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Train Yourself in Godliness: Spiritual Lessons from the Gym

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Train Yourself in Godliness: Spiritual Lessons from the Gym
Sdn Tim Grace
January 26, 2025 11:00 AM

In this sermon, Sub Dn Timothy explores the Apostle Paul’s advice to “train yourself in godliness,” drawing parallels between physical training and spiritual growth. Learn how planning, perseverance through pain, a healthy spiritual diet, and seeking guidance from holy examples can transform your walk with Christ. Featuring powerful stories of faith, forgiveness, and transformation, this message will inspire you to take your spiritual training seriously. “For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way.” (1 Timothy 4:8)

Transcript

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

An increasing trend these days is people looking after their health and fitness. Going to the gym and exercising is now the second most popular sporting activity in the country after walking for exercise, with 4 million Australians participating, spending around $3 billion annually.

Now, in our epistle today, St. Paul starts by telling St. Timothy that a particular saying is true and worthy of full acceptance. But where our reading starts, we don't actually see what that saying actually is, so I'm going to read it for you now from verse 7. This is what St. Paul says: he says, "Train yourself in godliness, for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come." And that's where our epistle begins today.

So, St. Timothy is being counseled to train himself for godliness, and St. Paul tells him some details of how to do this. He says to set an example in things like speech, conduct, faith, love, purity. And furthermore, in the story of Zacchaeus today, we see another example of humility, joy, repentance. And as Christians, we are all meant to train ourselves in these things, in these virtues, to perfect them, to bring them to completion.

And I want to look at some principles of physical training to help us understand this spiritual training and godliness that we need to do. Now, the first thing that people would do if they were to seriously want to work out in a gym is that they would make a plan. They would meet with someone like, uh, like some kind of trainer. They would make a plan about doing this many reps of that kind of exercise and this many of the other one. And really, as modern people, we're good at planning lots of things, aren't we? I mean, we plan the household budget, we plan the holidays, we plan what we're going to have for dinner. We organize ourselves for work and study. But who here actually sits down and makes a plan about what virtues you are going to gain and what sins you are trying to overcome right now?

St. Theophan the Recluse, in chapter 17 of his book "Unseen Warfare," tells us that we should be doing exactly this. And he says that we need to enter with attention into the heart and examine carefully with what thoughts, dispositions, and passionate attachments it is especially occupied, and which passion is most predominant and tyrannically rules there. Then, against this passion, first of all, take up arms and struggle to overcome it. On this one, concentrate all your attention and care, except only at the times when some other passion happens to arise in you. In that case, you should deal with this one without delay and drive it away, after which you must once more turn your weapons against your chief passion, which constantly manifests its presence and power. For as in every kind of warfare, so in our unseen battle, we must fight first what is actually attacking us at the present moment.

So he's telling us that we need to be very strategic about how we go about this. It was said of St. Anthony the Great that he would go around observing the virtues of all the monks around him, and he would deliberately practice them one by one until he had mastered them all. And that's how he attained this high level of holiness, going about things methodically.

Our second principle here is that when we work out, we understand that we are going to have to face a lot of discomfort and pain, soreness, stretching ourselves to the limit if we're going to see any success. We would accept this as the price of success. So we have to get it in our minds that anything that we do that does not involve pain and effort is going to be of no value. And this applies to anything in life. Now, we know that it's true for all kinds of things, but somehow, when it comes to the virtuous life, we're not prepared to accept effort and pain.

You know, over the summer, I've been going to the beach a few times, and it's funny seeing families entering the water, right? And you see some people, and they just want to get their ankles wet, right? Just want to get the legs wet, just kind of wade in. And invariably, without fail, someone comes along. What do they do? They splash water on these people, right? Or drag them in, push them in, right? There's one in every family, right, who does that kind of thing. And if you're smiling now, you are the one, right, who actually does that.

And this is a bit of what we're like when it comes to exercising humility, patience, love, and mercy, right? We just want to give the 10 to 15% because any more than that, it's just not comfortable anymore. Any more than that, it's actually just a little bit too painful. But here's the thing: the things that we find the most painful to do are the areas that we actually need to heal.

Now, imagine if you went to the gym and you found that you had a niggling pain in your arm. You couldn't lift it above a certain point, or you couldn't even lift anything at all with that arm. Well, you wouldn't just go, "Well, I guess I just won't lift anything with that arm for the rest of my life," right? No, you'd go to the GP, you'd go to the physio. They would assess the situation, they prescribe a course of action, and the pain would show you that there is something actually wrong with you, and you would need to do something to fix the situation, right?

