Running with Endurance

Announce Text

Turn with me in your Bibles to Hebrews 12.

Scripture Introduction (longer than normal as a 1-off sermon)

The twelfth chapter in Hebrews culminates a vivid section filled with illustrations on the nature of faith. Hebrews 11:1 provides a definition for this kind of faith saying “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” The author goes on to list 16 men and women who had this faith and endured but who “did not recieve what was promised.” (Heb 11:39) Hebrews 12:1-3 draws us back to this faith and these people, even as it points us forward to Christ the author and perfector of our faith.

[Reannounce and read text]

Join me in reading this portion of God's word from Hebrews 12:1-3

Hebrews 12:1–3 (ESV)

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

(Dt 8.3 “...man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” Amen.

[Prayer for Illumination]

Let us draw near to the Lord in prayer, asking that he might nourish us through his word.

“Our Lord and our Father, we come to you now, the God who speaks, and ask that we might hear from you. We know that there is nothing lacking, broken, or deficient in your word, but that without the work of your Spirit, we are unable to hear truly. Holy Spirit, make us hearers who ‘read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest’ the scriptures. And in so doing, ‘embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.’ (BCP 1552)

INTRODUCTION

Ultramarathons are the one of the greatest tests of athletic endurance. These races range from 50 km to several hundred kms in length. In 1983, the inaugural Sydney to Melbourne Ultramarathon took place, with the route covering 875 km (544 mi). The race’s unlikely winner was 61-year-old potato farmer and shepherd Cliff Young. When the race started, he was quickly left behind by the other younger, more experienced runners. However, most of these runners had planned to run for 18 hours and sleep for six. Cliff Young ran continuously. His shuffling style allowed him to continue without the need for breaks. For five days, fifteen hours, and four minutes Cliff Young ran with endurance while others stopped and started around him. Athletic images fill the pages of the new testament, and perhaps no image is more well known than the scene of a race in Hebrews 12. However, this race is not a 100m dash for the world’s most powerful sprinters. No, this race set before us is a race of endurance. It is a race for shufflers, like Cliff Young, who keep running, and running, and running.

[Scripture Bond]

The letter to the Hebrews was written to Christians who were tempted to return to their former lives in Judaism. They had begun to face increasing persecution and difficulties because of their faith. Therefore the writer exhorts them to run the Christian life with endurance, despite the challenges they face.

[FCF]

This temptation to give up and turn back is not unique to first century Christians. Each one of us can grow weary from the difficulties of life, the cares of this world, our remaining sinfulness, and the persecution we face. But for us weary shufflers, the author of Hebrews gives us the blessed truth that Christ has finished the work of redemption.

[Proposition]

This is not merely some abstract, disconnected truth. It is as if the author grabs us by the hand and tells us: Because Christ has finished the work of redemption, let us run with endurance.

[Analytical Question]

It is one thing to hear the call to run with endurance, but a question remains. How can we run with endurance?

[Billboard]

Hebrews 12:1-3 answers that question in three ways: we must prepare, we must focus, and we must remember. Our first answer takes place before the race begins.

[Main Point 1]

How can I run with endurance? PREPARE TO RUN (v1)

Three preparations are necessary for us to run with endurance.

[Subpoint 1]

First, Prepare to run by recognizing you are not the first runner.

The writer begins chapter 12 with the significant word ‘therefore’. This word links our passage back to the previous chapter which detailed the faith of so many Old Testament saints. Notice that he does not say ‘Therfore, run with endurance’ immediately after recording the examples of faith. Certainly that would have been motivation enough. Instead, in a much more personal way, the writer includes the phrase “since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses.” It is as if the author ushers in all the people mentioned in Hebrews 11, and so many more into the stadium seats surrounding the start of the race.

