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In 1981 the academy award winning film, Chariots of Fire told the story of 2 British runners who competed in the Olympics. One of this week’s texts was the story of Elijah being lifted up to heaven by a Chariot with horses of fire. It made me think of the movie. It’s been over 40 years since it came out and while my memory of it is a bit hazy, after some research I was reminded of the overall gist. Eric Liddell was wrestling with whether or not to go to China as a missionary or be an Olympic runner. It was an easy decision for his family of missionaries. If he was truly faithful, he needed to go to China and fulfill his calling. And yet, Liddell believed that running was his God given gift. In one of the great lines from the film, the only line I remember, Liddell says “I believe that God made me for a purpose. But he also made me fast, and when I run, I feel his pleasure.”
So, what does the movie Chariots of Fire have to do with the story of Elijah in 2 Kings. Just as Elijah was lifted up to heaven in a chariot of fire, Eric Liddell was elevated by his efforts to pursue God’s pleasure. The movie makes it clear that we can experience God’s pleasure from running just as much as we can from being a prophet like Elijah or a missionary in China. Having grown up with a good dose of protestant guilt I think I can say with some degree of confidence that feeling God’s pleasure on a run versus serving God as a missionary in China, doesn’t feel like a fair fight. Doing ministry versus going for a jog? It’s a no-brainer right? And yet, I suppose what Liddell’s story teaches us is that it’s possible to feel God’s pleasure in so many ways, not simply in a church or doing mission work. Part of our calling in life is to discern where exactly we feel God’s pleasure in us. If running can do it, then perhaps so can raising our kids, teaching a class, coaching a sport, balancing the books at work, arguing a case in the courtroom, buying or selling a property, listening to music, reading a book, counseling a student, having coffee with a friend. The important thing is to recognize that God is in those experiences; to acknowledge his presence in those places where we feel we are using the gifts God has given us. It strikes me that we should always be looking for the ways that God’s pleasure might be made manifest in us; to maximize the ways that we might be lifted up in our own personal chariots of fire.
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