Self-Discipline
by Rev. Paul Howden
January 20, 2008
Septuagesima
1 Corinthians 9:24-27

My daughter has about forty of these little dolls called Polly Pockets. One day she set up some pillows and put her Polly Pockets in neat rows facing each other. Then she said: “Look dad, a football game.” I looked at the arrangement puzzled. It didn’t look like a football game. “Why do you have all the players sitting down?” “No, they are not playing. They are watching the game from the stands.” The Polly Pockets were fans sitting in the stadium, watching. Some people think that the Christian life is like that. You watch other people play the game without getting involved.

The Apostle Paul was acquainted with competitive racing and boxing, and possibly was a fan of those sports. He taught: “those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize… I fight; not as one who beats the air.” In other words, live for God with as much enthusiasm as a runner at a race, a boxer in the ring. There are reasons Paul was familiar with sports and showed an interest in them. His home town of Tarsus had a stadium where games were held. The city also had a gymnasium near the river. Thus, it came natural for him to visualize the Christian life as an athletic contest. This will be our subject for this Septuagesima Sunday. Let’s read 1 Cor. 9:24-27.

Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.  And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.  I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:  But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

What was the occasion of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians? Apparently the believers at Corinth had become spiritually flabby. They had lost their first love. Their commitment to prayer and God’s Word had faded. Sin and strife and selfishness were becoming ever more prevalent. They lacked discipline and self-control. Guided by the Holy Spirit, the apostle attempts to get them back on track by comparing the vigor and stamina of athletics to the vigor and stamina of the Christian life.

The Corinthians knew about sport, for their city hosted the Isthmian Games every two years. The Isthmian Games were one of the most popular pageants of the Roman Empire, second only to the Olympics. Visitors in the tens of thousands flocked to the city of Corinth for the occasion. The six most popular events were racing, wrestling, jumping, boxing, hurling the javelin, and throwing the discus. The participants arrived in Corinth a month ahead of time to practice their sport, so that the city pulsated with athletic activity. The Apostle Paul was possibly present in Corinth in the spring of AD 51 during the performance of the games. If the city was short on motels, Paul, the tent-maker, might have made money selling his tents to the visitors.

Holiness to a degree rests on discipline. Christ calls you to be His disciple. “If you abide in My word you are My disciples indeed”, Jesus said (John 8:31). A disciple is a disciplined person. The Christian life is a race; a battle, a contest. True, the Church is a vineyard where we work. It is a temple where we worship. It is a vine on which we are connected to Christ. It is a family with brothers and sisters. It is a hospital where we come for healing. The Church is also a boot camp where we train for combat. It is training where we exercise and prepare for the race of life. We have to be in condition.

Last week the Dallas Cowboys lost to the New York Giants in football. The Howden house was sad about that outcome. One detail came out in the media. The week before several of the Dallas Cowboy players had gone to Mexico. The commentators brought out that the Mexico resort trip had softened them up and caused them to lose their edge. If we think that the Church is a resort where we sit on the beach and get lazy, we too will lose. The Church is a training ground, a boot camp, and a place where we come to worship and serve and gain self-control.

Grace Church sponsored the 5-K run last summer, and God willing we will do it again this summer. As Christians, we are running toward our heavenly reward. If you are in Christ, you already have the prize. Your sins are forgiven. You are saved. But still you must run the race for holiness and maturity. The essential disciplines of prayer, Bible study, and worship equip you to run with vigor and stamina. Don’t merely observe from the grandstand; don’t just jog a couple of laps each morning. Train diligently – your spiritual progress depends upon it.

Sport teaches valuable lessons. The competition requires hard work, the endurance of pain, the love of brothers for one another, fortitude, courage, the will to overcome adversity, and much more. Church-planting, Christian service, and prayer require a lot of the same things. Think of the missionary journeys of Paul. He says in 2 Corinthians 11:23, “I am in labors; in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of water, in perils in the wilderness, in perils of the sea… in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness…” This sounds like a guy who is in good shape. Some of the best missionaries such as David Livingstone and Barbrooke Grubb were superb athletes.

For ministry, no matter what it is, one needs dogged discipline and a high level of self-denial. Christ said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” (Mt. 16:24). A cross is heavy. You get tired. If you have been lifting weights and working out, then, that cross is going to be easier to bear.

Don’t think that discipline is pure dreariness. Runners feel great after a hard run. Sport is a lot of fun for people, and fun is fine. The game itself can be a celebration of physical form and beauty, the coming together of talent and hard work. St. Paul applauds a close race in which the best runner wins, and he appreciates the boxer who lands his punches with skill and accuracy.

Nancy Wilson has a comment about boys and sport. She says, “…boys need to learn how to take a hit. Christian men need to be fighters. After all, in Christendom there is a battle going on. Young boys need to be trained in many areas beyond academics if they are going to be skilled in battle. For starters, they need to be tough, not whiners, moaners, wimps, or shirkers. In sports they learn to take a hit… We do not want the church populated with men who cry when they fall down. If they are pushed around on the basketball court, they will learn how to ‘suck it up’ and ‘blow it out,’ as my son-in-law says. When they look at the gigantic size of the other team and see how completely understaffed they are, they will find courage to overcome. Men need to be protectors and fighters. Sports are a good way to introduce them to the idea. It is not a real war, but it is good training for the real ones.” [Close quote. Credenda Agenda. Vol. 15, No. 4, p. 18.]

