LET’S TALK SPORTS
Ecclesiastes 9:11-12
1 Corinthians 9:24-27
February 1, 2009
Let’s talk sports. Today is the Superbowl, which is one of the largest sporting events in the world. Last year 97,448,000 viewers tuned in. That number has been growing by 4% each year, and this year an estimated 101,833,000 people will watch to see the Cardinals and the Steelers play for the championship. Bringing this event to live television is no small task. Today, NBC studios will: have more than 450 employees on site at the stadium, they will use 93 microphones (including 12 on field parabolic mics), they will have 52 high definition cameras (including 2 which are focused solely on the game clock and the play clock), they will lay 50 miles of camera and microphone cord, they will use 24 digital video recorders to bring us instant replay, there will be 5 robotic cameras (including 2 which are fixed on the goal posts), 1 cable camera suspended on wires over the playing field, and 1 camera on top of the stadium just to shoot pictures of downtown Tampa Bay.
I love football. I love everything about football. It is the quintessential American sport. If you can accomplish your objective with skill and finesse that is a wonderful thing. If not, just use pure brute force to exert your will over your opponent – punish him into submission. It’s not Christian, but it’s a lot of fun! Football has not always been so well received. The first year football was offered as a sanctioned NCAA sport, several universities refused to field teams. The president of Columbia University called the game, “madness and slaughter.” The president of Bucknell said it was, “barbarous!” And, the Dean of the University of Chicago called it, “A boy killing, education prostituting, gladiatorial bloodbath.” That alone would have made me want to go to the game!
Sports are big business; last year the combined profits of the NBA, NHL, MLB, and NFL were $24 billion. In 2005 the sales of sports related products grossed $213 billion. The average salary of a MLB player is over $2 million. This year, Boston Celtics player Kevin Garnett will make three times more than all 100 senators of the United States Senate – combined. They can make this kind of money because sports are universally appealing to all people in all cultures. In 2006, 48 million people attended a college football game in person; 31 million went to men’s basketball, 11 million to women’s basketball, and 5 million to men’s baseball. Over the course of the 2006 World Cup 715 million viewers tuned. And, over the two weeks which the 2004 Olympics were televised, more than 40 billion people watched.
This isn’t a new phenomenon. Four thousand years ago an Egyptian prince was buried in the Valley of the Kings. His tomb was decorated with over 100 wrestling positions. The famous King Tut had his tomb decorated with drawings of him hunting lions from a chariot. The Olympic Games were already 800 years old when Jesus was crucified. Which brings us to the Apostle Paul. Whether you want to acknowledge it or not, Paul was a sports fan.
Listen to some of Paul’s writing; in his letter to the church at Galatia (2:2), “I went in response to a revelation and set before them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did this privately to those who seemed to be leaders, for fear that I was running or had run my race in vain.” Or, his second letter to Timothy (4:7-8), “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.” There are dozens of other sporting references, but perhaps his most famous is the one we read today to the church in Corinth. I think it’s helpful to understand the background of Paul’s sports metaphors.
Paul probably never went to the Olympics, but he almost certainly attended the Isthmian Games, which were held every two years in the city of Corinth. The Isthmian Games were almost equal to the Olympics, and it explains why Paul would use sports language when he wrote to the Corinthians. This was a five day event. The first day was sacrifices to the Roman gods, and the taking of oaths by the judges and contestants. The second day included chariot races, horse races, and the pentathlon. The third day was contests for boys. The fourth day was foot racing, jumping, wrestling, boxing, and pankration (which was a type of marshal arts fighting). The fifth and final day involved more sacrifices to the gods, and a banquet for the champions.
Huge crowds rolled into town for these games. It was as entertaining outside of the stadium as it was inside. Philosophers would stand in two lines. When you reached the front of your line, you debated the philosopher across from you. Poets brought boxes and stood on them reciting their poetry. Magicians put on hourly performances, and fortune tellers set up their booths. There were peddlers with potions and amulets for good luck. And, as many as 10,000 lawyers would show up, looking for the opportunity to sue someone.
