Winning the Race

WINNING THE RACE Spring Valley Mennonite; April 26, 2020; Hebrews 12:1-3 Last week as I spoke on the last 10 verses of Hebrews 11, the video recording cut off with about a minute left of the sermon. I apologize for that, although I have no explanation of why it happened! If you are interested in the last couple of minutes of my closing remarks, go to the church website, springvalleymennonite.org, and read from the sermon document there. You could listen to the whole sermon, but I don’t know if you can only listen to the last part of it. I have never tried that! In this sixth week of national shut-down because of the corona virus, we are missing seeing in person those of our church and families. It is possible things will open up by May 10, and we will be allowed to gather to celebrate Mother’s Day. In our studies in Hebrews, we have found that “Remembering” is a major theme in the book, as well as the whole Bible. There are many passages which tell us to remember the great works of God, as well as the many verses dealing with the Lord’s Supper, which is a ceremony of remembrance of the death and sacrifice of Jesus. At Spring Valley, we always have a special Communion Service on Maundy Thursday, which we missed having this year. But as we saw in Hebrews 11, we are also to remember people, especially those who have walked the road of faith before us. It is the faith of our parents that should make them stand out in our memories, and to praise and glorify God for a godly heritage. While we remember God has no grandchildren, and the faith of our parents does not save us, it is right to remember the faith of our fathers, and strive to worship and serve God as they did, if in fact they did. These thoughts about remembering serve to introduce chapter 12; I find that the first verses are actually a summary of Chapter 11, as well as a transition to the rest of the book. And verse 2 tells us, that as important are all the Old Testament saints, the most important One for believers to remember is the Lord Jesus Christ. Read Hebrews 12:1-3. I. WHO COMPRISES THIS “CLOUD OF WITNESSES?” We are told of a “great cloud of witnesses” that surround us, and their presence is to motivate us to successfully run “the race.” This creates two questions in our minds: first, “Who are these “witnesses”, and secondly, “What is this race in which we are running?” I will admit that for a long time I thought these witnesses described people peering over some sort of a balcony of heaven watching us down here on earth—kind of like cheerleaders--but, if we really consider this, that idea is not particularly comforting, for if they can see the good things I do, they can also see the bad things, and the trials and sorrows and failures of my life. I can’t imagine this would be very pleasant for them! There have been times when my actions would have been a great disappointment to my parents, and to who have been my mentors. Surely, there are better things to do in heaven than keep up on the doings of earth! In addition to being illogical, we are never told that there are watchers in heaven who observe our actions—with the possible exception of angels. These are witnesses, not heavenly watchers. No, these witnesses clearly are those spoken of in Hebrews 11—men and women of old who triumphed in faith. People like Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, those who through faith fulfilled God’s purposes in their lives. The “therefore” which begins verse 1 points us backward to the cloud of witnesses, those who were forerunners in trusting God, men and women of faith. In addition to these ones mentioned in chapter 11, there is the vast number of Christians since Calvary who have faithfully provided models worthy of following: the apostles, the great Christian leaders such as Augustine, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Menno Simons, John Bunyan, John Newton, Adoniram Judson, C.S. Lewis, Charles Spurgeon, Hudson Taylor, Bill Bright, Billy Graham—then, there are those who have personally impacted your life—former pastors, grandparents, parents, and church leaders. You could add many names to the list of those who have faithfully witnessed to the truth of the Gospel and the extreme value of following Christ. They provide examples and encouragement to us to endure and persevere in faith. One of God’s favorite forerunners from which I draw inspiration is Hudson Taylor. Hearing the call of God, at the age of 21, Taylor sailed to China as an agent of a new mission society. He found that foreigners were not allowed into China’s interior, being restricted to only five Chinese ports. Funds from home rarely arrived, but Taylor never appealed to funds from friends in England. He is famous for his conviction that “God’s work, done in God’s way, will never lack for supplies.” Burdened for the Chinese millions in the interior, he ignored the political restrictions as well as many established missionary practices and traveled inland preaching the Gospel. Hudson Taylor believed the gospel would only take root if missionaries were willing to identify with the culture of the people they wanted to reach. He pioneered the practice of dressing like the native Chinese, even growing a long pigtail as well as and living outside of Missionary compounds. He founded the China Inland Mission, now known as OMF International, (Overseas Missionary Fellowship.) At his death in 1902, there were 825 missionaries in 18 provinces in China, and about one hundred thousand Chinese believers. Today there are probably between 150 and 200 million Christians in China, fruit of the work of Hudson Taylor and others who followed his example. Hudson’s principles and practice regarding missionary practice was ridiculed and laughed at, but proved the key to success in reaching the remote areas of China, at one time thought impossible. He proved that “with God all things are possible.” My point is that we humans benefit from someone who has paved the way and proven that something is possible. They have blazed the trail for we who follow. As believers, we are surrounded by examples of those who have completed the race, many of which are now in heaven. These are the witness with whom we are surrounded; that is the answer to our first question of “Who are these witnesses?” Our second question is “What is this race in which we are involved?” II. THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS A RACE The author of Hebrews compares the life of faith to a race others have successfully run. But this race is not a sprint, but a marathon; and it is not only a marathon, but more like a steeplechase! You may be familiar with the 26- mile marathon, but do you know about the steeplechase? The standard steeplechase is a distance obstacle race 2000 meters in length (a bit less than a mile and a quarter), with 18 barriers the runners must hurtle and five water jumps. The