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THE R.A.C.E
“…I have finished THE RACE…” – Apostle Paul
(2 Tim 4:7)
Hey, its Olympics time!!!As the Olympic flame signalling the beginning
30th edition of Modern Summer Olympics in Paris is due to be lit on
July 26th, 2024, Yours Truly in the manner
of His Master drawing lessons from the
contemporary events
(Luke 13:1-3) is also
inspired to glean and present some spiritual
lessons revolving around Olympics!!!
There are several athletic events in
this Quadrennial Global Event which
would capture the imagination of Sports
aficionados’ but one which is guaranteed
to stir one’s soul is the Marathon race. Period. There are races and
then there is Marathon in a pedestal of its own. There is no other race
which places so much demand on a runner’s stamina and perseverance
as this 26 miler does. The race that Apostle Paul is alluding to here
in his dying declaration referenced above (very soon, he would die a
martyr for Christ, beheaded by half-insane Roman Emperor Nero) is not
your typical 100 metres sprint (I agree, it has its own appeal) but the
marathon race of his spiritual life. Nine times out of ten, Christian life is
more of a marathon than a Sprint. One is bound to come across more of
Paul like testimonies, rather than accounts resembling that of repentant
thief on a cross (his road to Paradise was a bit like a Bolt’s sprint race).
Let’s hit the loop line and peep into the history of Marathon race…
The modern Marathon commemorates the 25 km run of the soldier
Pheidippides from a battlefield at the site of the town of Marathon,
Greece, to Athens in 490 B.C. bringing news of a Greek victory over
the Persians. Legend has it that Pheidippides delivered the momentous
message “Niki!” (“victory”), then collapsed and died, thereby setting a
precedent for dramatic conclusions to the marathon.
In 1908 the race’s length was extended from about 25 miles to 26.2
miles (42km) so that it finished in front of the Royal Box. This distance
is still used today. Very much in line with the Biblical principle that the
“BEST IS RESERVED FOR THE LAST” (John 2:10), the Men’s Marathon
race (“BEST” athletic event) is invariably held on the last day of every
Olympics games.
Onto main track again…So what are the
lessons we can glean from Apostle Paul’s
life in the backdrop of a Marathon race…
by the way how about weaving a sermon
around the acronym RACE itself for easier
understanding…using mostly the Pauline
writings found in the Blessed Scripture
R-REPENTANCE…
Saul of Tarsus blinded by the Heavenly Light on the Road to
Damascus
While the life-changing experience of every Born-again
Christian may not be as melodramatic as that of Apostle Saul (then Saul
of Tarsus –
Acts 9:1-16),
no Christian can begin THE RACE OF HIS LIFE
(life in tow with the Almighty) without REPENTANCE which is all about
setting right the relationship with the Creator.
This relationship was impaired by the Fall of Adam
and Eve in the Garden of Eden
(Genesis 3). The
crafty Enemy of God –the Satan- and our souls
did them (our first parents) in. Satan incidentally
was one of the archangels in Heaven, before “the
evil desire to sit in God’s throne entered him,
resulting in his abysmal fall”
(Isa 14:12-15/Eze 28:14-15).
All of us are sinners by birth enslaved to Satan
proclaims the Bible
(Romans 3:23/5:12).
The Wise would concur. Think
it through…after we are born and are growing…does anyone (our parents
or our School teachers) teach us how to lie, how to become jealous etc…
does it not come ALL (these sinful traits) VERY NATURALLY to us. Mama
tells a kid not to eat cookies, now no prizes for guessing that soon she
would hear a sound of someone opening the box of cookies in a kitchen.
That’s how the cookie has crumbled for mankind, as it were. Talk of
Genetics and transmission of characteristic from a parent to a child…no
wonder the Saviour launched His Earthly preaching ministry with these
immortal words “REPENT for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand”
(Matt 4:17).
Ah, how’s that for prioritizing …putting horse before the cart…
I would never forget my childhood and early teenage age, which I
spent wandering aimlessly in life, seeking pleasure from several Worldly
enjoyments but having found no real, lasting joy I desperately went to
Church one day (October 16th, 1983) in deep depression. There I heard
a sermon on “Born-again experience”
(John 3:3)
and invited Jesus into
my life. In retrospect, it seems that the Saviour was waiting there (St
Georges Church, Abids, Hyderabad) with open arms…
The point to be noted here is EVERYONE ONE OF US IS A SINNER
(including those with no police record/good social standing) NEEDING
A SAVIOUR. Mind you, the good Lord was addressing a respectable
religious Jewish Leader of his times namely Nicodemus when he spoke
these words
“Unless you are born-again, you CANNOT see the Kingdom of God”
- John 3:3
Hey, Saul of Tarsus, as religious a Jew as anyone could find also needed
the Saviour. He makes no qualms accepting this fact… even going to the
extent of treating his religious antecedents before accepting the Saviour
as GARBAGE
(Philippians 3:8)!!!
Want me to tell you, how I prayed on that day of 16th October 1983?
Well….it was on these lines…. “Lord Jesus, I confess I am a sinner by
birth. I believe you shed your blood and died on the Cross for my sins as
per the Scriptures and rose again from the dead as per the Scriptures.
