I consider myself a sports fan. There are some sports that I enjoy watching more than others. Yesterday I had the joy of watching a few minutes of children learning to play basketball. I could have watched for an hour easily, it was that entertaining. These kids were so focused, trying so hard. They really wanted to do their best.

I think that is what sport is about.

If you’ve ever had the opportunity to be involved with Special Olympics, it is a phenomenal experience. I love the oath the athletes recite: “Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me brave in the attempt.”

The Olympic motto is,

Citius, Altius, Fortius

In English it is translated as Faster, Higher, Stronger. In July of this past year the word Communiter was added.

Citius, Altius, Fortius - Communiter

Communiter means “together” and was added to recognize the unifying power of sport and the importance of solidarity.

In the coming week the 2022 Winter Olympics will begin and not without controversy. Should China be allowed to host such an event? Their record on human rights is less than acceptable. There are many who will boycott watching the Olympics and no doubt those who do watch will hear opinions over the issue.

At the same time, athletes from around the world who have trained, who have set aside other things they might have enjoyed, who have focused on this one goal will step onto the world stage. In their one moment they will put forth the culmination of their dreams, of their time in the weight room, in endless workouts, practice, and discipline and they will be timed and judged. For some the opportunity to compete will be their reward. For others, it will be a medal of bronze, silver or their dream of dreams, gold.

Watching the athletes, particularly those in the alpine skiing events, I am struck by their confidence. I think of the downhill where they hurl themselves over a precipice down a slope that may accelerate them to speeds as high as 90mph or more! The audacity that they would think they might finish the course alive. Courage, confidence, belief, one might even say faith.

Yet this is not confidence, belief or faith in God, it is of themselves. No matter the number of accolades they receive in competition, they don’t last.

Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, 1 Cor 9:25

1 Corinthians 9:25 (ESV)

Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, ...

The apostle wrote to his friends in Philippi in our passage this morning,

Philippians 3:4–6 (ESV)

If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

Paul had, by the world’s standards, and the religious standards of his day done everything to be perfect…and perhaps he was in the eyes of his peers.

And then we have the wonderful three letter conjunction,

But...

It cancels out everything that came before it. So we could summarize Paul as saying, “It doesn’t matter that I was circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless....”

In other words all of that is a big “so what!” because of this conjunction “but” that negates it all. And he makes it clear.

Philippians 3:7 ESV

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

All that I’d accomplished, I count as loss for Christ.

He goes on.

Philippians 3:8 ESV

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ

Compared to knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, I count everything else as rubbish, trash, litter. Some translators have gone so far as to translate the word used for rubbish here as “dung”. A Christian comedian once summarized Paul’s words here as counting all those things as “cow pies.”

Why does he do this? Lets look at 9 & 10

Philippians 3:9 ESV

and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—

Philippians 3:10 ESV

that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

and he finishes this part of his thought with

Philippians 3:11 ESV

that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Then Paul gives us these challenging verses:

Philippians 3:12–14 ESV

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

I press on. I forget what’s behind. I strain forward. I press on toward the goal for the prize. I go for it.

Go For It!

I want to pause here for a moment and invite you to close your eyes. Think for a moment about where you were last year at this time. How have you grown since then? There’s been a lot of change this year and how have you grown?

Some growth is inevitable. We grow from children to adults. We grow because of natural life experience. Most growth though is intentional - I want to learn to…, I want to be better at…, We set a goal and we work towards it.

Some of you are thinking, “Wow, I’ve grown a lot.” and some of you are thinking, “I’m about the same as I was last year.” As long as you’re being honest that’s cool. None of us are here to judge anyone.

Our church has a slogan, Mission Woods Church: a growing place...

Mission Woods Church: a growing place...

It goes on speaking of growing closer to God, closer to one another, and closer to the community.

Now I’ve never seen any documents that work to expand on what all that is intended to mean so I’m going to give you my take on it.

First, we are a place committed to growing. And I would challenge each of you to say that growth is something you want. So, as we commit to growing, let’s think about how we can make goals for ourselves and for our church.

Growing closer to God - If you were going to be intentional about growing closer to God in the following year, what would it look like? Don’t be general and say something like, “I want to go deeper in my relationship with God.” How would that be measurable? What exercise (disciplines) will you do to achieve that goal?

I want to help you in this. So much is there - prayer, study, Bible reading, Scripture memorization, tithing, missions, service, etc.

Growing closer to one another - If you were going to be intentional about growing closer to one another in the following year, what would it look like? Again, be specific. Make it measurable so a couple months from now you can see whether you’re making progress. Make it so at the end of the year you can look back and say, wow, look at what’s happened.

Growing closer to the community - If you were going to be intentional about growing closer to the community in the following year, what would it look like? Be specific, and make it measurable.

Go For It!

I have a young friend I’ve watched grow up and seen him accomplish things beyond his wildest dreams. He’s a world class athlete. He’s travelled the world competing in inline speed skating, and in fact he once was part of the team just up the road here in Federal Way.

A couple of years ago, he was invited to train along side the Olympic athletes in speed skating on ice. He began training in Salt Lake City and for the past few years has worked really hard to learn a new sport on the Olympic ice oval there. A few weeks ago he competed in his first Olympic trials as for speed skating on ice. He placed 5th in the 5000 meter race. So, he didn’t make the team to go to Beijing.

I’ve watched him from a train hard as he’s shared his story on Facebook and other social media. His training and discipline to get to his goal is more than hours in the gym, on the track, biking, hiking and all forms of exercise. It’s also his diet, and his discipline in all areas of his life. He once shared how his phone is turned off at a certain hour each night. How he goes to bed each night at the same time and wakes up at the same time each day. He also shared how he makes sure to spend time each day in God’s Word and in prayer. This too is part of his training. Because as he would readily say, “It is God who has given him this opportunity.”

When he fell short of the Olympics his immediate post on FB was, “Wow, I thank God so much for this incredible opportunity and all that I’ve learned.” And he continues to dream.

My question for all of us today, especially as we review where we’ve been in the last year, is

Where are you straining forward to what lies ahead?

How are you pressing on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus?

As individual believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, and as a church in this community, How will we “Go For It!” in 2022?

I hope you will share your thoughts, prayers, and your energy with the leadership of the church. We are not simply a light under a bushel, we are called to be and are the light of the world, a city on a hill giving light to all who see it. For the glory of God. Amen.