Marathon
To Live Is Christ • Sermon • Submitted
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· 9 viewsA mature Christian is someone who is disciplined, goal-oriented, steady, ready and going.
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The apostle Paul, writing to the church he planted in Philippi some years earlier is encouraging them to continue growing in their faith, to become more and more mature. He’s given them assurance that he and his gospel ministry is alive and well, even though he is currently in prison because of the it. His whole life revolves around the gospel: how he was set free in Christ, has let go of everything that he once held as valuable and important, in favour of the superior treasure that is the gospel. Jesus Christ, God’s Son, our saviour, willingly died in our place to set us free from all our sin and shame, fully paying for our sins on the cross, so that anyone who believes in him, will receive everlasting life. That everlasting life, begins now, and is demonstrated in joyful Christian maturity.
Press On
Press On
In this section, Paul encourages the Christians in Philippi to press on, as he presses on to win the prize for which God has called him heavenward in Christ Jesus. Paul often uses sports metaphors to help us understand what Christian living is like. The race we’re in is not a dash, it’s a marathon. There’s a totally different psychological approach to marathon running versus 100m dash, 1500m, or even a 5k. A full marathon is 26.2 miles long. FYI if you’ve ever seen a car with an oval bumper sticker on it that cryptically says 13.1 or 26.2, they’re simply bragging that they’ve done either a half or full marathon.
I did a quick bit of research, you can go from couch potato to a 5k runner in 6 weeks. To run a marathon, you need 16 weeks preparation. It takes physical and mental ability. When running, you will encounter distractions, challenges, difficulties, pain, injury and more. Your attitude going in determines whether or not you will finish.
Paul is saying that, growing in Christian maturity is like a marathon. It takes time, effort, determination, focus, and the will to overcome distractions, challenges, difficulty and pain. Paul himself didn’t write as though he was an expert who’d arrived at full Christian maturity. But he kept his eye on the that as his goal. Knowing that Christ had already grabbed hold of him, he pressed on to grab hold of Christ. Let’s say I’m standing here, holding this ball in my hand. If someone were to toss a ball to me, what would I have to do in order to catch it? I’d have to let go of and drop this ball. Paul says, “in order to grab hold of Christ, I had to let go of the things that were stopping me from grabbing onto him. I had to let go of my legalism, my pharisaical righteousness, I had to let go of everything, in order to grab hold of Jesus. Believe me, the prize is worth it.”
Mature Outlook
Mature Outlook
So, now, those of us who are mature have to ask ourselves, what must I let go of in order to grab hold of Christ? What kind of an outlook must I adopt in order to run this marathon? A big, big factor in completing a marathon is picturing yourself completing it. Runner say, “You have to imagine yourself crossing the finish line.” You have to believe you can accomplish it.
Now consider growing in Christian maturity. You have to picture yourself attaining it. We can go from pew potatoes to gospel runners in a matter of weeks. We have to train, we have to exchange the goals we already have in order to strive for the goal Christ has placed before us.
We have to listen and obey Jesus. We have to increase our daily time in prayer, in Bible study, in Christian fellowship. Approach it like you’d approach training for a race. Len had to train in order to prepare for Sea to Sea, biking across Canada. Talk to him after the service, ask him about thinking through the goal, thinking through the tough days, encouraging other riders.
We have to set time for it. Plan your day. Say to yourself, “I’m going to get up 5 minutes early so that I can read my Bible and pray. Start small, work yourself up to more. Paul says, press on, be realistic, do the work.
Follow the Leader
Follow the Leader
Let us follow Paul’s example. Let us learn from him. Paul gave them a pattern. Pray. Learn. Fellowship. Gather for worship. Repeat. I was never really into sports. My participation in sports was generally tied to whether or not my friends were into sports. I do remember watching a football movie and being inspired. I thought, wow, I just watched this awesome movie, I’m going to go out and play football just like them. Didn’t happen.
In college, a group of us played ball hockey every single Sunday afternoon. Playing once a week, playing in intramural floor hockey had an impact on my abilities. I went from being totally mediocre to merely mediocre. Most importantly, I learned to have fun with people who had fun playing ball hockey.
Jesus Christ is our leader. He’s the true shepherd, the true pastor of this church. We must follow him. We must do what he is doing. We must be aware that many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their minds are on earthly things. Let us not concern ourselves with earthly things, but with Spiritual things. Let us keep our eye on Christ, on what he has done, what he is doing in and through us, and with the goal of faithfully seeking and saving the lost.
Citizenship
Citizenship
We are citizens of heaven. We belong to Christ, we live for him. As citizens of Canada, our government puts expectations upon us. We are required to pay taxes, we must obey laws or pay the penalty for breaking them. We are expected to contribute to the welfare of the country.
Jesus expects nothing less from his citizens. But he offers a distinct advantage. Rather than merely expecting, demanding, requiring taxes, obedience and contributions, Jesus provides himself to us, first.
Jesus first gives us all the power, authority, ability and courage to do what he’s called us to do. Then he expects us to faithfully respond to what he’s given us. Not only does Jesus give us what we need to meet each day’s challenges, to exceed them, to transform them, to transform the world around us, we do so because he’s been transforming us.
Jesus is the desire, the passion, the reason for getting off the pew and into the world. Like a couch potato who begins the arduous task of training for a 5k race, by first getting up off of the couch, changing her diet, changing her habits, Jesus calls us to discipline our bodies, to make them obedient to faithfully serving Christ.
Press on. Keep doing what we’re doing, but strive hard toward the goal: becoming more and more like Christ, growing in maturity and faithfulness, living as citizens of heaven. Trusting in Christ who will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
Stand firm in the Lord. Trusting him who began the good work in you, he will be faithful to complete it. Stand firm in the Lord, then. Trusting that as he leads us and guides us, that he will bring about the changes necessary to move us off the couch and into action, to that we will reach the goal he’s set before us! Amen.