{"id":234,"date":"2018-11-07T11:35:00","date_gmt":"2018-11-07T19:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/migrate.bettersermons.org\/?p=234"},"modified":"2020-06-01T11:40:30","modified_gmt":"2020-06-01T18:40:30","slug":"the-olympics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/the-olympics\/","title":{"rendered":"The Olympics"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Olympics<\/span><\/div>\n

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Photo: Chad McDermott<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Every four years the entire planet watches television. I hope a few of you will still study your Sabbath School lessons and turn off your television sets in order to celebrate the Sabbath, but for these next couple of weeks the Nielsen people figure that two-thirds of the world\u2019s population will be tuned in to the 29th Olympiad, beaming around the globe on TV. We\u2019re all thinking about Beijing, China and the races\u2014the contests\u2014the tournaments\u2014the aching muscles\u2014the new world records\u2014and especially the gold medals.<\/p>\n

For many thousands of eager, well-trained athletes, these next pivotal weeks represent everything they\u2019ve ever worked and lived for.<\/p>\n

Of course, you have a right to immediately ask me: \u201cPastor, we\u2019re getting hundreds of hours of Olympic coverage on TV right now. Why are you getting into it from the pulpit as well?\u201d It\u2019s safe to say that all around the world, Olympic illustrations are bound to find their way into sermons and homilies. The gospel message translates into the world, the fabric, the very core of what we\u2019re into even here in the year 2008. The story of Jesus Christ comes out of 31 A.D., spans the centuries, and applies to right now, today. But it\u2019s still the challenge of Christian preachers to link eternal truths to the down-to-earth realities society is paying attention to in OUR world. And this week, that\u2019s the Olympic Games.<\/p>\n

The Bible talks about races and training and staying the course and winning a prize. There are winners and losers in God\u2019s Word; some get medals and others depart from the Games empty-handed. And so this week, I\u2019m going to ask: what\u2019s happening on the other side of the world in Beijing that can have meaning to the searching Christian?\u00a0What can we learn from these athletes?<\/p>\n

Actually, the Olympic Games have a long history of spiritual significance. Did you know that?\u00a0The modern Olympics were preceded by the Olympian Games, which go all the way back to the year 776 B.C. They were held in the sanctuary of Zeus at Olympia, and the athletic contests were held as a means of paying tribute to that Greek god. In a book entitled\u00a0The Decathlon<\/i>, by Frank Zarnowski, he writes: \u201cThe Greek physical contests were religious affairs. Those who took part did so to glorify a deity. And common belief was that the prizes came from a god.<\/p>\n

A man named Cor\u0153bus won that first 200-yard foot race in a meadow beside the river Alpheus, received a wreath of wild olive, and the rest, as they say, is history. That was almost 3,000 years ago . . . but we find in that brief report a partial answer to the question: WHY?\u00a0Why do athletes deny self and train for so many long years?\u00a0For many, it\u2019s to bring glory to an ideal or an institution above and beyond themselves.<\/p>\n

You and I almost forget the \u201cpolicy\u201d that, officially, Olympic medals and prizes and records only go to individuals. America and Canada don\u2019t win gold medals\u2014only people from those countries do. \u201cThe IOC does\u00a0not<\/i>\u00a0keep national scores,\u201d says one official report. But then every sportswriter goes on to concede that everybody around the world also does count up the medal totals for nations. The networks do, and we all do as well. Here in the U.S. it\u2019s a common question each evening: How\u2019d our kids do?\u00a0How many golds did WE get?\u00a0It\u2019s the same thing in Canada and all around the globe. Athletes from the tiniest, most obscure nation know that they\u2019re running, not just for themselves, but for everyone back home. They\u2019re running for God and King, as the old expression goes.<\/p>\n

Which leads us to one of our favorite verses here at this church, especially this week. It\u2019s found in Matthew 5:16, and Jesus Himself encourages us with a lofty reason why we should always do our best:\u00a0\u201cLet your light so shine before men that they may see your good works . . . and glorify your FATHER which is in heaven.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

Is that talking about gold medals?\u00a0Yes, I believe it is. In a way, that verse says to me: \u201cTrain hard!\u00a0Work hard!\u00a0Perform to your peak! Live a life of faithful obedience. Then make sure God receives the glory. \u201d<\/p>\n

A delightful story comes to us out of the 1972 Olympics held in Munich. Light-heavyweight wrestler Benjamin Lee Peterson and his brother John, in the middleweight division, both participated in Munich and Montreal. In \u201872 Ben won the gold medal, John the silver. In \u201876 the order was reversed\u2014and ironically, they both lost to the same Russian, Levan Tediashvili.<\/p>\n

