Running the Christian Race

Thank you.

I do want to begin by saying thank you.

You have faithfully supported our family for three decades.

It's hard to believe but I'm that old.

I mean I don't feel a day over 61.

I'm 62.

Day over 61, I'm 62.

Back when I was in elementary school and in middle school, once every year our school district had what they called field day.

I don't know if that was something that a lot of schools had, but field day was a day set aside where every single student was forced to go through a variety of physical tests.

They wanted to test how many push-ups you could do, how many pull-ups you could do, how many sit-ups you could do.

They wanted to make sure that you could run like a 50-yard dash and a 100-yard dash.

They even had one test where they saw how far you could throw a softball.

That was on field day.

You get the picture Growing up.

I liked sports.

I enjoyed athletic competition, but there was one particular test on field day that we were required to do and I would feel sick about it for days going into field day.

It was running the quarter mile, the 440.

You know, that's one time around the big track, around the football field.

I didn't mind the 50-yard dash.

I didn't mind the 100-yard dash Because in a few seconds it was over.

Not so with the 440.

That took over a minute.

It was over.

Not so with the 440.

That took over a minute.

You know, there was too much agony in the 440.

And at that time in my life I wasn't into agony.

I'm sure you've all seen or heard the motivational workout philosophy.

It's often pasted on gymnasium walls or you'll see them in fitness centers.

It's the phrase pasted on gymnasium walls or you'll see them in fitness centers.

It's the phrase no pain, no gain.

Well, I have a different philosophy.

The way I see it, not all pain is gain.

That's how I look at it.

Back to field day.

To keep from looking totally pathetic, in that race I would kind of navigate towards the students who didn't really have a whole lot of interest in athletics.

They were on the chubbier side or whatever.

That's who I wanted to run with.

Well, I remember this.

One year I got placed with a group of runners who had the fastest quarter miler in my class.

His name was Paul Mourning, but I remember this race.

Not name was Paul Mourning, but I remember this race not because of Paul Mourning, I remember this race because of a guy by the name of Steve Lotz.

When our FIED director said, on your mark, get set, go.

Steve Lotz took off like he was shot out of a cannon.

As we rounded the first turn, steve Lotz was 20 yards in front of everyone.

At the halfway mark 220, he had a commanding lead.

He was way ahead of Paul Mourning.

But at the 330 mark, suddenly Steve Lotz came to an abrupt halt.

In fact he just sat down.

Everyone passed him up.

Even I passed him up.

Steve Lotz didn't even walk across the finish line.

As I reflected back on that race years later, I came to the realization that Steve Lotz won the 220.

He won the 330.

But that wasn't the race.

Those weren't the races.

The race was the 440.

Lotz was unable to finish the race because he failed to pace himself for the endurance that was necessary to finish that particular race, the 440.

He ran out of steam.

One of the great metaphors in literature, which is picked up by the writers of scripture on several occasions, is this metaphor that life is a long long distance race.

Life's not a sprint.

So, if I can relate it to field day, god doesn't care if you win the 220.

He doesn't care if you win the 330, because God has set before us the 440.

That's the race we're in, and God desires for us to win that race, to run that race well and to run it honorably.

If you have your Bibles, I'd like you to turn with me to 1 Peter 5.

We're going to be looking at running the race well, 1 Peter 5.

There's an outline.

I hope they got passed out by the ushers.

If you didn't get one, they're probably on the table, or the usher can maybe get one to you to have something to doodle on while I speak this morning.

Before we begin, though, let's bow for a word of prayer.

Let's pray together.

Father, we thank you for the opportunity we have to study your word, to reflect on your word, and I pray, father, that your spirit would be at work in all of our lives today, that you would take your word, sow it into our hearts deep, that we would reap a harvest as we seek to be obedient to you, as we seek to follow you, and I just pray that your spirit would encourage each of us this morning.

It's through Jesus we pray, amen.

First Peter, beginning in verse 5 of chapter 5.

Young men, in the same way, be submissive to those who are older.

All of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand that he may lift you up in due time.

Cast all your anxiety upon him because he cares for you.

