Spiritual Olympics at Epiphany on
2 Timothy 2:5 Similarly, if anyone competes as an
athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless he competes according to
the rules.
In the 1980 Boston Marathon, a young unknown runner named
Rosie Ruiz was initially declared the winner in the women’s division of the
marathon. Following the race, there was an investigation to find out more about
this surprise champion. It was discovered that this was only the second marathon
in which she had ever run, she had no coach, she trained on an exercise cycle
(others did
Should people who don’t play by the rules be allowed to win?
God has given us some rules for life – the Ten Commandments –
and told us to keep them. You remember what they are: #1: Worship no other gods.
#2: Don’t misuse God’s holy name, curse or swear. #3: Study God’s Word. #4: Obey
your parents and others in authority. #5: Don’t hurt or kill. #6: Keep yourself
sexually pure. #7: Don’t steal. #8: Don’t lie or gossip or slander. #9 & 10:
Don’t covet.
Life was meant to be lived according to these rules. And God
says that He will enforce them. Rule-breakers will never win, and God makes that
a sure promise.
But there are some who feel that God will allow them to break
the rules and still win. They acknowledge that they haven’t always lived by the
rules. Sure, there have been times that they have fudged a little, told “little
white lies,” and maybe “goofed up” now and then, but who hasn’t? Nobody’s
perfect! And if God is going to disqualify someone just for messing up a little,
than it is God’s fault, not theirs. Then He must surely be a mean and vindictive
God.
Let’s remember that a person doesn’t have to break lots of
rules to be disqualified in a race. Life isn’t like a basketball game where you
get five fouls before you are out of the game. Nor is life like a football game
where a team can be penalized many times and still eke out a win. That’s what
many people think. Sure, they haven’t kept all the rules, but somehow they will
still win, and so will almost everyone else.
God makes it very clear that it doesn’t work that way with
Him. “If anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the
victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules.”
He says that life is
like a race where one failed drug test or one violation of the rules will mean
that you have no chance of being the winner. His standard is not “Do your best,”
but perfection. “Be perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew
5:48) “[God] chose us … to be holy and blameless in his sight.” (Ephesians 1:4)
“Just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do." (1 Peter 1:15)
Even a single violation of the rules will disqualify you for the prize.
Hopes were high in the 1988 Olympics that the 9.95 second
world record for the 100-meter dash would be broken in
Johnson lost because Olympic officials enforced the rules.
There are some who believe that life is full of loopholes. They believe that
they can cheat or take advantage of others or lie or use profanity or neglect
the worship and Word of God, and God won’t bother as long as they also try to
live by the rules most of the time.
The Lord, through the simple words of our text, wants to wipe
out that mode of thinking that is so common today – even among us. Should people
who don’t play by the rules be allowed to win the prize?
How have you been doing in living by God’s rules? If you’re
honest, you’ll have to admit the times you cheated in the classroom or when you
signed your parents’ name to a poor report card. You’ve called in sick so you
could goof off on a nice day or you’ve checked your emails, text messaged or
played games on the Internet while you were getting paid for a full day’s work.
You’ve illegally downloaded music or watched pirated copies of movies. You’ve
cheated on your taxes or didn’t correct the clerk when she didn’t charge you
enough for your purchases. Maybe you’ve lost your temper with your children or
been exasperated with your parents or ate or drank too much. Seemingly small,
fairly insignificant issues. Nothing to be too concerned about. Yet it doesn’t
matter what it was or how many times it happened. It doesn’t matter if nobody
noticed or nobody was hurt by your actions. Any violation is sufficient to
disqualify you from the prize of heaven. Remember the Word of God that says:
“Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of
breaking all of it.” (James 2:10)
Years ago a man sent a letter to Ann Landers. He wrote, "This
is for the woman who was distressed about her son. I would like to ask her some
questions about the boy. Is he disrespectful? Has he been arrested for drunk
driving? Has he been kicked out of college for cheating? Has he made his girl
friend pregnant? Does he get failing grades? Does he steal money from your
purse?" "If you can answer `No’ to all these questions, stop complaining. You
have a great kid." It was signed, "Ralph N.,
What a sad commentary on our times. God doesn’t just get
upset about the “big” sins – drugs, failing grades, drunk driving, cheating,
pregnant out of wedlock, or stealing. God gets just as upset when you have
failed to live a decent, moral life. He is angry when you haven’t lived a life
of love and service to others. He is furious when you fail to worship, study
your Bible or share your faith. All of these failings have disqualified us from
the prize.
