The Olympics are back...in case you had not heard. Did you
see the opening ceremonies from Athens Friday night?
Spectacular! Three hours of pageantry that was absolutely
magical - a celebration of life, love and Greek civilization
beamed to four billion TV viewers across the world. It should
probably not be a surprise that it was as good as it was - after
all, Greeks have been doing drama for 3,000 years.
The parade of athletes was awesome. Almost 11,000. It was
especially good to see the team from Afghanistan with its women
members who had been so brutally repressed under the now-overthrown Taliban regime. Good too to see the team from Iraq
who had been flown from Baghdad under cover of darkness by the
Royal Australian Air Force. The Olympic spirit lives even amid
the ongoing conflict.
I was distressed to hear that one of my favorites from the
Sydney Olympics four years ago is not in attendance. Eric
Moussambani, the swimmer from Equatorial Guinea who competed in
the 100-meter freestyle and finished dead last. Eric had only
learned to swim a few months before the Olympics. He trained
diligently - three days every week, a whole hour at a time - in
the 20-meter pool of a local hotel. But the trouble with
swimming in the Olympics is that the competition is in an
Olympic-size pool - 50-meters. And the 100-meter event means
swimming it twice, and in front of 17,500 screaming fans! Well,
Eric had never even come close to swimming 100 meters before.
Halfway through the first heat of the race (which he had to swim
alone because his two fellow competitors had been disqualified
for false starts), he began to flail away and appeared in danger
of drowning - people were ready to jump in and rescue him. But
he hung in there, dog-paddling his way home in just under 1:53 to
some of the loudest cheers of the games, not quite twice the time
it took for his nearest competitor (who ended up 70th) to finish
the race.
If you remember the story, it turns out that Eric
Moussambani had learned that the Sydney Olympics would fly any
competitor to the games for free, plus house and feed them, and,
in general, treat them like royalty, so he decided he wanted in
on the action. Wonderful. Since the 2000 games, Eric has
continued his training and has now reduced his time by almost
half. Unfortunately, he just recently ran into a passport
problem and was unable to come to Athens. Too bad.
Who will be the superstars of the Olympics of 2004? Some
are predictable, acknowledged by all to be best in their field.
Some will be surprises, unlikely heroes who for one reason or
another - and not always excellence, as the saga of Eric
Moussambani attests - will rise to international attention.
Our lesson from Hebrews 11 this week falls into the category
of the unexpected victories by overlooked competitors. The
chapter which has become known as "Faith's Hall of Fame" includes
names with which everyone is familiar - Noah, Abraham, Moses.
But the list includes some unlikely inductees - Rahab, Gideon,
Barak, Samson, Jephthah. Do you know those folks?
Rahab was a prostitute who lived in Jericho. Her "step of
faith" was in cooperating with the Israelite spies who were
looking to conquer her town - she made a deal with them not to
harm her or her family in the coming conflict in exchange for her
not ratting them out.(1)
Gideon is a name made famous by the Bible-distribution
organization that uses him as their hero, but he too is an
unlikely superstar. He lived in the day when Israel was under
threat of being overrun by the Midianites. We meet him for the
first time when he is threshing wheat, not at a granary but in a
winepress because he was afraid the Midianites would steal it
from him. He stayed pretty much a coward throughout our contacts
with him in scripture, but he finally came through as a reluctant
warrior even though he would probably have chosen to be anywhere
else at that moment.(2)
Barak, another famous name. Not. He was an Israelite army
commander who was told to go to battle against a Canaanite enemy
but he refused to do it unless the prophetess Deborah went too.
OK.(3) Reluctant hero.
Samson is a name you probably know.(4) Samson and Delilah,
after all. Samson does sound like a hero in the Olympic mold -
he probably could have gotten a gold in weightlifting. He does
not seem to have been terribly religious. His reputation as a
champion of Israel was apparently a result of his personal
quarrels with the Philistines rather than any special piety. He
was vicious and vengeful. He fancied himself a ladies man,
eventually took up with a prostitute (Delilah) and has cost
countless individuals countless dollars in lost bar bets.
Question: who cut Samson's hair making him lose his strength?
Answer Delilah and lose your money; it was a man Delilah called
in to do the job. Samson died when he single-handedly destroyed
a Philistine temple and everyone in it, including himself. Great
hero.
How about Jephtha?(5) Jephtha was a bandit warlord, the
illegitimate son of another prostitute who was prevailed upon to
become a commander of the Israelite army at a particularly
dangerous time. Jephtha made a bargain with God: "If you give
the Ammonites into my hands, whatever comes out of the door of my
house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will
be the Lord's, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering."
Jephtha wanted a good luck charm, just in case. Well, what came
out of his house on his return was his only daughter, happy to
see her daddy. He kept his vow. How's that for a hero?
The name David appears. No surprise. He was always
recognized as Israel's greatest king. But he was also recognized
as a murderer and adulterer as well. Superstar.
Samuel? When we encounter that name, we remember that nice
Sunday School story about him hearing the voice of God as a young
boy. But there is also the story of him hacking a prisoner of
war to pieces(6) that sounds like something we might expect to see
on a video from Islamic terrorists.
