One competition comes to an end this week and another one starts!
Tonight is the final of the Great British Sewing Bee! Of all the Great British competitions I think this is my favourite. Odd you might think for someone whose only achievement in needlework class at school was to thread a needle and make a simple hand-stitched pouch with ‘Mum’ on the front (I was 11!)
For me, there’s something absolutely fascinating to see the male and female contestants master mind boggling sewing challenges within strict time limits. Watching the series, I now know what a ‘French seam’ is, can spot if something needs ‘bagging out’ and get excited to see the ‘overlocker’ doing its stuff. Through three elements each week, (pattern challenge, transformation and made-to-measure) the sewers make incredible garments. It is their handiwork and is all very impressive.
In Ephesians 2, the Apostle Paul uses this phrase, ‘For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for good works…’ Another version says we are his workmanship – the impression given is that God, in Christ is fashioning us into something beautiful. Sure, there may be bits that need unpicking and at times we can’t see the shape of what we will be. But his purpose is to show us off to the world so that we might do good in his name. Remember that time hasn’t been called on you and your life just yet – we’re not the finished article yet!
And then of course, there’s the second competition that starts, the Olympic Games – 15 days of competition where nations from across the globe compete for gold, silver and bronze – to see who is at the pinnacle of their sport or chosen discipline. Personally, I never thought that ‘break-dancing’ was a sport, but that’s included this time around.
Scripture makes clear that the Apostle Paul and the writer to the Hebrews probably watched the original games (called the Isthmian games) which were held every two years in Greece. Athletes from all over Greece would gather in honour of Poseidon, the ‘earth- shaking God of the sea’. They would take a corporate oath or pledge before the games began. They competed at Isthmia in a stadium, theatre and hippodrome where athletes would challenge each other in footraces, wrestling, boxing, throwing the discus and javelin, long jump, chariot racing, poetry reading and singing. Yes, singing was once an Olympic Sport!
According to inscriptions contemporary to the time of Paul, women also competed in these events and it is recorded they won running and chariot races.
Paul (and others) do not overlook the parallels between human sporting endeavour and faith in Jesus Christ. They speak about preparation, discipline, but most tellingly about being in a race to win a prize. Unlike the modern Olympics where gold, silver and bronze medals are awarded to the first three places, in these ancient games only the winner received the crown. There was no second place – winning was everything! In the Isthmian Games the crown awarded to the winner was a ‘celery crown’ which is why Paul describes it as a perishable crown as opposed the heavenly race we are in and the imperishable crown we will receive (1 Corinthians 9 v 25b).
Perhaps the best passage to illustrate all this is linked to Paul’s time in prison in Rome in around AD66 where we read these words (paraphrased), ‘I have competed in the good athletic games; I have finished the footrace, I have kept the pledge. What remains for me is to receive the crown of righteousness which has been put aside for me; it will be awarded to me by the Lord, the just umpire on that last day’ – an illusion again to the last day of the games when the awards and crowns were awarded. These passages and others remind us that ours is an eternal prize, one worth giving our lives for, one that we mustn’t lose sight of or give up from. We are being cheered on by a cloud of witnesses as the writer to the Hebrews reminds us time and again.
Enjoy the Olympics and revel in the outstanding human feats of skill and endurance over the course of the games. This Sunday at St Mary’s we’ll be reflecting on the life and story of Eric Liddell, a committed Christian who, 100 years ago, made a principled stand for his faith in Paris 1924 Olympics refusing to run on a Sunday (Sabbath) but securing victory nonetheless. His life and story as a missionary shows he was running for the greater, eternal prize.
May we do so also.
Revd Paul