Christian life is not smooth sailing but beset with all types of challenges and situations we must work through. We find ourselves in such a challenging situation right now with the Corona Virus. Paul also uses the illustration of a race in 2 Corinthians 9:24: “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.” This race we run is unique in that it is not won by defeating everyone else. It is not a competition of works, but of faith; and it is not a competition against the faith of others, to see who does the best, but it a race against ourselves. In running terms, we are constantly striving for a PR, a Personal Record, a Personal Best. But there are constantly things which slow us down, things which might even cause us to stop running. It is sad that so many Christians enter the race, but then seem to leisurely “poke along”, not really striving to win. As the author uses the illustration of running a race, we can look to running to learn about the many things which create resistance, things which try to hold us back or hinder us from running efficiently. What are some of these hindrances? III. HINDRANCES TO RUNNING EFFECTIVELY The verse talks of two things that hinder our running: “encumbrances and sin”. Considering sin first, we all realize the effect of sin in Christian lives. Sin is seen as something which easily entangles us. At one time or another in their high school careers, all my kids competed in track or cross country. I don’t know how many times I told them be sure to double tie their shoelaces, for if shoes become untied during a race the laces can become an “entanglement” and trip them up. I remember several times they didn’t heed my warning and ended up running with their shoelaces flopping, in danger of falling or having another runner step on them. Several times I remember my sons finishing the race with only one shoe! They never did very well when their shoe was lost or when loose shoelaces caused them to stumble. Sin is like a loose shoelace which easily tangles our feet, slowing us in the race. Speaking of encumbrances; we don’t see serious runners competing in heavy boots or high heels or dressed in formal wear or wearing heavy overcoats! The runner wears the lightest and most unrestrictive clothing possible. He or she wears special shoes, often with spikes which give extra traction. Those training for the Olympics make tremendous sacrifices in their personal lives to train. Careers are put on hold and personal relationships suffer as athletes leave their families to go to training facilities. This year my heart goes out to those who have been training for long months for the 2020 Olympics, only to have them canceled because of the pandemic. These athletes have voluntarily given up certain things which would have encumbered their training. Transferring these principles to the Christian life, we find that what may be an encumbrance to one person may not encumber another. Usually the difference comes down to the issue of excess. For example, social media is an effective way to keep up with family and friends, but it can also be addictive and a prime waste of time. Even good things like sports can become a hindrance when they interfere with being involved in church or ministry. Food is a necessity, but we all realize what happens when we indulge to excess! Overweight runners rarely win races! Encumbrances are not necessarily sinful, but they are things which hold us back from being fully engaged in the pursuit of being Christlike. A few other hindrances I identified are things like becoming weary or tired of the battle, discouragement at lack of results, comparing ourselves with others and losing sight of the goal. There is one thing which will do more than anything to help us in this race, and we see it in verse 2: (Read v. 2) IV. WE MUST KEEP OUR EYES ON THE GOAL One thing I learned from competing in track in high school: one sure way to break stride and slow your pace, as well as putting yourself in danger of stumbling is to look back to see how close behind you is the competition. A successful runner never looks back but keeps his focus on the goal. What is the goal for which we strive? It isn’t heaven, for heaven is a given for those who are in Christ. Heaven is our final destination, but not something we must strive for. Our aim in life is more immediate, our aim in life is Christlikeness. I found this quote from Alexander MacClaren, a famous British Baptist minister for over 65 years in the 19th and early 20th century: “The only aim that is worthy of a man to live for, as his supreme and dominant one is that he shall be completely molded in character, disposition, nature, heart and will into the likeness of Jesus Christ…” We are to fix our eyes on Jesus, Who has saved us by His sacrificial death, and Who will bring our spiritual journey to completion as the perfecter of faith. He is out there running with us, encouraging us and telling us “keep running, you can do it, others have done it before, don’t give up, lean on Me, keep striving!” He is the foremost of examples, the One who completely fulfilled the will of God. He set the example in saying, “not my will but the will of my father”. He alone lived the perfect sinless life, qualifying Him to be the “Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world.” He made the ultimate sacrifice, enduring the cross, knowing the sacrifice was worth the end result of our salvation. Our Christian character, disposition, nature and heart are developed as we say “Yes, Lord!” to His will. And what is one main method He uses to perfect us? As difficult as it may seem, God is able to use the most difficult things we experience to perfect us. In the book of James, we are encouraged to “Consider it all joy when we encounter various trials, for the testing of our faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that we may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:2-4) Peter speaks to the same idea as he says, “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have ben grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of you faith, more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 1:6-7) Verse 3 brings us back to the situation of persecution experienced by the original recipients of this letter, but also of many who have read this letter down through the ages. We are to think about, consider, ponder, contemplate Jesus and the opposition and hostility of the world. The way of Jesus will always set us against the popular culture. Jesus instructed us in John 16:33, “In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” We also take encouragement from the words of Paul in Philippians 1:6: “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” So, fellow runner, don’t give up, run to win, put off anything that is slowing you down, be encouraged and keep running, eyes on Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith.