"Are You Spiritually Fit?"
1 Timothy 4:7-12
August 17, 2008
St. Paul United Methodist Church
Rev. John A. Fleming
Some of you have noticed that I have lost a little weight this spring and summer. A few of you have asked me how I did it. Let me share my secret with all of you. Are you ready? There are two steps. First, eat less. Second, exercise more. That is it. When I tell people that, they usually groan.
This spring I looked in the mirror and wondered who that figure was. I didn't like what I saw and decided to do something about it. During these months, I have learned a few things. I learned that a single portion is not very much. I have learned that drinking eight glasses of water a day is not as hard as we make it out to be. And, I have learned that exercising is not as awful as I thought it was. This spring, Susie and I bought a treadmill. One of her co-workers was moving from one house to another and was selling several things. We got a good deal on it. Now, three or four times a week, I climb on the treadmill and run. To be honest with you, this running has fed my soul. While I run, I think about Sunday's sermon and the direction it is heading. I also think through some of the things that worry me. When I don't run, I miss it.
Let me say this to you. This eating right and getting in shape is a lot of work! But if you will ask any doctor or health care professional they will tell you that the very best thing you can for yourself is to exercise.
When I moved to Little Rock ten years ago and needed a doctor, I went to one who was a member of First Church, where, at the time, I was one of the pastors. We got to know each other at church and during my physical. He did all the things doctors do at those things. He weighed me. He took my blood pressure and checked my heart rate. He listened to my heart and lungs. He looked into my ears. Then he let his stethoscope fall towards his chest. And he asked me, "John, at the end of your day, when you come home, do you walk?" I admitted that I did not. When he asked me why I didn't walk, I shrugged my shoulders. He said, "You should. It is one of the best things you can do for yourself. And why wouldn't you want to do that after a stressful day? It will give you the chance to clear your mind." I did not argue with that. I cannot argue with that. But here is something I also know, getting in shape physically is good for the body, but it may be more important to get in shape spiritually.
That, really, is what our scripture lesson from First Timothy is about. Let me remind you of some things we know about young Timothy. Timothy was the pastor at First Church, Ephesus. Like any growing place, the church there faced all kinds of problems. Ephesus' young pastor was trying his bet to keep the church's love for Jesus alive and fresh and enthusiastic. Timothy is also trying to manage the day to day work of the church which included the ordering of things and the managing of the staff. I'm sure Timothy spent time making sure the air conditioners were operating efficiently. Timothy also made sure that what was taught in the church was true.
Read this letter this afternoon and you will read about Paul's advice concerning the qualifications of bishops and deacons, but you will also read what he thinks a good minister should pay attention to. There Paul talks about the importance of physical care, but he said something else, too. These are his words, "Train yourself in godliness, for, while physical training is of some value, godliness is valuable in every way."
This morning I would like to suggest some ways for us to stay in shape spiritually. John Wesley called these things the means of grace. Some of them are as private as they can be and some are very public. Let's look at six of them in the time we have left in our sermon.
First, to stay in shape spiritually, we need to read our Bibles. Not too long ago there was a cartoon in the New Yorker magazine that pictured a man making an inquiry at a large book store. The man is there and the clerk, behind the desk, is tapping keys on her computer, spelling out the word B.I.B.L.E. She looked up at the man and said, "Yes, we have several copies. You will find it in the self-help section of our store." The self-help section? The Bible will is more than that, it's more than a self-help book, but it is also a book that can really help us.
I know some of you have read your Bibles from cover to cover, from beginning to end, from Genesis to Revelation. I have read the Bible in its entirety but I didn't start on page one and end up on page three thousand. There are Bibles that give you plans for reading them through in a year. If I were you, I would use one of those Bibles. Don't start on page one and read all the way through. You won't make it! You will get bogged down in Leviticus! You will long for the red letters of the New Testament!
