God wants us to be strong. Not so that we’ll have big bulging muscles, not so that we’ll push people around, not so that we’ll intimidate others on the softball field. No, God wants us to be strong so that we can be servants.

I discovered the importance of strength while on last fall’s mission trip to Honduras.. Our Midlife Men were helping to build a science building at the Plan Escalon School, and the building was located at the bottom of a hill. The cinder blocks could only be delivered by truck to the top of the hill, so you can imagine how the blocks made their way to the construction site.

They came down in our arms. Two by two. Block after block after block. It took just about all the strength we had.

I love what Phil Beauchene said about the work of the Midlife Men: “You couldn’t pay me enough to do this kind of work in the United States.” But in Honduras, he does it for free, and he loves it, because it is an act of Christian service.

Today is the second of three sermons on the link between spiritual fitness and physical fitness. I have begun to introduce you to “The Fitness Trinity,” which has been devised by my friend Vik Khanna, an exercise coach and health educator. I’m so happy that Vik will be visiting us next Sunday, after worship, to answer your questions about The Fitness Trinity and follow up with participants in last year’s faith and fitness program.

The Fitness Trinity consists of three parts: Endurance exercise, strength training, and good nutrition. Last week, I talked about endurance exercise. This is any exercise that puts you into motion and requires you to use the biggest muscles in your body — your legs, hips, and rear end. Endurance exercise can include walking, running, swimming or riding a bike, but it should be done vigorously, for at least 30 minutes at a time, and at least 3 times per week.

Today, I want to speak about strength training. I believe that strength is a virtue — whether it is physical, intellectual, emotional or spiritual. Strong people are able to resist fads, endure hardships, enjoy recreation, and perform God’s work in the community and world. Strength is not merely the absence of weakness, but is, instead, an approach to life that values the presence of mental, spiritual and physical muscle, and helps us to be the people God wants us to be. As St. Francis de Sales once said, “There is nothing so strong as gentleness and nothing so gentle as true strength.”

None of us would ever question the fact that Jesus was a man of strength. From resisting the temptations of Satan to standing up to the criticisms of religious and political leaders, Jesus showed incredible personal strength. His strength came from his sense of mission and purpose, his relationship with his disciples, and most of all from God himself. Jesus tapped into the very same divine power that is available to us — the power that Paul speaks of when he says, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).

Strength is a tool for achievement, purpose, and service. Spiritual and physical strength are two of the most empowering forces you can imagine. When you have taken yourself from unfit to fit, from spiritually unfulfilled to overflowing, from medically at-risk to medically robust, you make yourself into a change agent for the world. You become a person who has the strength to change the world around you.

It is clear to me that the very last thing Jesus wants is a group of inactive, sedentary disciples. He wants his followers to embrace the spirit of action. In fact, some of Christ’s strongest condemnations are directed toward those who sit and talk — rather than stand and serve. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus denounces the scribes and Pharisees who sit on Moses' seat; they “love to have the place of honor at banquets,” he observes, “and the best seats in the synagogues" (Matthew 23:6).

To all who feel tempted to take such seats, Jesus barks the command, “Don't sit there!” Disciples of Christ are not to sit and become sedentary, they are to stand and use their strength to be active ... as servants. “The greatest among you will be your servant,” says Jesus, (v. 11), standing to identify human needs and make an active effort to bring comfort, healing and hope.

The question for us, as followers of Jesus today, is this: Are we standing up and using our strength to serve others? Or, are we sitting down and focusing on ourselves?

The great surprise of Christian life is that we will feel good about ourselves only if we stand to serve others. In the upside-down logic of the kingdom of God, the humble one is always exalted and the servant is always the greatest. So if we are going to feel good about ourselves, we’re going to have to get out of our seats. We’re going to have to …

• Take a stand for the ill, the dying and the depressed. Are we strong enough to get on our feet and visit people in hospitals, hospices, and nursing homes?

• Take a stand for single parents struggling to survive. Are we strong enough to provide them with an occasional evening of babysitting, so that they can get out and shop or run errands?

• Take a stand for young people who are facing dangers and temptations. Are we strong enough to advise a youth group or chaperone for a summer mission trip? Talk with Nancy Stevens if you feel pumped up about this.

• Take a stand for the earth. Are we strong enough to reduce, reuse and recycle the materials we use in our daily lives, take action to reclaim a local stream or volunteer at an animal shelter?

• Take a stand for the homeless. Our church will do this beginning next Sunday night, by opening our doors to the homeless on cold winter nights, and giving them a hot meal, a warm sleeping bag, and a chance to have some friendly conversation. Speak with Lou Major if you can lend a strong hand in this way.

Christ calls you to stand and get to work, to identify human needs and then use your strength to bring comfort, healing and hope — the possibilities are limited only by your vision and your imagination.

To take such a stand, you’ll have to be strong. This will mean becoming active in a small group in our church, a place where you can develop a stronger relationship with Christ. This will also mean embarking on a program of building muscular strength and endurance, so that you can maximize your physical strength and keep your bones strong through all of life.

Strength training can be done a number of ways: Using weight-lifting machines, such as those you commonly find in gyms … lifting free weights, such as dumbbells and barbells … pushing against the weight of your own body, through push-ups or pull-ups … or stretching elastic tubes or bands.

Last summer, I went to visit an elderly member of our church, living in a retirement facility. When I walked in the door, he immediately showed me the elastic bands he was using for strength training. He wanted me to see how he stretched them in his exercise class. So, you see, it can be done by anyone … at any age.

Strength training is anything that works your muscles against resistance for the purpose of building strength, power, and endurance. I find that my own running is enhanced by regular push-ups and exercises with barbells. I don’t do as much as I should do, and Vik is always on my back about doing more strength training. It’s hard for me, but I know I have to do it. Like many of you, I started to lose bone and muscle mass in my 30s. Along with the muscle mass went my strength, and the loss continues — about 5 % per decade of life. The only way to stem this tide is to engage in some form of strength training.

I need to do it, and so do you — through weight-lifting, push-ups, or elastic bands. If you are unsure about what you can do, seek out a fitness coach. There is a method of strength training available to anyone.

One thing I should be clear about: The goal of strength training is not bulging biceps. Instead, it is developing the strength you need for personal health, and for service to others. When it comes time to push a wheelchair-bound member up the hill to church, to shovel snow for a neighbor, or to participate in Christmas in April / Rebuilding Together, you are going to want to be as strong as you possibly can be.

“Be strong in the Lord,” says Paul to the Ephesians, “and in the strength of his power” (6:10). I like what Peter Gomes says in his book Strength for the Journey, “It is not we who do Christ the favor of worshiping him; it is Christ who empowers us by strengthening us, and enabling us to fight for the things that are worth fighting for, the things that endure.”

Jesus was a man of strength, and he used his strength to serve others. He empowers us by strengthening us, and enabling us to take a stand for what is right, reach out to people in need, and change the world around us.

So, don’t just sit there. Instead, stand and serve others, in the strong name of Jesus Christ. Amen.