Britain’s fantastic team of Olympic athletes have achieved the nation’s biggest-ever haul of medals but there is still a good deal of grumbling about the Olympics. Jesus’ star performance, in feeding the multitude, is similarly followed fairly rapidly by complaints, as his teaching is rejected by those who ask who he thinks he is (John 6.42).

 

This week's news

Wednesday night’s Newsnight carried a debate about London’s disappointing business outcomes during the Games. The hope was that they would boost the economy but Paul Mason’s report reveals that despite the money from ticket sales, the results are mixed and many retailers in London have suffered. The more positive voices in the debate suggested that the Games themselves are just a beginning and that their impact will be much longer term. The TUC representative spoke of the infrastructure benefits as well the training opportunities that the entire seven- year project has delivered. But there are clearly those who regard it as money down the drain, with no long term benefits.

 

Meanwhile the Prime Minister has used the achievement as an opportunity to criticise the delivery of school sport, and teachers have inevitably hit back.

 

In a similar vein, but with slightly more tact, Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London is urging two hours of PE a day in schools.

 

Chris Hoy seemed to make light of French hints of foul play in British bike engineering when he suggested that what made the bikes special was their round wheels. But the matter has not yet been laid to rest. One of Britain’s most celebrated inventors, James Dyson, writing in the Telegraph says that ‘as a fair-weather cyclist, I am more intrigued by the engineering behind their successes than the human endeavour’.

 

Reflection

For our athletes who have trained so hard and delivered such inspiring achievements, the Olympic legacy will, almost certainly, be life-long. Listening to the range of former medallists who have commentated on the many events, we recognise that winning achievement does not stop on the track. The effort put in over years of training and planning has an empowering impact that endures.

In last week’s group of readings, we heard the people of God complaining to Moses about lack of food in the wilderness, despite their liberation, and John describes the crowd who followed Jesus after the feeding of the multitude as simply pursuing a ready way to eat their fill. In this week’s episode of John’s long discourse about what endures, we find Jesus’ detractors complaining about his teaching. Jesus confronts them, however, and suggests they are barking up the wrong tree:

‘Do not complain among yourselves... Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me.’

This suggests that persistence and reflection deliver more than instant outcomes. This week’s reading leaves us teetering on the brink of the further implications of ‘eating bread’ to ‘live for ever’.  Irritating though it is in the holiday season, we have to wait until next week to discover the nature of eternal life, and for yet another week, and a debate with his closest followers, rather than dubious hangers-on, to hear that the Spirit is the key.

The Olympics have been full of spirit. Let us pray that the spirit of Jerusalem, so movingly the focus of the Opening, the spirit of hope and persistence, so manifest in the athletes, and the spirit of support and goodwill, so manifest in the crowds, will pervade our future and that the Spirit of God, who offers words of eternal life, will bless it all.

 

Prayer

An act of penitence

In a world where people should matter most,
and much more than things,
Father, forgive us
when we put money, possessions, or individual pride first.
Father, forgive us
and help us to work together in your world.

In a world where people’s actions
have a direct effect on the lives of many others,
Father, forgive us when we act selfishly
and protect our own interests first.
Father, forgive us
and help us to work together in your world.

In a world where distance no longer separates colour or creed,
Father, forgive us when we are arrogant
or unwilling to trust and accept others.
Father, forgive us
and help us to work together in your world.

In a world where people often seem to put themselves first
rather than God,
Father, forgive us when we forget you.
Father, forgive us
and help us to work together in your world.

May almighty God forgive us all our sins,
and give us the strength, power and grace
to live for him in the world he created.
Amen.

 

For prayers of intercession

Prepare paper medals – enough for one for each person present.

Create five circles from blue, yellow, black, green and red cord, ribbon or string and lay them out interlinked like the Olympic flag in an appropriate place in your worship area. You might lay them on a large piece of white fabric or paper. Invite people to place one of the medals in one of the circles, praying for a country or an individual or the games as they do so. If you don’t wish to use medals you could use candles or another symbol. Alternatively, the prayers could be led from the front, with one prayer offered for each continent, perhaps with a lighted candle or other symbol being placed in a ring at the start or end of each prayer.

Or the rings and background could be foci for prayer for more specific areas of the world that have been in the news or are linked with your church’s life. Conclude by saying the Lord’s Prayer together, emphasising its use around the world. If appropriate, invite people to say it in their own language or one with which they are familiar.

Questions

• When was the last time you found yourself grumbling about things rather than marking and celebrating an achievement?
• What do you think is needed to help institutions, both religious and secular, to develop the confidence to maintain a commitment to long-term strategies?

 

Action

Recall and share moments when you have seen and heard real joy at the Olympic triumphs over the last week, and give thanks for them.

 

Young People

Find out about the athlete who has most impressed you and try to discover what inspired and inspires them.

 

Gill Ambrose is the Editor of the ROOTS Adult & All Age resources.

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