Becoming a Spiritual Athlete
The cooperation with the Holy Spirit in strengthening your life so that you can endure as a faithful Christian is WHY we have the wisdom of the Faith.
I never understood what my mom meant when she would say, “This is going to hurt me more than you,” when she’d discipline me until I became a parent myself. It’s really true.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying God hurts more when He disciplines me than I do. God isn’t like me, and His peace cannot be disturbed by anything. If His peace could be disturbed, then that would mean what disturbed God’s peace was more powerful than God Himself. That isn’t the God we believe in. That’s an idol more akin to the pagan gods of old than the Father of our Lord Jesus.
But it does illustrate the powerful truth that discipline is better than lawlessness. It does shout to the world that true freedom isn’t doing anything I want. I am free when I discipline my desires or learn from the discipline that comes from honestly facing the consequences of my undisciplined actions and thoughts.
So, with this in mind, let’s look at our Lesson today in Hebrews 12:1-10:
BRETHREN, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation which addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor lose courage when you are punished by him. For the Lord disciplines him whom he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers to discipline us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father.
St. Paul gives us the path to endurance in our faith by holding up the examples of our Lord Jesus and His faithful followers through the centuries. By starting with the image of the arena, the apostle gives us a powerful insight into how we will endure, like an athlete running a race!
First, we will endure if we keep in front of us the examples of the saints and, primarily, our Lord Jesus. He endured the Cross BECAUSE He saw the results, not the momentary struggle. If we allow ourselves to get tunnel vision on our problems, we de-energize our hearts and increase the chance of stumbling! It’s only as we stay focused on the “end game” that we stay encouraged to stay faithful. Our meaning and our strength come from the future, not the past. We can endure IF we keep our eyes on the Finish Line, not the starting gate!
Next, we will endure if we avoid the temptation to mistake the pain of preparation and discipline for punishment. I will never forget my days as a football player. The “two-a-day” practices had us running drill after drill to hone our abilities. I hated the practice time, but without that work, my performance on the field would have been horrible. So it is with the “disciplines” of the Lord in our lives. These moments aren’t motivated by anger or disappointment in us from God but rather by love. His “discipline” is therapeutic, not punitive! Ever.
Finally, we will endure if we can embrace the mind change and attitude change necessary to see these moments of pain and struggle as precisely the evidence we are God’s children and not objects of His wrath. If God didn’t love you, He’d ignore your selfish ways and let you have anything you want now. But we’ve all seen how that turns out for children who are indulged and not trained. They end up very unhappy people.
No one “enjoys” discipline, but we all discover at some time in our lives that, without it, we can never become who we were meant to be. How many talents have been left unused and lost by not taking the time to hone our God-given abilities?
The story of the 40 martyrs of Sebaste is the tale of the power of endurance and a warning against giving up. These 40 brave soldiers for Christ were marched out onto a frozen lake in frigid temperatures naked after they had all refused to deny Christ and burn incense to the pagan gods. Their commander set up a warm tent on the shore of the lake with clothing, a fire, and an idol so that any of the Christians could come in from the frozen torment and save his life. The soldiers could be heard singing hymns and praying as the frozen night continued. In the early morning hours, one of the soldiers crawled off the frozen lake and went into the tent to give up. As that happened, another soldier who had been guarding the Christians saw their faith and began to strip off his armor and clothing and lay down his shield and sword, and he ran onto the frozen lake to take this man’s place. He was the last to die as a witness to the endurance of faith. This happened in 320 AD.
Today, as we remember the 40 Mayrtrs of Sebaste, are you having a rough time? Is this period in your life hard, painful, and maybe even discouraging? If you can, allow the grace of God to transform (not rescue) you to see this momentary and “light” affliction as a time of training for the “Big Race,” so you will finish well. If you endure, you will win at the only “game” worth winning! Being Orthodox on Purpose means staying faithful, no matter what!
P.S. O Forty Champions of the Lord, you abandoned the armies of the world and attached yourselves to the Master in heaven. Having gone through fire and water, O Blessed Ones, you worthily won glory from heaven and a multitude of crowns.
