Eyes On Jesus
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Introduction
Introduction
Happy Friday! I have really been looking forward to this moment, getting to speak at chapel. I’m thankful that Mr. Lo not only gave me this opportunity but also set me up perfectly this week in preparation for what I was going to speak about this week. If you remember that two weeks ago, before the holiday, we spoke about having endurance through our struggles. I would like to continue thinking about what he said. My hope is that you all take away something today that will allow you to leave here with an increased joy and a hope. So, that is why we are going to start with talking about pain.
You may be thinking how does pain have anything to do with joy? Why talk about pain at all? It’s a painful subject. I know for many people, pain is regular thing you endure on a daily basis. Trust me I understand the pain of having no sleep. Or the pain that comes from losing a loved one. Or the pain of embarrassment. Or the pain that comes from something that was expected and then suddenly dissolves. So whether it be physical pain or emotional pain or spiritual pain, pain hurts.
Those of you who have run on a cross country team before understand this idea of pain well. It is no mistake that the Bible uses the idea of running in a race as an example of expressing faith; it is painful to always express faith! The original language of the Bible uses a word for race that can actually mean a lot of different things. It could mean a race or a contest or a competition, but it is also possible for it to be more generally used as a struggle or a fight. An example of this use is in which states, “Fight the good fight of faith.” That doesn’t sound much like a race, but those of you who run know what I’m talking about when we think about running being like a fight. A fight that seems to sometimes achieve very little.
I want to look at a particular passage from the Bible today that speaks of this race of faith. And though I will talk about this race as a type of pain we must endure, I want to give encouragement to you today as well.
The passage we are reading today is .
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, 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.
Amen.
In order for us to understand this passage, I think it is important that we back up an examine what came right before this. Why?
Our faith should be based on examples from the past
Our faith should be based on examples from the past
Because whenever a verse in the Bible says “therefore”, it is asking its listener to go back and observe what was just said. In the case of , we need to go all the way back and look at . What does talk about? The whole chapter is devoted to explaining how people demonstrated faith before the time of Jesus. This is commonly asked question: how was a person pronounced right before God before Jesus? It is important for us to see that this explained in this chapter.
We have two questions that we must ask. First, who is listed? And second, what makes them faithful? Let’s take a couple of these names and see what they say about them.
Abel
Noah- A man who demonstrated his faith be building a boat that was to hold a bunch of animals for the preservation of the creation.
Abraham- An old man who was married to an old barren woman and was promised to birth a great nation.
Moses- A man who chose to be mistreated not only by the Egyptians but then also by the people of Israel because of the promised land.
There are even more names I haven’t mentioned but the point is, that the author clearly wants us to see something in the lives of these people. In fact, what we see immediately is that each of these people experienced hardship in their pursuit of serving God. Nothing was easy for them and in some cases things seemed almost impossible. The author is trying to get you to understand something: these people had lives just like us. They woke up just like we did and expressed confusion about the world that they lived in trying to do the one thing that they did understand which was that there was a higher power in control. This is what they hoped in.
Each person in this section is listed by two words which precedes their name: “By faith.” Say it back to me. What did they say? “By faith.” That’s right. And it was by their faith that they obeyed God and were counted as righteous before God.
Let’s look at Noah. Listen to this passage:
By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
You see that Noah was living during a confusing time. The whole world was in rebellion against God. All of their thoughts were evil continuously. What does God tell Noah? “Build a boat, I’m going to destroy the earth.” Have you ever wondered why Noah was selected to build the boat? Did he have the best boat-making skills? Maybe, but I have a better answer. He trusted God. God looked for someone who was faithful to God. He had faith that God was promising something greater than the world he was living in. says it like this:
Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.
Over and over examples are given on how these people wer
And he did this because he was not satisfied with the world. While everyone was running around being evil continuously Noah was saying “There has to be something better than this God.”
So these examples of faithful living reaches a great conclusion, right? Because these people lived such a righteous life, they lived a rich and blessed life and all things in their life were good from that point on.
No. Here is what the author of Hebrews says:
And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised,
Wait, so they were faithful…yet they did NOT receive what was promised. Namely, the author is saying they did not receive the greatest gift of all which is Jesus. Yet though they didn’t receive the gift they lived faithful lives and were counted righteous because of the future promise of a savior. When Jesus came he said this to the people,
For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
These examples of faith were waiting for the promise to be revealed and that was they put their hope in. They didn’t have Jesus, but they expected him.
Our faith should be based on the example of Jesus
Our faith should be based on the example of Jesus
So now these men stand as witnesses.
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,
They lived the faithful life and the author wants to know what is expected of you if you are a believer in Jesus.
Now we need to recreate a picture for a moment to help us better understand what the author meant by this verse.
We nee
Illustration: Jump back in time with me a moment to the time of the ancient Greeks. Does anyone know where the first olympics was held? Athens. Now imagine with me a moment the Panathenaic stadium which at one point was made entirely of marble. It held over 50,000 people! Now imagine yourself as a runner. Can you see those 50,000 people looking at you. There are so many that you cannot focus on a single persons face because just like the author said it is a cloud of faces facing. These are those who have come before you demonstrating faithful obedience to the Lord. They are all watching in anticipation and you will see why in just a moment. So as you get ready for this race you suddenly realize something. You are the only one with clothes on. Yes, it is true. The Greeks originally ran these races in what we like to sometimes call their birthday suits. So when the writer of Hebrews says to “lay aside every burden and sin” he literally means lays aside EVERY burden and sin.
