Hello and welcome to this week's episode of Trinity
Sermons. This week we are continuing our sermon
series called This is the Way, where we're looking
at what it means to follow in the way of Jesus
and what are some of the spiritual practices
and habits that help us to be able to do that.
And the key word here is practice. We don't just
become spiritual superstars overnight. We need
to work at it. We need to build habits into our
lives. And today, Rob is going to show us how
Jesus emulates that for us and invites us into
a life of practice with him. Today's reading
is from the Gospel of Mark, chapter 1, verses
35 to 39. Very early in the morning, while it
was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house,
and went off to a solitary place where he prayed.
Simon and his companions went to look for him,
and when they found him, they exclaimed, Everyone
is looking for you. Jesus replied, Let us go
somewhere else, to the nearby villages, so I
can preach there also. That is why I have come.
So he traveled throughout the Galilee, preaching
in their synagogues and driving out demons. The
word of the Lord. I was on the grade 10 basketball
team of my... high school. And I have to tell
you, every single player on that team was inspired
and wanted to imitate and emulate Michael Jordan.
We all wanted to be like Mike. And so we watched,
you know, his every move. We watched his every
game. We always tuned into like the highlights.
And we tried to do all the things that, you know,
Michael Jordan did that we thought were so cool.
Like, so for example, you know, one of the things
Jordan always did was he would always stick his
tongue out when And he was like driving the ball
to the net. And so, you know what? We decided
we were going to stick our tongue out. And I
must have looked totally ridiculous, but I stuck
my tongue out as I went in for a layup, which
I usually missed. But anyways, I had my tongue
stuck out, just like Mike. And, you know, another
thing that Michael Jordan used to do is he would
chew gum. while he was playing basketball. And
so, you know, because Jordan chewed gum, our
whole team, you know, we started like chewing
gum too. But the coach had to like put an end
to it because the gum was like ending up all
over the gym floor. It was sticking to people's
shoes. And it was probably because we had our
mouths open with our tongues sticking out that
the gum was ending up like that. But hey, it
didn't really matter, right? We were trying to
be like Mike. And we did kind of everything that
we could. You know, we would look at, oh, look
at how we turned. Look at how. we shot that like
turnaround baseline, you know, jumper, or look
at how he passes, or look at how he dribbles,
or look at how he plays defense. And we all,
we would even go and get like the Michael Jordan
jerseys, and we would get the Michael Jordan
sneakers, at least the people who could afford,
you know, Air Jordans and stuff like that. They
would get all that. And now, the bad news. As
much as we wanted to be like Mike, It just didn't
work out. You know, as it turns out, no matter
how hard we tried, we could never be like Mike.
And, you know, I would say it's probably true
for the millions and millions of other kids all
around the world who saw this commercial and
watched Michael Jordan play. And all those playgrounds
and basketball courts, they copied all the moves
of Michael Jordan. Did any of them? manage to
be like Mike? And I think you know the answer.
The answer is no, they didn't. With the exception
of a few people who probably went on to basketball
greatness, but no. In fact, I would say to you
that it is actually impossible to be like Mike
just by trying to copy what Mike did in all of
his amazing highlight reels. And why is that?
It is because underneath Michael Jordan's outstanding
performance was a hidden life. discipline that
almost nobody saw. I mean, Michael Jordan was
so committed to the game of basketball. He lived
a life of intense practice and intense preparation.
He was up early, early in the mornings. He was
up late at night. You know, he had personal trainers
working him hard. He had workout regimens that
were like strenuous. He ate a regulated diet.
And he spent thousands and thousands and thousands
of hours in the gym, right? Conditioning his
body, practicing his skills, right? Honing his
talents, training his mind again and again and
again and again. He put his entire lifetime into
this sport. In fact, back then there was an interview
with Jordan and he said, the game of basketball
has been Everything to me. Everything? Everything
to me. So when you see those game -winning shots,
when you see his incredible timing, when you
see the way that he has this incredible athletic
ability, we watch all those highlights and we
love them. But what no one sees was the all -consuming
way of life that made all of those highlights
possible. So no. I was never able to be like
Mike. I copied his looks, but I never copied
his life. I tried to copy his performance, but
I never copied his practice. I saw the highlights,
but I never saw the hidden life behind those
highlights. Well, today, we're continuing this
teaching series we're doing throughout the season
of Lent called This is the Way. And basically
all that we're asking during this month is what
does it mean? What does it look like to follow
the way of Jesus? I mean, Jesus invited us to
follow him. Jesus said, come and follow me. Okay,
great. But what does that look like? How does
one even begin to do that? And today I want to
get one important part of that. And that is in
order to follow the way of Jesus, we have to
practice. We have to practice. I've given you
some teaching notes if you want to follow along
in those. And we always have these teaching notes
available in our church app, Church Center 2.
