Spiritual Olympics at Epiphany on August 17, 2008

2 Timothy 4:7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ⁸ Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day-- and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

Pursuing a Different Prize

The Venus Rosewater Dish was made of sterling silver in 1864 and looks like something you might find in your grandmother’s china cabinet. It has been awarded to the Wimbledon singles champ since 1886. While the original stays in the Wimbledon museum the winner receives an 8-inch replica.

It’s the kind of jacket your great uncle might wear, if he were playing cards in an Irish pub or he had just won the Masters golf tournament. The green jacket – an Irish green version of the blue blazer – is awarded each year to the Masters champion.

Every four years, the best in swimming, fencing, or synchronized diving win a gold medal that isn’t really gold. It is actually 92.5% silver with 6 grams of 24-carat gold coating the medal. The front side of each medal features a picture of Nike, the Greek goddess of victory. The reverse side of every medal is unique to each Olympic Games and is designed by the host city. The medal for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games has been inlaid with a jade disk inscribed with a dragon pattern which symbolize the nobility and virtue of traditional Chinese values. 

What would drive an athlete to pour out so much blood, sweat and tears to win these unique prizes? The gold medals certainly aren’t worth much. You can’t serve a lot of food on the Venus Rosewater Dish. You wouldn’t want to wear the green jacket out in public. Of course, there may be big money involved in winning Wimbledon or the Masters. Or there may be some prestige in having your face on the Wheaties box or some notoriety from endorsement deals. But there has to be a different inspiration for their passion, an inner determination that drives them regardless of the outcome.

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” These words of the apostle Paul were some of the last that the Holy Spirit inspired him to write. He sensed that his life was nearly over. He had been put into a cold dungeon somewhere in Rome. Many of his companions had deserted him. His faithful friends had a hard time finding out where he was being kept. He had no coat, and it was getting colder. He had no scrolls to read, and little to do.

Paul didn’t know what was going to happen to him. His chances of being released weren’t good. He had many enemies, people who were opposed to his teaching that Jesus Christ was the only true God, and the only one in whom salvation was to be found. Paul could have been executed any day. In fact, in the words just previous to our text, he said, “The time has come for my departure.”

For his entire ministry of about 30 years, Paul had known hardships and trials, but he had “kept the faith.” He never lost trust in the Lord. He had never stopped doing the Lord’s work, no matter what kind of trouble he received because of it. He had not compromised the Gospel message the Lord had entrusted to him. It had been a struggle, but he fought a good fight.

Paul had been persecuted, arrested, put on trial, beaten, stoned, left for dead, shipwrecked, imprisoned, and eventually executed – all for the sake of the Gospel. He had a determination that drove him on regardless of the earthly outcome.

Paul was fighting for the crown of righteousness. He was finishing the race to receive his prize. He kept the faith so that Jesus, the righteous Judge of these Spiritual Olympics, would proudly place the crown of righteousness upon Paul’s head. 

This crown of righteousness is a very expensive crown. It cost the life-blood of God’s own Son to purchase it for us. It is worth more than any gold medal, green jacket or any amount of worldly success or happiness.

I’ve been watching the Olympics this past week. There have been some interesting stories coming out of Beijing. The ages of the Chinese women’s’/girls’ gymnastics team, the amazing comeback of Jason Lezak and the American swimming team in the 4x100; and Michael Phelps going for an unprecedented 8 gold medals are all huge stories coming out of the Olympics.

What’s always been amazing to me – I don’t know, maybe even a little inspiring – is that these thousands of teenagers (and that’s what most of them are) give up huge chunks of their growing up years just to compete for a four-inch disk of metal. A few of them are going to make big money endorsing Speedos or Nikes or some other product, but not most of them. A few of them are going to get coverage on ESPN, and one or two may make the cover of Time, but not most of them.  The truth is that most of these kids never even receive a medal. They’ll leave Beijing with good memories, but that’s about it. And they knew this before they went. And yet all though grade school and high school and maybe even college, while their classmates were having fun and making money and sleeping till noon on Saturday mornings, these athletes were working their tails off in gyms and swimming pools – all for good memories.  

Do we think these kids are stupid? I don’t believe it. They worked incredibly hard and refused to be distracted. They set a goal and they kept their eyes on it. I’d say most of us admire them. I think most of us envy them.

