Run the Race

Run Forrest Run!

In 1994, Tom Hanks starred in a block buster film that impacted a lot of people’s lives. The story is of a boy from the south who had special needs. The movie Forrest Gump chronicles Forrest’s life as a school-aged boy, a young adult who served in Vietnam, and even his life as a business man.

One of the common threads throughout the movie was running. As a boy, some kids were bullying Forrest, throwing rocks at him, and his best friend urged him to simply run. And so he did. He ran away.

Later on, Forrest would run from a variety of circumstances.

In one of the most famous parts of the movie, Forrest ran for a few years. He started running after a moment of severe disappointment. He kept running. His running caused some people to question the meaning of life and see him as some running, religious guru. He didn’t know where he was running - he just kept running...

…until one day he stopped. He simple said he was tired and began walking home.

People were bewildered as to why he stopped. They were disappointed. The spiritual movement they thought he had started simply faded.

There are times when it might seem like the people that we are following seem to be running aimlessly, but as we saw last week, the heroes of the faith in Hebrews 11 were not those kinds of people. They ran the race of the faith. They ran based on promises. They trusted God through it all.

In light of the challenge the writer of Hebrews gave us to follow the faithful, here in Hebrews 12, we get a clear call too...

Run the race...

Hebrews 12:1 “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, ...”

We looked at Hebrews 12:1-2 in January. I don’t want to re-hash all of that but I do want to point out a couple of things.

“so great a cloud of witnesses” - I have often thought of that as people who are watching us. To some degree, there is truth in that. But the Greek word used there refers not to a watching witness but a testifying witness. The great cloud of witnesses are testifying to the faithfulness of God. They ran the race and they call us to follow. secondly,

“let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely” - In order to effectively run this race, there will be some removal. We will come back to this in a few minutes, but I do think it’s important for us to consider what are those things that are weighing us down? There are times when weights can be used for training, but we certainly wouldn’t want to run the race bogged down by excesses baggage. This could include possessions, subscriptions, stuff. The “sin which clings so closely” is sometimes translated “besetting sin.” There are sins that I struggle with that are different than the sins you struggle with. They all can tend to entangle us. We could think of this things like running a race with your shoes tied together.

The charge we have is to run the race. Drop the excess weight and distractions and free up life from sin.

Run the race...

because the race is ordained by God (Heb. 12:1)

The opening verse continues...

Hebrews 12:1 “....and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,”

We have to recognize that this race, however long God allows us to run it, is a race that is set, I believe, by God. Being the sovereign God of the universe, He knows every obstacle you’ll encounter. He knows every hurdle you’ll have to over come. He know every struggle you’ll face.

Psalm 139:16 NLT

You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.

I hope that gives us confidence and joy knowing that God is fully aware of every encounter. We may not like them, but we can find confidence in knowing that God is allowing them for a reason.

As you may remember, we’ve been praying for Danielle’s sister for several months. She had a brain tumor removed in July. The surgery went well, but the recovery has been a battle. She spent most of the next 8 weeks in and out of ICU. She is finally home and is gradually improving. She still fights nausea with too much movement and her eyes are not aligned yet - so double vision is a struggle. I have been so encouraged though, by Danielle and Teresa’s dad. His trust in the sovereign plan of God for Teresa has been unwavering. He trusts that God knows the outcome and trusts that God will be faithful through it. We may want a full and quick recovery, but we can find confidence knowing that God is up to something and is working his perfect will in Teresa’s life - and in the lives of all of those who are near her.

You and I may not like some elements of the “race that is set before us” but we can rejoice knowing that God is the one who set it. He has a reason.

Secondly, we should run the race...

because Jesus ran the race for us (Heb. 12:2-3)

Hebrews 12:2–3 ESV

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. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

There are some people who are a glutton for punishment. They thrive on pain and seem to feel like they are not living unless something in wrong.

Jesus is not that kind of person. The cross that he endured is a cross that we deserved. When he died on that shameful cross, he died a criminals death, a death he did not deserve. He despised or literally “looked down” on the shame that people cast upon him, knowing that His shame would pave a way for us to have life.

Once he completed his task, running his earthly race, he sat down at the right hand of God. The Bible tells us that he is there interceding on our behalf.