And you can actually fill them in right there
if you want. But the first thing I want to talk
about is inspiration. Inspiration. You see, there
is no doubt, yes, a lot of people wanted to be
like Mike. But I would dare say that most of
us sitting here today, who we really want to
be like, is we want to be like Jesus. We are
inspired by the life of Jesus, right? We see
Jesus loving his enemies, and we say, I want
to love my enemies like that. We see Jesus living
without anxiety, and we say, I want to do that
too. Or we see Jesus giving generously, and we
say, I want to do that. We see Jesus forgiving
freely. I want to do that too. Or Jesus sacrificing
everything for others. And we say, you know what?
I am inspired. I want to do that too. And we
think, I want to be like Jesus, right? I want
to do the things that Jesus did, right? You see,
Jesus, he turned the other cheek. I'm going to
turn the other cheek. right jesus he went the
second mile i'm gonna go the second mile jesus
loved his enemies i'm gonna love my enemies too
and so we we get all revved up seeing these amazing
things jesus does and we close our bibles and
we head out to do it or we hear all about it
on a sunday morning at church and we head out
the doors and we're ready to do it or we wake
up in the morning and we put on our wwjd bracelet
and we head out the doors and we are ready to
be like jesus we're truly inspired by the life
of Jesus. And yet, time and time again, we fail.
For all our inspiration, it's usually followed
by frustration, because it turns out we can't
do what Jesus did, right? I mean, we try to turn
the other cheek, but we still find ourselves
getting angry all the time. We try to go to the
second mile, but we always carry this resentment
that people are using us somehow. Or we try to
love our enemies, but we fail and we fall again
and again and again and again. It's like, you
know, every time we have the chance to take the
game -winning shot and do the things that Jesus
did, do the amazing things Jesus did, but more
often than not, it just clangs off the rim. We
try to do the miraculous, amazing kind of things
that he does, but again, more often than not,
we just keep throwing up brick after brick after
brick. I mean, this is something I call highlight
reel Christianity. Highlight reel Christianity,
which is we want to do the amazing things Jesus
did. And why not? Of course, Jesus said, hey,
do what I do. Follow me. In fact, Jesus even
said, you will do greater things than the things
I did. That is absolutely amazing. And yet we
come home time and time again, defeated and defeated
and defeated. And that is when we usually have
a revelation. We realize at some point in our
life, and maybe for some of us, it might even
be today, that the reason that we can't do what
Jesus did is because we don't see the hidden
life underneath. of all of Jesus's incredible
highlights of loving and healing and forgiving
and sacrifice. Underneath all of that was a lifetime
of practice and preparation that was mainly spent
outside of the public eye. Jesus's entire life
was a life of discipline, not athletic discipline,
but spiritual discipline. His entire life was
a life of practice. Again, not, you know, athletic
practice, but spiritual practice, spiritual practices.
And we need look no further than today's reading
to see kind of what I'm talking about. Very early
in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus
got up, left the house, and went off to a solitary
place, and there he prayed. And you'll probably
say, okay, Rob, what's the big deal? This isn't
that exciting of a passage. Why did you highlight
that one, right? And we don't see Jesus doing
anything miraculous here. We don't see, you know,
any great sermons being preached here. We don't
see crowds gathering around Jesus. All it says
is that, you know, Jesus just got up early and
he went to this quiet place and he prayed. Exactly.
That's the point. Jesus rolled out of bed that
morning. And maybe he splashed his face with
some water. He put on some clothes. And then
he went down to his spiritual gym. Right? And
there he did a spiritual workout. You see, somewhere
along the way, Jesus had developed this habit.
Early mornings, quiet places, prayer, scripture,
meditation. And he did it over and over and over
again. The highlights, yeah, they were going
to come later. But the training came first. Or
just a little earlier, just before this reading,
Jesus spends 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness,
fasting and praying. He had not preached a single
sermon yet, done one miracle yet. He had not
yet healed one sick person. Those highlights.
would come later. The training came first. Our
mistake is to think that we can do the things
that Jesus did without putting in the work that
Jesus did. Just like Michael Jordan had all these
routines and all these habits that built skill
and strength, so too in the spiritual life. You
read the gospels and you will see Jesus had this
regimen. He had this pattern of his life. He
had all these practice sessions. He withdrew
to quiet places. He prayed. He read the scriptures.
He kept the Sabbath. He fasted. He did community
with a group of other people. That was his gym
routine. These were his practices. And if we
want to avoid the problem and failures that come
along with highlight reel Christianity and actually
be like Jesus, we are going to need to adopt
the practices of Jesus. We can't just step onto
the court and hope that we can somehow pull off
the game -winning shot. And we can't just go
step into life and hope that, oh, I'm going to
be able to forgive that person who hurt me. I'm
going to be able to bless these people around
me. I'm going to be able to grow spiritually.
Because in that moment, you are trying to accomplish
a spiritual feat that actually takes a lifetime
of training to develop. We are trying to do in
a moment what can only be formed in us over years
of practice. It's like the old saying goes, the
road to hell is paved with what? Good intentions,
right? We all intend well. We all want to do
these things, but we can't because we miss the
big picture, the life of Jesus. was not just
a series of dramatic moments, one after the other.
No, no, no. It was all built on a hidden life
of practice. Now, let's talk about what we mean
when we talk about practice. Spiritual practices
are the training routines of Jesus that build
spiritual muscle over time. And that's a really...
important definition. Let me go through it bit
by bit. First of all, they are training routines.
These things are not things you just do once
or do every now and again. They are habits. They
are rhythms of your life that you do over and
over and over again. Secondly, these practices
are based on the lifestyle of Jesus. These are...
the exact things that we see jesus himself doing
in the scriptures over and over and over again
so we're not pulling them out of the blue these
are things jesus did and thirdly they're spiritual
in nature and this is really important because
doing these practices isn't a way of us summoning
up strength of our own to become better at living
our lives no no no They're a way of accessing
the Spirit's power in our life. And these practices
invite the Holy Spirit into us to do amazing
work in us so that actually we begin to be able
to change over time, right? They're spiritual.
And then fourthly, these practices work over
time, not overnight, right? If you go to the
gym once, you're probably not going to have a
lot to show for it except for soreness the next
morning. But if you go every day, you will have
something to show for it. If you decide this
week you're going to practice Sabbath once, you
may not feel that it did anything for you. But
if Sabbath becomes a regular part of your weekly
routine, it will begin to transform you from
the inside out. Now, there are various practices
out there. Dozens and dozens of them, right?
If you read Richard Foster, he has a list of
12. If you read Kenneth Boah, he has a list of
20. Some say there's eight. Some say there's
10. Some say there's 11. There really is no one
definitive list of the spiritual practices. But
here at Trinity, we have adopted a list of nine.
And the reason we've adopted these nine is because
they are the very same nine that are used in
this great video. video curriculum we've been
using, including the curriculum we're using right
now for the prayer course, this curriculum put
out by Practicing the Way. And we like these
nine. And here they are. Prayer, scripture, and
solitude. Sabbath, fasting, and community. Service,
generosity, and witness. You know when you walk
into the gym and you see all these different
machines? Oh, there's a treadmill over there.
There's the elliptical over there. There's the
assault bike over there. There's the rower. There's
the freeway. It's over there. All these different
machines you can go and use. I want you to think
of this as walking into a spiritual gym, and
these are all the different spiritual machines
you can work out on. And you'll actually, as
you work out on them, you become more like Jesus.
right and you'll recognize them because they're
the same nine that are found in the little pocket
guide that we're using all through lent right
as we try to figure out together how we can develop
a workout regimen in these spiritual practices
and if we don't train in this way if we don't
we are always going to be just like kids on a
playground we're kind of fooling around and we're
you know we're doing all these trick shots and
circus shots and and maybe oh baby sometimes
they go in yay for us right but i'll tell you
a lifetime of learning how to turn the other
cheek or how to go the second mile or how to
love our enemies. You cannot just do that on
the spot. You can't, you can't, right? And the
kind of person who can do that on the spot is
a person who has been working at this and spent
countless hours in the spiritual gym practicing
this. Now, there is a danger in how I've been
presenting this so far to you this morning. And
the danger is, because I'm talking about Michael
Jordan, who is a superstar and perhaps the greatest
basketball player who ever lived, you're going
to think, oh, this stuff is only for experts.
