Christian Asceticism

[AI translation] Quite strange, in a church, in the Bible, unusual expressions are used here by the apostle Paul. He talks like an athlete. He says things like: racecourse, training, boxing, running, prize-giving - all words that are in the newspapers these days, and in the conversations between people about the Olympics. The Apostle Paul was directly familiar with the ancient Olympic competitions, of which the current Tokyo Olympics are a continuation - but that is why the Apostle Paul also knows what sports fans are less likely to think, namely that behind each victory there is a lot of effort, work and self-denial. That is why he goes on to say that anyone who wants to take part in such a competition is 'self-motivated', that is, abstemious, whose whole lifestyle is determined by the goal he wants to achieve. And, applying the whole picture to the Christian life, he draws the conclusion for himself: 'I will bend my body and make it a servant...' In an old word still in use today, another way of saying this is "I practice asceticism". These words - asceticism, ascetic life, abstinence, renunciation - are no longer as sympathetic as other aspects of the sporting life. But it is part of the goal. Asceticism! It is part of the Christian life. Without a certain asceticism there is no real Christian life. And that is what I want to talk about.I said that the concept of asceticism is not very sympathetic to the modern man. Yes, because it immediately brings to mind the medieval ascetics who tried to suppress in the most intolerable way all healthy instincts for life. They tormented themselves with unnecessary fasting, and under their clothes they wore cilices, hair belts, and even belts with iron pins, which, by causing constant pain to the body, served to suppress the desires and instincts that arose, so that the soul could better resist temptation. Asceticism is usually understood as the denial of the otherwise natural pleasures of life. Such asceticism is indeed unhealthy, unnecessary, and most certainly not God-pleasing self-torture. There is no need for it! It is quite certain that Paul did not mean such pointless asceticism when he spoke of self-denial and the mortification of the body, but something else. Healthy asceticism! Because there is such a thing! And healthy asceticism is necessary. Not just in the life of faith, but in every area of life where you want to achieve something. Yes: if one is serious about achieving a goal, one tries to avoid everything that hinders this. It is just as true today as it was in Paul's day that 'he who struggles on the racecourse is a self-doer in everything'. Even in those days, an Olympic athlete could take to the track after ten months of very serious, hard training. And during that time he had a strict, strict lifestyle, he couldn't drink a drop of alcohol, he had to repeat the same exercises many times, he had to take care of his physical condition with unheard-of self-discipline... That is still the case today. It is the same not only in sport, but also in academia, in the life of an artist, everywhere. And this struggle involves a lot of resignation, "self-denial", as the Apostle Paul says. It is a matter of restraint, of self-discipline, that is to say: asceticism! And if it is so everywhere, why should it not be so in the Christian life?!
True, healthy Christian asceticism means taking control of oneself, not giving in to things or to desires and instincts when they hinder one from fulfilling one's mission. "Self-denying", says Paul. The original meaning of this word is that man exercises dominion over himself and over things, so that he does not become dependent on them for his actions, but dominates them! So we are talking about a very positive attitude. The emphasis is not even on renunciation, but on domination, on self-discipline. Because either I make my body a servant, or my body makes me a servant. (What the body means, we will talk about later!) Either I am oppressing my body, controlling it, influencing it - or it is oppressing me! He commands me! Because it is like that! So real asceticism is actually a great struggle not to lose control of myself. It is not, then, a question of disdaining the body or material things for the sake of the soul, but rather of making the whole man, body and soul, fit for his true purpose. Only he who can and will sacrifice can and will truly serve and be truly free to do so! The medieval asceticism oppressed man, it soured his life, but true asceticism wants to help man to his true destiny! It is to keep man physically and mentally strong, fit, "fit" for the great race of life. In true asceticism, there is a certain sporting spirit, a hard will, a determination, in the knowledge that there is a goal for which it is worth giving up something, if necessary. Not because the "something" is bad or inferior in itself, but because it is an obstacle to achieving the goal! So asceticism is not the goal itself - it is only a means to an end!
What is the goal? Once again, it is not to obtain or secure for myself salvation or God's grace for myself, or to develop my own spiritual life, so it is certainly not an end in itself! Paul says: "I make my flesh hard and make it a servant, so that while I preach to others, I myself may not in some way become unworthy, unfit, useless!
