Passing Torches

Bill Brown ... Xiamen University
"but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. " Isaiah 40:31

I was on a FJTV panel when the Beijing Olympics torch was passing through Fujian Province, and I had a photo taken with a girl athlete who carried the torch (she dwarfed me!). Imagine the excitement of carrying a torch with a flame kindled in Athens, but today you and I can run with an even greater torch--the ancient yet ever new torch of life and hope.

Few are honored to carry the Olympic torch, but the torch of life is there for anyone who will receive it--which is perhaps why we take it for granted. But if we do receive it, do we "soar on wings like eagles" and run with it, or do we let our torch sputter and die?

You and I won't be here 100 years from now, but our influence upon future generations can endure--or it can dissipate, like the calligraphy written in the sand beside Xiamen's boardwalk.

Receiving the Torch. Some lives flicker feebly and briefly, and then burn out, because they burn from their own strength. On our own, we are but a candle in the gale. But when our Father fuels our lives, we can blaze bright enough and long enough to touch the lives of others. But the torch is not thrust upon us. We must reach out and receive it, and take responsibility for it until we pass it on.

Refueling the Torch. Like candles and torches, we will burn out unless we keep in contact with the Source, continually refueled through daily prayer (conversation with our Father) and reading his word. As Jesus said in John 15:4, "Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me."

We are also refueled by the encouraging words and examples of those whom our Father brings into our lives--and in the same way we must be a light to others.

Passing on the Torch. Like an Olympic torch, our lives blaze for a time, and then we must pass the torch on in the same way in which we received it--by our encouraging example and words. And you never know how a few words may change the life of a person--or even a nation! For example....

J.C., born 1913, was the poor descendant of American slaves, and at age 7 picked up to 100 pounds of cotton a day to help his sharecropping parents. He was sickly, caught pneumonia several times, and almost died twice. His life changed when he moved to Cleveland--and so did his name. His teacher could not understand his country accent so she thought his name was "Jessie," not J.C., and the name stuck.

When the Olympic Champion Charley Paddock spoke to over 1000 students at Jessie's school, he said, "Do you know who you are?...you are children of God. You can be somebody. You can be anything you want to be if you have a goal and will work and believe and have good moral character. You really can be what you want to be with the help of the good God."

The students were electrified, but after the talk, they all went back to class--except Jessie. He stayed behind to thank Paddock, and when they shook hands, Jessie felt an actual spark pass between them. He decided to be an Olympic athlete, and in the end became ever greater than Paddock--though he did not have it easy.

The "3 Ds" Jessie could not practice with the track team after school because he worked, so the coach helped train him before school, making him focus daily on "3 D's": dedication, determination, discipline."

In 1936, the Olympics were held in Berlin. Hitler made fun of the American team for having ten blacks and two Jews, but Jessie Owens set world records and won three gold medals. He then returned to America and took a common job as a playground instructor, where he passed the torch of life and hope to countless children, including Harrison Dillard (the only male to win Olympic medals in both sprinting and hurdling).

One speech and a handshake were enough to pass the torch to Jessie Owens. A caring school coach kept it burning. And then Jessie passed it on.

Take up the torch, run with it, and then pass it on!

Note: Flame or Smoke? Jessie Owens died at age 66 of lung cancer. Like many poor children, he'd taken up smoking early, and smoked his entire life. Don't be a smoking torch but a blazing torch!
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