This is only for religious professionals like
monks or nuns or seminarians or clergy or something
like that. But that is not true whatsoever. Richard
Foster, who wrote a book called Celebration of
Discipline, he writes this, God intends spiritual
practices to be for ordinary human beings, people
who have jobs, people who care for children,
who wash dishes and mow lawns. In other words,
you do not have to be a spiritual Michael Jordan
to embrace these practices. They're for ordinary
people. They're for ordinary lives like yours
and mine. Now, I'm anticipating there's a question
that's kind of buried in your minds right now.
And the question is, Rob, I don't get it. Okay,
tell me, Rob, please, how does this formation
actually work, right? Because how does me learning
how to pray help me, say, forgive someone who's
hurt me? What's the connection? Or how does Sabbath
help me overcome my problem with anxiety? Or
how does reading the Bible, you know, help me
to conquer some of these big fears I have in
my life? What is the connection? How does practicing
those little things enable me to conquer these
bigger things in my life? That is the secret
of spiritual practices, right? The little things
we can do train us for the big things we can't.
Do you guys remember the Karate Kid? movie. Remember
Karate Kid, the original? Mr. Miyagi. Mr. Miyagi
is training Daniel in how to do karate. And Daniel's
really frustrated because so far the training
looks like this. Mr. Miyagi says, hey, Daniel,
wax my car. Wax on, wax off. Wax on, wax off.
All day long. Wax on, wax off. Or paint the fence,
Daniel. Paint the fence. Paint the fence. Paint
the fence. Paint the fence. Or, you know, sand
the floor, Daniel. Sand the floor. And Daniel
gets... so frustrated with this approach. He
says, you know, how is this going to enable me
to learn karate? But later, he realizes that
those small, repetitive movements have been training
his muscles all along, and he didn't realize
it. The practice did not look like the fight,
okay? But the practice prepared him for the fight.
You see, and the same is true of Michael Jordan,
right? Michael Jordan didn't spend all his time
in the gym practicing his turnaround fadeaway
three -pointers or his, you know, behind the
back loop -de -loop reverse dunks. No, no, no.
He did drills. He did strength training. He looked
at the X's and O's of the game. He trained his
mind. He developed a muscle memory. right? And
though those drills didn't look like they had
anything to do with the big moments that we celebrate,
those are the very things that made those big
moments possible. Spiritual formation works in
the same way. When we practice prayer or scripture
or Sabbath or generosity or community or whatever,
it doesn't seem like, how is this going to help
me solve, say, my anger problems? Or how is this
going to help me deal with these addictions I'm
wrestling with that I just can't seem to shake?
What's the connection? But remember, over time,
These practices are shaping us. They're accessing
the Holy Spirit's power in our life. So much
so that almost without us even noticing it, we
do become the kind of people who can actually
forgive after all. I can do this. Or people who
can resist temptations and do away with their
addictions. I can do that. I can do this now
with the Spirit working in me, right? The little
things we can do train us for the big things
we can't. Now, just in case, I just want to make
a few clarifications. And the first is this.
The praxis are not about the mechanics, right?
It's not about just going through the motions.
And if you somehow just go through the motions,
everything's going to work out for you. Last
week, Kristen told us, she said, lots of people
are very faithful in their church attendance
and they read their Bibles regularly. And then
they go into the world and they do. all manner
of horrible things and so in the spiritual life
your inner attitude matters far more than your
outer actions right the goal is not simply for
you to do the practices there i did it check
no the goal is for you to become more like jesus
and that's not happening you're doing something
wrong right you let's say you're you're fasting
and so you practiced your fast down to the t
you've got it exactly the way the book you're
reading tells you you ought to do it but guess
what It's not making you a more loving person.