Normally, such an influx of people to watch an athletic event would have an anxiety-inducing effect on the participants. Yet, these are far more than merely specators cheering. The author uses the word “witnesses” intentionally. Instead of imagining a stadium full of people who want to witness our racing greatness, we ought to imagine a stadium filled with people who serve as a witness to God’s faithfulness in their lives. John Owen writes that it’s as if “all the saints of the old testament… stand looking on us in our striving, encouraging us unto our duty, and ready to testify unto our success with their applauses. They are all placed about us unto this end; we are “compassed” with them. And they are so in the Scripture; wherein they, being dead, yet see, and speak, and bear testimony.” (221)

You are not alone dear Christian, nor are you the first to run this race of endurance. When you are tempted to despair because you feel like a sojourner in a strange land, know that God did not abandon Abraham when he lived in a foreign land. When you are tempted to place your hope in the city of man, remember Abraham who looked forward to the “city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.” When you are tempted by all that the world has to offer, remember Moses who “considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.” (Heb. 11:26) When you are tempted to compromise on the gospel, remember Martin Luther who faced the forces of the emperor and refused to recant his cofession of faith. When you are tempted to lose hope when you struggle with sickness and death, remember the faithful sufferings of a dear saint, perhaps known only to you, but who has joined the cloud of witnesses which stretches all the way back to Abel. Prepare to run by recognizing you are not the first runner.

[Subpoint 2]

Second, prepare to run by dealing with obstacles. The author continues in verse 1 saying, “let us also lay aside every weight, and the sin which clings so closely.”

Here, the author is using what would have been a familiar image for his readers, and one that also translates to our day. In the first century, athletic races began with the contestants laying aside their clothing, which prevented them from running well. Just imagine how difficult it would have been to run in a competitive race wearing a toga. But we also recognize this image. Picture Olympic athletes approaching the starting line. What are they wearing? If you said tight-fitting, light weight, aerodynamic clothing you would only be partially right. Before running, they are almost always dressed in much warmer, much more normal clothing. However, as the countdown to the starting gun gets nearer, off comes the heavy tracksuit which would have slowed them down.

‘Every weight’ or sometimes translated ‘hindrances’ are those things which are not necessarily sinful, but that which remains an obstacle to running well. The author is intentionally unspecific, but some general guidelines may be helpful. In your life, what things are both unnecessary and make it harder to follow Christ. There are perhaps many things which we think make it hard to follow Christ, but which are actually necessary to following him. For example, if someone would say, like some did in the early church, my family is making it harder for me to follow Christ, I must lay them off as a weight or hindrance and join a monastary. On the contrary, Scripture is clear that part of following Christ and running to him means loving one’s family as a Christian. On the other hand, there are those things that are a part of our life that we know we don’t need and which make running to Christ harder. The author calls us to consider here what those things may be and to lay them aside as a sprinter lays aside his heavy tracksuit.

More than just hindrances, however, there is also ensaring or clinging sin which we must lay aside. Unlike weights, which may be different for different people, we are all called to lay aside that which is sin. While these weights make it hard to run, this sin clings closer than the weights, and is more serious than the weights.

[Subpoint 3]

Prepare to run by understanding the race.

Verse 1 continues, “let us run with endurance the race that is set before us”. This is the final aspect of our preparation. Included here is the main command of the passage: “Let us run.” It is important, however, before taking off, to understand the race we are called to run. This is an endurance race, not a sprint. The idea of endurance is one that the author threads throughout this passage. In verse 1 he says, “let us run with endurance...”, in verse 2 Jesus “endured the cross...”, and in verse 3 Christ “endured from sinners such hostility”. When describing the traits necessary for a 100m sprint, endurance is not one that comes to mind. Further, the percentage of people in the world who could ever find success as olympic sprinters is incredibly small. Yet, a comparitively large number of people engage in races of great endurance. One commentator adds that the image in view is running to complete the race, not to running to overtake competitors. [Ellingworth, 639] Friends, it is not as though we are lining up in the starting blocks, looking to our left and seeing several of the apostles, and looking to our right and seeing other modern examples of godliness and knowing that there will be only one winner of this race. By no means!

