Beijing -- This is a story of possibility. It is a story of what can happen, and what we can do.

Simon Whitfield was getting dropped like a hot potato, baked in the Beijing heat. After running with the leaders on the last lap of the triathlon, Whitfield was 40 feet back, and falling. His Olympic gold medal was eight long years ago. Of the three men in front of him, two were the top guys in the world. The little man from Victoria, B.C. had fought the good fight, but only four men in the 56-man field were older, and Whitfield looked cooked. Fourth place, old man, his rivals seemed to say.

But in his mind, Whitfield kept repeating one thing: "Sing like Kreek."
Few athletes endure what triathletes suffer -- more than anything, triathlon is about eating barrelfuls of pain. And Whitfield began to close. Whitfield ate the pain, and spat it out. And in his mind, he kept repeating, "sing like Kreek."
"I wanted them to have to really believe that they could go. I wrote on my handlebars today, ‘Sing like Adam Kreek,' our men's eights rower who bellowed out the national anthem during the gold medal ceremony."
Whitfield did not win. He committed his whole self for eight years after reaching the pinnacle -- "Be relentless, be obsessed. Get obsessed, stay obsessed," as he puts it -- and he nearly clung to the peak. He was smarter than anybody in the race, and tougher than all but one. Yes, it was a silver. But it was good as gold.^1.

I don't think any Canadian who watched the Beijing Olympics can forget how fantastic it was watching the Victoria based men's eight rowing team win the gold medal. And who can forget the way Adam Kreek stood on the podium and sang O Canada with all the gusto he could muster.
"Sing like Kreek" indeed.

Olympic athletes devote so much of their life to the sport and as St. Paul says, only one can win the gold.
But every athlete out there is there to go for the gold.
Maybe I will change that, and I hope you agree. Every athlete is there to go for the glory.
They run for the glory of it.

The word "glory" might sound a bit self centered, but it need not be.
Who would not want to stand on the podium of any competition and hold a gold medal and hear your national anthem played.
A person can go for the glory and still be the most humble person you would meet. Especially if the glory they seek is for their nation, for their sport, for their team.

I think God's word to us is "go for the glory".
But whose glory?

In John's gospel which we read, Jesus is going for the glory. He says so.
But not His.
He says, concerning his imminent death,

And what shall I say...Father save me from this hour? No, it was for this very reason that I came. Father glorify your name."

Jesus wanted only the glory of God.

It is Lent and we remember as we approach Good Friday and Easter that this was the reason that God the Father sent Jesus into the world--to die and to open the way to forgiveness.
We say at this time, Jesus came to die for you and for me.
And that is true. John affirms that Jesus laid down his life while we were yet sinners so that we might be forgiven and reconciled to God.
But it is even more true that Jesus laid down His life to glorify God.
In Gethsemane, he prays, not my will but yours be done.

Jesus will at that moment was not on you or me.
It was totally on God the Father.
Of course He knew the purpose of His death, but His primary motivation was to do the will of the One who sent Him.
That is how Jesus could stay so focused on speaking the truth and doing what was right. He had his eyes on the glory of God--period.
And so should we.

Why is it so important that we should want that?
If God is so powerful, then why does He need us to glorify Him?
It all lies in the question, "and what glorifies God, anyway?"

Jesus spelled it out in His first sermon.
Here is what He said glorifies God:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,  to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4:18-19

Freedom, good news, sight for the blind, healthy limbs for the lame, forgiveness for the guilt ridden.
Hope, peace, love, joy...

These are the things that glorify God.
When a man lame for years stands and walks. When a husband and a wife are beside themselves because Jesus has given them back their dead child.
When Mary and Martha embrace Lazarus again.
When a tax collector who thought he was dead to his community and his community was dead to him finds that the very doors to heaven have been opened to him.
All these things and more bring glory to God.

God is above all else, the creator of all.
God is the supreme architect and artist and creator.
What glorifies the creator?
How about when His creatures get a glimpse of the wonder of it and say "Wow! That's Awesome!"
Like the joy when you see the very best firework display accompanied by lasers and loud loud orchestra music.


Michael Faraday, one of the scientific pioneers in electricity in the mid 1800's and discoverer of magnetism, used to hold public lectures for what he believed to be witnessing the genius of God in nature. He appreciated the glory of God in all he researched.

That's what it means.
It means making any sacrifice we need to make to see the very best that God can do.
And what God can do would knock your socks off.
Simon Whitfield swallowed enormous amounts of pain going for the gold.
Jesus swallowed more than just pain to bring glory to God.

In fact he says that unless you are willing to make everything else secondary, you wont see it.
He says unless a grain of seed gives its life away, it remains unfruitful--empty, barren.
But when it is planted, it grows and multiplies beyond anything readily apparent when you just look at it.

Why would we make such sacrifices, to deny our own self for God's glory?
Think of it like this:

Imagine a group of talented musicians who meet from time to time.
I know the chronology may not line up, but suppose you had some who played under the great Leopold Stokowski, some who played for Leonard Bernstien, some who played for Zubin Meta--some of the great conductors of our time..

I can easily imagine one saying something like, "when you played for Stokowski, you would not dare come to practice if you had not spent hours learning and perfecting your music."
Another might say, "Oh that's so true. He could pick out one false note in the entire orchestra and when that bit was finished he would just glance at you to let you know he heard. You would not want want twice in a row."
Someone might comment about the disciplinarians and how they were perfectionists and accepted nothing but the best.
Some might have been half in awe and half in terror of goofing up.

But do you think even one would regret that they had played Carnegie Hall in an orchestra conducted by Bernstein?
Of course not. The stories of the hard practices are their glory. Their glory.

But imagine another orchestra.
The conductor is not present and the members of the orchestra are trying to figure out the score themselves.
They do their best, but disharmony creeps in. This part or that part play too loudly, out of balance with the rest.
The piccolo is about to leave for feeling ignored.
The first violins are beginning to think they can boss the rest of the orchestra around.
The timpani player just bangs louder to emphasize his interpretation.
It is about to erupt into chaos when a side door to the practice hall opens and the conductor enters.

He mounts the conductor's podium.
All taking stops.
Every musician's eyes are fixed on the conductor.
There are no arguments, no ego. Everyone waits for the master.
He raises his baton and in a moment the air is electric with anticipation.
This time the score will be played correctly.
Ludwig von Beethoven, the composer will conduct them himself.

That's what it means to seek the glory of God.
When you do, everything else works better than it ever has.
The master, the composer Himself will direct and the music will be wonderful.
What musician would complain about having to be disciplined to play for such a master?
None would. It is their glory.

So why do we doubt when we are told to seek the glory of God above all else?
Go for the glory!
Nothing else even comes close.