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HOLY HELP FOR THE HOPELESSWHO FINISH THE RACEHebrews 12:1-4INTRODUCTION In our passage this morning, the author of the letter to the Hebrews is returning to the central theme of his letter and the main reason for which he wrote it. His aim is to encourage these Christians to not quit being Christians but to endure in spite of the sufferings and threats of suffering that they are experiencing because they are Christians. The particular way that he aims to help them is by using the metaphor of a long distance race in the Olympic Games. You can see the metaphor in the first verse which creates a verbal picture of the Olympic stadium, crowded with people watching as the runners take off all their warm-up clothes and step onto the track and begin the race, which is a marathon, not a sprint. This race has to be run with endurance, not speed. You cannot run a marathon unless you are prepared to suffer because long distance running is painful. It is painful in the training as you have to say no to the enjoyment of an easy life and it is painful in the running. In the same way you cannot be a Christian runner unless you are prepared to suffer because the Christian race is long and painful. The temptation and pressure to stop, to drop out of the race is huge. In the case of these Christians the pain that is tempting them to drop out of the race is that caused by persecution. However, that is not the only kind of pain that pressures professing Christians and tempts us to quit the race. 1)I’ve met many formerly devout Christians over the years that have dropped out because of one too many disappointing relationships with other Christians. They don't go to church anymore, they say, because they just can’t take the hypocrisy any more. 2)Others are tempted to quit due to chronic physical or emotional pain. They simply cannot pretend to trust a god who does nothing to relieve their suffering. Others drop out because the rewards for obedience seem so minimal. This is especially true for those who are trying to be a faithful parent or spouse or active church member and there just does not seem to be any positive feedback or outcome in spite of faithful parenting or loving of a spouse or work in a church. 3)Others withdraw from running in the Christian marathon because they are tired of failure. They don’t want to be angry or filled with lust or full of worry and they ask God to take it away and they try to resist but they are weekly or daily faced with failure to do what they know they ought to do and not do what they know they should not do. So they simply stop, throw up their hands and say, “what’s the use, I’ll never get better.” 4)For still others the allurements of sin or of living a comfortable life in the U.S. are simply too great to resist. Living for momentary, short term pleasure which is so readily available to us is simply too easy and living for the long term pleasure of knowing God and going to heaven is just so vague and uncertain that we give in to food or shopping or sex or alcohol or vacations at the cottage or a perfect house or hunting or whatever titillating pleasure you prefer. This morning we are going to get a word of encouragement for weary runners. If you have ever felt weary of being a Christian; of being a faithful parent or spouse or friend; of fighting against sin; of denying yourself earthly pleasures so you can pursue a heavenly goal; this passage is for you. If you never have felt weary of being a Christian then I would ask to consider the possibility that you are not a Christian. There is no way to be a Christian without pain, without the temptation to quit, just like there is no way to be a marathon runner without pain. MAIN POINT Weary runners will find strength to continue by remembering…I. Those who went before (v. 1a-b) I need to say what the opening line of this verse is not saying before I can say what it is saying. What this is not saying is that dead Christians are watching us. This is a metaphor, a word picture, not a description of reality. Dead people do not know what is going on here on earth. Right now every dead person is a disembodied spirit either consciously living in the presence of God in heaven or living outside of God’s presence in hell. The status of all the dead is a temporary one, awaiting the return of Christ when he will reunite every dead person’s spirit with his or her body and then in that final judgment bring all of his embodied people to live with him in the physical, made of matter and energy new heavens and new earth and send all the wicked to what is called, in the book of Revelation, the eternal lake of fire where they will suffer as fully human, embodied spirits forever. I feel I need to say this because the idea that dead people are somehow watching us and even watching over us is so prevalent in our culture. There are numerous TV shows predicated on this idea and the language that people use at funerals and in reference to their departed loved ones is full of allusions to the presence and awareness of the dead in relation to us, the living. This is not a Christian or biblical idea but a pagan idea. Who is