It's not making you more Christ -like. Well,
then something... has gone wrong right it's not
about the mechanics it's about what's going on
inside and secondly it's also not about bragging
if if you're doing your spiritual practices and
your spiritual workout it's like you know you
don't go up to somebody and like do a pose down
right in front of them to show off all your muscles
right to brag about how fit you are no no no
and you don't start looking down on other christians
and say oh i i i fast and i read my bible every
day and i've never missed a sunday at church
and i i'm not like these wannabe since I'm the
real deal. I mean, if you ever start finding
that you're looking down on others because, oh,
you've got such a disciplined life now, then
my goodness, you have completely missed the point.
That is not what this is about at all. And finally,
it is also not about earning. And I've actually
heard a few of you... expressed to me already
over the last few weeks that you're a little
worried with some of the language that you're
hearing in this series you're hearing me say
things like practice and and discipline and training
and what it sounds like to you is that i'm saying
something like hey if you try real hard if you
work real hard that god will accept you and god
will love you and you you say but rob i thought
we were saved by grace i thought it was christ's
sacrifice on the cross that actually saved us
not all of our hard work rob what is going on
here and i want to say, yes, of course. Please
don't call the bishop. Just don't call the bishop
on me, right? Let me assure you, the practices
do not earn your salvation. Our salvation, our
hope, it rests solely in God's amazing grace
showed to us through the life, death, and resurrection
of Jesus, right? Nothing else saves us. But,
As Dallas Willard famously said, God's grace
isn't opposed to effort. It is opposed to earning,
but it's not opposed to effort, which is another
way of saying, yes, of course, we don't earn
our way into God's family. That's all grace.
But we do have to work at it and figure out how
to live in God's family. That takes some effort.
We don't practice these things in order to be
accepted. We practice them in order to become
more like the one who has accepted us. So there
you go. And that brings me to the last thing
I want to say to you this morning. And that is
an invitation. This Lent, Jesus is inviting you.
And Jesus is inviting me to step into the gym
of the spiritual life. And to begin again and
to work up a spiritual sweat to stop living as
highlight real Christians and to actually start
practicing the disciplines that Jesus himself
practiced, that Christians down through the ages
of practice, and that all of us must practice
if we're ever going to have a chance of actually
living like Jesus and following him as his disciples.
And again, I just want to stress, this is an
invitation for... everyone in in jesus spiritual
gym there are no expensive membership fees you
know nobody is excluded anyone can join and it's
not just for the the spiritual superstars out
there anyone can join anyone right and i know
what it's like when you walk into a gym and you
look around you see all these people who look
so much more fit than you and you say to yourself
oh i don't belong here i i'm not as strong as
these other people and maybe you're tempted to
go walk right back out the door but don't think
that for a second, not in the spiritual life,
no way, right? Thomas Merton, this spiritual
master, once said, when it comes to spiritual
practices, we will never be anything but beginners
our whole lives. And yeah, as you try to... develop
a life of practice, you're going to screw up.
You're going to make mistakes, and someday it'll
feel like you're not getting anywhere. And other
days, it'll feel like, yeah, you know what? I
feel like God is doing something in me. It takes
some ups and downs. You know, Michael Jordan
himself said, I've never been afraid to fail.
He said, I've missed more than 9 ,000 shots in
my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times
they put the ball in my hands, trusting me to
take the game -winning shot, and I missed. I
failed over and over and over again in my life,
and that is why I succeed. Failure is part of
the training. So yeah, nobody becomes like Mike
by watching him on TV. And nobody becomes like
Jesus. just by admiring his amazing highlights
either. No, we have to actually go back to the
gym, back to the way of practicing like Jesus
practiced. And again, it's not about trying harder.
It's not about earning anything. It's just about
developing a hidden life of discipline in your
routine, because that is where the transformation
happens. And it happens slowly, and it happens
quietly, and it happens over time. But little
by little, we will become people who can do,
believe it or not, the things that Jesus did.
And as Jesus said, even greater things than that.
So thanks be to God. Amen. Thanks for tuning
in to this week's episode of Trinity Sermons.
This sermon was recorded at Trinity Church Streetsville
in Mississauga, Ontario on March 8th, 2026.