For Paul, this was a double business opportunity. Paul didn’t get a salary from the church. He had to support his own ministry. He often worked as a tent maker to earn money (Acts 18:3). Over 200 thousand people came to the games, and most of them brought tents to stay in. Paul would have easily made money by performing tent repairs. Secondly, this was the perfect opportunity to discuss Jesus Christ with philosophers and priests of every Roman religion. Every man that Paul converted to Christianity became an evangelist, going to parts of the world Paul himself would never see, and spreading the Gospel.
Paul refers to the foot race more than any other event. There were three distances for foot races. The first distance was a little over 200 yards, twice the length of a football field, and was called a ‘stade’. The arena where they ran the ‘stade’ became the stadium. The second race was called the ‘diaulos’ they ran the stade twice, or a little over 415 yards. The big race was called the ‘dolichos’, and was 24 stades, or 5000 yards – roughly 2.8 miles. The dolichos is the race Paul talks about the most often.
When Paul says, “We have to run with endurance the race that is set out for us” he is comparing living the Christian life to the dolichos (Hebrews 12:1). When Paul says, “I press on toward the goal to win the prize” he is also talking about the dolichos (Philippians 3:14). There were no lane markers in the dolichos. The runners started with their backs to the wall, and then ran to the opposite end of the stadium 24 times. If you didn’t run straight, you were at a disadvantage. So, each runner would pick out a target, or a goal, on the opposite end to run to. If you kept your goal in focus you ran a straighter and more efficient race. Paul says living the Christian life works the same way.
Sometimes the winner of the race received money, oil, barley, or a year of not paying taxes in their home town. But, that wasn’t the big prize. The big prize was a crown, which was a wreath made of pine branches. It was more important than any other prize because it identified the winner in a crowd. In a few weeks the crown would rot and disintegrate. That’s why Paul gets excited when he tells the Corinthians, “They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever” (1 Corinthians 9:25). Paul says our faith will identify us in a crowd as unique and special, and it will never wear out.
Occasionally Paul talks about boxing. In today’s Scripture he says, “I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave” (1 Corinthians 9:26). Boxers would often practice against their own shadows on a wall. If you could get fast enough to beat your own shadow, what man could beat you? It was called beating the air. Paul says he’s no shadow boxer. He has actually stepped into the ring and gone toe to toe with the opponent, and it has left him scarred. Boxers were the most easily identifiable of all athletes; their faces were so disfigured and scarred from the competitions. Often their own family members couldn’t identify them after a match. The message to the Corinthians is that Christianity is not an intellectual pursuit, like so many philosophies. Christianity is an actual experience, and it leaves its mark on a man. He is different for having taken the challenge.
In several places Paul talks about being disqualified (1 Corinthians 9:27; 2 Timothy 2:5). If you don’t compete according to the set rules, you cannot win the event. And, the athlete doesn’t get to make the rules; the rules are handed down to the athlete. This is Paul’s way of saying only Christians go to heaven. It’s not popular to say that, but it’s true. Mankind doesn’t get to make the rules for life after death, only the Lord God can make those rules. The Lord God has been very straightforward, the only way into heaven is through Jesus Christ (John 14:6). You can’t use flippers in a swim meet, then get angry when you’re disqualified. You can’t use a motorcycle in a marathon, then get angry when you’re disqualified. You can’t follow Buddha, or Mohammed, or Confucius, and then get angry when you’re disqualified.
When Paul wrote to the Hebrews he wrote about traditional values and respect for the Old Testament and it’s prophecies about Jesus (Hebrews 1:1-2). When he wrote to the Romans he wrote about logic and reason, and how the only logical conclusion is that Jesus is Lord (Romans 10:1-10). When he wrote to the Corinthians he talked about sports. Paul knew that you have to meet people where they are. Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some (1 Corinthians 9:19-22).
This is why in March we will start a second service at 8:30 am. The 11:00 am traditional service will remain traditional, to reach those who thrive on the traditions. The 8:30 service will be contemporary, to reach those who require less liturgy and lesson, and more spirit guided emotion. It will be our way of talking sports to those who relate to sports. John Buchanon says sports are popular because they connect people into a community. Strangers who normally wouldn’t give each other the time of day will suddenly stop, smile, and give each other a high five because they are wearing the same jersey. The contemporary service bonds us to a new community. No one is being left behind here; no one is losing any part of worship that is important to them personally. We’re just starting a second team. There is room enough for each of us.