this cloud of witnesses and what exactly are they “witnessing to”? First of all, these witnesses are primarily all the people mentioned or alluded to in chapter 11. All of those people to whom God witnessed as having lived by faith by recording their stories in the OT are the primary people to whom the author is referring; beginning with Able and coming all the way to the last of the prophets, Malachi. All of these people have finished the race by faith and are now sitting in the stands so to speak, waiting for us to finish the race. They are not present to watch us but to bear testimony to the fact that the reward of living with God forever is worth whatever cost we may incur in obtaining it. The author’s point is that we ought to remember, to think about this great company of men and women whose stories are recorded in the Bible and in the pages of church history who lived by faith in the promises of God and thus successfully finished the race. The fact that so many others have done so should encourage us that if they did it, so can we. Two times I’ve run in the Syttende Mai race that is held on the Saturday closest to May 17 th which is the celebration of Norwegian independence from Sweden. The race is associated with the festival that is held in Stoughton, Wisconsin every spring. The race goes from the capital square in Madison to the fairgrounds in Stoughton and is 20 miles long. Both times it was a grueling race for me. The last 2-3 miles were nothing but pain. There are people lining the course all along the way cheering on the runners, especially when you get into Stoughton the people are standing shoulder to shoulder to cheer you on. It is somewhat helpful to be cheered on by all these spectators but the people who really are helpful are the ones who have already finished and have come back onto the race course and are cheering on those of us who are behind them. It is a great encouragement to see them and to know they made it and therefore, so can I. Their presence bears witness to the fact that the pain is worth it, the race is almost over and soon I too will be happy and smiling like they are now. I have received this same kind of help as I have read the Bible. I’ve been especially helped by the apostle Paul as I’ve read of his sins and his sufferings and of how God enabled him to repent of his sin and persevere in his sufferings. In Acts 20:24 Paul says to the elders from Ephesus: “I consider my life worth nothing to me if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me; the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.” If Paul can live like this, then so can I. The year after I became a Christian, I read the journal of Jim Elliot, one of the martyred missionaries to the Auca Indians. His widow, Elizabeth Elliot published it. His passion for Christ; his determination to live his life for Christ were incredibly helpful to me as a young Christian in understanding that the purpose of life was not to get a piece of the American Dream. His famous quote has inspired me on many occasions to persevere in following Christ, “A man is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” Here is the reason to not only read your Bible but to read the biographies of famous Christians so that you will see their example of a life of faith and imitate them. They bear witness to the fact that a life lived for Christ, no matter the cost, is worth it. I want you to notice what it is that we are particularly to imitate. “…let us also lay aside very weight and sin which clings so closely and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” The key word is “also”, which is not translated in the NIV. Just as they laid aside every weight and the entanglements of sin and ran with endurance, so should we. The word picture is easy to understand. Just as a runner strips down to the bare essentials so that nothing hinders his running, so should we get rid of every hindrance to running. But what is the weight and the entangling sin? As I’ve studied this, I’ve become convinced that he is not referring to two things but to one. A more literal translation would be: “laying aside every weight, that is, all the sins which so easily entangle us and trip us up.” In other words, what is the only thing that can keep you from finishing the race? Your sin is the only thing that can stop you. Other people can’t stop you. Sickness and accidents and poverty can’t stop you. The only thing that can stop you from finishing the race is you, your sin, your refusal to obey God and do what he wants you to do. This is such good news. Your disobedient child cannot stop you from being a Christian and going to heaven. Your chronic illness cannot stop you. Your dead end job cannot hinder you from being a follower of Christ. The only thing that can stop you, is you. You cannot always get the perfect life you dreamed of here on planet earth but you can always live like a Christian and go to heaven. If the point of your life is finishing the race as a Christian then you are never in a hopeless situation. All you have to do is get rid of your sins, which are your strategies to find happiness apart from God. There is another piece of really