8/17/08                                                                               2 TIMOTHY 4:1-8

“THE DIATHLON”

Rev. James Singleton

            The 2008 summer Olympics in Beijing are well under way and the world is watching athletes compete in various events that range from fencing and rowing to judo and women’s beach volleyball. But without question the most grueling of the events are the ones that end in “athlon” which are the track and field competitions that test speed, strength and endurance.  

There’s the Triathlon, composed of swimming, cycling and running. Then there’s the Heptathlon, a seven event track and field competition and then there’s the Decathlon, the ten event competition. The winners of the “athlons” receive a gold medal and a contract to appear on the front of a Wheaties Box of cereal.

            But there is another “athlon” event that you won’t find in the summer Olympics because it is too grueling and difficult even for the world’s best athletes and it is not a competition that can easily be finished in the time frame allotted for the Olympics. It is comprised of only two events, and so is called “The Diathlon.” But it is without question the most challenging of all the “athlons.”

            Imagine, first, having to fight an opponent, struggling, wrestling, overcoming and being overcome, while at the same time running a race that doesn’t just go on for miles but that goes on for decades. And at no point throughout the event are you allowed to stop.

            If the Diathlon were merely an athletic competition it would not be half as grueling as it is. But the Diathlon is not just an event for athletes to compete for gold, it is the event for Christians to compete for life.

            At the end of his life, as the Apostle Paul reflected upon all that he had come through, he could say that he had “kept the faith” throughout it all. But in writing to the next generation minister, Timothy, he tells him what it has cost him in order to keep the faith all of these years. “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race.” Paul tells young Timothy, who is at the beginning of his Christian faith and ministry that keeping the faith is no walk in the park. It requires constant struggle and ongoing endurance.

            First of all, Paul said, “I have fought the good fight.” He likens keeping the faith to a wrestling or boxing match. Keeping the faith requires constant effort and at times Herculean strength. But today, Christians do not want to fight and wrestle with the faith. A research study was conducted in Minnesota that showed that two-thirds of the Christians interviewed felt they could take what they wanted from the church tradition and pass over the rest. One of the church traditions that nearly half of those interviewed passed-over was the sense of personal sin. One typical respondent said: “The day I die, I should only have to look up at my Maker and say, ‘Take me,’ not ‘forgive me.’”

            Why is sin such an unpopular doctrine these days? I believe it is because the concept of sin implies that we need to struggle and fight with ourselves.

• How much easier and smoother faith is when I can rest in the conviction that I am always right and others are always wrong.

• How simple it is to convince myself that my actions never cause another or myself any harm worth worrying about.

• What a relief it is to think that there is nothing about me that needs to change or improve or seek forgiveness.

• How uncomplicated it is to believe that my disloyalties, reluctance to give, lies, unwillingness to forgive, cause no pain and are in tune with God’s will.

• How clear the conscience is to believe that I have done all I am called upon to do for justice, peace and love and that I have never used others for my own personal gain.

            Those who never fight with themselves, those who never struggle and wrestle with their conscience are the closed minded. But I hope that I and you never reach such a self assured and easy point in our faith journey. We struggle and wrestle with ourselves because we do not always do the things we want to do, but we do the evil we don’t want to do and we will not be satisfied with that inner contradiction.

            To keep the faith, we must fight against temptations to do the wrong things, temptations to not care for the right things, and fight against temptations to go along with the crowd. It is not easy to be Christian in this world and if we ever reach the point where it has become easy, then we must question whether we are still Christian.

·        When has it ever been easy to follow the one who has commanded us to love our enemies and reach out to those who are not like us?

·        When has the world not laughed when we speak of the emptiness of power, wealth and status and the fullness of sacrificial love?

·        When has it ever been easy to go through the straight and narrow door when most of our friends are going through the wide and crooked door and calling for us to follow them?

            To keep the faith is a constant fight to do what is right within ourselves and to live in accordance with the Way, the Truth and the Life of Jesus. In a new book, Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light—The Private Writings of the Saint of Calcutta, there is a revelation in her secret writings that has sent shock waves through many Christians—Mother Teresa struggled with her faith!

            Some are criticizing Mother Teresa posthumously. Some find her struggles evidence that she had no faith or that there is no God. But I think it is evidence of Paul’s admonition to “fight the good fight.” These revelations remind us that no good Christian is ever free from struggle and should never be. We struggle with ourselves, our sins, our doubts, our God.