The way we are going, we will never make it to heaven on our
own. And isn’t that the point!
Some people think that God gave us the rules of life so that
we could earn heaven by keeping them. Nothing could be further from the truth.
“No one will be declared righteous in [God’s] sight by observing the law;
rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.” (Romans 3:20)
Most of the people I golf with aren’t all that concerned with
the finer rules of golf. Maybe we’ll pick up the ball to check if it is ours,
then put it back down and give ourselves a better lie. Use the “toe wedge” to
kick the ball out from behind the tree. Play winter rules in the heat of the
summer. Don’t add penalty strokes. Take
When we finish playing a round by our own rules, we feel
better about our score. We think we did better than we really did. But we’ll
never be able to compete in a real game. We’ll never be able to gain the
victory.
There are many people living life without checking out the
rulebook. They have never studied the rules that God has given. And so they have
no idea how many rules they have broken. They think they are much better than
they really are. Or maybe you think you know the rules because you studied them
years ago with your pastor, but you don’t really live your life daily by those
rules. They are more of a general guideline than official rules. Or maybe you
justify times when you’ve felt you’ve had to break the rules. Living like this,
we’ll never be able to compete in the game of life. We’ll never be able to gain
the victor’s crown.
A few years ago I met a couple who had a bad child. This boy
was in trouble at home, in trouble at school, in trouble in the neighborhood and
in trouble with the law. He was caught stealing, smoking, drinking and doing
drugs. He swore, cheated, lied, was disrespectful of anyone in authority and at
times was violent. His Mom and Dad continued to protect him, paying his fines,
and going to court to keep him from going to juvenile facilities. They told
anyone who would listen, “He’s really a good boy.” You know what … No he wasn’t!
He was a rotten boy! And he needed help! His parents were in denial of his
failures, and maybe heir own. God can’t be like that. He can’t just pretend that
we haven’t sinned. So, He did what was necessary to satisfy justice, so the
scales of justice could be balanced, He declared us guilty but forgiven through
the cross.
We must admit that we need help. We can’t pretend like we are
OK. We can’t ignore that we are really rotten people.
One of the phrases I remember while playing as a child was
“Do Over.” Catching a sideline pass while playing football might bring about a
small debate as to whether you were in or out of bounds before making the catch.
Well, often times an agreement couldn’t be reached over a questionable call so
the play was deemed a “Do Over”.
You’ve done things in your life that were questionable.
Wouldn’t it be great to get a “Do Over” for those things you have done that you
are not proud of? Guess what? You can. Every time you ask for forgiveness, you
receive forgiveness – a “do over” from Christ. He is our wonderful Savior who
loves us. And his love will never run out. When you sin and receive forgiveness,
Christ removes your sins “as far as the east is from the west.” (Psalm 103:12)
Once we are forgiven, it is as if we never sinned before. The Bible says that
God remembers our sins “no more.” (Isaiah 43:25)
When we have broken God’s rules, Jesus kept them in our
place. When we should have been disqualified from the race, Jesus has qualified
us with His perfect blood and His holy righteousness. When we have been really
bad boys and girls, Jesus has made us really good and perfect in God’s eyes.
Can God love us even as wretched cheaters and failures? Jesus
loved the prostitute who poured oil on his feet. He didn’t reject her because of
her sin. In fact, he loved her even more, because she was lost in sin.
Jesus loves us because we are lost in sin. We are sick with
sin. He wants to heal us. We are covered with sin. He desires to wash us clean
with his blood. We are weak and fall into temptation. Jesus urges us to come to
him with our burdens and he will make us strong to fight temptations. We sin
every day. Jesus pours out his love and forgiveness on us every day. We are
miserable wretches who are prisoners of our sin. Christ has made us victors over
Satan and sin through faith in him – they no longer control us. Though we are
sinners now, Christ will perfect us in heaven.
As unlovable as we are, our wonderful Savior still loves us.
He wants us to live life according to His Dad’s Book. Read the rules. Take the
rules seriously. Apply them personally. As you live by the rules, you will
become a better father, a more loving mother, a more faithful child, a more
loyal employee, and a more authentic child of God. Study God’s Word because you
will not only find God’s rules there, but you will also find your Redeemer
there. When you know the rules, then when you know you’ve broken the rules, you
will better appreciate your Savior who kept the rules for you and who forgives
you when you have broken the rules. You will love your Savior has given you a
“do over” in the race of life. With Jesus, you will never be disqualified. Amen.