Do You Have Enduring Spiritual Stamina?
Good Morning Friends,
Our family has continued to watch the Olympic Games looking for Jesus to show up in surprising ways …not just as a green and yellow statue with arms outstretched looking over the city of Rio. The story of the lighting of the Olympic Flame might be one of them. The final bearer of the torch was Vanderlei Cordiro de Lima, a Brazilian marathoner who was leading the race in the 2004 Athens games, only to be attacked by a spectator, which dropped him to third. Letting de Lima light the cauldron had the immediate emotional impact that nicely dovetailed with the night’s overall themes of trying to heal the wounds of the past…and perhaps even spiritual ones for the assault was from a to be defrocked Irish Catholic Priest. That the small cauldron housing the Olympic flame rose to be surrounded by a collection of mirrors that gave the image of a crown added imagery and beauty to the experience. Vanderlei did not win Gold but then the lighting of the flame would not have had so much drama if he had. I have no idea about this man’s faith but his story reminds me of today’s scripture. The movement of the flame outside a church following the opening ceremony was a continuing witness of the connection of sports and our spiritual journey. Indeed to win the spiritual race we need to grow strong. We need persistence. We need to have heart. We need the continuance of Christ. Do You Have Patient Endurance?
Scripture: “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”
Matthew 5:14-16 (NRSV)
Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it. Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable garland, but we an imperishable one. So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air; but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (NRSV)
The mighty one, God the Lord, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth. Our God comes and does not keep silence, before him is a devouring fire, and a mighty tempest all around him. He calls to the heavens above and to the earth, that he may judge his people: “Gather to me my faithful ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!” The heavens declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge. Selah “Hear, O my people, and I will speak, O Israel, I will testify against you. I am God, your God. Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you; your burnt offerings are continually before me. “Mark this, then, you who forget God, or I will tear you apart, and there will be no one to deliver. Those who bring thanksgiving as their sacrifice honor me; to those who go the right way I will show the salvation of God.”
Psalms 50:1-8; 22-23 (NRSV)
Message: Sports competition and Spiritual growth can have some amazing connections. I thought about it yesterday as our family watched on T.V. the 150 mile Olympic bike race through the hills and cobblestones around Rio. The finish was dramatic with a message about finishing well. Two thousand years ago the roots of what we today call the Olympics were known as the isthmian games. Like our modern Olympics they were held every two years. Competition was fierce. The winners were exempt from paying taxes. They had a statue erected in their honor. They also received a free tuition at a university and were exempt from serving in the military. Today’s passage to the Church at Corinth was written with this backdrop. Paul compares these games to our role as Christians in competing to win souls for Christ. He makes clear the need for self-discipline and the reality that we must be willing to run to win not just participate. Then Paul compares the prize awarded to the winner at the end of the games to the prize we receive as Christians. Instead of a wild celery wreath given to the winners, Christians receive something that lasts… a gold crown that honors faithful, patient spiritual endurance. Now this is important because patience is developed by living a life of faith… by developing a calm endurance that comes with the knowledge that God is in charge. When we receive the compassion and mercy of the Lord in our life it acts as a foundation for our faith to grow and with our faith, patience that the Lord will complete the work He has started in us. Perhaps we should not judge the work of the Lord until it is completed. For victory requires persistence. Spiritual victory requires patience. Friends, know that on our spiritual journey we need to exhibit the characteristics of a winner. Like sports, we have the training, the spectators, the rules and the rewards… the challenge to run the good race. But here the winning is not so much an event but a habit of demonstrating the greatest desire, discipline, commitment and focus to a greater purpose. The one with the great character wins. Friends, you can claim the crown but you must have stamina. So if life is hard and nothing seems to be going right, and then you praise God anyway, in the midst of it all, that is a sacrifice of thanksgiving that David speaks of in the Psalms. That does not come natural. Perhaps here we learn that time does not heal all wounds…only love. I hope it comes to Vanderlei Cordiro de Lima. I hope it also comes to that defrocked priest, not as a justification for his actions but as a witness that sometimes God might uses evil for good and that it is not about us. And I hope that it also comes to Pele who most certainly would have carried the torch to light the Olympic flame had his health permitted. So today we think about giving thanks when things do not go our way for that is exactly what the Psalmist is asking of us. Maybe that characteristic is what gives us enduring spiritual stamina. So know the judge is standing at the door of our heart, the door of the Kingdom stand before us, so do not stop before the goal is reached.
Pray we have endurance of the heart. Pray we realize that endurance is the key to the race in life. Pray that by endurance we are matured spiritually.
Pray that the light of Jesus in our lives be brighter than an Olympic torch. Pray that on the marathon of life we learn to discipline our minds. Pray we discipline our bodies and character. Pray we discipline our speech. Pray we discipline our priorities. Pray we never, never, never give up. Pray we not be a stumbling block for others. Pray that we encourage others. Pray that when it comes to being Christians we are Super winners…evoked, engaged and empowered to go the distance. Pray we team up and rejoice in hope of winning together. Pray we have the persistence to survive spiritually.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 