            Notice, however, what Mother Teresa did not do—she did not surrender or give up her inner struggles or leave her calling or lose her faith or abandon the Church. Instead, with amazing strength she continued to fight the good fight. That’s the legacy she leaves us—keep fighting the good fight and never stop striving to live the Jesus Way.

But fighting the good fight is only half of the Diathlon. Here is the other half: “I have finished the race.” If you have ever done any kind of running at all, you know that the greatest hurtle a runner faces is psychological more than physical. It is the temptation to quit, not because you are so tired, but because it suddenly seems fruitless and silly to keep running and the end seems like a million miles away.

I think every runner, in the middle of the race, thinks at one point that he or she is a fool and must fight the temptation to quit before the end. And so it is with every Christian.

Perhaps here is the more grueling part of the Diathlon. To keep going when you are dog tired and it seems foolish.

·        To keep believing when there doesn’t seem to be any evidence for what you believe in;

·        To keep hoping when all your dreams are collapsing;

·        To keep churching when you feel burned out on church;

·        To keep living when you have ever reason to want to die;

·         To keep loving when it is continually thrown back into your face;

·        To keep forgiving when you have already forgiven seventy-times-seven times before.

Endurance and Perseverance are the marks of this second part of the Diathlon. No matter what life brings, you keep running because deep down inside you believe it is the only thing to do.

            When the famed 19^th century preacher Henry Ward Beecher was a schoolboy he was called upon to recite. He had hardly begun when the teacher interrupted with an emphatic “No!” He started again to recite and once more the teacher thundered “No!” Humiliated, Beecher sat down.

The next pupil to recite also heard the teacher say “No!” but he kept right on with his recitation until he had finished what he had to say. Then the teacher commented, “Very good.”

            Beecher was irate. He said to the teacher, “I recited just as he did.” But the teacher replied, “It is not enough to know your lesson; you must be sure. When you allowed me to stop you, it meant that you were uncertain. If the entire world says ‘No!’ it is your business to say ‘Yes!’ and prove it.”

            That is what Paul meant when he said, “I have finished the race.” Though the entire world shouted “No,” he continued to say “Yes!” to Christ until his dying breath. Don’t let the world stop your faith.

·        If disappointments shout “No” to you, you keep on running and proclaim “Yes” to new beginnings.

·        If failures and sorrows shout “No” to you, you keep running and shout “Yes” to resurrections.

·        If tragedies and heartbreaks shout “No” to you, you keep running and shout “Yes” there is a God who cares about me despite these reasons to doubt.  

·        If hatreds shout “No” to you, you keep running and witnessing to the “Yes” of love.  

As marathon runner Peter Strudwick put it, "Call me a fanatic, if you will, but I'll be out there running for as long as the challenge exists. And when I face my final race, if I can't run, I'll jog; if I can't jog, I'll walk; if I can't walk, I'll crawl on all fours if I have to; and if I can't crawl, I'll die with my face to the finish line."

That is the kind of perseverance and dogged determination Paul wants Christians who have within us. We will not allow this world to take away our faith. We will keep on keeping on despite doubts, fears, ridicule, hardships, boredom, disputes, or anything else that threatens to stop our faith race.

In the opening ceremonies in Beijing, John Stephen Akhwari was chosen to carry the flag for his country, Tanzania. Akhwari was a marathon runner in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. His fame did not come from winning the race. In fact he finished over an hour behind the winner. When Akhwari entered at the far end of that stadium in 1968 he was hobbling in pain with his leg bloody and bandaged. But the lone runner pressed on.

As he crossed the finish line, the small remaining crowd roared out its appreciation. Afterward, a reporter asked the runner why he had not retired from the race, since he had no chance of winning. He answered: "My country did not send me to Mexico City to start the race. They sent me to finish."

We are called upon to not simply start this faith race, but to finish it. Anyone can start it. Church membership rolls are bloated with names of people who make their confession of faith only to eventually drop out and never be heard from again. It is only the dedicated who can finish the race by keeping the faith.

The Diathlon is not for the faint of heart. Christians make Olympic athletes look like wimps. Faith is a lifelong struggle to do what is right and a test of endurance to hold on until the end.

But for those who do fight the good fight and finish the race there is the reward of all rewards—no Wheaties Box for us or even a gold medal, but the words from God we long to hear: “Well done, good and faithful servant” and the invitation to enter into the Day that lasts for all eternity. 

AMEN.