Did you know that on the first week in February the International 500 Mile
Snowmobile will take place? For the 48th time! Where on snow and ice racers
will travel at speeds exceeding 100 mph in near zero degree weather? Now that’s
hard core....that’s racing. Also next year The Race of Gentlemen will offer a
west coast venue at Pismo Beach? You can be assured I will be there, as vintage
cars from 1932-45, and pre-1945 motorcycles race a 1/8 mile on the sand-for fun
and bragging rights. And the right coast version has moved to June in Wildwood,
New Jersey. Whoever said nothing good comes out of Jersey? Check both events
out on the internet. It seems that within the heart of man, whenever two or
more are gathered, they want to race. Whether it is comparing 401k’s, size of
house, trophy wives, or even race cars, the competition begins. We want to win,
or at least to compete and not lose. I was never much of a racer, I ride for
fun, but one afternoon from Golden to New Madrid, New Mexico I answered, or more
precisely the dare. And I found in me a competitive spirit I thought I had
lost...
Being the new kid in town, I had moved to Albuquerque only 8 months before,
I was selling motorcycles at Motorsport, BMW, Suzuki, and Triumph. I owned a
1974 R90S, that had been tuned by a friend at Lindner’s shop in Connecticut
before I left, and it ran fast. The sound through the Dunstall pipes was like
the sirens sweetly singing, to anyone who heard them. And on that fateful day,
I would need all the horsepower, speed, courage on the edge of stupidity, and
luck I could muster. On Highway 14, the road to the Crest, a little tavern that
was the town of Golden sits, and meeting a braggart there, with his all girl fan
club tested me. He carried in his white Chevy van Ron Pierce’s #4 Daytona racer
Yamaha 350. Not your basic bike, the one that had raced at Daytona, when Ron
was a national #4 racer. It was geared to do over 140mph, and he liked to go
out and race it against others, who didn’t know what the bike was. He kept
pushing me, and I refused, until my pride was so insulted it couldn’t back down,
and we raced. Nothing formal, just a seven mile race on the road between Golden
and New Madrid, now just Madrid as seen in the biker movie Wild Hogs. 30 years
before. Non-yuppie then. And the race was on...
According to road tests at the time, the BMW was geared for 124-fast at
the time. He took off, and ran faster for a while, until the curves. Who said
BMW’s don’t handle? And after awhile I passed him, in one set of curves, going
over 100 mph. He backed off, I slid sideways, but kept it up and passed him.
By the time he got to the end, I was parked in front of the mine shaft museum
with my helmet off. Maybe it is the rider after all, it was that day. He told
me “that bike is fast, but you’re nuts passing me the way you did and sliding.”
And so a sedate ride back followed, and when the girls ran to meet him, ready to
celebrate, I let him lead, he muttered how I had won, threw the bike in his van,
and left with his cheerleaders in tow. Maybe second place isn’t so bad. But by
the next morning the word was on the street, and guys I never heard of were
coming into the shop to meet me. Some to challenge me. Some to see the bike.
It seems he was a local hero or legend, at least in his own mind, and I had beat
him. And now others wanted to see me race. And I never did. For it had scared
me pretty good too, and now you know. I had won the race, the only race I would
ever race, and retired undefeated. 1-0.
Another time 2000 years ago, two men met, and one challenged the other.
Nicodemus, aka Nick at Night, had met with Jesus. Both powerful and influential
men, Nicky had heard of Jesus, and wanted to meet him. Nicky was a Pharisee,
head of the Sanhedrin, and a wealthy and powerful man. If nothing else but
reputation he deserved heaven. He kept all the Mosaic laws, performed his
priestly duties, and was well loved and respected. His opening line
acknowledged Jesus as coming from God, as no one could do the things he did if
not from God. Things no man had ever done before-even the mighty Pharisees.
But Jesus told him “you must be born again.” He cut right to the chase, not
mixing words. You see without a spiritual change, you cannot enter heaven a
spiritual place. You must be born of the spirit, a new birth, that Nicky like
many of us try translate into physical terms. Living in a physical world that
is only natural, what we need is super natural. We need the spirit to point us
to Jesus to be saved.
You see Nicodemus had won all the races of the human race. Accolades
befell him no matter his peer group. He was rich, powerful, and religious. All
the things of success in the world, quite the opposite of Jesus who was poor,
but powerful in love, and anything but religious. In fact, the Pharisees were
his enemies. And Nicky was one, but his heart was about to change. He was
about to be a new creation in Christ, born again in the spirit, born of an
incorruptible seed, and become a new hope, passing from death unto life. And he
left pondering the words of Jesus, as we do, until 20 chapters later in John,
where he risks everything calling for the body of Jesus after his crucifixion.
He called on Jesus after his death, and we can too. For Jesus has been
resurrected just as he said he would be, and is alive, calling to us to be born
again. By the spirit so we can defeat death and live in heaven with him. Jesus
fulfilled an emptiness in Nicky that he hadn’t counted on, his life and style
still left him empty, only Jesus could fulfill the God shaped vacuum in his
life, and ours. Today may be the first time you encounter Jesus, but someday
the spirit will call and ask you “who is Jesus?” Some say teacher, or rabbi,
great teacher. But only the spirit reveals his deity, and when you see that,
you can repent and be born again. No matter where, how, or what you are. No
matter the race or machine, you can be a winner. And retire one with a simple
victory in Christ.
Now racing in zero degree weather may sound crazy, so does a 1/8 mile in
the sand for nothing but recognition. What was I thinking that afternoon? We
don’t always race for a trophy, but we do race to win. I did that day, and
would on other bikes over other courses. But never with the drive and intensity
of that afternoon. Now I choose my races better, and like my battles I win
more. But when I won the prize of heaven in Jesus, then I became a real winner,
with a testimony to share with others. Nicky met him in a garden in town, I met
him on the beach in Santa Monica. Each race venue for salvation will be
different, and you can claim victory in it in Jesus. But you will race, and you
will be a competitor. Why not join the winning team and enjoy life, and heaven
too? Nick at Night met Jesus, and his forever changed. You see you will be
challenged as I was that afternoon, in a situation where you cannot back down.
Today I issue the challenge to you, life in Jesus or death. Born again or
death. Heaven or hell. The gospel is simple, you must be born again. No
second place finish for heaven, truly second is first loser in forever. Today
you can win the race of life, running what you brung, but leaving it behind. If
the richest Pharisee, head of the Sanhedrin gave it all up for heaven, what have
you to lose to gain it all? You never know where or when the next challenge
will come from. I know Jesus, and I won the race of life.
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com