In London the Olympians have a great passion for their sport, their talents are fine tuned, trained to perfection. They listen to their beating heart and the pounding of their feet and labour for a gold medal that is their reward their crowning glory for all their hard work and effort.
The people of Jesus day were toiling, labouring, striving to please God through keeping the law of Moses in order to attain the prize of their names written in the book of life.
Daniel 12: 1. Revelations 3: 5
Christians for having taken part in the race and more importantly finishing it are looking to receive a crown from Jesus.
John 6: 24-35.
In this morning’s reading some of the people who had experienced the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 were searching for Jesus, they had experienced a great miracle, yet their hearts were hardened, they did not discern the connection between Moses and God’s provision of the manna and God’s provision of the bread and fishes.
In our sketch Jay found that he had not listened to God’s word to him, or discerned the movement of the Holy Spirit. As a result the God's word was over-ruled by Jay's own desires quenching the Holy Spirit’s nudging. His eyes had been fixed on earthly glory. He was glorying in his achievements.
(In the sketch God’s direction, his will for Jay had not been heard by him, he was instead showing off his medals before God and his fellow Christian Eileen)
Eileen had heard God’s word to her and her actions were in response to her faith in Jesus.
Another example of a Christian listening to God and in faith acted upon Jesus’ words.
Eric Liddell became well known for being the fastest runner in Scotland. He had a nick name, the "Flying Scotsman" many newspapers who followed his progress, in their articles stated that he was a potential Olympic winner.
The 1924 Olympics were hosted by the city of Paris. The schedule of races had been published several months before the Games took place.(In the film 'Chariot's of Fire' he heard as he set sail for Paris)
Eric who was a devout Christian, had decided that he would not race on Sundays, the Lord’s day. As a result he withdrew from the 100-metres race, his best event. His decision did not please many people and he suffered as a result, his friends tried to persuade him to run, after all he had the potential to win three gold medals for Great Britain.
Eric spent the intervening months training for the 400 metres. When the day of the Olympic 400 metres race came, Eric went to the starting blocks, where an American Olympic Team masseur slipped a piece of paper into his hand with a quotation from 1 Samuel 2:30: "Those who honour me, I will honour.”
After leading the race from the start, he was challenged all the way down the home straight but held on to take the win. He broke the existing Olympic and world records with a time of 47.6 seconds.
On this video clip from the film ‘Chariots of Fire’ we hear Eric sharing his faith with the crowd.
Video
Eric spoke of the power within each Christian.
The power within is the bread of life. Jesus described himself as bread, he pointed to his words as being living bread,
Scripture verses that confirm this view
“It is the Spirit that gives life, the flesh (his body) is of no avail; the words that I have spoken to you are Spirit and life.” John 6: 63
Jesus being the word of God clothed in the flesh. 1 John 1: 1.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1: 1
God had set his seal on Jesus.
Seal – to give one’s authority or assent to. (Chambers Dictionary)
We read that Jesus had the seal of approval from God his Father. The voice of God was recorded by Mark in his gospel as saying, “This is my beloved Son, listen to him.” Mark 9: 7
Jesus is recorded as saying in the previous chapter that they listened to Moses and so they should listen and believe in his words that he received from God his Father. God’s word to Moses, “ I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brethren and I will put my words in his mouth.” Deut 18: 18
Jesus’ words inwardly digested will nourish our inner self and his words empower our natural gifts giving us encouragement to step out in faith, confirmed with a words of scripture and the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit stepping out into the unknown out of our comfort zone as we are totally reliant on Jesus answering our prayer.
Eric Liddell acted upon the word by keeping the Lord’s Day.
Jesus established the New Covenant were the laws given to Moses are fulfilled in love and are now written into a believer’s heart through faith in Jesus. Jeremiah 31: 33, 34. Hebrews 8: 10-12 Ephesians 2: 13-22.
The early church put in place Sunday as ‘the Lord’s Day.' A day set aside for focusing on worship and fellowship.
Paul wrote that the love of God is the fulfilling the law and embraces far more of the nature of God. Romans 13: 10
“Love is patient and kind, love is not jealous or boastful or rude. Love doesn’t insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in the wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7
Eric listened to God.
