First Congregational Church in Auburn UCC, February 11, 2024
1 Corinthians 9:24–27: Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it. Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one. So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air, but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O God our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
The Apostle Paul was one of the great leaders of the nascent Christian church. It could be said, quite accurately, that Jesus gave us the picture of what a good life, a Godly life, looked like…. and Paul worked out how to make that happen in a sustainable way. If you think about it in today’s terms, it would be as if Jesus had the great new idea; Paul took that idea and founded a great company that changed the world.
But Paul didn’t know everything. He was a man of his own time. That means he came at faith out of his own experiences. He was born and raised a Jew, active and committed to his faith. He was born and raised a Roman citizen…. which in that time, meant he was a member of the upper side of the merchant class. He was a solid citizen, but not a wealthy one; he made his own living, making tents. He was a man, with all the assumptions that society then gave to men…. All this means that the people around him saw Paul as a respectable, successful person with influence and power. Now there were limits on that power. He may have been a Roman citizen, but he wasn’t Roman. Being Jewish meant something when he was with other Jews, but it took something away when he was with Romans. None the less, he led with confidence.
But, as I say, he didn’t know everything.
Today reading from 1 Corinthians is a good example. Paul wants us to work hard toward the goal; he wants us to know that following the Christian path is sometimes really hard. But in using this “it’s a race” model, he’s saying that only one person will win the race. True enough, for races, but not the least bit true when it comes to faith.
And, while that might sound like a little thing, it’s really key to understanding our way of life.
Because God isn’t calling only the “winners”. God calls all of us.
I have a friend who runs marathons. She works hard at it. Trains every day. Eats the right foods. Has a coach, a team of friends with whom to run, and does all this while teaching full time at her college, raising a family, volunteering at her church. She loves to run; in fact a couple of years ago, she was ill and unable to run, and it was just so hard for her.
But she doesn’t run to win. She runs to do her best.
That’s what Paul is missing. We don’t run the Christian race to win; we run to do our best.
Back in the dark ages of time, I learned this lesson at the Chester County 4-H Fair. I was entered in the Guernsey calf competition, and I had a calf — actually by that time an almost-grown-up calf —- who had every good chance to win. And winning was something I’d rarely experienced, not because my calf wasn’t good, or because I hadn’t done a good job of showing her, but because a girl just a year or two ahead of me in the club had the world’s greatest cow. Elsie Dodds won every show she was ever in because that cow was fantastic. It was discouraging. I’d go into the competition hoping for reserve grand champion, because there was no way I’d beat Elsie.
But Elsie wasn’t at this show. And I saw my path clear to winning it all. Imagine how crestfallen I was when, instead of winning the blue ribbon, I found myself part of a group, all of whom won blue ribbons. I was astonished, and — honestly, angry — all the way home, barely able to listen to my father who was explaining the Modified Danish Judging System to me.
I was angry and I was wrong. Because what the Danish System did was make it possible to really see how many of the entries approached the ideal dairy cow. If you had a first rank entry, you were placed in the first rank. More kids got rewarded for their hard work, instead of feeling like they were losers because there was always someone better ahead of them.
fwiw, I looked Elsie up on the internet; she’s in her eighties these days, still raising Guernsey cattle, still winning at shows…. some things never change.
So, here’s the lesson for us today — don’t worry about being the best in everything, because being a Christian isn’t a competition that only one of us will win. Concentrate on that other kind of being best — being the best person you can be, today. Maybe tomorrow will be different. But make today the best day it can be.
And don’t wait until tomorrow to make things right. Jesus told a great story about a farmer (I’ve always heard that his nickname was Bigger Barnes), in Luke. Here’s how it goes:
“The farm of a certain rich man produced a terrific crop. He talked to himself: ‘What can I do? My barn isn’t big enough for this harvest.’ Then he said, ‘Here’s what I’ll do: I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll gather in all my grain and goods, and I’ll say to myself, Self, you’ve done well! You’ve got it made and can now retire. Take it easy and have the time of your life!’
“Just then God showed up and said, ‘Fool! Tonight you die. And your barnful of goods—who gets it?’
“That’s what happens when you fill your barn with Self and not with God.”
This is all part of being a real church, a church that is a community of people — all aiming to be the best they can be, helping one another get there, reaching out and sharing love with all our world.
So run your race, not to be “the best”, but to do your best. Let love be your watchword, today and always.
Amen.
© 2024, Virginia H. Child
To Believe is to Care. . . To Care is to Do 