entered his servant in this woman’s name was actually seeking to make a mockery of this system. He was in effect saying, “See, this system is so pathetic that even a woman can win.”
There really is something messed up about a system like that. And let me tell you that it will not work in the spiritual realm. You’re not going to become a world-class Christian because somebody ran the race for you. You’re not going to make it to heaven because your mom or dad or grandparent or spouse ran a great race and became a world-class Christian. You actually have to get in the game.
And when I say that you have to get in the game I’m not merely talking about becoming a Christian. It is possible to be an athlete and yet not compete. It seems that many Christians are quite content to do that very thing. Content to become a Christian. Content to have their sins forgiven. Content to attend church on Sundays. Content to go through the motions without getting in the game. Content to sit on the sidelines watching while others play the game. John Maxwell estimates that 20% of the Christians in the church do 80% of the work. While the other 80% of Christians do only 20% of the work. Which category do you fall into?
In sports only so many players can participate in a given event. In college football there are sometimes as many as 100 – 150 players on the team but only 11 of them can be on the field and in the game at any one time. A typical basketball team has 12 players but only 5 of them can be on the court at any one time. This is not true of the Christian life. You will not find a rule anywhere in the Bible that says that only 20% of the team is allowed to participate. So why is it that 80% of our team chooses to sit on the sidelines? I can guarantee you that you will never bring home the gold or make the Hall of Fame while warming the bench. I can guarantee you that you will never become a world-class Christian while sitting on the sidelines. You have to get in the game.
What are you waiting for? Don’t you realize that the game clock is running? When the time is up that’s it. This game of life isn’t like football where the play clock is positioned right where the quarterback can easily see exactly how much time he has to get the play off. In basketball the team can look up at the clock on the scoreboard and know how much time they have left to hold on or how much time they have left to come back. In real life we don’t know what the game clock says. How much time do you have left? What are you doing with the time you have? Do you realize how valuable your time is?
To realize the value of a year, ask a student who has just failed the exam needed to pass a course of study. To realize the value of a month, ask a mother who has just given birth to a premature baby. To realize the value of an hour, ask lovers who only have one left before they are separated. To realize the value of a minute, ask a student who just missed the bus. To realize the value of a second, ask a driver who has just avoided an accident. To realize the value of a millisecond, ask a silver medallist who had to settle for second place in the Olympics.
In a lifetime the average American will spend:
Six months sitting at stoplights
Eight months opening junk mail
One year looking for misplaced objects
2 years unsuccessfully returning phone calls
4 years doing housework
5 years waiting in line
6 years eating
13 years watching television
(Davon Huss – SermonCentral)
What are you going to do with the time you have left? Don’t worry about how you may have miss spent your time up to this point. It’s not too late to get in the game today.
One negative side effect of sitting on the sidelines is complaining. Have you ever noticed that most complaints come from those who aren’t involved in the game? The fans can be so critical. The criticize everything. They complain about the coach and the game plan he made. They complain about the players and the effort they put forth. But if you will get in the game you will find that you are too busy competing to be complaining.
Chuck Swindoll told the following story: This is a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody. There was an important job to do and Everybody was asked to do it. Everybody was sure Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought Anybody would do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done. (Charles Swindoll, Strengthening Your Grip)
Edward Everett Hale, the distinguished poet and former Chaplain of the U.S. Senate, eloquently captured the essence of every American’s duty: "I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. What I can do, that I ought to do. And what I ought to do, by the grace of God, I shall do."
What can you do? What ought you to be doing? What will you do? Determine this morning by the grace of God to get in the game.
2. Don’t Throw In The Towel.
1blet us run with perseverance
Don’t give up. Keep on keeping on. Don’t quit. Don’t throw in the towel. We know all of the clichés. But there is great truth here. To be a world-class athlete you can’t quit. Quitters never win and winners never quit. Did you here about the guy in the 2000 Olympics who won the gold medal in 400-meter hurdles even though he quit half way through the race? No? You didn’t? That’s because it never happened! You don’t bring home the gold by quitting in the middle of the competition.
Maybe you’ve moved away from the sidelines and have gotten involved in the game. Maybe you came out of the blocks well and got off to a great start. But you still need to finish what you’ve started. Maybe it’s not as exciting as it used to be. Maybe things are going the way you planned. Maybe you’re working hard and no one seems to appreciate it. Maybe you feel like throwing in the towel this morning, but don’t. God will help you.
The Barcelona Olympics of 1992 provided one of track and field’s most incredible moments.