It continually amazes me the way God can use the most
unlikely among us to fulfill divine purposes...even me. The less
than perfect character of some of the heroes of the faith who are
mentioned in our lesson certainly provides some contact with our
lives, but the point is not so much to say that Gideon and Samson
had feet of clay so it's all right for you and me to have feet of
clay too. It is rather that, like it or not, we DO have feet of
clay, but that does not disqualify us from the race of faith.
Hear that again: we DO have feet of clay, but that does not
disqualify us from the race of faith.
The Olympians who get the glory are usually those that win
medals. But there are also those who train, who persevere, but
do not even come close to winning. You may remember the English
skier "Eddie the Eagle" or the Jamaican bobsled team immortalized
in the 1993 film "Cool Running." Eric Moussambani. Superstars,
every one.
Last Sunday's issue of Parade magazine has an article by
David Wallechinsky titled "Why I'll Cheer for Laos."(7) We do not
usually think of Laotians as contenders for Olympic medals, and
for good reason. Laos is a very poor country and its athletes
(there are three in Athens) have quite limited facilities and
opportunities for training. Only one Laotian Olympian has ever
finished anything but last in his or her event. But they
persevere. Superstars, in my book. In terms of you and I who
are running the race of faith, that will surely preach.
The Barcelona Olympics of 1992 provided a wonderful story.(8)
Britain's Derek Redmond had dreamed all his life of winning a
gold medal in the 400-meter race, and his dream was in sight as
the gun sounded in the semifinals. He was running the race of
his life and could see the finish line as he rounded the turn
into the backstretch. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain go up the
back of his leg. He fell, face first, on to the track with a
torn right hamstring.
As the medical attendants were approaching, Redmond fought
to his feet. He set out hopping, in a crazed attempt to finish
the race. When he reached the stretch, a large man in a T-shirt
came charging out of the stands, hurled aside a security guard
and ran to Redmond, embracing him. It was Jim Redmond, Derek's
dad. "You don't have to do this," he told his son.
"Yes, I do," said Derek as the tears streamed down his face.
"Well, then," said Jim, "we're going to finish this
together." And they did. Fighting off security men, the son's
head sometimes buried in his father's shoulder, they stayed in
Derek's lane all the way to the end, as the crowd watched, then
rose and roared and wept.
Derek did not win the gold, but he walked away with an
incredible memory of a father who, when he saw his son in pain,
came to him to help him finish the race. And you KNOW that will
preach!
I love the way our lesson concludes: "Therefore, since we
are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw
off everything that hinders...our doubts, our fears, our
questions...and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run
with perseverance the race marked out for us."
Last year, back when American troops were still heading
across the sands of Iraq toward Baghdad, toward what, they did
not know, I read an interview with an Army chaplain, whose
responsibility it was to care for the young and overwhelmed
soldiers of the First Brigade. "What do you tell them?" he was
asked.
He pointed toward the stars and said, "I remind them, we
sleep under the same stars as Abraham did, on his journey of
faith with God. I tell them the story of Daniel," he said, "here
on these same sands, Daniel who never lost faith and kept serving
his God under the oppression of King Nebuchadnezzar." What the
chaplain was saying was that there was with him, with his young
soldiers, a great cloud of witnesses, from far, far back in the
annals of faith, people of faith whose love for their God did not
waver and whose lives still bore witness in the sands of Iraq to
the faith which still upholds and strengthens, still gives life
and hope.(9)
Clarence McCartney noted to a previous generation that the
picture in Hebrews is that of a heavenly stadium packed with
famous fans, all with voices, cheering us on as we press toward
the goal.(10) Yonder they are! Yonder is the gallery of the
patriarchs, Abraham and Isaac and Jacob; and over there the
section for the prophets, Moses and Elijah and Samuel and
Jeremiah. And here are the seats of the apostles, Peter and John
and Paul. And there is the gallery of the martyrs, all those who
died for truth, Stephen and Polycarp and Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
And just beyond is the gallery of the reformers, Luther and
Calvin and Knox. And there are the great missionaries, St.
Augustine and St. Patrick and David Livingstone and Albert
Schweitzer. And over there the great musicians, Isaac Watts and
Charles Wesley and Fanny Crosby.
But there is yet another section of the stadium that means
far more to you and me perhaps than any of the others. It is the
gallery where sit our own mothers, fathers, husbands, wives,
brothers, sisters, whose race is already run. They are the
witnesses who surround us and inspire us to keep the faith, who
see our struggles and rejoice in our victories. And with them
all, standing above them all, looking down with twinkling eyes
and the warmest smile, is Jesus. He sees what we are up against.
He knows we need help and he offers it.
That is God's word to you and me today. "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."
Superstars. "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus..."
Amen!
1. Joshua 2:1-21; 6:22-25
2. Joshua 6-7
3. Judges 5
4. Judges 13-16
5. Judges 11-12
6. I Samuel 15:32-33
7. 8/8/04, p. 8
8. from Hot Illustrations for Youth Talks, Wayne Rice, 1994
9. Alida Ward, "Cloud of Witnesses," May 25, 2003, Greenfield Hill Congregational
Church Web Site, Geenfieldhillchurch.org
10. Clarence McCartney, "The Sin Which Doth Beset Us," The Greatest Texts of the Bible,
(Nashville : Abingdon, 1979), p. 169
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