His momentary pain brings life to all of us. We can and should be encouraged by that. His substitutionary death should encourage us to press on, to run the race well, to finish!

We should run the race that God has ordained for us, because Jesus has already run the crucial elements for us...

even though the training is difficult (Heb. 12:4-17)

If you’ve ever spent time training for a big event, you know there is pain.

Athletes will change their diets and will engage in rigorous fitness routines in order to prepare their bodies for the contest. I have loved watching movies like The Miracle, the story of the 1980 US Olympic hockey team that beat the arguably superior Russian hockey team. Through disciplined training and physical fitness, their coach got them to work as a team but also got them into the best shape of their lives.

I have also loved watching movies like the Rocky movies, where at some point of crisis, the main character will make a decision, the music changes, and the disciplined training begins.

The challenge with movies like that, is that they make quick, emotional work of something that is much more intense and much more painful.

In our lives, our training, or our discipline will be difficult, but it will be worth it.

We can run through the training because we know that God is loving us as His children.

Hebrews 12:7–8 ESV

It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.

The discipline that we endure is a demonstration of God’s love.

But what does this discipline look like?

The writer of Hebrews doesn’t give us specific circumstances. We do know from elsewhere in the book that his audience was experiencing persecution and pressure to return to the old ways. But we can also understand that sometimes our training or discipline looks like sickness, financial struggle, job loss. All of those things are designed to make us holy.

We can run through the difficult training because the outcome will be holiness.

Hebrews 12:9–11 ESV

Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Just as an earthly father will discipline us, so too, God does that in us, purging the sin in us and then also strengthening us to run the race better.

While there are some things that God is doing, the writer of Hebrews gives us some encouragement for action as well. Look in your bibles. I want to read through this next short section and comment as we go. …

Hebrews 12:12-17 “Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.

Here, he is referencing some OT passages from IsaIan and Jeremiah. When difficult times comes, it’s is easy to play the victim and fain helplessness, but we are urged here to be strengthened, to step up, to keep moving. He continues…

“Strive for peace with everyone,

we can’t be at peace with every because peace require two parties to be at peace. But in as much as it is up to us, we must be people of peace, striving to make peace with others.)

“and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

This side of eternity, we won’t ever be completely holy, but we should strive for it. We should aim for holiness, purging those things from us That compromise our witness. Things like bitter divisions or needless arguments…

“See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;

…and things like sexual immorality…

“that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.”

As believers, allowing things like divisions, bitterness, immortality , and unholiness make open doors for controversy, weakness, and run the risk of destroying our witness in the world.

If you are not yet a follower of Christ, I want you to understand that there will be a point Of no return. Just as Esau could not get his birthright back, so too, there will be a day when you will no longer be able to come to the Lord. Come today!

There is one final reason the writer of Hebrews urges us to run the race, that is...

because the purpose is unshakeable (Heb. 12:18-28)

I’ve been hearing and reading about all sorts of advertisements for various races lately. The Marine Corps Marathon, the Orchard Run, the Alexandria Turkey Trot, and more. All of these races offer achievement, prizes, and even participation awards. But ultimately, all of those things will fade. The medals can be lost. The t-shirts will deteriorate. The race might not even be run in person - because of weather or COVID. But the race that we run in the faith is an eternal race because the Kingdom of God is an unshakeable Kingdom.

In this longer section, the writer of Hebrews compares two mountains.

Mount Sinai (Heb. 12:18-21) - was the mountain where Moses received the law. When God gave his covenant and law to his people there, there was smoke, earth quakes, and thunder. It was a stormy and tumultuous time - so much so that it invoked fear in the people. They had to stay away. But the second mountain...

Mount Zion (Heb. 12:22-24) - This mountain is not a mountain of fear and separation, but of welcome, gathering, and acceptance because of Jesus.

Hebrews 12:22–24 ESV

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

Because Jesus has mediated this permanent, eternal covenant, we are welcomed into this assembly, into this Zion - the city of God. We don’t have to perform or meet certain requirements. Jesus has done that for us. We just have to receive that free gift by faith!

The writer of Hebrews concludes this section with this exhortation.

Hebrews 12:28–29 ESV

Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.

