We are now in the middle of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. And there have already been heartwarming stories of training and unlikely Olympians who are in the midst of medal contention. The USA Women’s Hockey team, the mixed Curling events where the US got beaten in the final by Sweden, as well as skier Lindsay Vonn and her horrific fall after trying to compete with a ruptured ACL. Each Olympic event evokes memories of past competitions and we have come to expect great things out of our teams.
Some years ago, Janet and I were on a cruise in the Mediterranean and one of the stops we made was to Athens, Greece. We were familiar with the Parthenon and many of the famous sites, but it was also very intriguing to visit the Olympic stadium where the 1896 Games were played. It was strange to pull up to the curb on a major street and there on the right side of the road was a three sided stadium, open to the street. That was it, the place where the first modern Olympics were held. And it’s the only Olympic stadium that we have actually set foot in…
Back when I graduated from high school in 1970, I was fortunate to be offered a summer job in a small German town. En route, I travelled through Munich and ended up living with a family for six weeks in Pfronten, Germany. We were near some of the ski runs, thirty minutes from Innsbruck, Austria, another Olympic site (the 1964 and 1976 Winter Games) and routinely went up in the mountains to enjoy the view of the horizon. That’s as close as I ever got to skiing, but it gave me an idea of what these athletes contend with up on the slopes. I was also happened to travel near the site where the murder of the athletes took place in Munich two years later during those famous 1972 Summer Olympic Games. The world can be such a harsh place…
Throughout the years, we have also witnessed scandals involving performance enhancing drugs, the recent alteration of ski uniforms to increase hang times on the ski jumps and changes to equipment with an eye to gaining every small advantage on the competition. I know that athletes have trained for years and years to achieve their status as world class competitors, but I’m just not built that way. I mean literally, I have never been competitive on a physical level and I just don’t have that killer instinct that seems to be bred into these athletes.
We have been exposed to the Games being turned into political events. Hitler trying to demonstrate the superiority of the German race during the Berlin Olympic Games. Only Jesse Owens thwarted that effort when he, running for the US, won four gold medals in Berlin during the 1936 Summer Games.
In the early games, winners of Olympic events were awarded crowns made out of olive leaves, called a “kotinos”, rather than medals. These represented peace, and in some respects, “extending the olive branch of peace.” This started back in 776 B.C. In a nod to the past, the 1896 and 2004 Olympics, both held in Athens, commemorated the old ways by awarding crowns rather than the traditional medals that we have come to expect these days.
The Bible is full of references to crowns. In fact, there are five distinct crowns that can be awarded to believers when they enter heaven. These crowns represent a victor’s wreath or a badge of honor. In the New Testament, these images would have been familiar to the people of the day. The Biblical crowns include the Victor’s Crown, for running the Christian “race”, the Soul Winner’s Crown, for evangelizing and leading others to Christ, the Crown of Righteousness, for those who live faithfully and anticipate the return of Jesus, the Crown of Life (sometimes called the Martyr’s Crown) and the Crown of Glory, awarded to pastors and elders who who shepherd the flock faithfully.
The wonderful things about these crowns is they aren’t competitive in any way. These crowns are awarded to all who act in the service of the Lord. No cheating, no trying to “beat” another, no athletic training. No… these crowns are for each of us who believe in Jesus and have tried to advance the Kingdom of God on earth.
Our verse for tonight is from Paul’s second letter to his young friend, Timothy. Paul tells his protege in 2 Timothy 4:7-8, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” It’s important to note that the Lord awards the crowns, personally. Not in a group, but individually. Each person receives their crown from God.
My encouragement is that we don’t have to compete for crowns like in the Olympics. The only thing we have to do is walk the Christian walk. My prayer is that we can promote the love and joy that are part of the Kingdom of God and run the good race as Paul did. Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…