So in the same way, the things that we find painful spiritually are warning signs that these are the very areas in our lives that actually need to heal. And God, you know what? He's going to be like that mischievous family member who's going to kind of push us on a little bit further when we don't want to, right? We might say, "Only this much humility, Lord, and no further," but he'll be like, "No, I think that you can deal with a little bit more," right? And he'll give us something like a humiliating situation, right? Maybe we need to apologize in front of a massive group of people and, you know, take back something we said, admit we were wrong. He's going to let these things happen to us because we wouldn't choose it ourselves, would we, right? But he knows that it's good for us.

Or we might say, "Only this much love and patience, Lord, and no further," and he might be like, "No, no, no, you can do better. So here's a coworker that you cannot stand that you now have to cooperate with so that you can stretch yourself," right? Now, you can substitute coworker for anyone you don't like. I mean, just think of the in-laws right now for a moment, right? Actually, no, let's not do that. Let's, uh, let's, you know, okay, there's a limit to these things, right?

God is going to do this because if we dare to pray prayers like "Save our souls, O gracious one, help us, save us, have mercy on us, O God, by your grace," then he's going to take us up with that request, and he will do what he can to save us because that is exactly what we are asking for. So a key here with any virtue that we're seeking to practice is to lean right into that difficulty, right into that painful area, right, with a bit of dash, with a bit of daring, with a wild trust in God. And this is what we see Zacchaeus do.

Now, he was a greedy traitor to his own people, shamelessly collaborating with the Roman invaders. But once he encounters Christ, he has this profound transformation, and the text makes clear the public nature of his interactions with Christ. Right in front of everyone, Christ calls him down, and in front of everyone, Zacchaeus basically admits that he's ripped off a whole bunch of people and that he's been selfish and greedy. Now, he could have shied away from such a step. He could have said, "No, this is too painful. I'm going to come and see Jesus later. This is too painful. I'm not going to receive him into my house. I don't need everyone to know all my business," right? But he actually leans right into it. He humbles himself, and as a result, Christ can say, "Salvation has come to this house today." So he's worthy of emulation.

The next principle for us and for anyone who's serious in working out is that they bring on a healthy diet, right? And they couple it with healthy eating, clean eating. There's a lot of this around now, isn't there? Reduced sugar and all kinds of diets like keto, paleo. I know some people in our parish go the all-meat diet, right? And did you know that these are the holiest people in the church, right? Because when it comes to a fasting period, they don't eat anything at all, just water, 40 days.

But we need a diet suited to our training. How in the world can we train in godliness if we are feeding ourselves spiritually rubbish all day? So what are you pouring into your heart every day? What do you look at? What do you listen to? What do you think about? That's the diet I'm talking about. Are these things beautiful? Are they good? Are they inspiring and worthwhile? Or are they overtly sinful? Are they a waste of time? Are they depressing and unhelpful? We might need to go cold turkey on some things for the sake of our spiritual health, and others we might need to wean ourselves off slowly, and others we might need to just use in moderation. Because if it's true that our physical diet can lead to illness, well, a poor spiritual diet can lead to spiritual harms of different kinds, right?

The final point that I want to make today is that if we're going to train and take it seriously, we need trainers and guides. And when people work out, they often want their, maybe their fitness instructor, they choose this person because this person looks like what they want to look like, right? They have the physique, right? Or we might look to people like sports persons, I don't know, influencers who might have the bodies that we're after. In a similar way, we need people who have spiritually proved themselves, who have mastered the virtues for us to really look at.

And I've got two examples that I want to read today, and they both come from the same person. And this same person was actually an Evangelical Lutheran pastor, Pastor Richard Wurmbrand, who was imprisoned and tortured by Romanian Communists. And in prison, he met a number of Orthodox clergy, right, and they impressed him massively with their holiness. And in one of his books, or perhaps in several, he speaks about his encounters with these priests, and I want to read two accounts.

And he starts by saying that this particular priest, in this first story, had a son who died in a Soviet jail. His daughter was sentenced to 20 years. Two of his sons-in-law were with him in jail, and one, in fact, even in the same cell. His grandchildren had no food; they were forced to eat from the garbage. His whole family was destroyed. He had lost his church. But this man had such a shining face; there was always a beautiful smile on his lips. He never greeted anyone with "Good morning" or "Good evening," but instead always with the words "Always rejoice."

