A Race We Need to Run

Old Mystic, February 15, 2009
1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Summary

As Christians we are called to run the race of a life of sacrifice and discipline, where we live in a profound relationship with the Living God. Grounded on such a relationship, we can assume the responsibility of bringing the Good News of the Gospel to those around us; a Gospel love, peace, and justice for a needy world.

Sermon

I must confess that I am fond of sports metaphors and illustrations because they depict so well our human plight in seeking success in what we do, in reaching goals, and being effective in our endeavors. In sports we clearly see the contrast between agony and ecstasy; between victory and defeat; between joy and sadness. It is interesting to watch how much we can contemplate in sports the display of human passion, both good and sometimes not so good, sometimes pathological passion. Who does not warmly remember the 2004 ALCS series when the Boston Red Sox came from behind to beat the New York Yankees after being 0-3, with their backs against the wall? Tears came out of the eyes even of the most detached fans! And then they went to win their first world series in 86 years. What an amazing story of perseverance, discipline, and faith. I still remember the signs displayed by some fans: We believe!

Paul, the apostle, addressing the church in Corinth, knows that he is speaking to people who knew sports. Organized sports, as we know them, what we call the Olympics, began in the Greco-Roman world. And Corinth was the city where the famous Isthmian Games, only second in importance to the Athenian Olympic Games, used to take place. Now, the metaphors used in the passage we read today, though powerful and useful, they have their flaws. If we compare the race we are running as Christians with the race Paul uses as illustration, there are some crucial differences. He points to the fact that we receive a non-perishable wreath to crown our victory in our Christian life and that may be a good analogy. At the same time, in a sports race there is always one winner; only one takes the wreath of the victors; only one climbs to podium. The promised crown to the faithful in the race of life, however, is reserved for many. Having made such a clarification, let it be said that, I believe, Paul is trying to convey a powerful message to the church in Corinth: it is not so much about winning; it is not about defeating an enemy; it is about Running the Race We Need to Run.

But Paul uses a second metaphor, that one of a boxer that as such knows that serious, competitive boxing is more than throwing punches to his shadow. In both cases, whether a racer or a boxer, what it takes to win is discipline. He speaks of exercising control in all things, not running aimlessly, or beating the air. Paul is conveying the people of the church in Corinth a message that sounds appealing but at the same time cumbersome. Victory in life comes through discipline; through intentional, planned, organized, and carefully performed actions where we seek God and where we commit to fulfill our call to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. All of this may sound difficult. Someone may say, “I did not come here today to hear about sacrifice, or work, or tough discipline.” Some other may think that to define Christian life in terms of discipline will turn people away; or perhaps somebody else would dare to say that the idea of living a life of discipline takes away their freedom or the possibility of “enjoying life.” But that is not how I understand discipline. That is not, I believe, what the apostle signifies when he speaks of discipline. Discipline is the means to an end: to an experience of joy, of ecstasy, of fulfillment, of anticipation, of a taste of God’s Peace in Jesus Christ, a peace that will be one day complete and perfect. Discipline is not deprivation; it is neither an exaltation of suffering nor sacrifice for its own sake. It is a road to the Living God.

My friends, we are called to Run the Race We Need to Run. And as I have already said, that requires discipline. So let me share briefly some thoughts about this discipline. In first place, Christian discipline is a relationship. It means that we deliberately, intentionally, and consistently seek God’s face; it implies that we employ our best efforts to come to the “Throne of His Grace.” Discipline is a relationship where we diligently approach the Living God to experience His incomparable presence. Paul speaks of self-control in this passage but he also knows well how human he is, as he confessed, “for I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do… “Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” Paul knew that only the relationship he had with God and Jesus Christ could empower, nurture, and sustain him in his journey. He said, “I know a person in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—[and] was caught up into Paradise and heard things that are not to be told, that no mortal is permitted to repeat.” What an experience of a relationship he had with the Living God!

A discipline of seeking to build a relationship with God is to practice what many call the spiritual disciplines. Those are spiritual practices that rooted in the Scriptures and in our Christian tradition we have consistently engaged—or not. We all know about the importance of prayer, or reflection on the Scriptures, or meditation; may be some have practiced fasting, or solitude; some may claim—rightfully so—that the experience God through service. Richard Foster in his famous book The Celebration of Discipline mentions inward, outward, and corporate spiritual disciplines and we can discern as we learn about them that each individual person will probably find their own way to practice some of them. It doesn’t matter how many, which ones, or how anyone would personally practice any spiritual discipline. What matters is that we honestly, humbly, and consistently look for intentional ways of engaging the Living God.