Please pardon all the sins, I have committed so far in my life. Please
come into my life, RIGHT NOW. Amen”. Dear Reader, if you have already
accepted the Saviour, Praise God, otherwise why not make Your’struly’s
prayer, yours too…RIGHT NOW! It is at this point that the Starter’s
gun is heard in the spiritual marathon race called the Christian life. If
you have made this prayer and if you are experiencing the flooding of
heavenly peace and joy in your soul, you are indeed on the “right track”.
Strengthen your new-found life and faith further by attending a local
Church. If you have any doubts at this juncture, please feel free to call
me at 9849009104.
A-Abundant life/Anointing…
Let’s continue with the Paul saga in
Acts 9…
“Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on
Saul, he said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on
the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see
again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’ Immediately, something like
scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was
baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength.”-
Acts 9:17-19
Every Christian at the point of his regeneration becomes a Temple of
God
(1 Cor 3:16),
with the Spirit of God indwelling him
(Romans 8:9)
for without which, it would be impossible for him to say NO to the attractions
of the flesh, World or Satan (from whose domain, he has been saved).
Ditto with Saul, who now became Paul…
The Saviour has promised ABUNDANT LIFE
(John 10:10)
to all those who accept Him. What can be more abundant, then enjoying the spiritual
fruit of the Holy Spirit (God’s own Spirit)- THE COMFORTER- right here
on Earth
(John 14:16)!
Contrasted with “fruit of the Satan”, which everyone “suffers from”
before regeneration
“…sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery,
hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition,
dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like
these….”
Gal 5:19-21
imagine and experience for yourselves how fulfilling the fruit of the Spirit
is “…love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness and self-control...”
(Gal 5:22-23).
Talk of having a foretaste
of Heaven right here on Earth!!! No wonder, a Christian after “tasting
Christ” goes to any extent to sustain that relationship which opened
the “fountains of heavenly joy” in him in the first place. Yes, even if it
means dying as a martyr, if the situation so demands. In the midst of
all suffering, note the Pauline declaration emanating from the “Rivers of
Joy” flowing in his heart…
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing
power is from God and not from us. We
are hard pressed on every side, but not
crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;
persecuted, but not abandoned; struck
down, but not destroyed. We always carry
around in our body the death of Jesus, so
that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in
our body. For we who are alive are always
being given over to death for Jesus’ sake,
so that his life may also be revealed in our
mortal body. So then, death is at work in
us, but life is at work in you.
It is written: ‘I believed; therefore I have spoken.’ Since we have that
same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak, because we
know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also
raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself. All this is for your
benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may
cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away,
yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.”- 2 Cor 4:7-16
“No I cannot live for a moment, in the absence of the comforting presence
of my Lord. It would be like living on hell”… so goes not only my refrain
but that of countless born-again Christians in the last two thousand
years. How amazing is this Christian race, where the “juiced up” runner
(with the Coach –the Holy Spirit- empowering him from inside Eph
3:16/ Heb 13:9 ) can NEVER LOSE!!!
After enjoying the Fruit of the Spirit, with passage of time with continual
obedience come the anointing accompanied simultaneously by the gifts
of the Holy Spirit in a Christian’s life (2 Tim 2:21). This would vary from
person to person (1 Cor 12), depending on the kind of Ministry the Lord
has planned for him. The measure of the Spirit a Christian receives at
the point of his regeneration and one at the beginning of his service unto
the Lord are different. It would not be plain joy but a joyous experience
nevertheless even as the FIRE passes through him, when he is being
anointed. I would never forget the experience of FIRE settling on me
one, rainy July evening in 1989 (after six years of my walking with the
Lord), as I began preaching my FIRST sermon in a youth service in St
Georges Church, Abids, Hyderabad. Truth to tell, afterwards for a few
hours, I was afraid even to go to the washroom…
Without the inner equipping it would not be possible to be an effective
“Lord’s spokesman”. Imagine, Yours Truly preaching on Oct 17th, 1983
in the Youth Service of St Georges Church…the day after being Born
again. NO WAY…HEY, BABY NEEDS TO GROW, LEARN TO WALK BEFORE
RUNNING…One needs to understand the nuances and intricacies of
Christian life first properly before speaking about it with conviction and
authority (to other Christians or the unchurched ones’) empowered by
the Spirit of the Lord from within. So what about Apostle Paul, who
was well-grounded in OT Scriptures trained as he was by a seasoned
Rabbi Gamaliel but not familiar with the teachings of New Testament
dispensation propounded by Saviour Christ? Well, let the Scripture
answer….
Immediately after my calling—without consulting anyone around me and
without going up to Jerusalem to confer with those who were apostles
long before I was—I got away to Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus,
but it was three years before I went up to Jerusalem….-Gal 1:16-20
(The Message)
Hey…you need to be coached by the Divine Coach before you are fielded
in the “Race” of serving the Lord in the capacity of either an Apostle,
Evangelist, Prophet, Teacher or a Pastor (the 5-fold Ministry of the
Church-
Eph 4:12-14).