Britain’s Derek Redmond had dreamed all his life of winning a gold medal in the 400-meter race, and his dream was in sight as the gun sounded in the semi-finals at Barcelona. He was running the race of his life and could see the finish line as he rounded the turn into the backstretch. Suddenly he felt a sharp pain go up the back of his leg. He fell face first onto the track with a torn right hamstring.
Sports Illustrated recorded the dramatic events: As the medical attendants were approaching, Redmond fought to his feet. "It was animal instinct," he would say later. He set out hopping, in a crazed attempt to finish the race. When he reached the stretch, a large man in a T-shirt came out of the stands, hurled aside a security guard and ran to Redmond, embracing him. It was Jim Redmond, Derek’s father. "You don’t have to do this," he told his weeping son. "Yes, I do," said Derek. "Well, then," said Jim, "we’re going to finish this together."
And they did. Fighting off security men, the son’s head sometimes buried in his father’s shoulder, they stayed in Derek’s lane all the way to the end, as the crowd gaped, then rose and howled and wept.
Derek didn’t walk away with the gold medal, but he walked away with an incredible memory of a father who, when he saw his son in pain, left his seat in the stands to help him finish the race. (SermonCentral: Contributed by: Bobby McDaniel; SOURCE: paraphrased from Bud Greenspan’s, 100 Greatest Moments in Olympic History, p. 136.)
That is a beautiful picture of what our heavenly Father does for us. When he sees his child laboring to run the race that He has called his child to run He gets out of the stands and makes he way to us, puts his arms of love around us, and helps us to cross the finish line.
Are you hurting and struggling this morning? Don’t give up. Help is on its way. When you feel like quitting remind yourself why it is that you run.
An amazing story came out of the 1968 Olympics held in Mexico City. The closing ceremonies had just been completed. The spectators and athletes, still warm from the euphoria of the celebration, were gathering their belongings to leave the stadium. Then the announcer asked them to remain in their seats. Down the boulevard came the whine of police sirens. From their vantage point, many in the stadium could see motorcycles with their flashing blue lights, encircling someone making his way toward the stadium. Whoever it was, he was moving slowly.
Everyone remained seated to see the last chapter of the Olympics take place. By the time the police escort got to the stadium, the public address announcer said that a final marathoner would be making his way into the arena and around the track to the finish line. Confusion was evident among the crowd. The last marathoner had come in hours ago. The medals had already been awarded. What had taken this man so long? The first sign of the runner making his way out of the tunnel and onto the track told the whole story.
John Stephen Akhwari from Tanzania, covered with blood, hobbled into the light. He had taken a horrible fall early in the race, whacked his head, damaged his knee, and endured a trampling before he could get back on his feet. And there he was, over 40 kilometers later, stumbling his way to the finish line.
The response of the crowd was so overwhelming it was almost frightening. They encouraged Akhwari through the last few meters of his race with a thundering ovation that far exceeded the one given the man who, hours earlier had come in first. When Akhwari crossed the finish line, he collapsed into the arms of the medical personnel who immediately whisked him off to the hospital.
The next day, Akhwari appeared before sports journalists to field their questions about his extraordinary feat. The first question was the one any of us would have asked, "Why, after sustaining the kinds of injuries you did, would you ever get up and proceed to the finish line, when there was no way you could possibly place in the race?" John Stephen Akhwari said this: "My country did not send me over 11,000 kilometers to start a race. They sent me over 11,000 kilometers to finish one." (SermonCentral – John Harvey)
He was running for himself he was running for his country and so he refused to quit. When you are tempted to throw in the towel remember that you are not running for fame or fortune, but for your God. It doesn’t matter that you may set no world records. It doesn’t matter whether you finish first or last. God has called you to live this life and he expects you to finish the race. Here’s the secret with God. Everyone who finishes gets the gold.
Maybe life has thrown you some curve balls. Maybe you’ve been knocked off your feet. You figure since you’re already down there’s no point in getting back up. Rather than getting up you’re planning on hanging it up. You need to hear the story of Eric Leddell.
The movie, Chariots of Fire is the true story of Eric Liddell, a man who ran for Scotland, then went on to become a missionary. One year before the pivotal event in the movie, Eric Liddell ran in a meet between England, Ireland and Scotland. He ran the 100-, 220-, and 440-yard events.
In the 440, he got off to a bad start. When that gun sounded, there was a lot of shoving to get in front to the inside lane, the advantageous position. Liddell tangled feet with J. J. Gillies of England and tumbled to the track.