Be self-controlled and alert your enemy.

The devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

Resist him.

Stand firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings, and the God of all grace, who called you into his eternal glory in Christ after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

To him be the power forever and ever.

Amen, with the help of Silas, whom I regard as a faithful brother.

I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying.

This is the true grace of God.

Stand fast in it.

She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends her greetings, and so does my son, mark.

Greet one another with a kiss of love.

Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

Those of you who are familiar with 1 Peter, if you've read the book recently, you'll recall that it's a letter of encouragement.

It's written to first century Christians who were experiencing all kinds of opposition.

These Christians were experiencing all kinds of injustices simply because they had made a decision to follow Jesus.

Pagan judges and pagan public officials acted in bias against the Christian civilians.

Pagan employers abused and took advantage of the Christian civilians.

Pagan employers abused and took advantage of their Christian employees.

Pagan husbands and wives mistreated their Christian spouses.

So Peter is writing a letter to encourage his brothers and sisters to hang in there, to persevere in their faith, to finish the race marked out by God, and not only to finish the race.

As I said, he wanted them to run the race in an honorable way and he wanted them to finish well.

So, peter, throughout the book he admonishes the believers to live upright and godly lives in the face of persecution, hostility and ungodliness.

Now, in the final 10 verses of his letter, the texts that we're looking at this morning, peter, I think in kind of a summary fashion, highlights what I would like to call running advice.

Advice to take to heart if you're going to get engaged in this long-distant marathon that God has set before us.

He wants us to run this race and he wants us, as I said, to run it well, and if you and I are going to do that, we need to heed this running advice provided here by Peter.

His first admonition is mentioned in verses 5 to 6.

To run the Christian race and finish it well, you and I need to, number one stay humble.

Young men in the same way, be submissive to those who are older.

All of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.

Some have made the argument that the sin of pride is at the root of all sin.

I think a case could be made for that, and if that's so, then I would argue that the virtue of humility may be at the root of all righteousness.

No virtue seems to be more valued by God than humility.

In Isaiah 66, the Lord to the prophet Isaiah said this this is the one I esteem, he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.

What exactly is humility?

Humility is simply seeing yourself as you really are, being totally honest with your needs, your weaknesses, your failures.

Humility says God I can't run this race.

In my own strength I can't do it.

I'm depending on you.

I can't live a life pleasing to you in my own strength.

I need you at the center of my life.

People who are humble recognize that they themselves are still under construction in the lifelong process of becoming more and more like the Lord Jesus.

So often we're tempted to think that the great Christians, the Christians who are successful, they have learned to grow a spine, they've learned to get to the point where they can stand on their own two feet.

That's not it at all.

That's not the case.

We cannot rely on our own moral fortitude and strength.

Peter says don't do that.

In fact, the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians says if anyone thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall.

The less we trust in ourselves, the better off we're going to be.

The more we trust in the Lord, the more secure and stable we'll be.

I'm assuming most of you have flown in an airplane before at some point in your life.

Being that we lived in Greece, I had to fly more than I really wanted to, and I got to the point where I started observing the people around me, especially the Greeks, when I would fly within the country of Greece Very interesting cultural nuances that you pick up.

I noticed that on takeoff and landing there was an intense increase in religious activity.

As we're rumbling down the runway, I would see people bow their head and commence in prayer.

I would see people pull out of their purses and bags all kinds of religious paraphernalia crosses and beads and they would fervently work through their paraphernalia.

I've watched people solemnly go through various rituals and motions and all kinds of things as they got either ready to take off or land.

And yet once the plane hit cruising altitude, I noticed that people were far less aware of God, far less concerned about God, probably weren't even thinking about God.

You know, 35,000 feet it's smooth sailing.

And then you hit a little bit of turbulence and out came the beads, out came the crosses.

Now we laugh at that.

But that's sort of the picture of the Christian life.

I would venture to guess that most of us, when we're cruising along at 35, but that's sort of the picture of the Christian life.