At this stage, one needs to be reminded of the sombre fact that while
anointing and being used in any one or more of the five-fold Ministry
takes place only after the spiritual growth of a Christian has reached a
certain stage (when the Wise Lord deems that Christian fit for Ministry),
complete growth of a Christian into a total Christ-like imageis a life - long process, which now brings us to the “C” aspect of our Study on the
subject of Christian RACE.
C-CONFORMED TO THE IMAGE OF CHRIST
…And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as
we are changed into his glorious image.”-
2 Cor 3:18
With consistent Cross-bearing (Ah, yet another C) which is all about
saying YES to all God-honoring acts (even if it means silently bearing
insults and persecutions like Christ did-
1 Peter 2:18-23)
and NO to all
selfish desires (I repeat with the indwelling Spirit empowerment saying
NO to the Lust of the eyes, flesh and pride of life which includes saying
NO even to the desire to retaliate vengefully when insulted) a Christian
slowly but steadily becomes conformed to the image of Christ
(Rom 5:3-4).
Here, I would like to proclaim the COMPLETE purpose of the Final Adam’s
(Read Jesus-
1 Cor 15:45)
First Coming. Figuratively put, if “searching
and saving the Lost” is step one of His 2-step Grand design, then step two
is all about “re-forming” in us the pristine, God-like image the First Adam
created with the same
(Genesis 1:27)
had lost due to the FALL. If by His
stripes we are healed
(Isaiah 53:5),
does it not follow that by His marred
image/disfigurement that Crucifixion brought upon him
(Isaiah 52:14),
He set the process rolling of restoring the original God-like image in us?
Long before Apostle Paul penned his dying declaration
(2 Tim 4:7)
on
completing the course, a look at his approach to the “Christian race of
life” would seem to be the very definition of the Olympics motto…Citius,
Altius, Fortius… Faster, Higher and Stronger…here goes…
“I don’t mean to say that I have already
achieved these things or that I have already
reached perfection. But I press on to possess
that perfection for which Christ Jesus first
possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters,
I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one
thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward
to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end
of the race and receive the heavenly prize for
which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us “-
Phillpians 3:12-14
Hmmm…didn’t somebody say Christian life is also like riding a bicycle…if
you do not keep pedaling forward, you are bound to fall down.
By the way, the words enshrined in the Olympics motto (Citius. Altius,
Fortius) were penned not by the founding Father of the Modern Olympic
movement namely Baron de Coubertin but by a Pastor friend of his…
thanks Pastor Henri Martin Didon (his picture is given below). As a Pastor
myself, am I not proud of this fact!!!
Father Henri Martin Didon
Father Henri Martin Didon
Oh yes Marathon calls for a long haul. If there is one
virtue in Christ which stands tall, it is His infinite
patience borne out of His infinite love. Truth be told, if
one is called Christ-like, it simply means that He is as
patient and long-suffering as Christ, which takes us to
yet another Pauline personal account under the next
and concluding sub-heading
E-Endurance…
“Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes.
Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I
was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. I
have traveled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers
and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews,
as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the
deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim
to be believers but are not I have worked hard and long, enduring many
sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone
without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to
keep me warm.”-
2 Cor 11:24-27
Add to this the “thorn in his flesh” which refused to go away
(2 Cor 12:1-10)
and the picture emerges (with no shades of grey) of a marathon
runner battling exhaustion chugging along one weary mile after the
other, with the flesh crying halt but the spirit spurring on.
The Master did not sugar-coat the demands of walking in the straight
and the narrow nor did Paul
(Acts 14:22).
Yes Christian life is not
only tough but impossible if you try to go it alone. I too would like
to echo the same sentiments reminding everyone of the Scripture
portion, which best sums up the Christian life
‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord.-
Zech 4:6
But justifiably to Apostle Paul should belong the last word
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, BUT CHRIST
LIVES IN ME. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of
God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”-
Gal 2:20
Who then would begrudge Apostle Paul the Imperishable Crown
(I Cor 9:24-27)
for disciplined Christian living , the Crown of rejoicing
(1 Thess 2:19-20)
for stupendous evangelism , the Crown of Glory
for Pastoral work (yes, he was a Pastor at Ephesus for three years
preaching the full counsel of God-
I Peter 5:4/ Acts 19:9-10/ Acts 20:27/31),
the Crown of righteousness
(2 Tim 4:8)
for constant
anticipation of Church rapture and the Crown of Life
(Rev 2:10)
for eventual martyrdom .
The moot point now is, with stalwarts like him watching us from the
Heavenly stands
(Heb 12:1),
how are we running our race? Carry
on Christian…Great rewards (much greater than the Olympic Gold
Medals) await you…
(1 Cor 2:9/Rom 8:18)…
Suresh Manoharan
An Unworthy Servant
Ps…While on the subject, it needs to be told that for governing India originally the British Parliament
had passed an Act way back in 1773 itself but I did not get into those details as my main intention was
to bring out by way of comparison (of only 2 Indian constitutions of different periods), the evolution as
it were of God’s counsel in some key affairs (physical and spiritual) of human life with His
“Constitutions” emerging at the right time for the right people from time to time.
Yours in His service,
(Suresh Manoharan)
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