But all through Ben\u2019s personal story, which is related in a book entitled\u00a0Tales of Gold<\/i>\u00a0by Lewis Carlson and John Fogerty, is a ringing testimony of faith in Jesus. Ben and his brother were intense born-again Christians, and they dedicated every single bit of their talent to the glory and honor of Christ. \u201cI found that the Bible teaches us that our body is the temple of the spirit of God,\u201d Ben writes. \u201cSo I wanted to take care of my body both as a Christian and as a wrestler. We wrestlers often refer to our body as our \u2018wrestling machine.\u2019\u00a0We know we have to keep it properly fueled, rested, and in good repair if it is not going to let us down. And by keeping my body strong and pure I knew that I also served God. John, [my brother], felt the same way about such matters, and we often talked about what it meant to be an ongoing witness for the Lord. If a bunch of the guys were telling dirty jokes or wanting to go to a party or something, we would simply say, \u2018It\u2019s time for us to leave.\u2019 We knew that Christ would not want us involved with something like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

This fascinating book was compiled quite a few years ago, so I don\u2019t know the latest on these two outstanding Christians, but at that time Ben was teaching religion and coaching wrestling at Maranatha Baptist Bible College in Wisconsin, and his brother John was working in Austria with a mission group.<\/p>\n

Well, a story like that moves us . . . and this is one of just hundreds of athletes who consider the costs and the toil of training, and then decide that if they can compete for God, then it\u2019s worth it. There\u2019s one that Christians everywhere love and revisit often: how a faithful believer named Eric Liddell traveled to the 1924 games in Paris, and then would not run on his Sabbath. He faced tremendous national pressure to compromise his beliefs, and participate in a qualifying heat in violation of his conscience. But he stood up to his own country\u2019s committee under great duress, and later won a gold medal in the 400-meter race, which wasn\u2019t his specialty. And we turn off our DVD players after watching\u00a0Chariots of Fire<\/i>, and say, \u201cWell, very nice. Good movie. Oscar-winning best picture.\u201d<\/p>\n

But listen, this Matthew 5:16 moment really did happen 84 years ago this summer!\u00a0You can look in any record book, and there it\u2019s listed. H. M. Abrahams\u2014\u201cHarold\u201d\u2014won in the 100-meter event with a time of 10.6, and in the 400, there it says in black and white: \u201cEric Liddell, Great Britain, 47.6.\u201d And we think how his missionary father had said to him before the Olympics as they had dinner after church one weekend: \u201cRun in God\u2019s name, Eric, and the world will stand back in wonder.\u201d<\/p>\n

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In a\u00a0Newsweek<\/i>\u00a0cover article that came out just before the 1996 Games in Atlanta, Georgia, there was a sidebar piece about Gwen Torrence, who was scheduled to compete in the so-called sprinter\u2019s triple gold: the 100, 200, and 4×100 relay. Why did she work so hard?\u00a0Her husband answered that question when reporters asked. \u201cTrack doesn\u2019t mean that much to Gwen,\u201d he said. \u201cShe runs because that\u2019s the talent God gave her.<\/p>\n

Now, some of us sitting here this morning, as we looked in the mirror before driving to church today, probably didn\u2019t exactly see an Olympic-caliber athlete. You don\u2019t have a plane ticket in your pocket for Beijing, and London may not figure very highly in your Year 2012 plans. When they compile the Olympic list of the top athletes, your name and my name might not show up. But in your own quiet way, you can be a champion of some kind for God. I truly do believe that.<\/p>\n

You folks know that I treasure my life and ministry here at this church, and my work among you is generally quite comfortable. But I have heard stories of ministers who labored to exhaustion to cover three or even four churches at a time. You can go over to the Philippines where hard-working, energetic ministers are serving up to twenty Adventist congregations. They put-put from one congregation to another on a little motor scooter, dodging potholes and rainy monsoon clouds, and they take home maybe $225 a month.<\/p>\n

And I want to tell you something. These great men and women are Olympic champions. They are!\u00a0No, they\u2019re not on television all this week with a billion viewers. There aren\u2019t any gold medals around their necks. Not yet, anyway. But God takes note of the fact that they\u2019re doing their very best\u00a0for His sake<\/i>!\u00a0In order to honor Him, they work 60 hours a week and drive all those miles and deliver two and three sermons each weekend. Not for pay and not for pride, but for God. For Him. They\u2019re letting their lights so shine before men that God\u2019s name is quietly but faithfully lifted up. And believe me, one of these days, the gold medals will be handed out.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important for all of us who are athletes on God\u2019s global playing field to also notice this powerful Bible reality: when we compete to honor heaven, then it becomes much less important that we compete with\u2014or should we say,\u00a0against<\/i>\u2014one another.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a scenario that might happen to any one of us.<\/p>\n

