Running With Christ

 

Text: 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Focus: Endurance

Function: to encourage people not to give up.

²⁴Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it. ²⁵Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one. ²⁶So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air, ²⁷but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.

Good morning! Did you ever feel like giving up? Did you ever feel like why should I continue to care for others when they don’t seem to appreciate it? Or why should I give my hard earned money to help the poor that God has set before me when others get to hoard their wealth and get away with it?

This morning we are going to look at the question of endurance. Brother Paul explains to us some of his personal habits, or more importantly, his personal perspective on whether or not he indulges his own needs and desires in relationship to the calling that God has placed in his life.

And remember, the word Laity, referring to the members of the body of Christ who are not clergy literally means: “The called out ones.”

We are all called out of the values of this world into the values of God’s kingdom.

We may look at Paul’s ascetic lifestyle, the way he “buffeted his body” in order to, as the author of Hebrews, “obtain a better resurrection” as unique since he was an apostle, but before He was called, he administered the murder of the first Christian Martyr, Stephen.

We may think that he had more to make up for and a more severe calling than us, so God holds him to a higher standard than us and we don’t have to worry about it because we are saved by God’s grace.

And Indeed, if we are saved by God’s grace and that is not with respect to us earning it by our works as the theology I was raised with taught me, they why bother working hard for the kingdom of God if I am going to make it to heaven anyway?

That may seem ridiculous, but Jesus told a parable about it. He said that God sows seed on cultivated land, but some of it falls on the side of the road, or in rocky places, or among thorns and it does not grow effectively.

He explains the parable in Matthew 13 like this: ¹⁸“Hear, then, the parable of the sower. ¹⁹When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. ²⁰As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, ²¹yet such a person has no root but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. ²²As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of this age and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. ²³But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

I believe he told that story to inspire people to want to be fruitful in their Christian life.

Some ignore the call, some get excited and quit early, some get distracted by the pleasures of this world (and that is what our text is about today) and others are fruitful and multiply.

And again, we could ask the question as to why if they are God’s Children anyway and God has already received them into the kingdom?

I suppose it has to do with a lack of knowledge of, or faith and confidence in, our reward in heaven,

Opposed to our reward in heaven is the question of forgiveness of others and what do we do with our earthly wealth?

When it comes to forgiveness of others, it is pretty straightforward. Why should we forgive? Because we won’t be forgiven if we don’t.

That can be very hard for us, especially if the person who harmed us is callous to the suffering they caused us. It triggers our anger and our defensiveness, but we forgive even those who refuse to repent, because we want to be forgiven.

It takes faith. It takes trust in the fact that there is indeed a resurrection from the dead and that God will ultimately judge the evil in this world and give to us rewards based on how we lived our lives here on earth.

Paul wants to see God’s Kingdom grow on earth, like Jesus did, but he also makes it clear that he is living for a heavenly reward.

And he knows that the sacrifices he makes here are an investment in his heavenly reward.

Look at Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 619-21: ¹⁹“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, ²⁰but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Where your treasure is, that is where you will be concerned about. If you are more concerned about worldly mammon, or wealth, which is idolatry, than the kingdom of God, then you miss it.

Contrary to our form of economics, Jesus was preaching a form of egalitarian sharing of resources and in order for that to happen, people who are hoarding their wealth must give it up.

To the Rich Young Ruler who was trying to earn his salvation, Jesus told him to give up all of his wealth and have treasure in heaven and the man refused because he was more interested in this life than in the life to come.

I have to admit. I am very interested in the quality and disposition of this life.

Not that it is more important than heaven, God knows that I lay up for myself treasure in heaven, but I realize that even in the parables that I quoted, Jesus and Paul are talking about the glory of what will happen when people living here on planet earth begin loving their neighbors as themselves to the point where they do not hoard they wealth when they see someone suffering.

Paul is not merely talking about his heavenly reward. I look forward to the reward of love and it is contagious from one person to another.

I saw a neat bumper sticker the other day. It said “Matthew 5:16” and it showed a light bulb. It reminded me that we have a mission in this place, not to curse the darkness, but to shine a light by our actions.

It isn’t just heaven where the reward is shared, but as we shine the light, others catch on and begin shining their lights as well and the darkness is overcome.

And the problem, Paul alludes to in this passage is that sometimes shining the light is not easy.

And when it become difficult, he presses on harder.

And I believe the reason is because he embraces the passion and mission of Jesus to change the hearts of humanity so that people give up their fighting and love each other.

He sees the reward in bringing heaven to earth, all the while working for his heavenly reward.

Perhaps he just lives by faith, resting in the prayer, Give us today our daily bread. It seems that because of his hope in his heavenly reward; he doesn’t fear for his daily provision.

Perhaps it is a good perspective to follow ourselves.