Overflow to the End

I really enjoy watching the Winter Olympics. The intensity, courage and all out effort by the athletes to be the very best they can be is compelling drama. In the speed races-especially the short speed races, the start is important. A racer must get up to speed quickly. Just and perhaps more important, however, is the way the athlete finishes the race or, in the case of figure skaters and snowboarders, their programs. Let me give you some examples. After a figure skater fell doing an attempted jump, the commentators noted that the energy in the program disappeared and that the skater was just going through the motions. He knew he would not get a medal and that disappointment affected his finish. Then there was the women’s downhill where three skiers were performing well until they reached the last big jump. They had skied almost flawlessly and only had one hurdle to go. All three fell on the landing and travelled toward the finish line on their bottom instead of on their skis. But for me one of the most exciting failures to finish was in the 1500 meter short track speed skating race. Short track speed skaters have to be half crazy to speed around the track only inches from an opponent knowing that almost any contact will spin that skater into the padded walls on the outside of the track. It is exciting and highly competitive with only hundreds of a second separating the contestants. In the 1500 race, the American team was led by Apolo Ohno, one of the greatest speed racers in the world. As the race approached the final turn, three skaters from Korea led the race. Ohno and American J.R. Celski stood fourth and fifth. Coming around the final turn, the Korean in third place attempted a pass but clipped the 2nd place Korean’s skate. In a blink of an eye both Koreans spun off the track and into the side walls and Ohno and Celski captured the silver and bronze medals. The two South Koreans did not finish well. On the other hand, the Americans could have quit. They could have thought “there are just a few feet to go and there is no way that I am going to medal in this race. I will just slow up, be safe and save myself for other races.” But instead they continued giving their best until the end and were rewarded with a silver and bronze medal. My final example of “finishing well” is snowboarder Shaun White. Talk about crazy! He and other snowboarders in the half pipe event do amazing twists and spins after propelling themselves 30 feet or more in the air and then, hopefully land on their feet so they can do it again a second or two later. For those who may not know about the half pipe competition, there are two opportunities or “runs” and the competitors chose their highest score from their two runs. The snowboarder with the highest score from either run wins. Shaun White is far and away the best half pipe competitor in the world. He gets higher and does more twists and turns in the air than do his competitors. A perfect score from the judges is 50. On his first run he scored 46.8. No one else in either run came close. Because he finished the first run in the lead, he was the last competitor scheduled to compete on the second run. By the time it was his turn to do his second run he had already won the gold medal. He did not even have to do a second run. He might have thought: “Why should I do this? I could get hurt and suffer a career ending injury. I have already accomplished everything I have come here to do.” Instead he did his second run, added a move no one else in the world can do, and achieved a score of 48.4. He finished very well!

I think the Apostle Paul must have liked sports as well because he often used track and field examples to describe the Christian life. In 1 Corinthians 9:24 Paul wrote “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one received the prize? So run that you may obtain it.” To Timothy he wrote, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. (2 Timothy 4:7). Paul would have been familiar with the Olympics which were held every four years during his lifetime in the Greek city of Olympia. I had the good fortune to travel to Olympia last summer and to see the track where those ancient Olympians ran. Interestingly, they had a wall of shame for athletes who had cheated in trying to win their Olympic events. They DID NOT finish well. Paul, at the end of his life, was able to say he finished well. I can think of no greater compliment for a Christian whose body is being laid to rest than to say he or she finished well. The Bible gives a wonderful example of someone who finished well in describing the death of Stephen. While he was being stoned Stephen fell on his knees and cried out “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” (Acts 7: 59-60) Even in death, Stephen was praying for those who had mistreated him.

I regularly remind our seniors that we never get too old to serve the Lord and of the importance of finishing well. Even if we do not get a great start, we can choose to finish well. As long as we have breath there is something we can do in the Lord’s work. God doesn’t call us to overflow His love for a week, month or year. He calls us to overflow for a lifetime. Our overflow should not stop when we are 50, 60 or even 90 years of age. It should not stop when we hurt. It should not stop when we lose a loved one. It should not stop when we are tired and seemingly can’t go on. It should not stop when we are told we have cancer. It should not stop when we learn we have a terminal medical condition. In fact it is in these times that God’s love can show through us even more than in the good times. As Hebrews 12:1 reminds us,” let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. “ Overflow to the end and finish well.

Praying to finish well,
Paul Marth