Athletes exercise self-control in all things – unless they don’t. We well know that in principle, generally speaking, in order to win the race, self-control accompanied by hard training are required.
Record-breaking swimmer Michael Phelps modeled that behavior to a fare-thee-well in order to win all his Olympic gold medals, until this last week when he employed the young and stupid defense for being caught toking a pipe and losing a large commercial endorsement. Now Michael is in fact young and at least in that circumstance, stupid as well, considering that undisciplined moment cost him millions of dollars. While Michael’s athletic accomplishment remains undiminished he's got a bad record to go with all of it.
It's hard to do it. Even athletes struggle with it, how much more "mere mortals" like most of us are would.
After an hour-and-a-half walk & jog combination yesterday and shedding ounce-after-ounce of perspiration, I lost control of myself and had a pancake/sausage meal at McDonald's! As I ate my meal, I was haunted by my own crazy imagination- drops of sweat I shed coming again together and forming into a giant blob wanting to devour me! I finished my meal with a greater resolve to watch what I eat! Last night as I spent time with some seminary students at Krispy Kreme, all I had was a small cup of coffee!
I jog each morning not merely to look good, but to feel better. No one can ever question the health benefits of regular exercise. Fitness and Wellness have become a multi-billion dollar industry capitalizing on people who are more concerned with looking like "gods" than feeling real good. Looking good is the trophy!
As I read a passage from Paul's first letter to the Corinthians (9:24-26), I saw that Paul is after something other than any of the world’s laurel wreaths. He asks, why waste your effort on the perishable while neglecting the imperishable? Why punish yourself with self-control and hard training for things that are at best of second, third or fourth tier value? How hard do you train for what finally matters in life?
What have you achieved? What can you boast of accomplishing? Do they really matter in life? Education, monies, possessions, and titles-- are they all that matter in life?
It's interesting to note that the word bachelor comes from the Latin baccalurei which means, a recipient of praise of laurel. The Greeks, unlike the Romans, never waged wars with the aim of occupying and enslaving neighbouring countries or winning crowns. Greeks are into the Sport tradition, the laurel wreath had a lot of weight for the politicians. Graduates and poets received wreaths of laurel, a symbol of praise and scholarship. For the reason that Apollo been the god of poetry, his emblem, that of victory and clemency, became the favourite of the poets, and hence of scholars, so that successful graduates of universities or other learned married men became known as laureates, (or, baccalaurei for unmarried learned men).
Paul devoted his life to proclaiming that no matter your current condition, whether you’re in good shape or bad, whether or not you’ve spent out your life on secondary matters or even lost your way entirely, you can begin again. And more, you are loved. And even more, you are God’s beloved; and still more, God can do for you what you cannot do for yourself. The dynamic grace of God is active all the time, prodding, pushing, pulling you into your own better self whether you know it or not.
While God loves us and will do for us things that are impossible for us to do on our own, it does not mean we will not have to endure the pains of self control. Any form of discipline requires subjecting oneself to many rigors. The phrase “No pain, no gain” cliché is so true to self-control. As Paul said 2000 years ago, “I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air; but I punish my body and enslave it…”
For me this means taking charge of your spiritual growth! Progress on your spiritual journey is the product of sometimes saying "no" to and abstaining from things and activities that are binding to the will, which can be in some cases agonizing to the soul and the body. But we are not without help from His Spirit-- His grace. The goal of His grace is to make us like His Son, Jesus.
Again, Paul wrote, “Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one.” A closer modern translation of the original Greek here would be more like, “If these athletes push themselves to the limit in training to win that pathetic crown of withered vegetables, how much more should we maintain self-discipline for the sake of an imperishable crown?”
__________________________________ Readings and Bases: - Tom Peters, The Pursuit of WOW!, Vintage, 1984.- Richard B. Hayes quoted by Michael Rogness in Lectionary Commentary, The Second Readings, 2001, Eerdmans. - Scott Bauman, Christ Church UMC NYC
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