[Illustration]

Imagine that before his final race in the Olympics, Usain Bolt was confused about where he was supposed to be going. Instead of walking down the tunnel toward the track for the 100m sprint, he found himself next to Eliot Kipchoge and the other marathoners. Now, as ridiculous as it seems, imagine that Usain Bolt didn’t notice, but when the starter’s gun sounded, he employed the exact same strategy as his normal practice. After racing to an incredible lead, his smile would flash on his face, arms outstretched and his pace would slow to a jog and a walk. About this time, a great cloud of athletes would race past him. At this point, Bolt would realise that his sprinter’s spikes were the wrong attire for this race and that he had the wrong goals and poor strategy. We must understand that this is a race of endurance.

Not only must we understand the nature of the race, but we must also understand the race designer. This passage makes it clear that each of us runs to Christ, but God is also the one who has set the race before us. It is not as though the end (Christ) is known and our starting position known but the vast middle remains a mystery. A knowledge of the course is particlarly important for endurance races. If you look at down the straightaway at a 400m track, you can see the beginning, middle, and end. But should you look at the course of a marathon, or especially an ultramarathon, you will not be able to see beyond the very beginning of the race.

[Application]

Beloved, as you face uncertainties, difficulties, and trials as you run to Christ, know that your Father in Heaven is the one who has set the course. He is the one who has numbered your days and who guides your path. As certain as Christ is at the end of the race, so too the middle is certain in the mind of God. We must be prepared to run the Christian race. No amount of zeal or energy will compensate for being unprepared. Let us learn from those before us, address obstacles to running well, and understand the race ahead.

Let us ask that key question of ourselves again.

[Main Point 2]

How can I run with endurance? FOCUS ON JESUS (v2)

Verse 2 says “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” The main idea of the verse is the first phrase ‘looking to Jesus’ or ‘keeping our eyes on Jesus’ or ‘fixing our eyes on Jesus’. The idea here is constant looking, or looking away from and looking to Jesus. How can we run with endurance? Focus on Jesus. Everything that comes afterward is an explanation of who this Jesus is and why we ought to focus on him.

[Subpoint 1]

Focus on Jesus’ the exemplar.

[Subpoint 2]

Focus on Jesus’ endurance. There is some debate about what the phrase, “for the joy that was set before him endured the cross". However, when taken in context, especially with Hebrews 11. The meaning of the verse grows in clarity. In Hebrews 11, the author describes a ‘great cloud of witnesses’ who had faith in the promises of God. These people had the “assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” It was the Old Testament saints who did not recieve “the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar” they “acknowledged that they were straners and exiles on the earth.” Throughout the chapter, therefore, there is the hope of future blessings which sustain faith and endurance through trials.

The same is true, yet is much greater concerning Christ. When Christ considered the cross, it is as if he was able to see not through the cross like it didn’t exist, but he could see beyond the cross also. He saw the joy that was on the other side of the cross and was therefore able to endure the greatest suffering imaginable.

[Subpoint 3]

Focus on Jesus’ exaltation.

[Illustration]

When I was about eight years old, my family moved to a newly built farm. There were open spaces everywhere. There were no fences, no trees, and the lawn had not yet been planted. Wherever you looked, there was dirt, apart from a narrow gravel driveway. At this time, I was priveleged to have a small 80cc quadbike. At our previous home, there were many things to avoid on the quadbike, but not so here at our new house. And yet, one day, I was riding along the vast expanse of dirt toward the newly built barn. This barn would have been over 50m wide. With ample time to turn and space in every other direction, I foxused my eyes on the barn and proceeded to hit the side of the barn. As much as I may have wanted to turn away from the barn, my focus made it impossible. This may be a silly illustration, but the story highlights the truth of the passage. When we focus on Jesus, we will run to Jesus.

[Application]

Beware of the things which draw your eyes away from Jesus. There is a great danger to grow dissatisfied with the person and work of Jesus Christ. As we run with endurance there may be many things which draw our eyes away from Christ. I fear that some Christians, in the pursuit of maturity, want to move on from the basics of the faith to other ‘deeper things’. To be sure, the Bible warns against immaturity, but in context those passages concern Christians who were being drawn away from Christ, not those who refused to move on to greater and more complex truths than those concerning Christ’s person and work. The apostle Paul himself declared to the Corinthians that he “decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” (1 Cor 2.2) Spiritual knowledge and spiritual maturity apart from a focus on Christ is a worthless pursuit which will become a focus in itself rather than the path en route to Christ himself.