One day we asked him, this is what Pastor Richard says, "Father, how can you say 'Always rejoice,' you who have passed through such a terrible tragedy?" And he said, "Rejoicing is very easy if we fulfill at least one word from the Bible. It is 'Rejoice with all those who rejoice.' I sit in jail, and I rejoice that so many are free. I don't go to church, but I rejoice with all those who are in church. I can't take Holy Communion, but I rejoice about all those who can take. I can't read the Bible or any other holy book, but I rejoice with those who do. I can't see flowers, but I can rejoice with those who see the rainbows and see the multicolored butterflies. Others have the perfume of flowers around them and girls wearing perfume, and others have picnics, and others have their families of children around them. I cannot see my children, but others have children, and he who can rejoice with all those who rejoice can always rejoice. I can always be glad." That is why he had such a beautiful expression on his face. We see someone here who has mastered joy, has become a heavy lifter in joy.

Let me share one more story with you, the second one. And as Pastor Richard tells this story, he's telling of a time that he was sick with tuberculosis. He was in bed; he's got one man in the bed at his right and one at his left. And this is how he describes it. He says, "At my right hand was a priest by the name of Iscu. He was abbot of a monastery. This man, perhaps in his 40s, had been so tortured he was near to death, but his face was serene. He spoke about his hope of heaven, about his love of Christ. On my left side was the Communist torturer who had tortured this priest almost to death. He had been arrested by his own comrades, and so it happened that the Communist torturer who had tortured this priest was dying near me. His soul was in agony, and during the night he would awaken me, saying, 'Pastor, please pray for me. I cannot die. I have committed such terrible crimes.' Then I saw a miracle. I saw the agonized priest calling two other prisoners and, leaning on their shoulders, slowly he walked past my bed, sat on the bedside of this murderer, and caressed his head. I will never forget this gesture. I watched a murdered man caressing his murderer." He's calling him a murdered man because he was close to being killed by this Communist torturer. "That is love. He found a caress for him, and the priest said to the man, 'You are young. You did not know what you were doing. I love you with all my heart.' But he did not just say the words. You can say 'love,' and it's just a word of four letters, but he really loved. 'I love you with all my heart.' And then he went on, 'If I, who am such a sinner, can love you so much, imagine Christ, who is love incarnate, how much he loves you. And all the Christians whom you have tortured know that they forgive you, they love you, and Christ loves you. He wishes you to be saved much more than you wish to be saved. You wonder if your sins can be forgiven. He wishes to forgive your sins more than you wish your sins to be forgiven. He desires for you to be with him in heaven much more than you wish to be in heaven with him. You only need to turn to him and repent.' In this prison cell, in which there was no possibility of privacy, I overheard the confession of the murderer to the murdered. Life is more thrilling than a novel. No novelist has ever written such a thing. The murdered, near to death, received the confession of the murderer. The murdered gave absolution to his murderer. They prayed together, embraced each other, and the priest went back to his bed. Both men died that same night. It was Christmas Eve, but it was not a Christmas Eve in which we simply remembered that 2,000 years ago Jesus was born in Bethlehem. It was a Christmas Eve during which Jesus was born in the heart of a Communist murderer. These are the things which I have seen with my own eyes," Pastor Richard says.

And these are our examples for us to finish. Zacchaeus Sunday each year acts as a harbinger of the coming of Lent, so let's start looking at the spiritual training that we need to do, paying attention in the weeks ahead for how to train in godliness by making a plan, by preparing for pain, by watching our diet, and looking to our examples. Let's get serious about this because bodily training is of some value, but godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Train Yourself in Godliness: Spiritual Lessons from the Gym
Sdn Tim Grace
Sdn Tim Grace
January 26, 2025 11:00 AM
In this sermon, Sub Dn Timothy explores the Apostle Paul’s advice to “train yourself in godliness,” drawing parallels between physical training and spiritual growth. Learn how planning, perseverance through pain, a healthy spiritual diet, and seeking guidance from holy examples can transform your walk with Christ. Featuring powerful stories of faith, forgiveness, and transformation, this message will inspire you to take your spiritual training seriously. “For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way.” (1 Timothy 4:8)
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