On Friday night the world watched the opening ceremony of the Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Olympics. Lighting, special effects, fireworks, dancers, ice skaters, dramas, orchestras, the Mormon Tabernacle choir, dignitaries, cameras, apache helicopters, and F-16 fighter jets all accentuated the moment. Tears streamed down people's cheeks as New York City firemen and police officers carried in the tattered flag that once stood over the World Trade Center. Throngs of spectators roared as jubilant athletes walked into the Olympic arena carrying their respective flags and other effects. The French athletes showed their support for America by waving two-sided flags. One side was the flag of France and the other side was the American flag! One of the most memorable moments came when the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" Olympic hockey team joined together and triumphantly lit the Olympic torch.
A few years ago Lara and I visited the Colorado Springs Olympic Training Center. While there we had the opportunity to watch the women's volleyball team train. Quite simply, there is no way to quantify the dedication of the Olympic athletes we saw. You could sense their fierce determination. You could feel their unrelenting dedication to the task at hand. You could see the fire in their eyes. They tirelessly train their bodies day and night. They willingly and joyfully endure the strictest discipline in order to whip their bodies into shape.
They subject every appetite to their ultimate goal. They abstain from sex. They follow a regimented diet. They stay in special living quarters. They regulate their sleep cycles. They place their personal lives on hold. They truly believe that no sacrifice is too great a cost to pay in the pursuit of their Olympic dreams. Their dedication is overwhelming. Jacqui Cooper, a freestyle skier from Australia said, "I'll do anything it takes to win every single week." Figure skater Maria Butyrskaya said, "I think the Olympic Games in Salt Lake City will be, for me, my last competition in my career. I want so much to win a medal. I think it doesn't matter which kind of medal. Gold, silver, or bronze. I want a medal."
Olympics: Light the fire within!
The theme of the winter Olympics this year is "Light the fire within." We know how this theme relates to the Olympic athlete's life. The fire within completely reorders the athlete's lifestyle, it reshapes his priorities, and it generates joy, excitement, and a sense of purpose. The fire within empowers the athlete to overcome adversity. Last night I caught the end of a story about a skater who was competing with a broken ankle or leg! The fire within inspires teammates to pursue athletic excellence.
But how might this theme "Light the fire within" relate to the Christian life?
It is a well-known fact that the Olympic games developed within Greek culture, in the city of Olympia, over seven hundred years before the time of Jesus Christ. The firsts even day Olympic games were held in honor of the Greek God Zeus. Athletes literally threw off every piece of clothing that might hinder their performance in sports like boxing, wrestling, the long jump, discus, javelin, distance running, and chariot racing. The first Olympic games were well known around the first century Christian world.
In Philippians 3 the apostle Paul draws upon Olympic imagery to deepen our understanding of the Christian life and to inspire us to excel.
Paul first shows that the Christian life begins with a burning desire.
In Philippians 3:10-11 (NIV) Paul says, "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead."
Every Sunday night we have a group of men who play in a church basketball league. Some of the guys we play against really take the game seriously. They have special shoes they bring that they only wear on the basketball court. They beat themselves up whenever they miss a shot. They snap at teammates whenever they get out of position or don't perform well. They plan out defensive and offensive strategies. They call every foul they see and more! Some of the guys take their games so seriously that you might think they were out to win a National Basketball Association title.
And then there is me. I'm just out there to have fun and get a little exercise. I try my best to be an asset to our team, but more often I am a liability! I've often thought about how nice it would be to make a lay-up under pressure or to be able to nail that three point shot or to effortlessly dribble through traffic. But the truth is that I don't have a burning fire within to excel at basketball. At best I have nothing more than a tiny spark! To excel at basketball that spark must first be fanned into something greater.
I believe what theologians throughout the ages have believed. I believe that God places a divine spark within each of us. That divine spark is a desire to know Jesus Christ (God) personally and fully. All of us have a responsibility to fan that spark into a burning desire that is strong enough to hold sway over our hearts, our minds, our bodies, and our souls. Unfortunately, so many people quench the fire within and never give it a chance!
The apostle Paul fanned his flame into a burning desire to know Jesus Christ. His life's ambition could be summarized with five words; I want to know Christ. I want to know Christ personally. I want to know Christ by sharing in his power. I want to know Christ by sharing in his suffering. I want to know Christ by sharing in his death. I want to know Christ by sharing in his resurrection. Paul wanted to know the one for whom he was created. He wanted to know the Lord and savior of the universe. He wanted to experience God.
A burning desire to know Christ always precipitates significant spiritual growth. A mediocre desire results in a mediocre Christian. Knowing Jesus Christ cannot be a leisure activity like reading a book or taking a walk or playing a game of pool or surfing the web. Knowing Jesus Christ cannot be something we do for fun or for exercise whenever we begin feeling a little spiritually flabby! Knowing Jesus Christ cannot be just another thing we squeeze into our schedules or tag onto the end of our busy day. Instead, knowing Jesus Christ must become a serious passion that is worthy of self-sacrifice and deep personal commitment.