good news contained in here. Let’s just remember David, the boy that by faith killed Goliath thus putting the entire Philistine army to flight and by faith escaped being killed by the sword of Saul. He ran the race by setting aside sin. He refused to sin by killing Saul when he had the chance. He didn’t turn to worshipping idols when being chased through the desert and finally having to take refuge in a Philistine city. He didn't turn away from God because of his suffering. He laid aside sin, running the race by faith. However, did David never sin? Of course not. God not only bore testimony to David’s laying aside sin by faith but he also bore witness to David’s sin of adultery and murder. But then he also shows us David’s repentance from sin and faith in God, his savior by recording David’s prayer of repentance and faith, which is Psalm 51. Laying aside sin does not mean being perfect but it does mean recognizing sin as your enemy. We realize, as John Owen said, “Either be killing sin or sin will be killing you.” We kill sin, we lay it aside, both by avoiding it by faith and by repenting of it by faith. Weary runners will find strength to continue by remembering…
II. God has laid out the course (v. 1c) I’m not going to say much about this but it is very important for you to notice. The race course that you must run is laid out for you by God himself. While every course of every Christian has similarities, no two courses are identical. The course God laid out for Abraham was different than the one he laid out for Samson, which was different from the one he laid out for Isaiah. More than a few people have quit running because they didn’t like the course God set before them in comparison to some other Christian’s course. You are not in charge of the length or level of difficulty of your course or of any one else’s course. God sovereignly and specifically sets out the course he wants you to run. He is perfect in his knowledge and wisdom and goodness and love. The race we are in is more like a steeplechase than a simple marathon. There are obstacles placed along the way by the hand of our merciful and loving Father. Our task is not to understand why our course has a particular obstacle and someone else’s course does not. Our task is to run with endurance along the course God has laid out for us. This has been such a helpful thing to know in my Christian life. It has been helpful as I have been confronted by various difficulties to remember that this difficulty has specifically been placed here by my Father and so I don’t need to be afraid. I can live by faith through this because God never places an obstacle on the trail that is intended to destroy me. Rather every obstacle is there for me to learn more deeply that he is sufficient. Anything that shows me my weakness is a good thing because then I must rely on his strength. This has also helped me to not be jealous of others who have it “easier” than I do at the moment or to lose hope when confronted with far greater difficulties than others. Also, knowing that God sets out the course for every Christian helps us to help others. One of the things that inhibits our ability to help others is that sense of hopelessness when we see the severity of another’s problems. Yet if we know that God put the problem there so they can live by faith through it, then I can help because my goal isn’t to fix the problem but to help the person live by faith in the midst of the problem. If I thought I had to fix everyone’s problems I would quit being a pastor. My job and your job is to help others live by faith in the course that God has set for them, not to give them a different course. Weary runners will find strength to continue by remembering…
III. Jesus finished (vv. 2-4) The main encouragement that this passage contains for weary runners is this one. We are enabled to run with endurance the race set before us by looking to, paying attention to Jesus. You will never finish the race if you only look at merely human examples. You will not finish the race if you pay attention to yourself. The only way to run with endurance and thus to finish is by looking to Jesus. The verb that is translated “let us fix our eyes on” in the NIV and “Looking to” in the ESV and “looking unto” in the NKJV is a rare compound word that contains the idea of looking away from one thing in order to look at another thing. In other words, our attention is fixed on one object and ignores all other objects. This is exactly what a runner must do. If you run looking around at the scenery or the other runners you are going to stumble and fall. You must keep your attention focused on what lies ahead and those who are ahead. Ultimately you must keep your attention fixed on the finish line and the reward that awaits you. In addition the tense of the verb is in the present tense which means this is something we are to do all the time. The only way to keep on running is to keep on looking at Jesus only. Why are we to keep on looking to Jesus? The first thing we are told is that he is the author and perfecter of our faith. This means two things. First, Jesus lived his life from beginning to end by faith. He began his