I suppose it’s not a big surprise that traits we admire so much and even envy in these young people are so incredibly difficult for Christians to imitate. We know the prize we’re chasing doesn’t look like much to most people, but we also know that life with God now and forever is a lot more valuable than good memories or a gold medal – even more valuable than a million dollar endorsement contract. But do you notice how we struggle every day to keep pursuing our different kind of prize? We have trouble making our relationship with Jesus a priority in our lives. We let ourselves be distracted by things that seem important but really aren’t. Too often what we really want is to have the fun and earn the money and sleep in till noon, and what we don’t want is the sweating and the straining and the stretching that come with following Jesus.

Jesus knows all about us. We’re his 21st century followers, and we’re not a lot different from his first century followers. And so what Jesus said to his 1st century followers he also says to us. The more opposition he faced, the more Jesus talked about how difficult it was to follow him.  Jesus said, “Satan is going to do everything he can to separate you from me. If you don’t make me a priority in your life, if you won’t live your life as though nothing matters but me, the devil is going to grab you and gobble you up.” Then Jesus told a story about a rich fool who pursued money and forgot about God. Whoops. He woke up in hell. Jesus said to the crowds, “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God. Seek God’s kingdom first, and these things will be given to you as well.”

Then came the encouragement: “Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Jesus wasn’t telling his 1st century followers or his 21st century followers to drain their bank accounts and sell their furniture for the sake of the poor. Jesus gives us all the things we have – even the nice things – and he wants us to use them for our good and, of course, for the good of others. But this is the point: If we ever start to notice that our things – our good salary or our hefty mutual funds, our nice home or our classy town house, our cool vacations or our awesome SUV (or Prius) – if we ever start to notice that our things are beginning to mean more to us than Jesus, then it’s time for some serious reassessment. 

I don’t know. Maybe it’s time for reassessment now. We tend to value what the world values. We like the baubles and trinkets, the pleasures and treasures this world offers. We all have our own little treasures, and it happens too often that we’re ready to exchange Jesus for the treasure. What would happen if we were persecuted or beaten up for preaching the Gospel? Would we remain silent about our faith or take a pass on praying in public? If it meant being thrown in prison or having our family executed, would we stop reading the Bible at work or stay home from church? Doing what is convenient for us comes easier than doing what’s good for people around us. We’d rather not risk a friendship by talking about Jesus. We’d rather not risk coming up short in our checkbooks by bringing generous offerings for the church’s work. 

Now we can all hang our heads and put that bad puppy look on our faces. But, listen, brothers and sisters: both Paul and Jesus want you to know this is serious stuff. Jesus has given us everything. We didn’t deserve anything, but Jesus gives us everything anyway. He forgives our sins every single day, and his forgiveness never runs out. He protects us from our enemies every single day, he gives us strength for living in his Word and his Sacraments, and no one can take away his power. He promises that he will take us to a Promised Land when we die – one that’s even better than the Promised Land of Canaan given to the Israelites.

Jesus has won the race. He has crossed the finish line and entered heaven. He has fought the good fight against the Prince of this world. He has given these victories to us. He sends the Holy Spirit to work through Baptism and the Lord’s Supper to help us keep the faith. Jesus himself will place the crown of righteousness upon our heads.

Jesus says to us: “All this is yours; don’t throw it all away. Keep thinking of me as your treasure and you’ll make me your priority. Pursue a different prize so that upon your death, you’ll receive this prize.”

The kingdom of heaven is the prize. It is a different prize from what the rest of the world values. Most people may be enamored with the Venus Rosewater Dish, the green jacket or the gold medal. They may consider it foolish to pursue a crown you cannot see, cannot touch, cannot have until after you are dead.

Yet we are pursuing this different prize with an unparallel passion and determination. We set our alarm clocks early and urge our weary bodies out of bed to spend time in the Scriptures each morning instead of sleeping in. We push our busy schedule and priority project to the side because somebody needs our help today. We say no to the most pleasurable sin we’ve discovered, and though our sinful flesh may whine all day, we accomplish something worthwhile. We spend less on discretionary items so that we can still afford to be generous to God’s work at church. These are different prizes, but we pursue them with passion and determination because in them we find a treasure – the kingdom of heaven.

I’ve heard some male sports commentators joke that they have a “man crush” on Michael Phelps. Phelps is an amazing athlete who has won more gold medals than any other Olympic athlete in history. Not to take anything away from Phelps, but his accomplishments are nothing compared to the accomplishment of fighting the good fight of faith against the devil, finishing the race of life and death, and keeping the Christian faith. His gold medals pale in comparison to having the crown of glory placed on your head so that you can proudly wear it for all eternity. “Be faithful to the point of death,” Jesus said, “and I will give you the crown of life!” Now that’s pursuing a different prize. Amen.

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.