Paul didn't want to be a mediocre Christian with a mediocre relationship with Jesus. Like an athlete with his heart set on winning the Olympic gold, he nourished a deep burning desire to know Jesus Christ personally. And this morning it is time for the rest of us to do a heart check! Is a desire to know Jesus the fire within our hearts? Is Jesus the object of our affection and worship? Is knowing Jesus the one desire that supplants all other desires?
The Christian life begins with a passionate pursuit.
In Philippians 3:12-14 (NIV) Paul says, "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
There are a lot of potential perils waiting to ensnare the Olympic athlete. The athlete can become satisfied and stop pushing himself to achieve even greater glory. The athlete can easily become proud about his past achievements, thinking he has "arrived" or reached "perfection" or already has the gold medal in hand. The athlete can be weighed down by past failures, mistakes, and disappointments, and simply give up without ever really trying. The athlete can lose focus on the ultimate prize and be overcome with discouragement.
Drawing on the imagery of an Olympic athlete in training, Paul prescribes a course of action for every Christian to passionately pursue. He says, "Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Chris Jesus." We must never become complacent in our quest to know Jesus Christ. We must never become proud of what we already know about him. We must never think we know everything that there is to know about God. Rather we are to forget what is behind. We are to strain toward what is ahead. God wants us to continually grow. He wants to stretch us. He wants us to exert ourselves as we strain to know him more and more.
A while back I was teaching a class on New Testament Greek at Lincoln Christian College. It was toward the end of the semester, and students were becoming cynical about their studies. They started questioning why Greek was a required class. I tried using an analogy contrasting the difference between picking fresh fruit directly off a tree in an orchard versus buying canned fruit on a shelf in a store. Both provide vital nourishment, but picking fresh fruit is definitely better! I tried to explain how the Greek language was more precise, and that the English language isn't always able to reflect that precision. On and on I talked. Well, they didn't want to hear any of that nonsense. They said, "We don't need Greek. We can know God and his word just as well without Greek. Bah humbug!"
What it really came down to was spiritual lethargy. The students didn't want to exert any additional effort toward understanding God's word than was absolutely necessary. I believe that this very same ailment plagues the Church today. We don't want to exert any extra energy getting to know Jesus Christ! We don't want to spend time outside of Sunday morning reading our Bibles, praying, fasting, meditating, memorizing, or studying. We don't want to labor over God's word straining to understand its meaning or straining to apply God's will to our lives.
We don't want to wear out our kneecaps pouring our hearts out before God, learning to trust him with every area of our lives. We don't want to train ourselves to be godly day after day. We don't want to over-exercise our flabby spiritual muscles with the spiritual disciplines. We'd rather kick back with a soda and watch the spiritual Olympics on television! We'd rather leave the hard work, the sweat, and the toil to others.
But friends, this is not to be. Paul invites us to follow his example. He invites us to passionately pursue a deeper knowledge of Jesus Christ in much the same way an Olympic athlete pursues a gold medal! In Philippians 3:15-17 (NIV) he says, "All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained. Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you."
The Christian life begins with a transforming hope.
In Philippians 3:18-19 (NIV) Paul says, "For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things."
In these verses Paul describes those who do not have a burning desire to more deeply know Jesus Christ. Quite simply, quite tragically, they lead untransformed lives. They never change. They continue in the same reckless patterns of sin for their entire lives. They never form new Christian habits. Their characters are never shaped by the Holy Spirit. They just keep going through the motions of church and Christianity.
They stand opposed to the cross of Jesus Christ, never making themselves available for the work and ministry of the Church, never looking out for Christ's interests, but only their own interests. They are destined for destruction because they obey their every appetite. They make their stomach their god. They make their comfort their god. They make their sexual impulses their god. They make their addiction their god. They make their convenience their god. They make their desires their god. And they serve their god as slaves day and night.
They glory in their shameful lifestyle of disobedience and in their unrighteousness. They never reach for anything beyond themselves. They never reach for anything eternal, like a knowledge of Jesus Christ. Their minds are on earthly things. Their hope is in their wealth and in their health.
But notice the contrast of those who pursue a knowledge of Christ. Philippians 3:20-21 (NIV) says, "But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body." A knowledge of Jesus Christ ultimately transforms us into the likeness of Christ. A knowledge of Jesus Christ is never unproductive or idle knowledge. Rather, it powerfully changes us day after day. On the day of Christ's return, this knowledge achieves for us the prize of being gloried with Christ for eternity!
The theme of the Winter Olympics this year is "Light the fire within."
This morning it is time for you to light a different kind of fire within. It is time for you to ignite a burning passion for knowing Jesus within your soul. It is time to ignite a fire that values loving God over every other pursuit in life. This fire is one that should displace every competing passion that threatens to extinguish its flame. It is time to ignite a fire that generates joy and excitement and sense of purpose and that reaps an eternal destiny that far exceeds the glory of the Olympics. It is time to ignite a fire that empowers you to overcome adversity, to overcome whatever is in your past, to press on and strain toward that which has called you heavenward in Christ Jesus. It is time to ignite a fire that inspires others to follow your example and adopt your pattern of life.
So will you light the fire within?
Will you nourish that burning desire to know the Christ? Will you passionately pursue him? Will he become your transforming hope?