Paul says in verse 27, “I discipline my body and bring it into subjection.” This means, “I buffet my body and make it my slave.” His body was the opponent. Why? The body loves sloth. We are naturally lazy, and Satan takes advantage of laziness. He wants you to stumble. There is much sin and sorrow and pain in life when you stumble. Paul found it necessary to flagellate his body, so to speak, and bring it into subjection in order to serve God.

Some Christians are slaves to their bodies. Their bodies tell their minds what to do. Their bodies decide when to eat, what to eat, how much to eat, when to sleep and get up, and so on. An athlete cannot allow that. He follows the training rules, not his body. He runs when he would rather be resting, he eats a balanced meal when he would rather devour a chocolate sundae; he goes to bed when he would rather stay up, and he goes to training, when he would rather lie around.

Paul brings out the connection between athletics and a living faith. Jogging and prayer are similar exercises in my experience. If I jog four times a week I stay in shape. The same goes for prayer. Christ seems more present to me when I immerse myself in prayer every day. I notice coincidences that are actually God’s hand answering prayers. I sense His presence. On the other hand, when I fail to jog for a week, I feel out of shape. Likewise, one week without prayer puts me in a dry, anemic spell. My heart drifts from the Lord. I begin to lose love, compassion, patience and all the rest of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Running and prayer are companions.

Here’s something else. Sport teaches one to accept defeat in life. One commercial used to promise, “The thrill of victory; the agony of defeat.” That’s right. Losing a game can be agony. I coached my son’s YMCA basketball team a few years back. One Saturday we lost a double header, games we should have won. Afterwards, I felt desolate and horrible. However, by the next day I felt fine. The agony for fans whose teams lose is real, but defeat in a sport helps teach us to overcome emotional pain in relatively harmless settings. We learn that time does heal wounds, and by dealing with these small sorrows we may learn a little bit about dealing with the greater grief that life will bring.

If losses make us mourn, do victories in baseball and other sports give us endless joy? No. At best the happiness of victory lasts for a week or two. It is valuable to realize that even the best this life has to offer cannot produce ultimate satisfaction. The words of our epistle lesson are helpful here, “Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown” (1 Cor. 9:25). The perishable crown St. Paul refers to was a wreath made of little pine branches and flowers. It was placed on the head of the champion as the crowd roared its approval. Eventually the applause subsided. People went home. A few days later the crown of flowers dried up and wilted. That’s about how long the bliss of victory lasts. Heaven is different. The joy of the New Heavens and New Earth abides forever. Could this be the reason a high percentage of athletes become Christians? They see more clearly that winning is not enough. Winning a contest on earth produces only a shallow contentment. On the other hand, the crown of Heaven given to believers by grace through Christ instills profound and eternal satisfaction.

Teamwork is another theme. In basketball a show-off hurts the team’s morale. A one-man team usually loses. The same goes for the Body of Christ. Showboats ruin the fellowship of the Church. One person can’t do everything. Sports teach us team work, how to submit to authority, and how to encourage the less-talented teammates. In corporate worship one experiences a single will and desire with the saints in Heaven and on earth. The hymns and liturgical prayers can produce an indescribable feeling of many who together desire one thing as if they were a single body. This dynamic you also have to a lesser degree in sport. There is something blessed and magical about getting involved in something bigger than you. The Body of Christ is a team working toward a common goal.

Sport can be beneficial. It is good to get your children involved in sports. They submit their lives to something that they find to be a wonderful activity that transforms them. Baseball for example inculcates Christian virtues with a seriousness that is hard to match in other areas of our lives. Get yourself involved in some kind of exercise, even if that means taking a walk on a regular basis. Don’t do anything dangerous that the doctor would prohibit, but remember that your body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit, and a temple should be holy and beautiful. As Psalm 26:8 says, “Lord, I have loved the habitation of Your house, and the place where your glory dwells.” Even if your body dies, and is laid in the earth, the angels will raise it up at the Last Day, and God will glorify your body. According to God’s Word, the body is good.

On this Septuagesima Sunday the Church calls you to discipline. We are close to Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. Lent is a time for self-denial. The Church asks you to fast on Ash Wednesday. Another Lenten tradition asks you to deny yourself some creature comfort during Lent. Choose some addiction or physical pleasure that you can abstain from for about six weeks. It could be TV, dessert, caffeine, alcoholic beverages, video games, chocolate, or something else. One girl in our previous parish decided to forego cupcakes during Lent. Some of you may not want to do this, and that is fine. It is voluntary. On the other hand, don’t brush it off. I used to think Lent was dumb, Roman Catholic, and weird. Not any more. The discipline and denial are beneficial. So I urge you to think of something to deny yourself between Ash Wednesday and Easter. Do something hard.

Just as training and self-control are needed in the athletic arena if you are going to win a race or triumph in a boxing match, similar disciplines are required if you will achieve excellence in your prayer life, your Bible reading, and your service to God. As we draw near the season of Lent, consider the areas where you are weak. Do something that will please the Lord: be a disciple, a disciplined person; commit yourself to a higher standard of discipline.

Let us pray.