Are You In The Race?

1 Corinthians 9: 26, 27

 

 

          In the last week, I have been to three memorial services for people who have died. I watched people parade by and shake hands and pay their respects. In many ways, it was wonderful to see how many people had been touched. In other ways more subtle, I was reminded of how many people gather at funerals and weddings and baptisms and other special days to pay their respects and then disappear from the religious scene until the next wake or High Holy Day. I was also reminded of those who come so often, but give so little of themselves and make no real change in their lives.

          Are you in the race, or are you only watching from the bleachers? Are you getting dirty and worn from the constant exposure to the dirt and grime of everyday living and giving…or are you cheering someone else on, sitting comfortably at a distance? Do you have, as they say, skin in the game?

          The apostle Paul compared the Christian life more than once to athletic contests. Some of his favorite comparisons were that of life and commitment to the lives of dedicated athletes such as boxers and runners. In 2 Timothy 2, he talks about ethics and obedience, reminding us that “an athlete is not crowned until he competes according to the rules.” In Chapter 4 of the same letter, Paul is near the end of his journey of life and he tells his protégé Timothy that he has fought the good fight, that he has finished the race…that he has kept the faith. And in today’s passage, Paul talks about self-control, focus and discipline.

          The Boston marathon is probably the most prestigious race in the world. Every year, several thousand runners compete in a 26.2 mile race for the title that gives them bragging rights as the best distance runner in the world. No one would ever think one could cheat in such a race, and yet it happened. In the eighty fourth running of the Boston marathon, a woman came out of nowhere to win the women’s fastest time. Her name was Rosie Ruiz, and she tried to win the Boston marathon without running the race.

           In 1980, Rosie was the first woman to cross the finish line. Her victory assured her instant recognition as one of the world’s great athletes. It was an amazing feat; made all the more amazing by the way Rosie looked at the end. After that grueling 26 mile run, her hair still looked almost like it had just been done and she was barely out of breath. Such a model of fitness! But then, people began to notice things. Rosie’s legs were loose, not at all like those of a distance runner. No one had seen her along the race course until the last half mile. When questioned about splits and intervals, runners’ terms, she asked “what’s an interval?”  A few days later, two men came forward to report that they had seen her come out of the crowd to enter the race in the last mile. Some others reported seeing her on the subway during the race in her runner’s uniform. A week later, Rosie’s recognition as the winner of the Boston marathon was withdrawn.

          Rosie never admitted that she had cheated. She kept promising to run another marathon to show that her time was not a fluke. Somehow she never got around to it. As life went on, Rosie had other problems. She had some serious run-ins with the law. Rosie kept trying to take shortcuts to fame and prosperity. It never worked out. She really had no skin in the game. She wanted the benefits, but refused to do the work or take on the burdens that accompanied that kind of success.

          The apostle Paul had plenty of skin in the game. By his own account, he was beaten three times with rods, was whipped five times with 40 lashes, stoned once, shipwrecked three times, was adrift at sea, suffered from exposure to extreme weather and the list goes on. Paul knew what it was to train for his event. He knew what it was to sacrifice, to be at the end of his rope and have to endure. A marathon is a lot like that. Some say that one never completely recovers physically from the running of such a race. Paul had the marks of his Christianity. They were on his back!

          I stand here in front of you week after week, month after month, in fear. Have I prepared enough? Are my words enough? Is my voice strong enough? Enough for what? To represent my Savior! What if I get it wrong? What will happen to those who came to hear, to worship, to pray, even to be healed? The most important answer is that I will never have the innate ability to deliver on any of these what ifs. No one else short of Jesus himself does. But one question lingers and will always beg for an answer. Am I running the race? Am I fighting the good fight? Am I keeping the faith? Such matters demand undivided loyalty, unmatched discipline and unflinching obedience. If I and you can measure to that standard, our reward will not just be a laurel wreath of victory. It will be a crown of unmerited grace! God doesn't ask that you win the race. He just wants you to be in the race. And if you're in the race, God will see to it that you're victorious. 

          Although our Lord is the very definition of giving, of sacrifice, of self-sacrificing love, he is not someone to be mocked. The churches of all faiths today are populated partially with people like Rosie, people who come to church every Sunday. They smile; they gather with others, they participate, but only to a point. They are not invested. They have no skin in the game. Eugene Peterson describes such people as those “who want to get in on the finish line but who cleverly arrange not to run the race.” Look behind their Sunday morning rituals and you will find little else.

          You see, God is simple, but he is not easy. He doesn’t force anyone to come along, but he doesn’t accept anyone who is insincere. With God, sooner or later, you’re going to have to ante up. He will take you where you don’t want to go, send you to do things untasteful, even make you do something as simple as washing the dirt and dust of the day off someone’s feet. Walking with God is not for those who get in a marathon the last half mile. It’s for those who are real, and bring real commitment.

          It takes discipline to run on God’s team. You don’t have enough stamina if you try to do it by yourself. But God does not require that. What God requires is summed up well in today’s passage. Paul says this: “So run that you may obtain it [the prize]. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we are imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control…”

          God wants us on the team. He wants us in the race, but only if we give him all we have. To come to church and do nothing else before or after is to enter the race at the finish line, where everyone is lined up to see the victor. It looks convincing, but those who watch are not the judge.

          Are you in the race? Will you run for God…or for yourself? Will you believe, not when people all around you say a manifold amen, but when the times get tough. Will you shake your fist at God, or will you pray through the loneliness and the anger and the pain? Will you drop in, or will you roll up your sleeves and stick around through the doubt and the despair? One way leads to temporary pleasure and recognition. God’s way, running the whole race…leads to his grace. And his grace is sufficient!