Hear the words of the Collect for Septuagesima Sunday:

O Lord, we beseech Thee favorably to hear the prayers of Thy people; that we, who are justly punished for our offences, may be mercifully delivered by Thy goodness.

May the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be alway acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer. We pray in the name of The Father, and of The Son, and of The Holy Ghost. Amen.

The Collect for today presents us with a truth that is very uncomfortable for us. The truth is that if God condemned every one of us to hell, we would be ‘justly punished for our offences.’ Yet, there is another truth that is just as important and in which we take great comfort. That truth is that God loves us so much that He is willing to forgive us by ‘delivering us by His goodness.’

This tug of war in our minds is one that is reflected in the tug of war we practice in our daily lives. To misquote Shakespeare’s Hamlet, “To sin or not to sin, that is the question. Whether t’is nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to really mess up the other guy something fierce.”

The idea that Paul presents to us in the Epistle is one that captures this idea of struggle, and at the same time tells us that winning is not just for one person, as it is in this world. In this world there can be only one winner of a race, the person who comes in first. In a boxing match there can be only one winner also.

However, Paul tells us that while in the world’s contests there can be only one winner; in this contest there are many winners as well as many losers.

His image of a runner in a race is a good one, for a long-distance runner must train constantly, practicing for the big race, such as the Olympic Marathon. It does not matter to them if they have won or lost any of the preliminary races. The only thing that matters is that they win the big one.

Of course, in the real world the fame of winning a race is fleeting at best. However, in the race we are running there are eternal consequences for winning or losing. Therefore, we must take on the attitude of an athlete. We must train constantly to develop endurance and stamina, and not really care too much if we fail now and then just so long as we win the big race.

In a Christian sense those images translate to the following points. First our training: we must understand the rules that the game is played by and recognize that some things work and others do not. This we accomplish by studying the Word of God to see what the rules are. We may also read the lives of the Saints to see how others worked out the problems that we all face and if they will work for us.

Like an athlete in training, we must regulate what we take into our bodies, for some things are good for us and others are not. The eyes and ears are the windows to our souls, so we must be careful of what we read, watch, and hear.

Next we must consider the training races we are going to enter. This is easy for us because we run them every day of our lives. We know that some days we win and other days we lose. The idea is that we should get better every day. Where we are in our Christian walk is not as important as the direction we are headed in.

We also need to consider the races we are going to run, and that there are some races that we are not to enter. The race to see who can drink the most, or who can sleep with the most people are contests we should not enter. We must be careful of the matches we choose to enter, as many of them are not worth the results.

Every Christian starts out from the same place and is aiming for the same goal. We start in sin and seek after righteousness. There are ups and downs in every spiritual life just as there are ups and downs in our physical life. Yet, no matter where we are in that cycle, our goal has not changed, eternal life with Christ.

This ultimate goal that we all seek is one that requires both stamina and patience. Stamina to make sure we can go the entire distance, the rest of our natural life. Patience to make sure we recognize that where we are is not where we want to remain, and that we will endeavor to get better and better at living the Christian life.

There is also another reason for this patience; we need it to give ourselves both the time and the mental room to grow in. How may times have we become disgusted at ourselves when we don’t get something important perfect? We try to live a good life without sin, and we fall occasionally. We then beat ourselves silly over the incident.

This is one of Satan’s best weapons. He knows that we will fail upon occasion and he is right there telling us how worthless we are, that we will never be any better, and that we should just give up this Christian thing altogether. Those lies are the exact opposite of what God thinks about our lives and us.

Is God happy about the way we live our lives? The answer is of course no. Will He overlook even the smallest infraction of His Commandments? Again the answer is no. Can we get out of this judgement? Or can we make up for our sins? Or can we yadda, yadda, yadda? The answers are no, no, no, and a thousand times no.

There is only one way out of this dilemma, and that is through our love of Jesus Christ. That love will allow Him to cover all our sins and allow us to enter the Presence of Almighty God. However, that same love requires us to do our best not to sin anymore. And notice I said best and not perfection, for only God is perfect. That love is why we do the things we do, not because it gains us anything, but because it pleases Him.

Our love for Christ is the antidote to sin. Sin is based on love of self, me above all others, even God. I want this, even though it belongs to someone else. I need to do this, even though it will hurt others. I know better than God what is good for me so I don’t have to obey His rules. If we look honestly at all the sins we have committed, or can commit, we will see that in the center of every sin is an “I.”

So my fellow runners in the race of life, let us become the Christian athletes we need to be. Let us train, practice to increase our endurance, have patience with our selves in our failings, and seek to make the love of Christ the center of all our actions.

In that love, let us change ourselves, so that we may run with confidence the race that is before us this day and every day.

Amen,

The Rev. Canon John Jacobs