I read from my Bible every week, but to be honest with you, I read it mostly in preparation for sermons. I need to do better than that. I need to read my Bible for guidance and direction. It was the psalmist who wrote, "Your word is a lamp to my feet, a light to my path." It was John Wesley, the founder of our church, who said, "I want to know one thing, the way to heaven. God wrote the way down in a book. O give me that book, at any price, give me that book." We have that book at our fingertips and yet rarely read from it. To be in shape spiritually, we must read from it.
A second thing we can do is to pray. Prayer, usually, is a deeply private thing. Are you interested in knowing how to improve your prayer life? The answer is simple, pray. Don't prepare to pray. Pray. Don't read about prayer. Pray. Don't attend a lecture or a seminar on what prayer really is, just pray. At its very best, prayer is honest and open communion with God, letting God know your hopes and dreams and your fears. And when we are at our very best, we pray for others. I cannot tell you how important it is to me when someone says they are praying for me. When someone says, "John, I'm holding you in my prayers" I know I am held. The finest, most loving and caring thing we can do for someone else is to pray for them.
Let us pray without ceasing. Let us pray intentionally, daily, and relentlessly for each other.
Third is fasting. Now I must admit that I have only fasted once or twice in my lifetime, but it is something that I am interested in. We have offered a class here on fasting. This fall, Pam Perry will lead another class on the discipline.
For most of his life, John Wesley fasted on Fridays. It was his way to turn his body towards God. The hunger in his stomach was supposed to remind him of his hunger for God and God's hunger for the poor.
People in the Bible fasted. You can read how Moses fasted in the wilderness, how Elijah fasted in a cave, and how Jesus fasted in the desert. Read the Book of Acts, and you will read that the early church fasted before they made any important decision. Fasting may not be for you, but fasting is a way that we can say that we are sorry for our sins and be reminded that what we are really hungry for is God.
A fourth thing we can do is more public than the first three. To stay in shape spiritually we can take communion. Again it was John Wesley who said, "Let anyone who has either any desire to please God or any love for his own soul, obey God….by receiving communion every time he cen." Do this in remembrance of me, said Jesus, lest we forget Calvary and the pain Christ went through for us and lest we forget God's great love for us. Lead me to the table because sitting at the table reminds me of my heritage.
I have said this before. When I concentrate on the bread and juice, when my soul is quiet, I can feel the juice soaked bread finding its way into my soul, giving me help for today and a bright hope for tomorrow. There will be a day, we always say, when we shall eat at the heavenly banquet, surrounded by those we have loved the most.
Then there is holy conferencing. That's what the early Methodists called it, which is unfortunate because now when we think of conference, we think of four days and three nights in Hot Springs or the annual meeting where our District Superintendent is here. Holy conferencing is much more than that. Holy conferencing is small group ministry and I will be in as many of these groups as I physically can.
I have a group of preachers, dear friends of mine, that meet once a month. There are four of us together and together we share our greatest joys and the things about the church that we need help with. We usually start with the question that John Wesley started in his small groups low these many years ago. Here is the question, "How is it with your soul?" Small groups will happen this year at St. Paul. They will happen in Sunday school rooms on Sundays and in the conference room on Tuesday evening. They will happen around the table at Ozark Restaurant and on the golf course, too. These groups, all of these groups, are a blessing to me and I hope will be for you.
Finally, let me say that to stay in shape spiritually, we need to worship. A preacher I know says that he often sits on the back deck of his house and watches airplanes land at a nearby airport. From where he sits, planes are everywhere. He said this, "If you want to get on one of those planes, it is a good idea to go to the airport." God, too, is everywhere. I know that, but if you really want to get to know Him, if you want to express your love for Him, if you want to figure out what His will is for your life, then it's a good idea to come to worship.
I know this is going to sound judgmental. I don't mean for it to, but I want us to choose baptismal waters over lake waters. I want us to choose God over golf and entertainment. I want us to be in shape spiritually. So, can I ask you if you are and can I ask you if all is well with your soul. Let us pray.
(Special thanks to the people of www.sparkpeople.com who have helped me with my physical weight loss goals. I recommend their website to anyone. Special thanks to J. Howard Olds for the idea for this sermon and for several of the words and stories in it).