The Ladder Of God

The Ladder Of God Hebrews 12:1-3 The longer we go through life, the more stuff we collect. I’m not just talking about knick-knacks and things like that, but things others can’t see. Emotional baggage, life lessons, regrets, bad memories, good memories. If you pause and begin to think about all the events that have happened in your life, it becomes clear that there’s a lot that goes into each of us. There’s more to us then meets the eye. And to help deal with all of our baggage, we begin, much of the time un-knowingly, to start forming habits that help us deal with everything we’ve taken in over the years. It’s like we keep getting weight added to us, and instead of letting go and separating yourself from some of that weight, we attempt to shift our weight. To find a new position, something comfier that we can handle. While that helps, it only helps for a while. If you stand on one foot for a while, eventually you’ll get tired and stand on the other foot. But then that foot gets tired, and you switch back. You’re picking up your feet, but you're not going anywhere. And your certainly not finding any rest. Because what we really need is to stand on both feet. We’re easily moved on one foot, and continually at a tipping point with life’s shifting weight. Instead, God wants us to stand firm on two feet. Life can be heavy, and all of us as we travel through this life have some earthly baggage that we carry with us. But even on two feet, weight still slows us down and makes us tired. For example, all of us have either carried or saw someone carrying something heavy that makes them lean as they walk. Their mobility is weakened, and after a short time, tiredness and pain set it. The same thing happens when we carry around too much stuff! Someone else who was carrying around too much stuff was the army of Alexander the Great. They were advancing on Persia, and at one critical point, it appeared that his troops might be defeated. The soldiers had taken so much plunder from their previous campaigns that they had become weighted down and were losing their effectiveness in combat. So Alexander immediately ordered that all the spoils be thrown out into a heap. Upon hearing this order the men complained bitterly, but soon came to see the wisdom of the order. Someone wrote, “It was as if wings had been given to them—they walked lightly again.” No, they didn’t drink a Red Bull, they simply let go of their weight, allowing them to stand straight up again. Their victory was assured. The Bible tells us that our victory is also assured, but just like the army of Alexander, we must be ready for times of combat. Now by combat, I mean those things we face in life. We combat sin, temptation, tiredness, long days, rude people, bad thoughts. The list could go on and on. But we have hope, beginning with today’s Bible verse, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.” We could replace the word “sin” with weight, making that last half of this verse read, “let us throw off everything that hinders and the weight that so easily entangles.” Shifting and re-balancing our weight only works temporarily, instead, we’re to “throw it off,” to “throw off everything that hinders.” Today’s Scripture isn’t saying this is always easy, but it is saying that you’re not alone. The “great cloud of witnesses” us referring to those people mentioned in the previous chapter. Chapter 11 of Hebrews is what I like to call “The Hall of Fame of Faith.” It’s full of people who threw off their weight, lived, and overcame by faith. People such as Jacob, Moses, Rahab, Enoch, Noah, and Abraham, all threw off anything that hindered them. Any sin or weight that kept them from God was thrown away. Because if we’re going to “run with perseverance the race marked out for us,” we can’t stand on one foot. You can’t walk, let alone run that way. And if we are to persevere, then we had better shed our weight before we become winded, weak, and defeated. Instead, we are to “fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith” (Heb. 12:2). We have to look to Jesus and “fix our eyes on Him” because we can only move our weight, but Jesus can remove our weight. Many people, instead of looking to Jesus, look at themselves and their own resources first. But that’s backward thinking. Nobody goes to a doughnut shop just to look at the doughnuts. You go there to eat doughnuts! Because one thing is guaranteed – if you go to the doughnut shop to look at donuts, you’ll end up eating donuts. Why? Because the more you stare at it, the more you’re going to want it. Satan’s goal is to get us focused on our sin, but focusing on our sin can’t help us. We’ve got to focus on something else, someone else, who can help us shed that weight and overcome. We’re overcomers because of Christ. As 1 John 5:4 says, “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith.” Remember those Hall of Famers back in Hebrews 11? They overcame because of their faith, and we “fix our eyes upon Christ,” the “perfecter of faith.” Because as Jesus promised us in John 16:33, “I have said these things to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” Have you ever bought something expensive, like an appliance, got it home, just to find out it doesn’t work? Isn’t it irritating knowing how much you paid for something that doesn’t work? Well, Jesus paid it all. He shed His blood for you, and the last thing He wants to hear, after having paid such a high price for you and me, is that we’re not working or that we don’t want to do our job for Him. We should be glad to serve Jesus out of sheer gratitude for His free gift of salvation. Today’s Scripture tells us to “run with endurance” the race set before us. Just imagine an Olympic runner. They train. They’re surrounded by a “cloud of witness,” of people who know they can do it. The race is marked out and they know what they must do. They fix their eyes on victory. And when race day comes, they’re ready. Once at the starting line, an Olympic runner takes off their warm-up gear to eliminate their extra weight. Just like an Olympic runner, we need to take off anything in our lives that might trip us up spiritually and prevent us from running and finishing our race. Today is the first Sunday in Lent. And these 40 days of Lent is our starting line. So what weight do you need to shed? Better yet, what’s getting in-between you and God. Because Lent is about giving something up to glorify God. But I don’t want you to just give something up; I want you to replace whatever it is that you give up with God. To give something up, to fast, can be done in many ways, but you must replace it with God. When you fast from something that’s taking your time away from God, now you got extra time. So use that extra time and give it to God. So what’s this ladder all about? (explain ladder) Give up the earthly, replace it with the spiritual. The second half of verse 2 says, “For the joy set before Him he endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” To persevere through life’s race will have its hurdles. That’s why we need to learn from Jesus’ example, because for the joy He knew that awaited Him, He persevered, He endured the cross. The weight of the cross, any shame or persecution that happened to Jesus, He endured. And He persevered because He knew what lay beyond the finish line. For Jesus, His joy would come on Sunday, but the shame had to be endured on Friday. Jesus Christ made it through Friday by keeping His eyes on Sunday. During this season of Lent, I pray all of you will keep your eyes on Sunday. That glorious Resurrection Sunday where death was beaten by the Author of Life. Before we partake of Communion, let me tell you about one more Olympic game. In one of the games, there's a bunch of guys who row boats with their backs to the finish line. They can’t see the finish line. But at the front of the boat is a guy with a horn, and he yells instructions like, “Row, Pull, Keep going!” The guys rowing the boat keep their eyes fixed on the man with the horn because even though they can’t see where they’re going, the guy with the horn can. If you don’t know where you’re headed, fix your eyes on Jesus because He knows where your finish line is. And it’s Jesus who knows how to get you there. Nobody is too old to serve God. We must keep rowing the boat, running the race, and climbing our ladder to God, one foot in front of the other, so we can grow and serve our heavenly Father. There is a service to be rendered, so keep running, and finish strong. The author of Hebrews wants you to understand what Jesus did, so as verse 3 says, “you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Regardless of any suffering or trials that may be weighing you down, know that Resurrection Day is coming! AMEN