life by faith and he came to the end of his life by faith. Therefore, he is the best example of a life lived by faith. We are told in numerous places that the goal of salvation is to be made into the image of Jesus. What that means is that we are to live by faith in God's promises just like Jesus did. In a minute we will look at how he did that but for right now the first thing that Jesus being the author and perfecter of our faith means is that he is the best example of a life lived by faith. The example of Jesus was a tremendous help for me when I was sitting by my son Jared's hospital bed while his brain swelled and I waited to see whether he would live or die. I thought much about the fact that Jesus suffered and endured and therefore I should not expect different treatment. I can endure because he endured far greater suffering than I or Jared ever have or ever will. The second thing this phrase means is that Jesus is the one who secures all the promises of God for us. He is the one who provides for us all God has promised to give. He is the originator of salvation and he is the one who completes the work of salvation. This has been a major theme in this letter. Jesus is our high priest and our sacrifice and our mediator. By his life, death, resurrection and present intercession he has obtained for all who trust in him all the blessings of heaven. God loves us now and is ruling over all things for our eternal joy and we have a secure inheritance, reserved in heaven for us that can never perish, spoil or fade. We will live with God forever one day. We have the presence and help of the Holy Spirit who shows us the glory of Christ and enables us to successfully resist sin. All of these benefits and more belong to us because of Jesus and so we must, every day fix our eyes on Jesus as the one who has written and bought our ticket and will make sure that the train makes it safely to our heavenly home. You do not fix your eyes on what you are doing or not doing but on what Christ has done and is doing and will do. In my own experience and in the experience of many I counsel this is a major problem. We spend too much time fixing our attention on our own experience and performance and so we either grow self satisfied or despair. Jesus is the only one who can enable you to run and make sure that you do not stumble but make it safely to the end of the race. It is because he is the author and finisher of our faith that you can be confident that God will reward you with the crown of righteousness when you cross the finish line and not send you to hell. It is him only that you must trust. The second half of v. 2 describes for us how it is that Jesus became the author and perfecter of our faith. The first thing to notice is that it was by enduring the cross that Jesus both exemplifies faith and becomes the object of our faith. His death on that Roman cross is both the highest example of a human trusting God's promises and it is also the means by which Jesus becomes our mediator, the one who guarantees for us all the blessings of God. The fact that he endured it implies, as the famous church father Chrysostom said, "…it was in his power, if he so willed, to not suffer at all." (See John 10:17ff.) Therefore the key question is: how did he willingly go to that cross? He did two things: he looked forward to the joy and he despised the shame of the cross. It is in these two phrases that we find tremendous help in running the race God has set before us. Jesus knew that the cross was the only way that he could obtain maximum joy. He knew that the only way he could be finally and fully happy was if he willingly went to that bloody cross. What is the joy that Jesus died to obtain? The idea fits very well into the metaphor of a race. Why do runners run the race? They run for the joy of finishing and winning and the celebration that follows. What is the joy that Jesus anticipated? It was the joy of obtaining the salvation of all God's people so that the Father was glorified in a maximum way. You can see this in Jesus' prayer, which he prayed just before his arrest and is recorded in John 17. He says, " Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began." Jesus lived in the joyful anticipation of saving all the people his Father gave to him so that he would be glorified as a great savior for sinners and his father would be glorified as the greatest and best of all beings. The only way for the Father to be viewed and admired as both a just and loving God was for Jesus to die. The only way for the son to be viewed and admired as a submissive son and a loving savior was for him to die. The only way for all those who trust in Christ to be forgiven and brought to live with the Father in heaven forever was for the son to die. Therefore, in order to obtain maximum joy the Son of God died on that cross. What does it mean that he despised the shame? First, the shame he despised is the humiliation of being the only perfect person to ever live on this planet and yet to be treated as if he was the worst sort of criminal in such a public way. He was the object of human hatred and criticism and judgment and cruelty and yet he was the only one