One Thing
Pastor Mark explains how running a race through to the finish line is one of the main ways sanctification is illustrated.
I’m not a runner, I leave that to my wife. But I love the story of the Tanzanian runner John Stephen Akwhari. The 1968 Olympics was held in Mexico City and the marathon began at 3pm on an incredibly hot day. A record percentage of runners would not even finish the race, many because of heat exhaustion. Most had not trained at the altitude they were running at. Halfway through the race Akhwari got tangled up with several other runners and fell, injuring his shoulder and dislocating his knee. After putting his knee back into joint and bandaged, Akhwari decided to get back out on the course. At first he hobbled, then began to alternate between walking and jogging slowly. As night came over the course, all of the other runners who would finish had finished. The race was basically over. The only reason we have footage of John Stephen Akhwari entering the Olympic Stadium is because they had sent down a camera crew to record the medal ceremony. The sun had set, it was dark, and there he comes—dragging his injured leg in a painful to watch final lap around the stadium. Only a small handful of people were there to watch him finish.
When asked by a reporter why he kept running and didn’t give up, he said simply, “My country did not send me 5,000 miles to start the race; they sent me 5,000 miles to finish the race.”
However you feel about running, it is interesting that in the New Testament running is one of the main metaphors for the Christian life. There are at least five different passages that focus on the field of athletics and specifically the running of a race to describe the Christian life. Whether Paul wants to talk about training yourself for godliness (1 Tim 4:7), or he describes obedience as competing according to the rules (2 Tim 2:5) or the writer of the book of Hebrews wants to tell us to run with perseverance the race marked out for us (Heb 12:1)—running a race through to the finish line is one of the main ways sanctification is illustrated. There is something about the singular focus of a runner that makes it the perfect metaphor for us.
I want to consider with you the way Paul uses that metaphor in Philippians 3:13-16,
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. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.
“But one thing I do” is just two words in Greek... literally Paul just says, “one thing”. You can’t multitask when running and that is why I think Paul uses the running a race metaphor in the first place. How can you and I get that “one thing” kind of a focus?
1. “One thing ” means forgetting what is behind
Were you seeking God and walking closely with Him in 2015? Maybe, I hope so, but it doesn’t help you if you aren’t now! You can be thankful for past success, but you can’t hold on to it as if it helps you today. Conversely, what a relief to know that past failures don’t have to define us. Are there regrets that you have? Forget them by the grace of God, and seek Him today!
2. “One thing ” means strenuous work
Paul says he is straining towards what is ahead. The gospel is free, Jesus told us His yoke is easy and burden is light. But following Jesus also means carrying our cross, copying our lives after Jesus who didn’t live for Himself, He poured Himself out for the good of others.
Are you working hard to read and study and develop habits of prayer and Bible reading and fighting sin? We live in a strange time when people recognise that you have to put strenuous effort to get into a good college or launch and sustain a good career or get your body in shape to excel in some sport—but when it comes to the Christian life many seem to think that having a Bible on their shelf is enough. Paul is straining towards the goal that is out in front of him. Someone famous said, "A revolution is not a dinner party" (革命不是请客吃饭). Well, the Christian life is not a dinner party. It is strenuous.
3. “One thing ” is a response to the call of God
We are told here that this strenuous effort and pressing on towards the goal for the prize is “of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus”. Paul loves to enfold the Christian life in the language of God’s calling.
So this is not an inspiration that is drummed up from within, not a matter of us deciding that we will be overcomers, this isn’t something that originates within us at all. We were just living as self-worshippers when the call of God came to us—first the gospel called through the preacher or friend or our parents who told us about Christ. Second came the effectual inward call talked about in Romans 8:29, where we read that those God predestined He also called, and those He called He also justified and those He justified He also glorified.
Why does that matter? Because it means that the whole race is run as a response to God’s grace. He called me to run, so I run. This makes the strain a joyous strain. There is pain, but when we think of how good He has been to us, we see our efforts as quite small in comparison.
4. “One thing ” is a frame of mind
Maybe that sounds anticlimactic, but this is really useful. Because this can all sound abstract, but Paul’s soaring language gives way to practical instruction in v15, “let those of us who are mature think this way”.
My kids play soccer, I watch their coaches. Good coaches don’t just teach you fundamentals, they teach you how to think about the game, how to understand what is happening so you can bring all your skills to bear on the situation at hand. That is the idea here. How to think maturely about the Christian life.
Ask yourself today whether your life is characterised by this kind of singular focus. Are you living like “one thing” consumes you? Forgetting what is behind… Strenuous effort… As a response to God’s grace… Thinking the right way.
The one who called you by His grace didn’t do so just so you could start the race of the Christian life. He intended that you and I should run in such a way as to finish the race. By faith, we intend to do just that.
