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But we can get
invested and interested in sports
because they symbolize our own desire for mental sharpness, for physical
fitness, for character and integrity.
We expect our stars to check the box on fitness, sharpness and character. Some may only do 1 or 2 of the 3.
[__02__] I bring this up because there are dimensions to our earthly life which do signal and symbolize something about our hopes for heavenly reward and a life beyond this world.
Starting last
Sunday and continuing the next several Sundays, Jesus is preaching to you and
me about the meaning of a recent miracle in his day. This was the miracle of
the multiplication of the loaves, and also an ancient miracle, which was the
providing of manna in the desert for the Hebrew people to eat during their
exodus to the promised land.
By the way,
the word Manna
actually is a question, meaning, what is it? It doesn't mean “bread”,
but “what is it?”
The people of
Jesus's day were really impressed with the miracle of the multiplication of the
loaves, but also UNSURE in the their own way about Jesus. To answer their own questioning, they cheer
for and they applaud for more, demand another miracle. We always want our stars
to provide us with a command performance, another home run, touchdown, or
sprint to the finish line.
[__03__] Jesus
turns to the crowd to correct them to remind them to look to Him, not just for
material bread, but for spiritual, personal presence, which is not necessarily
material in our lives.
And isn't it true
that in our relationships we have with others, our loyalty and our dedication
to each other is not simply shown by what we deliver or what we do, but also by
doing the invisible things, the things behind the scenes, praying behind the
scenes, doing the things that no one notices. It's true. Are you? Am I willing
to accept and do this?
Are you and I
willing to accept this role, to do this critical role, but sometimes unnoticed,
supportive role, and to do so to build up a true team spirit the body of Christ?
Jesus says it this
way:
“you are looking
for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were
filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for
eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God,
has set his seal” (John 6:__)
As Jesus says to
Satan in the when Satan asked him to turn stones into bread, rocks into carbohydrates: “Man does
not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth in the mouth of God”.
[__04__] The Holy
Eucharist and Holy Communion, therefore, is not just a meal or a memory, nor it
is simply a famous painting as in Leonardo Da Vinci’s The Last Supper. (There
was also divisiveness about the “betrayal” at the Last Supper). Our Holy Communion is a divine vision of
God's love, initiated by Christ’s words and actions: “this is my body given up
for you.” His word of mercy goes out to all the world internationally as the
greatest victory of all time. His victory and conquest is ours as well. And we
are called to take up our cross, following his commandments to participate in
this win. It is not just a ceremonial formality.
Jesus’
action, while depicted in painting and architecture, transcends the images
themselves and any other icons. I bring this up because there was recent
mockery made of Jesus and his apostles in the presentation in stage and
dramatization of the Last Supper images at the Olympic opening ceremonies.
Such
choices might by the Olympic Committee might be dismissed or disregarded as
simply the secularity of sports. We do not expect sports to be our salvation,
do we?
Then again,
the Body and Blood of Christ are sacred and central to Christian faith. They are
our not just part of our past but also our present. Just as you would be hurt
if your mother or father or grandparents were insulted, this is not simply
because they are older and perhaps more “fragile” than you are. It is also because their life and blood flows
through you.
And, you
might be insulted if a friend or teacher or anyone who nurtured and loved you
was insulted. They also form a part of you. The Last Supper, Jesus, and the
Apostles remain a part of you today.
This is true even for those who do not believe in Christ. Jesus death
occurred amid those who were rejecting him. This is His Body, given up for
you. “Forgive them, Father, they know
not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)
The Last
Supper and the Lord’s Supper exceed in value the Arc de Triomphe or the
Champs-Élysées. Neither of these icons – while recognized widely – truly unite
those who see them as a family under God.
Seeing
such disrespect for the Gospel message, we are called to pray for those who
oppose the faith in God and remember that no worldly achievement can eclipse
the beauty of God's love. True excellence in fitness, wisdom, and character is
exemplified by Jesus' sacrifice on the cross.
[__05__] There were
two Paris Olympics, athletes who really exemplified this.