Ok so we understand kind of what he means by this. We need to not be in sin anymore. In relation to this passage he is saying that the sin in your lives hinders you from being able to reach your full potential.
For us who do not run without clothes on today, we might say, “Tie your shoes” or “wear the correct clothing for running” or “tie your hair back.” All these things get in the way.
Illustration: I want to read something from one of my favorite passages from the Bible.
And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’ ” And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.”
And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’ ” And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.” Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.
And he left there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and crowds gathered to him again. And again, as was his custom, he taught them.
And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.” And Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”
And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. And he said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”
And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.
And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’ ” And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.”
Mark
Mark 10:17-
Up to this point in the story we may say that this young man looks like he is on the right path. We expect the next words to come from Jesus to be something like, “Great, my good and faithful servant. Welcome into my rest.” But he does not say that.
And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
Mark 10:21
Did you hear that? Before Jesus told him this last crushing statement, he said he loved him. Yet just because he loves him does not mean that he will inherit eternal life. Jesus loves all of you, but that does not mean he can just ignore the sin that clings so closely to you. In the end, this rich young man chooses to cling to his sin rather than give it up and look to Jesus. The examples that we have the Old Testament: Abraham, David, etc. All these men had to give up something to follow what God wanted.
In the same way, many of you may have sin in your life. You may be thinking, “my sin is just a little sin, not a big one.” But you have to give it up. It does not matter how big or small your sin is, as Paul says we must cast aside EVERY burden and sin. But how?
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.
Here is the solution to the sin problem. Jesus. You guys knew that answer right? It is simple but at the same time it is not simple.
In this race of faith we are in we are not racing to see who is first place. How do I know? Because someone already came in first. Jesus finished his race.
When it says that Jesus is the founder and perfecter of our faith another way saying that is that he is the beginning of the race as well as the end of the race. He is the one who goes before us and is the one who has already completed this race.
For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,
Rom 8:
Jesus came and ran the race of faith, yet he did something other before couldn’t do. Could it be that there is such a great cloud of witnesses looking at you but instead they are looking at Jesus!! What are they in that stadium watching? They are watching Jesus complete that race that was set to be impossible. He endured the race the same as them and faced the same challenges; he got exhausted, he got tired, and people made fun of him. Yet the whole time he had his eyes set on a goal. He had joy that was set before him. And now he has crossed the finish line and he is looking at you and know what he says:
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Mt
Come to Jesus.
Illustration: We had a cross country member last year who used to do something incredible. He would run a really hard race and then he wouldn’t rest right away. He would line up and run with his other teammates and he support them as they came through the finish line.
This is what Jesus does for us. He comes along aside us and says “I know you can’t run this race by yourself, that’s why I am here, I will help you the rest of the way.”
I mentioned before this is race. Who is it a race against? No, not against fellow believers. No, not against those who are unbelievers (those have not even started running the race, in fact, they aren’t even at the race track.) No, you are racing against the world. The world is constantly trying to distract you. When you go home it tempts you to do things you know you shouldn’t do because no one is watching (you think). When you see its food, you can’t help but eating too much. When you talk with your friends, you can’t help but talk bad about others. When you are in a position to steal or cheat, you can’t help but steal or cheat.
You know why you can’t help it? It’s because you have forgotten something. You aren’t looking at Jesus anymore.
Jesus is the one who endured the cross. He didn’t even care that people were shaming him. Why because his eyes were not set on the things of this world. He didn’t care how the world viewed things. His eyes were set on the joy that was before him.
Rom. 8:
The Joy that is set before us
The Joy that is set before us
Students and teachers and administrators, there is a reward awaiting us. Is the race worth it? Yes. But it is a hard race.
Illustration: I asked a student recently what he thought of cross country. His words were, “When I sign up for cross country, I immediately regret it because I’m in pain when I run and I hate running when I am tired, but I sign up every year because when you go through the finish line you can feel something that is unlike anything you can experience.”
It is true, I have watched runners come through that finish line and they literally collapse. They gave everything that could to run the race. How exhausted are you in your race of faith? Are you even exercising at all or are you figuratively sitting along the side of the trail enjoying the world while people pass you by?
Can you say with Paul:
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
Jesus gained his reward for finishing his race. He is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. He is now in the seat of power and judgment and he is asking you to come to him.
For those of you who are believers, you have a reward that is coming for finishing the race. So finish the race by looking to Jesus. Don’t be led astray any longer. As Christians set the example others are to follow; be a good witness of Christ-like love and patience and kindness.
A student asked me recently, “why is it that the Christians at GSIS don’t act like Christians?” That question hurts I know their are time that I have failed to look like a Christian. And I know what was holding me back, it is because I took my eyes off of Jesus. I failed to let him to lead my life.
Look to Jesus. You may be struggling through something right now: maybe a family member is sick, maybe you are going through a rough time at home with your family, maybe school is overwhelming and you aren’t doing as well as you would like, maybe you are having problems with your friends. The list goes on and on, but the Bible has one answer for you. Look to Jesus. Look to Jesus. You cannot go through this life with joy without him. Those of you who think you have a life planned out ahead of you that is joyful without Jesus, I hate to disappoint you, but it won’t happen. I know from experience when I have looked to myself instead of Jesus as the one who has gone before me.
I will leave you with this. You cannot run the race on faith on your own. You either look to Jesus or you are lost. I encourage you if you are lost seek Jesus and I encourage you if you are a believer of Jesus, look to Jesus. Go to him and he will make your burdens light.