Because of Jesus - we are welcomed into this unshakeable kingdom.

Our response then is grateful worship and faithful living.

The question becomes - what is this “acceptable worship?”

The writer tells us here that reverence and awe accompany this worship. How often does that mark our attitude toward God as we worship him? Do we come casually?

But this acceptable worship also involves a life of faithful living that he will go on to describe in the next chapter - which we will look at more next week.

Closing thoughts

As we close, I want you to imagine something with me. There are some who feel that this epistle or letter was really a sermon or a speech. Imagine a courtroom. We, his readers are the jury. Over the last several chapters, the writer of Hebrews has presented arguments for our consideration. Remember, his first century audience was Jewish background believers who were being pressured or shamed into returning to the old law. But we too are his audience. Some of us have grown up in the church and are continuing to grow. Some of us are believers, but we are being pressured by the world to give up and turn back to earthly ways. Others of us are checking this out, trying to figure out if this is true and worthy of belief. Maybe you’re here just to be polite to a loved one. Whatever reason, I’m glad you’re here or are tuning in at home.

So, here we are in a courtroom. The writer of Hebrews is before us. He presented his thesis

Jesus is Greater (Heb. 1:1-3)- there is no one who can compare to him. Then he has supported his these with these arguments.

Jesus is greater than the angels and the torah (Heb. 1:4-2:18) - the angels were messengers sent by God to bring the torah to Moses. Jesus is God in the flesh. He has direct access. Jesus is greater.

Jesus is greater than Moses himself (Heb. 3:1-3:13) - Moses was one of the greatest of the leaders of Israel. Humble, faithful. He delivered the law to the the people and helped them strive to live accordingly - but Jesus is greater because he is our holiness and he ultimately leads us to a permanent and better promised land.

Jesus is the greatest priest (Heb. 4:14-7:28) - Like a good priest, he offered a sacrifice on our behalf - a perfect sacrifice - himself. Once for all. He also intercedes for us in the throne room of God. There is no priest like him.

Jesus presents a greater covenant (Heb. 8-10) - Unlike the old covenant, the OT Law, this covenant is unbreakable. It is sure and eternal. Jesus is the covenant sacrifice. We enter into this covenant by faith and continue in it by faith. Then, the writer of hebrews after laying out his arguments, brings forward...

Faithful Witnesses (Heb. 11) - These people lived under the Old Covenant but believed in the future promises of God. So one by one, the writer of Hebrews conveyed the faith of Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses and so many more as a testament to the will and plan of God. He is laying out all these arguments, in order to call us to run the race (will you run the race)

Run the race with endurance.

His aim is that as believers, we will persist - keep growing, keep walking in faithfulness, keep pursuing holiness. But some of us are secretly running the race. We want to be engaged, but we’ve not gone public. Going public is getting baptized. Putting on the uniform of the team and walking by faith.

For those who don’t yet believe, consider his arguments and enter the race. Just as every race has an entrance requirement - the entrance requirement for this race has been paid by Jesus, through his life, death and resurrection. If you are not yet a believer, you simply have to receive it by faith. Admitting your sin and responding to his call for salvation. In response, as you run, you’re continuing to grow and be strengthened.

(lead in a prayer of salvation and call to baptism).

Let’s pray

Benediction:

Hebrews 13:20–21 ESV

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Questions for reflection and discussion:

Heb. 12:1 encourages us to lay aside every weight and sin. What are the differences between weights and sin?

How does knowing the race is “set,” or ordained by God, impact your perspective?

When you consider all that Jesus endured in the race, how does that help you “not grow weary or fainthearted”?

Thinking back to the “weights” and “sin,” how does training or discipline relate to those? How should we view the discipline that God allows us to encounter?

In verses 18-28, the writer of Hebrews compares Mount Sinai (trembling fear) with Mount Zion. How are those different? What are characteristics of Mount Zion?

References:

https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/hebrews/

Brown, Raymond. The Message of Hebrews. The Bible Speaks today. Leicester; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1982.

Kruger, Michael J. Hebrews for You. The Good Book Company, 2021.

Wiersbe, Warren W. Be Confident: Live by Faith, Not by Sight. NT Commentary: Hebrews. Colorado Springs, David C. Cook: 1982