After the Games Eric went back to China as a missionary, he continued to compete now and again. On one occasion he was asked if he ever regretted his decision to leave behind the fame and glory of athletics. Liddell responded, "It's natural for a chap, to think over, all that sometimes, but I'm glad, I'm at the work, I'm engaged in now. A fellow's life, counts for far more at this, than the other." His work as a missionary took priority over his achievements as an athlete.
In 1932 he was ordained and later married Florence Mackenzie. He died in a prison camp in China on 21 February 1945 he was 43 years of age. According to a fellow missionary, Eric Liddell's last words were, "its complete surrender" in reference to how he had given his life to God.
The kingdom within us ensures that Christians after running the race receive a crown.
Sketch: In our sketch, both Jay and Eileen received a crown, the victor’s crown, these crowns are given to us for having taken part in the race and more importantly finishing it.
There are not any losers in the Christian faith, no medals either only a crown. But we have this glorious treasure within, the eternal bread that will last for eternity.
We are all in training to witness our faith on life's journey.
Once a year at Whitsontide on either Friday or Sunday the members of the Churches in the town walked around their Parishes. At the head of the procession there was a brass band, followed by a large banner with the name of the church and a picture embroidered on it relating to the name. It was usually followed by the clergy and choir after them the Sunday School and following them the members of the congregation in the organisations that they belonged to within the church. We all came to together at the town square where we had a short service. In 1976 my two years old daughter, tired by the walk, when we arrived at the town square she said to me, “Mummy, my legs are out of breath.” I’ve never forgot her words, especially now thirty plus years later she takes part in Triathlon ‘Iron Man’ events around the world.
Paul used the opportunity of the Isthmian Games of his day to give encouragement to the churches at Corinth and Ephesus. “Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable wreath.” 1 Corinthians 9: 25.
At the London Olympic Games the athlete’s years of preparation and dedication for the few is paying off. Having kept strictly to a planned diet and exercise, measuring the amount of protein, vitamins and carprohydrates at every meal and having a good night’s sleep. Observance of these are essential to help the body realise its potential.
Along with the diet is the routine of daily training, spending two to three hours out running in all weathers and exercising at the gym.
St Paul wrote, “The Christian exercises self-control in all things,” I believe Paul was referring to us having a disciplined life that daily spends time in prayer and tasting the goodness of the spiritual food, in the study of the Bible, and as our mind and will working together with the gifts of the Holy Spirit to equip us for meeting the challenges of the day ahead.
On Track
My daughter uses a GPS Tracker when she is in a triathlon race. It is much bigger than a watch, and is worn on the wrist. Through the Tracker she is able to monitor her heart beat, pulse, steps, calories, speed, distance and a map of her route that she is about to take and she can stop on route and it will pin point the exact spot where she is. It is amazing technology.
‘Christ in us’ is like wearing a tracker, it shouldn’t be surprising to us when the Lord knows our every movement, our thoughts, and he knows the condition of our body and our planned route the schedule of events in our life.
In our relationship with the Lord, we are called to walk by faith. It means being reliant upon God to respond to our prayers. For us to listen to the still small voice of the Holy Spirit for guidance.
In the race all the training and bodily fitness comes into its own. I’m told that in a triathlon race that after completing three quarters of the race the body needs extra impulsion. The runner relies on their own strength this comes from the disciplined mind to overcome the strain on the body, as tiredness and cramps kick in. The athlete’s discipline is kept up because of the motivation of the challenge and the prize of being successful.
On our Christian marathon the daily discipline finds its fulfilment: when someone may ring or email to ask us to pray for a family member or a friend who is about to undergo an operation. We may bump into someone on the street who off loads their problems, we become a listener, a shoulder for them to lean on, as they unburden themselves.
In all kinds of ways the Lord will direct our paths to help someone and for us to receive from others. It may be that we need help from another Christian to fill in a form or help in writing a letter.
On occasions we may struggle, it is as we persevere in prayer to keep on the track of faith and with the Lord’s help as we stand on the word of God we are strengthened to win through whatever the circumstances.
For the Olympic prize winner they receive a medal, to commemorate their achievement. The Christian looks forward to receiving the prize of eternal life, and a crown of everlasting glory.