Sarah had just put her two kids to bed one night when the phone rang. Her best friend, Ricki, was on the line almost exploding in anger. Someone at work had campaigned and twisted the regulations and bent the company code and fattened up her resum\u00e9 to where she had gotten a raise\u2014and Ricki hadn\u2019t. Now, Ricki and Sarah were both Christians, both with a commitment to resolving feelings and frustrations in a Christlike manner but this frustrated co-worker was just about ready to chuck the whole thing. How could something so unfair have happened?\u00a0Her ten-minute tirade was actually laced with a few profanities and X-rated words.<\/p>\n

After the phone call finally came to an end, Sarah sat on the couch and just stared out the window for a few minutes. What could she do?\u00a0It was tempting to stir the pot, to get on the phone herself and call some other friends. \u201cDid you hear the latest?\u201d That kind of thing. Instead, Sarah walked over to the window, looked up at the starry skies outside, and breathed a prayer: \u201cLord, help me to help Ricki right now. She\u2019s my friend\u2014and she\u2019s so angry. Show me what to do to help her resolve her situation.\u201d It was a moment for two followers of Jesus Christ to stand shoulder to shoulder against a common foe.<\/p>\n

True, the Olympics are generally about competition and beating other people. I win a gold medal by making sure that someone else doesn\u2019t win one. Every medal the Russians take back home to Moscow is one less for the U.S, so we want our athletes to use any trick, any psychological warfare, grab any possible edge. That\u2019s the way the game is played.<\/p>\n

And yet, even in the Olympic Games, the greatest athletic showcase of talent in the world, the most prestigious sporting event on this planet, there are shining examples of athletes who were brilliant competitors . . . but still found a way to reflect what you and I would call the Christian ideal. They discovered\u2014as Ricki and Sarah did\u2014the glory of mutual support and comradeship.<\/p>\n

Many of you who have watched the Games through the years have seen how good Jackie Joyner-Kersee was as she competed in the heptathlon, that mix of seven grueling events. Over on the other side of what used to be the Cold War Wall, an East German woman named Heike Drechsler was Jackie\u2019s main competition, especially in the long jump. Well, back in the old communist-capitalist rivalry years, one of Drechsler\u2019s East German teammates would start up a practice run on a parallel track every single time Jackie sprinted toward the long-jump pit. It was a deliberate little move, just a snippet of psyching out designed to distract Joyner-Kersee that tiniest bit, maybe throw her timing off. Well, Heike Drechsler finally went over to her own teammate and told her,\u00a0\u201cLas das in ruhe<\/i>!\u201d Which translated means \u201cHey, cut that out!\u201d In other words, knock off the gamesmanship. The American was too fine, she said, their rivalry too pure, for it to be tarnished. And Jackie agrees. \u201cThere is no animosity between us,\u201d she tells reporters. \u201cOnly respect.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Frank Zarnowski\u2019s colorful sports book,\u00a0The Decathlon<\/i>, he relates a fascinating account of the past hundred years and the people who compete against each other in this ten-event competition. In summation, he makes this observation: \u201cThe decathlon is the most social of track events and promotes a strong sense of camaderie among contestants. There is a lot of time to visit during and between events, much of which is used in HELPING other participants. Athletes will give and take advice, analyze each other\u2019s technique, assist each other in locating and checking take-off points, and even use each other\u2019s personal equipment.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of America\u2019s favorite stories took place in 1960, when Rafer Johnson, a decathlon athlete for the U.S., and Taiwan\u2019s C. K. Yang were actually teammates at UCLA, helping each other, lifting each other up. Finally, in that last race in Rome, the murderous 1500-meter, Rafer had to beat his good friend. Later in the dressing room, he said, so exhausted he could hardly talk: \u201cI wanted that one real bad. But I never want to go through that again\u2014never. I\u2019m awfully tired.\u201d Then he looked over at Yang. \u201cBut so\u2019s he.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yang managed a tired smile and just said this: \u201cNice going, Rafe.\u201d<\/p>\n

And you know, all the moments of sportsmanship we see in Beijing in these next exciting days are a lesson to those of us who are Christians. Silver-medal winners reach up and shake the hand of the gold-medal winner, the athlete standing one level above them. \u201cCongratulations.\u201d And they mean it!\u00a0For four years they might have trained and worked with fierce intensity to beat that very person!\u00a0They\u2019ve carried that person\u2019s face around in their dreams ever since Athens. \u201cI\u2019ve got to beat Vladimir!\u201d But somehow, most of the time, at least, these athletes find it within themselves to be gracious and supportive. \u201cGood going. Great race!\u00a0Watch out, \u2018cause I\u2019ll beat you in London, but that was a great race. Congratulations!\u201d<\/p>\n