I would venture to guess that most of us, when we're cruising along at 35,000 feet, we're not really thinking a lot about God, we're not depending on God, we're not struggling to be humble in an everyday sort of way because we're just comfortable, we're sitting back in our chair and everything is just smooth sailing.

When there's no turbulence, we get to feeling good about ourselves.

We think that we don't really need God at this point.

We'll give him a call if we need him if there's turbulence, but for now we're on our own.

We're doing a good job on our own.

It's unfortunate, but all too true, that we only humble ourselves when we find ourselves in a desperate situation, when we find ourselves in a challenge, when there's danger lurking around the corner.

Suddenly that's when we start looking for God.

We've tried everything else, we've expended all of our resources, and so we're looking heavenward and we're asking God in our desperation to rescue us.

Well, one of the important keys to running a Christian race honorably running that race honorably is maintaining this everyday attitude of humility.

You wake up in the morning and you realize, lord, I need you today.

I need you to walk with me, I need you to speak through your word in my life, I need you to guide and direct me.

It's acknowledging that you want God in the center of your life as you go about everyday life at 35,000 feet, when things are just going along smoothly, but you're depending on the Lord, you're clinging to him.

In verse 6, peter concluded his challenge with a powerful promise he said humble yourself, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.

What I find sort of in the backdrop of that phrase is that we are assured of the fact that there are no problems.

There are no circumstances in life, no set of difficulties, no forces of evil in this sinful and fallen world that are beyond the parameters of God's eyesight and sovereign control.

God intimately knows each of our situations in life and as we submit ourselves to his perfect and loving care, at the proper time God will honor us, god will exalt us, he will lift us up, and that may not be a week from now or two months from now or two years from now.

It may come years and years, decades down the road.

In fact, for some it may come in eternity.

But I know from his word one day, as we humble ourselves before the Lord, he will honor us, he will exalt us.

Second piece of long-distance running advice mentioned here by Peter it's found in verse 7.

To run the Christian race and finish well, you and I need to stay calm.

Stay calm, cast all your anxiety upon him because he cares for you.

Back in the first century, it was not uncommon for those who ran in the Olympics the marathon in the Olympics.

They would run through the countryside stark, naked Imagery for Sunday morning.

It is what it is, but that's what they did.

They didn't want to be weighed down by anything, they didn't even want to have a pair of shorts.

That's how they ran the marathon.

Well, in a similar manner, as Christians, we need to run the race marked up before us, without any excess baggage, without any unnecessary weights wrapped around our neck.

And I would say two of those excess weights if there's extra baggage that we lug around with us is two of those are anxiety and worry.

Anxiety and worry are like burdensome weights that God never intended for us to drag through life.

God doesn't want us to run the race hampered with anxiety.

Anxiety and worry will eventually destroy you physically, spiritually.

Worry will eventually destroy you physically, spiritually, relationally, emotionally.

How so?

Well, I put down a couple of things here.

When we allow our hearts to be consumed by all kinds of anxiety, all kinds of worry, we are compromising what spiritual strength we have.

We are emptying our lives of the spiritual resources that God has provided for us.

We're vulnerable, we're weakened.

Warriors are so caught up in the imaginary dragons of tomorrow that they can't face the real dragons of the day, and that's what causes most of the problem.

That's why I think Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount said don't worry about tomorrow.

You have enough trouble in today's life.

In today.

Worry about the real dragons in the day.

When you and I spend all of our time and energy and resources fretting about what possibly could happen down the road or what could happen in the future, we become exposed and vulnerable to the real challenges that all of us face every single day.

Second problem I see with worrying is that people who are worriers tend to be completely absorbed in their own little world.

They're self-centered and they're focused and concerned only about their own plight in life, in other words, being fixated on themselves.

They have no awareness of the people around them.

They are oblivious to the needs of even their own family members.

Because they're so wrapped up in their own anxiety and worry, it can be paralyzing.

So God says instead of worrying, instead of being filled with anxiety, all this burdensome weight in life, cast your anxieties and worries upon him.

When I hear that word cast, I can't help it.

I immediately think of fishing.

You know, as a kid my dad would take me out occasionally in the boat.

