I’m still feeling the post-Olympic sports withdrawal. It’s hard to fill my days with excitement that can rival handball or synchronized swimming.

Last week I was given a little boost.

Lloy Ball visited the school where my wife teaches and he brought his gold medal with him! I never thought I would see a gold medal in person, let alone hold it. It was heavy and beautiful. There is a ring of white jade on one side that is really cool. It was incredible to come in contact with an Olympic champion and see him proudly display his medal.

Lloy is the setter for the US Men’s Volleyball team that won the gold medal after defeating Brazil. He’s a Missouri Synod Lutheran from Indiana and graduated from Central Lutheran School in New Haven, just outside of Fort Wayne. He attended Woodlan Jr./Sr. High School in rural Woodburn, Indiana and gave up the chance to play basketball at Indiana University with none other than Bobby Knight. He didn’t want to play basketball, he wanted to play volleyball for his dad, Arnie Ball, who still coaches the volleyball team at Indiana University, Purdue University, Fort Wayne (IPFW).

After his last three Olympic appearances Lloy came and gave an assembly for the kids at Central Lutheran, encouraging them to strive for their dreams, never give up, and be thankful for the gifts God has given you. This time, he was able to tell them that your dreams can come true. He had dreamed and worked hard to win a gold medal and he and his teammates accomplished this amazing feat.

St. Paul talked about athletes and prizes in his first letter to the Corinthians.

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified” (1Cor 9:24-27).

Athletes work hard, train, and control every aspect of their life so that they can win the race, the game, or the match. They do it for a medal or a trophy which will pass away. So, what about our spiritual lives, the discipline, running, and boxing that St. Paul talks about? He exhorts us to discipline our bodies against sin and for the things of God so that we would not be disqualified. Not just so that we wouldn’t loose but so that we wouldn’t be disqualified, thrown out of the race. Sin isn’t a loss, it is disqualification. Sins aren’t boo boos or errors, they are death and disobedience deserving of disqualification.

So our new life in Christ is one of training up for good works and holiness, running, boxing, and disciplining our lives in light of forgiveness, life, and salvation. St. Paul does not say that the discipline leads to victory but that undisciplined living will disqualify. Where then is our victory? He writes in the same letter to the Corinthian church

“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1Cor. 15:55-57).