Sometimes we confuse spiritual disciplines with rituals. There is nothing wrong with rituals; they are ceremonies, acts, or customs that we perform that have the purpose of memory, of honor, and worship. But rituals are mere forms, methods, or procedures. We can do many things we believe that as rituals they are going to bring us closer to God and spiritual disciplines can be practiced through ritual. The risk, however, is that often times we fall into the pits of a ritualistic going through the motions.
Again, there is nothing wrong with rituals—after all I am promoting the use of systematic and organized spiritual disciplines. Whatever it is that we do, it must be done to encounter, engage, and establish a relationship with the Living God. It is in that relationship that our life is nurtured; it is that Person we need to know personally that the Scriptures are revealing; it is the true meaning of Emmanuel: God is with us, and we seek God, who is at the center of our lives. We are summoned by Paul to run a race and we can only do that with the discipline of a relationship with God.

Second, the discipline we need to Run the Race We Need to Run is costly. God’s grace is not cheap, it is costly. Jesus put it in very difficult terms, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” Paul makes it look ugly: “I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.” But the high cost of the discipline of Christian life is not so much about “renouncing to the world,” or giving up the “worldly pleasures,” or living an ascetic life with no joy. We don’t have to become monks and be confined in a monastery spending the rest of our life in contemplation—even though a little contemplation can certainly be good for us. On the contrary, we have the responsibility of sharing the joy of our relationship with God. This is proclaiming the good news: sharing by word and by deed that relationship with the Living God that Christ makes possible with our neighbors, our loved ones, and with the whole world.

The weight of our responsibility is heavy and the cost of our discipline is high for what is at stake. We are building the kingdom of God; we are shaping the future; we have a vision and the blueprints of God’s historical project of a new humanity. Proclaiming the gospel and bringing good news is not costly because we may suffer rejection; or because religion is out of touch with the reality of a secular age; or because we don’t want to surrender a lifestyle, or a career, or our simple routine of a life with little or no complications. Life will be and it is very hard! When all the things we value in this life come into focus with our calling, with bearing our responsibility, then they acquire meaning and then, only then, they get in line with our God given life purpose.

Sharing the good news is our lifestyle. When through our discipline we experience the Living God, we are equipped to live such lifestyle. The cost of such a lifestyle is high, as I said, because life, abundant life for others is at stake. But the discipline of our lifestyle is also costly because we are being constantly watched, sometimes judged, often criticized—perhaps with good reason, and many times ostracized, which brings along suffering. But who can take away from us the joy of standing before God face to face? Who can deny to us our experience of a relationship with the Living God? It is costly to be a witness, or a messenger; someone who reflect the character of Jesus Christ. But it is such a privilege that when we become aware of its greatness we want to respond like the prophet, “Here am I; send me!"

When we embark ourselves in the discipline of having a relationship with the Living God, the act of proclaiming the gospel becomes something natural. We can be articulate preachers who with eloquence and with nice words can explain the meaning of the good news. Or we can simply let people know that God is love and God loves them by… simply loving them. We can perhaps engage in acts of kindness toward our neighbor as an anticipation of the kingdom that is yet to come, but also as a confirmation of the good news that the kingdom of love, peace, and justice is already here and we are a clear sign. The gospel is a lifestyle; it is something that we flesh out; when we walk with God we only have to act naturally and our influence will make a difference.

There is no question, the responsibility of nurturing our lives is essential. There is so much at stake. We are those who bear the responsibility of being witnesses to Jesus Christ in Old Mystic and surroundings, following a rich Baptist tradition and a long history of sharing the gospel. We are aware of the fact that we need to grow; not so much because we want to be a larger church, or because we want to be viable, or because such occurrence will boost our pride and make us feel better. Growth is only a natural consequence of a life rooted in God through Jesus Christ and the joyful sharing of that experience with all those around us. And as we are called to this precious life of relationship with God and of purpose, we are also aware of the discipline we need. Let us diligently, consistently, and intentionally seek God, with all our heart and with all our mind, and let us flesh out that relationship in a way that witnesses to God’s amazing grace for all the world.