I didn't really like fishing, I'll confess.

What I liked was casting.

Okay, he'd take me out to a different spot on the lake and as soon as he would park the boat I'd dig through the tackle box and find the biggest, heaviest lure that I could find, put it on the end of my fishing line and I would spend my entire afternoon casting that thing as far as I could, away from the boat.

And that's what God wants us to do with our worries and anxieties.

Put them on the end of the fishing line and cast them, as far as you can, at the feet of God.

Now, the problem with many of us is that we cast our anxieties upon the Lord but, like fishing, we reel them back in.

No, you don't do that.

You cast them and then you cut the line.

You let them go, you leave them and then you cut the line.

You know you let them go, you leave them totally to God.

God desires to carry the weight of our worries.

He's good at it.

That's what he wants to do and he does a good job.

What should motivate us, what should compel us to cast our anxieties upon the Lord?

That simple phrase Peter says because God cares for us.

God cares, you know.

We may be convinced that we're suffering in obscurity.

We may be convinced that, you know, somehow we're the only ones going through this difficulty and no one sees it.

But no, god sees.

God knows every minute detail of everything we're going through.

He hurts when we hurt.

Our pain becomes his pain.

He cares about the things that you and I care about.

Maybe no one else around us understands, maybe our own family doesn't understand, our mate doesn't understand, but I can assure you God understands, as one songwriter has written.

Sure you, god understands.

As one songwriter has written no one ever cared for me like Jesus.

Beautiful song, but a tremendous eternal truth no one ever cared for me like Jesus.

If worrying is a problem, is there anything practically you can do?

Yeah, actually there is something very practical.

It's Philippians, chapter four, verses six and seven.

Paul said this do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God, and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

In other words, instead of worrying about everything, the Bible says pray about everything.

Instead of worrying, pray.

We are encouraged to talk to God anytime, anywhere, whatever is on our heart, have a conversation with God.

You understand, the Christian life is a relationship.

We have the privilege, because of Jesus and what Jesus has done, we have an eternal relationship with God that's personal, where we can interact in dialogue and pour out our heart to God and he cares and he listens.

He wants to know what's on your heart and when we let him know, when we bring it to God, his peace encompasses our heart, our life.

To run the Christian race and to finish, well, well, we need to stay humble.

Second, we need to stay calm.

Third, we need to stay alert.

Stay alert.

Look again at verses 8 and 9.

Be self-controlled and alert your enemy.

The devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

Resist him.

David Watson, in his book on discipleship, he wrote this quote even among Christians who believe in the devil's existence, there's often a marked blindness about the reality of spiritual warfare and the nature of the enemy's tactics.

End quote.

He's exactly right.

Peter is warning us here that we better have our spiritual eyes wide open as we go through life.

Make no mistake about it.

We are in a death match, and it's not a death match with flesh and blood.

No, it's against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

No, it's against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms, and we better take great care to understand our enemy and his tactics and what he wants to do in our life.

And it's not good.

He desires evil.

Satan and his evil hosts are ever scheming, ever plotting to bring us to ruin.

He would like nothing better to see our families implode.

He would like nothing better to see our relationships with brothers and sisters in Christ in the church come into chaos and confusion.

Satan would like nothing better to see the gospel advancement, to see people who come to know Jesus to see that thwarted.

Why?

Because he hates righteousness.

He loves to promote disharmony and chaos.

He loves to promote anger and hatred and pain in our lives.

He loves to promote conflict and strife.

He is zealously opposed to thwart the plan of God and the work of God.

So if we're ever going to be able to resist Satan, we will need to be able to recognize that he's at work and we don't see it.

But he's at work and we better understand his tactics.

I find it interesting that Peter penned this portion of scripture.

Perhaps Peter was reflecting on his own inability to stay spiritually alert.

You recall that when Jesus went into the Garden of Gethsemane the night before he was betrayed, he brought with him Peter, james and John.

He wanted them to pray with him.

He went a little bit further distance, into the garden Three times.

When he came back, he found the disciples Peter, james and John sound asleep.