They were runners
on the track. They were, the subjects of the movie “Chariots of Fire”, a 1981 Academy Award winning-movie that took
place as a result of the Paris Olympics, not the 2024 Olympics but the 1924
Olympics.
They were by name
British runners. Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams, who competed for the United
Kingdom in the 1924 Paris Olympics.
Each of them
displayed character and integrity in their performance and carried a burden due
to their religious identity. Harold Abraham's, a very strong and accomplished
runner, was also Jewish, and he suffered in the 1920s due to anti semitism. He
was known to be extremely nervous before every race
Eric Lydell, his
Olympic teammate and competitor was also a devout Christian and from Scotland
in the U.K.. Eric Lidell, found out, however, before the Olympics, that the
that the precise day for the 100 meter event, the 100 meter dash was scheduled
on a Sunday, the Sabbath, a day he was committed to not working but resting.
As a result, Eric
Lidell decided to train for other events. And he actually won the gold medal in
another event other than the 100 meters.
But Eric Liddell
lost something, because, as you may know, the 100 meter event is the premier
event in running. That's what everybody wants to win. Winning the 400 meters
was not bad thing, but it wasn't as a high profile event. So he gave up
something by not competing in the 100 meter event.
It turns out,
Harold Abraham's won the 100 meter gold. Both won the gold medal at the
Olympics.
[__06__] Shortly
after the Olympics in 1924, and earning the gold medal, Eric Lydell went to a
calling as a Christian missionary and
teacher in China. In fact, Eric Lydell
had been born in China as parents of Christian missionaries.
He differed
greatly from other Olympic stars of today who went on to great fame and
fortune. Today, gold medalists make lots
of endorsement money immediately.
Eric Lidell was
teaching and preach the gospel.
In the 1920’s and
1930’s, in China, Eric was able to teach peacefully while also becoming a track
and field coach to young people, teaching the Bible and also science and mathematics
But, a greater
teaching and learning challenge was to come.
In a few years, World War 2 started due to Japanese aggression in China and
in the Pacific. Eric Lydell didn't become a soldier. He remained a
missionary. Everywhere, Eric Lidell
taught the people to pray for their enemies.
[][] Wikipedia:
In 1941 life in China became very dangerous because of Japanese military aggression
(WW 2) and the British government advised all British nationals to leave. The
wife of Eric and his 2 daughters left. The wife of Eric was pregnant with their
3rd child – whom he never met.
Eric Liddell
accepted a position at a rural mission station (in Xiaozhang), which served the
poor. Eric joined his brother, Rob, who was a medical doctor there. The station
was severely short of help and the missionaries there were exhausted. A
constant stream of locals came at all hours for medical treatment. Liddell
arrived at the station in time to relieve his brother, who was ill and needing
to go on furlough. Liddell suffered many hardships himself at the mission.
Internment
As
fighting between the Chinese Army and invading Japanese troops reached
Xiaozhang, the Japanese took over the mission … eventually, Eric Lidell was
captured by the Japanese army and sent to an internment camp with other
missionaries. Liddell became a leader and organiser at the camp, but food,
medicine, and other supplies were scarce.
Wikipedia: There
were many cliques in the internment camp and when some rich businessmen managed
to smuggle in some eggs, Liddell shamed them into sharing them. While fellow
missionaries formed cliques, moralised, and acted selfishly, Liddell busied
himself by helping the elderly, teaching Bible classes at the camp school,
arranging games, and teaching science to the children, who referred to him as “Uncle
Eric”.
Because
of his birth and death in China, some of that China’s Olympic literature lists Eric
Liddell as China's first Olympic gold medalist.
[][]
Eric Lidell died in
February of 1945, 5 months before the end of the war and “liberation”.
But the message of
Christ’s life in Eric Lidell and you and me is that freedom, “liberation” and
satisfaction of hunger does not happen on only material terms.
Eric Lidell, true
to the Gospel, did not work for the food that perishes,
A simple
inscription at the University of Edinburgh, his alma mater, reads from the Book
of Isaiah 40:31: "They shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run
and not be weary."
In 1945 he
finished the race. You and I are urged to finish the race as well, to see in
the Eucharist the bread of life, the body of Christ, leading us to one God and
Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:6)
[__end__]
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