“I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
For as in one body, we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.” (Romans 12:1-8)
In today’s reading from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Romans, we see a whole list of duties in the church, or let’s say ‘vocations’: ministry, preaching teaching prophecy. It seems there is something for everyone in the church, but where’s the Fight Club. It’s not in the list, and today, as you put a lot of effort over there in a fight club or retreats with a lot of boxing, you should wonder is the fighting – the boxing – is it just for relaxing a little bit during the spiritual effort? Is just for fooling around, or does it have a deeper purpose?’ What does it have to do with religion?
Some people might say, “Oh my God, it’s a bit violent. It can’t be Christian.” I remember the first time I told friends in the church that I was boxing (it was my coming out if you like). They told me, “Ah, so that’s to be able to defend yourself.” I said, “No, it’s actually for attacking too!”
What is the sense of fighting? What is your place in the church today? Well, actually, it’s not that difficult to see that. Fighting – Combat Sports – gives like the symbolic language of religion. The rhythm of the fight has very much to do with the way we present ourselves before God.
There’s three very elementary steps in religion, and I’m talking here about the natural virtue of religion. Man can become aware that God exists, and so he can wonder what justice he must render to God. We must be respectful and just with respect to other people. How is this with respect to God? The behaviour of man with respect to God – that’s what religion is. Religion means ‘binding back’ the relationship with God, and there’s three elementary steps in religion.
First of all, you go to a sacred place that you have created. That’s God’s home, if you like. The omnipresent God has a home in this world that we give to Him it’s a sacred place. You go to that sacred place.
The second step is, when you’re there, you adore God. You recognize that He is ultimately the just one, the righteous one – that, in the end, you have to be accountable with respect to God.
And the third and final step is a sacrifice. You offer a sacrifice as a gesture to complete your acknowledgment of God, to complete your worship of God.
So, you go to the sacred place, you adore the almighty, and you offer a sacrifice. Now. this is very much the same rhythm as what is happening during a boxing match. You go to the sacred place, which is the ring. You salute the referee, who has to judge who has won or when to stop the fight, and then the fight itself is your sacrifice. You’re doing something which, strangely enough, is not that pleasant, because you’re trying to hit the other, and even hurt the other, and yet there is a deep spiritual pleasure, if you like, a reward which, if you win, makes you grateful and, if you lose, it makes you humble. So, there is a very radical education of human virtue following a rhythm that is almost religious, whereas that virtue is very useful with respect to God.
We should be humble, and we should be grateful towards God, and so, whatever revelation you believe – whatever divine revelation you have freely chosen – whether it’s Muhammad (Muhammad’s Revelation) or the Revelation in Jesus Christ. Whatever manifestation of God, you have freely chosen – if you recognize God, you know that you have to pay Him respect, that’s what we call religion, and that is what is learned in a very elementary fundamental way in fighting sports
First broadcast on The Sunday Eucharist on Sunday, August 27th, 2023
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