NOTE: I am putting my weekly sermons on the church website. It will be on for two weeks (usually posted on Friday) and then placed in the Archives area by date. You can download in a matter of seconds.

Let me know what you think. The church Email is: slumc@direcway.com, Phone: 480.895.8766

Sunday, April 24, 2005

Sermon: “The Marathon Winner”

Scripture: I Peter 2:2-10

Reverend Larry Gerber

Athletes run faster in front of frenzied fans, because they run not only for themselves but for the crowd.

Last Monday, April 18, over a thousand members of the media showed up to cover one of the largest single-day sporting events in the world.

The Boston Marathon. It ranks right up there. When the starting gun went off on Monday morning, 20,000 runners traveled from rural Hopkinton to the city of Boston, over the course of 26.2 miles, and they were cheered by about 500,000 spectators along the route. Every single runner, from the fastest to the slowest, received a tremendous boost from the fans along the way.

They benefited from The Bislett Effect.

The Bislett Effect is a phenomenon that has implications for us all, whether we are practicing our running or practicing our religion.

The name comes from the Bislett Stadium in Oslo, Norway, a place where 62 track-and-field records have been broken over the years. We’re not talking about one broken record. Or two. Or 10. Or even 20. But a full 62 records. No other track can boast of such a record for record-breaking achievements.

According to an article in Runner’s World (November 2003), the British runner Sebastian Coe set several records at Bislett, including a series of stunning miles. Another fine British miler, Steve Cram, who shattered Coe’s record for the mile, said, “If you can’t run well at Bislett, you can’t run well any bloody where.”

But what’s the secret of Bislett?

In a word, it’s the crowd. The track is narrow, with only six lanes, and the grandstand is so steep that the fans are practically on top of you. “The sound of 21,000 screaming maniacs rakes your reflexes,” writes Kenny Moore, “forcing you to keep your rhythm, the crowd’s rhythm, for one more stretch, one more turn. The frenzied fans keep you going.”

That’s why 62 records have been broken at Bislett. We run faster in front of great crowds because we are inspired by community — we run not only for ourselves but for the team, the family, the congregation, the tribe, the party, the nation. “Our deepest nature,” concludes Moore, “is that we are at our most majestic when we do for others.”

The apostle Peter knew all about The Bislett Effect although, unlike his colleague, Paul, never used the race-track, race-running metaphor. Instead, Peter uses a construction metaphor in these words to the Christians who were scattered across five provinces in Asia Minor: “like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5).

Yet the point is similar. There’s nothing individualistic about the Christian faith, according to Peter — nothing that gives credence to an atomistic, isolated, one-on-one relationship with Jesus Christ.

The apostle knows that inspiration comes from the crowd. The Bislett Effect. The Living Stone Syndrome.

Whatever. It’s critical to the health of the ChristBody, as well as to our mission in the world, to see ourselves as a community that empowers and enables each other thereby allowing us to set all sorts of records. That is, enabling us to do much more than we had ever dreamed possible.

This is not to say, however, that the church is merely a gathering of frenzied fans. No, as living stones we are cemented to the cornerstone that is “chosen and precious,” according to Peter (2:6). Paul’s metaphor is that Jesus Christ is not our cornerstone, but the “prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14). Our faith is the mortar that connects us to Jesus, and our belief in him is what keeps us anchored, strong,and secure. Without a good cornerstone in Jesus Christ, we cannot remain standing as a solid spiritual house.

In fact, if we don’t keep our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, we’re going to end up flat on our faces. Peter tells us that for those who do not believe, Jesus becomes a “stone that makes them stumble, and a rock that makes them fall” (v. 8). That’s an awful position to be in when we’re trying to “run with perseverance the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1).

So we need to stay connected to Jesus. It’s all about Jesus.

Yet, the crowd is crucial. We’re living stones in the building, or fans in the stands.

And as such, we ourselves are runners, contestants, but in the “stands” we’re cheering on, helping, assisting, empowering, those who are on some particular track, some particular course, who are facing some particular challenge, obstacle, trial or test, and having been on the course, run the track, flown over those hurdles ourselves, we’re in a position to yell and scream and cheer and urge our sisters and brothers onward.

We know what it’s all about. We have to stay close to one another. If we’re going to have any chance of proclaiming the mighty acts of God to a hurting and hope-starved world, then we’re going to have to hang together as “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people” (2:9). Franklin’s warning is apt: “We must all hang together,” he said, “or assuredly we shall all hang separately.” We are at our most majestic when we work for the good of the body, and when we do for others instead of ourselves.

There’s an understanding in the marathon world that you only have to run 20 miles in a practice run in order to run 26.2 miles in the marathon itself.

While that may come as a surprise to you, the fact of the matter is that the extra 6.2 miles are given to the runner as a gift of the crowd. The cheers and music and support of the spectators are enough to push the marathoners beyond any distance they have ever run before.

The crowd — the church — and Jesus!

That’s enough help to get you through any race — however difficult — in record fashion!

Today you will have the opportunity to come forward and receive a sea shell. The shell is currently in water. One of the pastors will take the shell from the water and place it in your hand. The wet shell is offered as a reminder that Jesus was baptized with water, and probably by the pouring of water from a shell. Take this shell and the water as renewal of your baptism. Allow the adrenaline of renewed life run through your body. Be a marathon winner, running the course to the finish line with new and renewed strength.

In a marathon race, everyone is a winner. As long as you go the distance, you will win. Be a winner for Christ. Run the race. Witness His power and His love. Jesus was baptized, because he knew that it would renew the interest in the people. He also knew that by the baptism with water, he, that day, set in motion the next step: baptism by the Holy Spirit. Receive the water and the shell as outward symbols of the inward experience of the Holy Spirit. Today, renew your spirit, revitalize your Christbody, witness your faith, and run the race to the finish. Victory is yours in Christ, as you cross the finish line.

Come now, as the ushers guide, and be refreshed in body, mind, and spirit.
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Source:
Moore, Kenny. “Oslo’s magic track,” Runner’s World, November 2003.

Let me know what you think. The church Email is: slumc@direcway.com, Phone: 480.895.8766