Christ has finished the work of redemption, we must, therefore, prepare to run, and focus on him. How else can we run with endurance?

[Main Point 3]

REMEMBER YOUR HOPE (v3)

[Subpoint 1]

What are we remembering? Christ’s endurance

At first glance, it seems unclear how this point differs significantly from the call to ‘look to Jesus…[who] endured...” in verse 2. Yet, the author’s word choice gives us a great insight into how verse three builds on what has come before.

In verse 2, the author call us to look away from all other things and look to Jesus, to focus on him. Here, we are to consider, to meditate upon, to think deeply about, to remember Christ’s endurance.

Chrysostom rightly understands this as “an allusion to the full range of abuses that befell Jesus in his passion.” Think of what Christ endured.

He endured the betrayal of a close friend. He endured the unjust trial. He endured the mocking taunts of the soldiers, the beatings, the abuse hurled at him. He endured death on the cross. All these things Christ endured and more. Whatever your sufferings they are known to Christ. But not known in an abstract removed way; beloved, your sufferings are known to Christ experientially.

[Subpoint 2]

Why are we Remembering? So that we may not grow weary.

This language of weariness and faintheartedness is used outside the NT of “runners who collapse after they have passed the finishing post.” (Morris, 12.135) But you, Christian, are not done running yet, so these things, and particularly Christ’s endurance are given here so that you may endure and continue looking forward to the rest that is to come.

This is our hope. We follow a saviour who suffered for us and before us. For while our endurance is not yet over, Christ’s sufferings have ceased. His work of redemption is done, and just as we follow him in his sufferings, and just as his endurance is our comfort, so too will we follow him in his resurrection. There is coming a day when endurance is no longer needed because sufferings will cease, just as Christ’s endurance has been completed. May we not grow weary, and may we consider the sufferings of our saviour.

[Application]

Christ is our sympathetic high priest (Heb 4:14-16), he has endured longer and greater sufferings than we ever will, and nothing you suffer for his sake is foreign to him. Go to him in your sufferings. No one knows your sufferings better than Christ himself, draw near to him in your sufferings. Remember Jesus, the suffering King, is your tender high priest.

CONCLUSION–[Final Illustration for Main Point 3 Philip Brooks Method]

[Recap] Beloved, Jesus Christ has completed his great work of redemption. For our sake he came to earth to live, suffer, and die. Having endured this suffering he was raised and now reigns in glory. Having seen his person and work, let us run with endurance toward him, preparing well, focusing on him, and remembering our hope.

[Illustration]

Scholars have long wondered how the soldiers in Alexander the Great’s army endured on their incredible journeys of conquest. His troops travelled on foot from Europe, to Africa, and throughout Asia. Alexander’s empire spread from the Greek Islands in the north west to Egypt in the south, before marching east through modern day Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan to the border of India. Such a distance is hard to fathom, even more so when considered from the perspective of a foot soldier. So how did Alexander keep the “love of his soldiers even through times of exasperation” as one classicist put it? He was the ‘first up the ladder while his troops hung back’. He ‘headed every major assault, probably more often wounded than any other man in his army.’ He was part of the group who looked for water when there was none to be found in the desert. How did Alexander’s men endure their walk from Greece to India? They served a general who led by example and suffered for their sake.

Friends, as Great as Alexander was, oh how he pales in comparison to Jesus. For Alexander founded an empire that splintered upon his death. Jesus Christ, the founder and perfector of our faith, accomplished through his death the victory over sin, death, and satan. Moreover, through his resurrection and ascension, he now rules and reigns from the right hand of the throne of God. Alexander may have suffered wounds at the hands of enemies, but Christ willingly laid down his life, even though no one could take it from him. How much greater his sacrifice, how much greater his endurance of hostility from sinners knowing that his suffering was not coerced or forced. The maker of the universe willingly suffered at the hands of his creatures in order that he might save them. His work of redemption is complete, let us run toward him.

[Closing Prayer]

Father, thank you for calling us to follow you. Thank you for readying us to run this race.