Surrender
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He weighed 150 lbs., stood 5’8”, and died in a Japanese internment camp when he was 43 years old. When he died, all of Scotland mourned.
He was an athlete by birth; a lover of God by choice. He was a teacher on the mission field; a gold medalist when he ran.
He told his sister, “I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast! And when I run, I feel His pleasure.” And yet, in the 1924 Olympic Games, he captured the attention of the world when he declined to run in the 100 meter sprint.
The race was scheduled to be run on a Sunday, and Eric Liddell would not sacrifice “the obedience of rest” for the glory of a race. He wasn’t impertinent in his stance — but he was unwavering.
Eric Liddell was remarkably different in what he reached for, even as an athlete. He has my attention. He was born of Scottish heritage, to parents serving on the mission field in China. When of age, he and his brother went to boarding school in England. He became captain of the cricket and the rugby teams at his school in London before going on to college in Edinburgh where he quickly became known as the fastest runner in Scotland. All the while, his love of Jesus and focus on God never wavered.
I’m fascinated by people who reach for MORE of what matters most without distraction or hindrance from lesser things.
His headmaster at boarding school in London said Eric was “entirely without vanity”.
Langdon Gilkey, a man who endured the internment camp with Liddell said, “Often in an evening I would see him bent over a chessboard or a model boat, or directing some sort of square dance - absorbed, weary, and interested, pouring all of himself into this effort to capture the imagination of these penned-up youths. He was overflowing with good humor and love and life…”
Eric Liddell had a wife and 3 young daughters who he had sent to Canada, his wife’s homeland, when the Japanese/Chinese conflict became dangerous for missionaries in the area. He chose to remain and continue his work of teaching, while sending his much-loved family home for what they hoped would be a brief separation. But things did not turn out as he had hoped.
He died February 21, 1945, from complications of a brain tumor, fatigue, and malnourishment.
Eric Liddell, who the movie “Chariots of Fire” depicted so well, is a good focus for this week’s reach — he held a gold medal in his hand only long enough for the pictures — then he headed to serve the God he loved so much.
The One he felt when he ran.
The One he saw at the end of the finish line.
The One he wanted young people in China to have a chance to know.
The One who was, who is, and who will always be worth it all.
Circumstances may appear to wreck our lives,
but God is not helpless among the ruins.
- Eric Liddell
The gold mattered for a brief time. But in light of the true goal, it didn’t matter most.
He was reaching for so much more.
The way he lived was noticed by a world still reeling from the shockwaves of WW1. The gold medal from the Olympic Games of 1924 brought his name front and center — but mostly because of his resolve to honor the sabbath and not run his race of choice.
Instead he ran the 400 meter race on a Thursday. He had not trained for that longer dash. He was a sprinter, he knew he could run like the wind for 100 meters. But the 400m was a stretch — even for him. Yet, it was the 400m run that delivered him the gold medal. Liddell said, "The secret of my success over the 400m is that I run the first 200m as fast as I can. Then, for the second 200m, with God's help I run faster."
Even when he ran for the gold — he was reaching for MORE — and he knew it could only be found in God, from God, for God, and with God’s help.
Then 21 years later, after serving others to the end, his final words were not about his gold medal, or his successes or disappointments. He had all of these he could have been reflecting on. Instead, his final words reflected what he could clearly see mattered most. The last breathes of air that passed out of him shared — “It’s complete surrender”.
He died holding gold in his heart.
What an amazing story of reaching-for-MORE.
