Thought for the Week 18 August 2024

Last weekend marked the closing of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Although I must admit that I don’t really follow athletics, or rowing, or other Olympic sports, I find that I always seem to get caught up in the drama, the spectacle, the highs and lows of Olympic competition. We feel a sense of  kinship as we celebrate the victories, and mourn the defeats of our fellow  human beings who put their heart and soul into their chosen vocations.

This is nothing new. Again and again the apostles of the New Testament use athletic endeavour as a metaphor for the Christian life:

Hebrews 12: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,  fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.”

1 Corinthians 9: ” Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.”

2 Timothy 4: ” 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.”

It can be tempting to think that once we have met Lord Jesus, accepted him into our lives, then we have “made it”, we have achieved our goal. But this is only the beginning, the start of our vocation, of our training. We are called ever onwards, ever upwards, into the goodness of God. So, like our Olympians, let’s celebrate our victories, lift each other up in our weakness, and run together the race that has been set before us. For it is in doing so, in Christ Jesus, that we fulfil our potential as citizens of the kingdom of heaven – a loftier goal than any Olympus has to offer.

Rory