I say again, what a lesson for those of us who are believers!<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a marvelous Olympic story of sorts to be found in the Bible book of Luke. It\u2019s a Thursday evening, in fact, it\u2019s the Thursday evening right before Gethsemane. And there in the Upper Room as they celebrate the Lord\u2019s Supper, Jesus turns to Peter, one of the intense competitors of all time, and tells him this:\u00a0\u201cSimon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail.\u201d\u00a0<\/i>Now listen to this:\u00a0\u201cAnd when you have turned back, STRENGTHEN YOUR BROTHERS.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

Folks, those last three words just mean the world to me. \u201cStrengthen your brothers.\u201d When you compete in the Games, help other people. If you\u2019re a great runner, help those who aren\u2019t quite as good. If you can run 26 miles 385 yards without even breathing hard, reach out and lend a hand to somebody else who\u2019s thinking of quitting. If someone ahead of you is getting a gold medal, pat them on the back and praise God for how He\u2019s blessed them. If you have a Christian brother whose work situation is causing them angst and spiritual despair, give them a positive word from Jesus about love and forgiveness and the power of heaven to right all wrongs.<\/p>\n

As we look through the annals of Olympic history, one quiet, little-known story probably says the most to me about camaraderie and sportsmanship. The 1912 Games in Stockholm were dominated by a big Indian athlete from Oklahoma and a tiny place in Pennsylvania called the Carlisle Indian School. Later voted \u201cAthlete of the First Half-Century\u201d\u2014take note, Michael Jordan\u2014Olympic athlete Jim Thorpe breezed to an easy victory in the decathlon with a huge 688-point margin, and also triumphed in the pentathlon. \u201cIt was like picking strawberries out of a dish for Jim,\u201d wrote a reporter.<\/p>\n

Then tragedy struck. One year later someone discovered that Thorpe had once played some semipro baseball for a few bucks in North Carolina. That made him a pro, not an amateur, and in one of the rawest deals ever handed down, his gold medals from the Olympic Games were taken away from him. In fact, all his prizes from Stockholm were rudely snatched away, including the silver model of a Viking ship presented to him with the compliments of Czar Nicholas of Russia for his Olympic wins. It wasn\u2019t until 1982, 29 years after Jim Thorpe had died a discouraged man, that the gold medals were finally returned to his family and his name reinstated in the record books. If you find an almanac printed during the \u201cgap\u201d years, his name just plain isn\u2019t listed. For nearly 70 years he\u2019d been expunged from athletic history.<\/p>\n

But now here\u2019s the part of the story that means so much to me as a Christian. The Olympic Committee came to the Swedish hero, Karl Hugo Wieslander, who had come in second in the decathlon event. \u201cCongratulations,\u201d they told him. \u201cNow you\u2019re the first-place winner. Thorpe\u2019s out; you get the gold medal.\u201d<\/p>\n

But here is the inspiring thing. Wieslander isn\u2019t known as much for his Olympic prowess as he is for the fact that he said to the IOC committee: \u201cNo thank you.\u201d He refused to accept Thorpe\u2019s medal; he wouldn\u2019t take it. He was too much of a sportsman, a gentleman. \u201cThe medal belonged to the best man,\u201d he said simply.<\/p>\n

In fact, there\u2019s even one more quiet chapter I would like to share with you this morning. Twelve years after refusing the medal, Wieslander traveled all the way from Sweden to the United States to try and find his former competitor. He was touring with a Stockholm choir and wanted to bring encouragement to Jim Thorpe. Unfortunately, Thorpe had just been cut by a New York football team, and Wieslander was unable to locate him. But here was a quiet man, not seeking headlines, refusing a title and a medal that wasn\u2019t his, simply doing the right thing. In fact, Wieslander himself didn\u2019t tell anyone of his search until 46 years later, in 1971.<\/p>\n

Who will\u00a0Sports Illustrated<\/i>\u00a0give the title of \u201cGREAT\u201d to as the Beijing Games draw to a close? Who will be draped with the most gold medals and receive the most thunderous applause?\u00a0\u00a0You don\u2019t know and I don\u2019t know. But as far as I\u2019m concerned, you can put down a name like \u201cWieslander\u201d right now. I look at precious vignettes like these, little human experiences where an athlete maybe even looked in his Bible and saw those three words: \u201cStrengthen Your Brothers.\u201d Perhaps Wieslander read that biblical command and said to himself: \u201cI think this means me.\u201d<\/p>\n

All through the pages of God\u2019s Word, we find the highest statements of praise offered for those who put self aside and lift up their hurting brothers and sisters. Who seek excellence in their performance and their service because that honors the King of kings.
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\nSubmitted by David B. Smith. Better Sermons \u00a9 2005-2008. Click here for\u00a0usage guidelines<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Olympics Photo: Chad McDermott Every four years the entire planet watches television. I hope a few of you will still study your Sabbath School lessons and turn off your …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=234"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":235,"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234\/revisions\/235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}