He sat there dazed for a moment, not knowing whether he could get up, when the official screamed, "Get up and run!" He jumped to his feet and took off after the pack, which was now a full twenty yards ahead of him. In a quarter mile, that’s a big distance to try to make up. In his unorthodox style of running he took off after the pack. He pulled into fourth place ten yards behind the leader, J. J. Gillies.
With forty yards to go, he pulled into third place, then second. Right at the tape he passed Gillies, stuck his chest out, won the race, and collapsed to the track in total exhaustion. Medical personnel had to assist him off the track that day.
An article appearing the next day in The Scotsman newspaper said, "The circumstances in which Liddell won the race made it a performance bordering on the miraculous. Veterans whose memories take them back thirty-five years and in some cases longer in the history of athletics were unanimous in the opinion that Liddell’s win in the quarter mile was the greatest track performance they had ever seen." (SermonCentral – Contributed by William Neel; Source: Craig Brian Larson, "Strong to the Finish," Preaching Today, Tape No. 155.)
There is something noble and honorable about not quitting - about getting back up and dusting yourself off and continuing to compete. Remember it is not about finishing last or finishing first, but simply about finishing. Don’t give up on God because he hasn’t given up on you. You can do this. You can finish the race. You can bring home the gold. Be determined to not throw in the towel.
3. Stay On Course.
1blet us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
As we talked about last week, if a sprinter or swimmer gets out of their racing lane, they will be disqualified. If a marathoner runs the wrong route he will be disqualified. If a sailor in a sailing competition sails off course he will be disqualified.
Why are they so strict about these rules? Aren’t they kind of old fashioned? I mean in our modern era of ‘do your own thing’ thinking shouldn’t athletes be allowed to run any route they want? Of course not! Nothing could be more foolish. A race with no route would be utterly meaningless. Can you imagine the gun firing and all the racers scattering in different directions. How would you know who won? Where would the finish line be? How long would the race be? When would it be over? There would be no answers to any of these questions without a racing route. Without a route the race wouldn’t be a race.
The same is true with life. We are not called to run just any old race we choose in any way we see fit. According to this verse there is a specific race that has been marked out for each of us to run. Your race is probably different from mine. In fact your race is uniquely yours to run. God has a plan and a purpose for your life that only you can fulfill.
When we realize that God has a plan for our lives it gives us a sense of purpose. It brings meaning into our lives. Without it there is something missing and life just doesn’t make sense.
There is a relationship that makes life complete. Without that relationship, there is a void, a vacuum in life. Many people, even those who are well-known, can attest to that void.
For example, H.G. Wells, famous historian and philosopher, said at age 61: "I have no peace. All life is at the end of the tether." The poet Byron said, "My days are in yellow leaf, the flowers and fruits of life are gone, the worm and the canker, and the grief are mine alone."
The literary genius Thoreau said, "Most men live lives of quiet desperation."
Ralph Barton, one of the top cartoonists of the nations, left this note pinned to his pillow before taking his own life: "I have had few difficulties, many friends, great successes; I have gone from wife to wife, from house to house, visited great countries of the world, but I am fed up with inventing devices to fill up twenty-four hours of the day."
(Morning Glory, May 29, 1993)
Without a route to run life just doesn’t add up and so people give up. Billy Sunday said, “More men fail through lack of purpose than lack of talent.” Christians without goals are a little like Alice in the fairy tale Alice in Wonderland. In a conversation between her and the Cheshire Cat, Alice asked, "Would you tell me please, which way I ought to go from here?" "That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the cat. "I don’t much care where," said Alice. "Then it doesn’t matter which way you go," said the cat.
Discover God’s plan for your life and then be determined to stay on course. If you following the course that God has laid out before you, I can guarantee that you will bring home the gold.
Conclusion:
In closing let me go back to a story I told at the beginning of this message. It helps to explain why it is we do what we do as Christians to bring home the gold. In the ancient Greek games there was a sport that we do not have in our modern Olympics. The sport was chariot racing. In this competition the wealthy had their servants compete in the race in their name. The servant who actually competed and won the race didn’t get the crown. The crown went instead to his master.
That practice may seem unfair, but it is a picture of why we compete. We aren’t in this for our own glory. We are doing what we are doing for God’s glory. The book of Revelation tells us that one day we will bow before Him and lay our crowns at his feet as an act of worship. Be determined to go for the gold for the glory of God.
Please email me if you use this sermon or a revision of it. Thank you!
hope@ewchurch.com
