Did you know that there is an official Olympic artist? Anabel Eyres, a former Olympic rower, rowing in the 1992 Double Sculls, is also an accomplished artist and gives to us another way of entering into the spectacle and drama of the 2024 Paris Olympics. Her work is influenced by the British photographer, Eadward Muybridge 1830-1904, who first captured on film the movement of the human and animal body in motion, as we can see in this delightful picture of swimmers.

The Olympic and Paralympic games will bring to us many inspiring examples of human endeavour and endurance beyond anything ordinary mortals like us can imagine. We too can draw inspiration from their example as Paul did when he pointed to the perseverance of the Olympians of his day.

’ Do you know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run the race in such a way as to get the prize’ 1 Corinthians 9:24

Most of us, however, will happily live our lives within the limits of what we know we can cope with, but even we will be tested and tried by circumstances and situations that we find overwhelming. We too will sometimes be called to excel and exceed what seems humanly possible.

Tried

Today we find the disciples coping with two life-threatening situations where they are tried and tested. First, they are on unfamiliar ground as Jesus confronts them with a problem that they know they cannot handle. They are faced with an enormous crowd, maybe 20,000 hungry people. John’s readers would have known the story of Moses and Israel's escape into the desert. Here the people found themselves without food or water and were tempted to turn back. We are told that Jesus too takes the people into a ‘desert place’ and when the crowds grow hungry he challenges the disciples with the question “Where shall we buy bread for these people” John 6: 5. John tells us that he asked this only to test them. Jesus has put them in a situation where they are unable to cope. The disciples find themselves at a loss.

“eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” John 6: 7.

Tested

Later, on the lake, the disciples find themselves in familiar territory. They were fishermen and knew the changing face of the water so they judged it safe to cross over to the other side. They were confident of their ability to handle any situation on the water, maybe even complacent, but they were caught by a sudden storm and they were now in danger of drowning. Despite all their experience, they are once again at a loss without Jesus.

Here are two stories that will be familiar to us. The first will remind us of situations when we have been faced with overwhelming problems that we know we cannot meet. The second is when we have thought that we could manage on our own and discovered too late that we have attempted something that is beyond us.

Daily life

The disciples were men and women like us, sometimes they faced overwhelming problems and sometimes their problems were of their own making. In both cases, Jesus seems to allow the disciples to struggle alone. We are told that Jesus withdraws to ‘a mountain by himself’ John 6:15. Could it be that this withdrawal is part of the discipleship training for it comes at just the moment when the crowds ‘intended to make him King by force’ John 6: 15

Jesus is not a king who reveals himself through the miraculous signs of power but through the struggles of daily life.

Pierre de Coubertin, the father of the modern Olympics: “ The important thing in sport is not to win but to participate, the important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.

In the face of overwhelming problems, we are called on to give thanks to God that he has given us the resources however small to match the challenge. Even when he appears to be absent we are to trust that he is with us and in control of the situation. Christ is the King whose power is made perfect in our weakness and whose glory is revealed in disaster. Faith gives thanks that:

‘He is able to do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine according to his power at work in us’ Eph. 3: 20.

Rev. Simon Brignall