who ever deserved love and loyalty. He was treated the way our culture treats pedophiles and serial murderers. He thought it nothing to be treated like dirt in light of the joy set before him. In addition, the shame he despised was the shame of being treated as God's enemy. This word "shame" is most often associated with God's judgment of his enemies in the OT. God repeatedly says that he is going to bring shame upon the disobedient. So it was not only the shame of being treated like the worst sort of criminal by humans but that he was treated as the worst sort of sinner by God himself on that cross. This is the shame that he despised. This means he did not think it anything to be treated so badly by God and man because he knew what waited on the other side of the cross. This is simply one of the most remarkable statements in the Bible. Jesus paid no attention to the shame in view of joy. He is now seated at God's right hand where he waits. Jesus' joy is not yet full. He has done the hard work, now he waits for that final day when all of God's people will be raised from the dead and the entire creation will be restored to its original condition and the Triune God will be glorified in the praises of his people forever. On a fairly regular basis I displease and disappoint members of my family. I know this because they tell me so. Each time they express their disappointment I find in myself a great desire to defend and justify myself. I find great resistance in me to take responsibility for what I have done and to ask forgiveness. I do not want to be humiliated in the eyes of my family. Therefore, regularly I must remember the joy that is set before me. The joy of being loved by God, having my sins forgiven and going to heaven and then I must despise the "shame" of humbling myself to my family and asking to be forgiven without any excuses for my bad behavior. This is but one example of the scores of ways that we must daily look to the joy in order to despise the "shame" of not getting what we want or being treated the way we want. In vv. 3-4 we are told to pay attention to the fact that Jesus endured such hostility from sinful men; a hostility that resulted in his death. Why should we pay attention to the suffering of Jesus? We need to compare what he endured to what we are enduring and realize that we have suffered nothing compared to him and so we can bear up, we can endure. This is not the kind of encouragement that our therapeutic culture would recommend giving to people who are suffering. What the author is saying is that what you and I are suffering is very little compared to him and so quit your whining and keep living by faith. The idea here is this: if Jesus, the perfect and eternal Son of God suffered as he did then how can you expect to not suffer at all? You are the follower of a crucified savior and so you should expect to suffer and any suffering you endure will not even come close to his suffering. Amy Carmichael left her home in Ireland in 1901 when she was 35 years old and went to live in southern India where she died, still unmarried, at the age of 83 without ever returning home again. The last 20 years of her life she was bedridden due to an injury she sustained in a fall. She founded an orphanage and hospital and a ministry that rescued babies and children who had no one else to care for them and who were in either moral or physical danger. The ministry she began continues to this day. She was a prolific writer and wrote a tremendous poem that communicates the necessity of every follower of Christ embracing a life of suffering loss for the sake of Christ. Have you no scar? No hidden scar on foot, or side, or hand? Weary runners will find strength to continue by remembering…
III. What happens to those who lose the struggle (v. 4) In v. 4 the metaphor is slightly changed. We are not in a race but in a wrestling match or a boxing match with sin. In other words, as in the first verse, our struggle is not with those persons or circumstances that are pressuring us to quit. My struggle is always with my sin. My biggest problem is always my sin, not the sins of others or the circumstances of my life. Sin is seeking always to dominate me. Sin is always promising me a better, more pleasurable salvation. Will I believe the joy promised me by sin is what I really need or will I believe the joy promised me by God through Christ is what I really need? Each day I am in a wrestling match with sin. Will I believe that living the American Dream is what will make me happy or will I believe that dying to my rights to have life go my way in order that I might know Jesus and go to heaven is the most certain way to be happy? Jesus is quite clear about the importance of this struggle. He says that if you seek to save your life in this world then you will most certainly lose it in the next. If you lose the struggle with sin by believing its promises instead of believing the promises of God he will say to you on that final day, "I never knew you. Go away from me you evildoer." Weary runners will find strength to continue by remembering…
© Copyright 2007 John Swanson.
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