The Journey 212: Swimming for gold, running for life
Read: Mark 10:35-45
Olympics have begun and athletes are all competing to win medals and to get accolades from the world. Some wants to win as a mark of excellence while some to eclipse a previous champion. One of them most anticipated context of this Olympics took place last Saturday when two United States swimmers Ryan Lochte and Michel Phelps met face to face for swimming race in 400 meter individual medley. Lochte won the gold while Phelps had to be contented with a fourth place. Lochte announced in the media that “This is my year, I know, I feel it. Lochte became the victor while Phelps the vanquished. Here are two swimmers from the same country competing for records. But there is another athlete in the US team whose name is Lopez Lomong, who will be competing in the 5000 meter race in the athletics event. Freelance journalist Cornelia Becker Seigneur has written about him in her column. Lomong captured world attention when he was the flag bearer of the US team in the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Here is a runner who is originally from Sudan. Lomong was six when he abducted from the church by the local militia to be trained as a rebel soldier. One day he escaped from the detention camp and started running for his life. He ran for a week finally he found refuge in United Nations refugee camp, where he stayed for 10 years. One day the priest at a local church announced that a few boys could relocate to United States if they could write an essay about their life. Lomong prayed to God to make his essay stand out, and it happened. Lomong moved to US where a roman catholic family took care of him as foster child. For Lomong this was something unimaginable. Soon he started running and training and started winning. Today it is Nike and Visa who are his sponsors. When Lomong runs in Olympics his vision and dream is not personal glory or achievements on the contrary to provide drinking water, health care, education and nutrition to the children of the country he formerly belonged– Sudan. So when you watch Lomong run in the Olympic race in the 5000 meters, remember he is not running for gold, but for the children of Sudan. I think Lomong also send out a wonderful lesson in Christian life and living.
We are meditating on the theme “ Transformed Living”. The portion that we shall use for our meditation is from Mark 10: 35-45. In this passage we find the sons of Zebedee, James and John seeking favour from Jesus. We need to remember that Jesus is preparing himself to die on the cross and he is communicating to this disciples the nature of his death. It is at this time both these brothers come up with this strange, a self glorification request. The other disciple becomes upset and perturbed by the request of these brothers. But Jesus teaches them that the privilege to sit at his right and left when he comes in glory, is something not of his will but more than that there is much more demands in this request. To be with him is to suffer with him. It is then Jesus teaches the disciples that whatever they do has to be done not for personal glory or for showing ones authority over others but to serve and to bring glory to God. I think this is one area that we Christians need to be very conscious about. As clergy or lay leaders or as worship leaders there are time when we tend try to focus the attention of people on us rather than on the Lord. Everything that we do is done so that we remain in the centre of attraction. Everything done in His name is something that we often attribute as historic, thus trying to get laurel to us through our Lord. Jesus teaches us Christian living is all about bringing the name of our Lord in the center of everything rather than making us the center of everything. Just as Lomong runs for the Lord and for his people in Sudan, let us also run our life for the Lord.
Rev. Dr. Joe Joseph Kuruvilla
Olympics have begun and athletes are all competing to win medals and to get accolades from the world. Some wants to win as a mark of excellence while some to eclipse a previous champion. One of them most anticipated context of this Olympics took place last Saturday when two United States swimmers Ryan Lochte and Michel Phelps met face to face for swimming race in 400 meter individual medley. Lochte won the gold while Phelps had to be contented with a fourth place. Lochte announced in the media that “This is my year, I know, I feel it. Lochte became the victor while Phelps the vanquished. Here are two swimmers from the same country competing for records. But there is another athlete in the US team whose name is Lopez Lomong, who will be competing in the 5000 meter race in the athletics event. Freelance journalist Cornelia Becker Seigneur has written about him in her column. Lomong captured world attention when he was the flag bearer of the US team in the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Here is a runner who is originally from Sudan. Lomong was six when he abducted from the church by the local militia to be trained as a rebel soldier. One day he escaped from the detention camp and started running for his life. He ran for a week finally he found refuge in United Nations refugee camp, where he stayed for 10 years. One day the priest at a local church announced that a few boys could relocate to United States if they could write an essay about their life. Lomong prayed to God to make his essay stand out, and it happened. Lomong moved to US where a roman catholic family took care of him as foster child. For Lomong this was something unimaginable. Soon he started running and training and started winning. Today it is Nike and Visa who are his sponsors. When Lomong runs in Olympics his vision and dream is not personal glory or achievements on the contrary to provide drinking water, health care, education and nutrition to the children of the country he formerly belonged– Sudan. So when you watch Lomong run in the Olympic race in the 5000 meters, remember he is not running for gold, but for the children of Sudan. I think Lomong also send out a wonderful lesson in Christian life and living.
We are meditating on the theme “ Transformed Living”. The portion that we shall use for our meditation is from Mark 10: 35-45. In this passage we find the sons of Zebedee, James and John seeking favour from Jesus. We need to remember that Jesus is preparing himself to die on the cross and he is communicating to this disciples the nature of his death. It is at this time both these brothers come up with this strange, a self glorification request. The other disciple becomes upset and perturbed by the request of these brothers. But Jesus teaches them that the privilege to sit at his right and left when he comes in glory, is something not of his will but more than that there is much more demands in this request. To be with him is to suffer with him. It is then Jesus teaches the disciples that whatever they do has to be done not for personal glory or for showing ones authority over others but to serve and to bring glory to God. I think this is one area that we Christians need to be very conscious about. As clergy or lay leaders or as worship leaders there are time when we tend try to focus the attention of people on us rather than on the Lord. Everything that we do is done so that we remain in the centre of attraction. Everything done in His name is something that we often attribute as historic, thus trying to get laurel to us through our Lord. Jesus teaches us Christian living is all about bringing the name of our Lord in the center of everything rather than making us the center of everything. Just as Lomong runs for the Lord and for his people in Sudan, let us also run our life for the Lord.
Rev. Dr. Joe Joseph Kuruvilla