Now, one might say: well, that is understandable in the case of Paul, or in the case of a man whose vocation is "to preach to others!" But I don't preach to others, I'm just a simple believer who at most listens to the preaching of others! You preach too! Yes, you preach with your life, with your daily work, with your married life, with your family life, with every manifestation of your life! You preach! With far more power, to far more people, and with far more importance than what I do here in the pulpit! Your pulpit is the office, or factory, or school, or sickbed, or nursery, where you do your secular work. And the way you do it! - You think preaching is just giving a sermon in church? No! What is much more meaningful and understandable is the preaching that you do out in the world. Because what does it mean to preach? Well: to present Christ, to bear witness to Jesus. And we do this first of all by our actions, in the most understandable and effective way! And only last of all with our words! So you also preach at all times, at every moment, either to the glory of Christ or to the detriment of Christ. In order for our life, our work, our actions to be authentic preaching about Jesus, so authentic that people can see from it, see from it, who Jesus is, how truly good, pure, honest, community-minded, trustworthy he is: for this we must be able, worthy, a useful instrument! That is the goal! That is the purpose of asceticism! For this purpose we must practice a certain asceticism! For all of us! So not for ourselves, but for others! To preach Christ to others!
This asceticism may begin with very small things in one's life. Do you know what one of the greatest dangers of modern man is? The danger of enslavement, of becoming totally addicted to all kinds of little habits, emotions, passions, things. He is overcome by things like drink, or cinema, or novels, or television, or cars, or sport, or medicine, or the fear of illness. Anything! He gives up his independence, his spiritual freedom to one thing, to something. Whatever it is. Or an emotion, a desire. And then all your energy goes to that something. You become a slave! Well, everyone knows for himself, if he knows what it is in his life that is beginning to overflow, or has already overflowed to his will, that binds him. There is a place for asceticism - as Paul says, self-denial - for renunciation, for bending my flesh and making it a slave. Whoever wants his life to be a witness to Jesus must not allow himself to be enslaved, for example, by drink, or by television, or by the heat of his own blood, or by a hateful feeling - because that is what Paul means by "flesh" - and not let these things dominate him, but let him remain dominant! Let him also be able to renounce it, if that is necessary for the end. If an athlete can renounce many things that can be harmful to the achievement of his goal, can a Christian man not renounce before God that passion, feeling or thing that makes him unfit, unworthy to achieve the great goal: preaching to others? Not that we ourselves may thereby become holier and better than other men, but that we may better fulfil our ministry! Or does all our Christianity last until it costs us nothing? Then it is worth nothing! Without healthy asceticism there is no Christian life!
Then let me just mention one more idol that holds many people in bondage: that is, pace. Very often we do not set the pace, it sets us. And the consequences are well-known: exhaustion, nervous breakdown, heart thrombosis, overwork... How can the tempo, this modern tyrant, be properly controlled and mastered? Only like anything else that wants to rise above us: by submitting it to God. In other words, by asking God at the beginning of each day how He wants us to organise our daily programme, what He considers important or less important, so that we are led by Him, almost step by step. So that the beginning of our day with God is not only a spiritual bath, an occasion to put our spiritual life in order, but an operation to bring the most ordinary things of our daily life to God, so that He puts our things in the right place. And it also requires a certain asceticism, a certain abstinence: maybe just getting up half an hour early, giving up a little rest, but again for such a momentous purpose. Jesus also practised this asceticism. It is recorded several times that early in the morning, almost at dawn, he went privately to a deserted place to pray, to discuss the day's business with God. To persevere in this regularly, to make every sacrifice for it: that too is asceticism. There are many obstacles to such a daily quiet before God in the morning, I know - but that is why it is worthwhile and necessary to do what Paul says, "to bend my body and make it a servant..."
When we listen to the Olympic news, when we look at the pictures, let us remember the great racecourse of life on which we all compete and in the process "preach to others"! Are we really doing all we can to win? So let us run in such a way that we take the reward, the greatest reward of this life on earth: that our preaching of our lives to people will be authentic and effective. This is the incorruptible wreath, laurel, prize, which will remain a decree [honour, glory] in eternity!
Amen!
Date: 18 October 1964.