Just a few hours later, there was Peter, found the disciples Peter, james and John sound asleep.

Just a few hours later, there was Peter in the courtyard and a little servant girl pointed him out and said you're one of those followers of Jesus, aren't you?

And Peter cursed and swore and vehemently denied that he knew anything about Jesus.

Satan sifted Peter like wheat, and Satan seeks to sift us as well.

So be alert, stay alert.

One final piece of long-distance running advice mentioned here.

It's found in verse 9.

To run the Christian race and to finish well, you and I need to stay faithful, need to stay faithful to the end, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

You see, while we're in the midst of the fight, while we're in the midst of difficulty and hardship, when we're suffering persecution, when we're suffering at the hands of people who are throwing injustices at us, when we find ourselves in the crosshairs of the enemy's full rage, at that moment many of us are going to be tempted to say you know what, it's not worth it, I'm done with this race, I'm just going to quit.

I'm throwing in the towel, I'm going to hang up my cleats, I'm going to retire.

And Peter is saying here don't do that, don't quit, stay faithful, finish the race, hang in there, you can do it.

You have brothers and sisters all around the world who are going through the same thing.

Why does he mention that?

Well, generally speaking, if you run, if you go to the gym, if you join an aerobics class, it's nice to be there with someone else who's exercising with you, because when you're dead tired and you want to quit, well, you kind of look over at your friend and they're going through the same thing and they're still standing.

So okay, I'll keep going.

I think that's what's behind all this.

There's a little extra motivation knowing that there's other people around the world who are going through the same sort of suffering, same sort of persecutions, and so they just hang in there.

None of you probably know this, but at one point in life, jim and I were workout buddies.

Do you remember that?

Yeah, five o'clock in the morning, I would pull up in his driveway and, zombie-like, he'd come out the side door, get into the car.

He's not a morning person, you know, but I would.

You know, we're going to go work out and we're going to be buddies and let's, let's do it.

He still had this stare straight ahead Like he was in, you know, still in REM sleep.

So you know, now this is in my pre Christian maturity days I used to listen to Striper.

You know it's a heavy metal band and I had their Christmas album in my car.

He is the reason for the season, that was the song I remember.

I'd pop it in, I turned it up to about 110 decibels and as they screeched and screamed and stuff, yeah, he kind of woke up and he got to like Striper.

But you know, that was how we I motivated him.

But we encourage each other Monday, wednesday and Friday, and now look at the physical specimen.

We can go back to those days.

We can go back to those days and I can claim some credit for that.

I think that's why Peter said in verse 9, your Christian brothers and sisters throughout the world, hey, they're running the same race.

You're running, okay.

They're experiencing the same kind of suffering.

They're going through all kinds of pain.

In fact, some of the Christians around the world.

They're going through all kinds of pain.

In fact, some of the Christians around the world.

They're suffering more than you are.

So keep going, don't give up, don't quit.

Tragically, I'm sure most of us can think of people who we know quite well and they have made that decision to drop out.

They've decided to give up.

Maybe they even ran fast at first.

They won the 220, they won the 330, but now they just sat down.

They've bailed on the Christian life, they've called it quits.

I'm here to just gently encourage you, strongly encourage you.

Stay faithful, don't give up, but God wants you to cross the finish line.

I close with this.

You and I mustn't be naive.

The Christian race, it's hard.

It's hard.

It's not a sprint, it's a long, drawn-out, grueling marathon.

And I think, if we grab onto the running tips that we find here in 1 Peter, we stay humble, we stay calm, we stay alert and we stay faithful, we'll find ourselves being able to endure what God has set out before us.

It should be our prayer at the end of our lives that we will be able to proclaim, as did the Apostle Paul, these words I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

Amen.

Let's pray, father again.

We thank you for the encouragement of your word.

I pray Father, if there would be someone here that's just completely battered by this life, by the challenges that they're facing, I pray Father, you would encourage them through your spirit today, empower them through your spirit, give them a resolve to want to keep running and to be able to run this race for your glory and for all eternity.

It's through Jesus we pray, amen.