Sermon Tone Analysis
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Jesus – greater than
Run the Race with Discipline
Hebrews 12:1-11
Rev’d Chris Johnson
There is a famous Prime Minister who once said, “Life wasn't meant to be easy.”
There has probably
never been a truer word spoken by one of our Prime Ministers.
Scott Peck in his famous book, ‘The Road Less Travelled’ begins with these words,
“Life is difficult.
This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths.
It is a great truth because once we
truly see this truth, we transcend it.
Once we truly know that life is difficult - once we truly
understand and accept it - then life is no longer difficult.
Because once it is accepted, then the fact
that life is difficult no longer matters.”
He goes on to talk about how most people expect life to be much easier than they’ve got it, so they
moan and groan about their circumstances.
But he says he can’t talk because he's done his fair
share of whinging to.
So what's the remedy for this whinging?
He says that it is discipline.
He says that it is discipline which helps us to face the fact that life is
difficult and still be happy.
Let me quote from him again a little later in Ch 1, “Discipline is the basic
set of tools we require to solve life's problems.
Without discipline we can solve nothing….
It is in the
whole process of meeting and solving problems that life has its meaning.
Problems are the cutting
edge that distinguishes between success and failure.
Problems call forth our courage and our
wisdom; indeed they create our courage and our wisdom.
It is only because of problems that we
grow mentally and spiritually.”
This morning we come to the second last sermon in our series from the Book of Hebrews - Jesus
greater than.
The title for this talk is, Run the Race with Discipline.
Our author talks about the
importance of discipline in a person's life.
As children our parents disciplined us so that hopefully
later on in life as adults we would be self-disciplined.
Alongside this theme of discipline our author uses the metaphor of an athletic race as a picture of
the Christian life.
He exhorts us to run the race with perseverance and joy.
We have a great cloud of
witnesses cheering us on, and our goal is Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.
We are to run with discipline.
Let's look at discipline first and then apply it to the race of life.
Our author quotes from the book of Proverbs Chapter 3 which we have also read today.
The analogy
is that just as parents discipline their children for their own good, so God disciplines us as his
children for our good.
The writer recognises that discipline is not pleasant but if we are prepared to submit to it, it does
grow us in holiness and produces a harvest of righteousness and peace.
So how might we think about children and discipline today.
Firstly, we need to be aware it is
possible for there to be too much discipline in the rearing of children.
I remember sitting on the
1
front step of our Rectory at Petrie with a gentleman who was bemoaning the fact that he was
estranged from his adult children.
He told me how he had brought them up with strong discipline
and always told them the right way to go.
Sadly, there was no love or affection in his tone, it was all
about him knowing what was right and they should have obeyed.
From what he said and the way he
said it, it didn't surprise me that they no longer wanted to talk to him.
On the other hand, it is possible to have too little discipline and from my observation this is probably
the more likely problem today.
Or it may be that I'm just getting older and showing my age.
I do
read stories of parents whose mantra for parenting is, “I want to be my children's friend.”
They are
very reluctant to apply any discipline because you don't discipline a friend.
My mantra is you firstly
have to parent and that leads into friendship.
Being the parent may mean some short-term angst
but I believe it leads to long-term respect and friendship.
There can be the tendency for parents to constantly rescue their children from their bad decisions
and naughty behaviour.
So children never grow up facing the consequences of their wrong
behaviour and just expect the world should adjust to them and their needs.
The key in all of this of course is the phrase loving discipline.
• Discipline that arises out of love.
• Discipline which is for our highest good.
The most loving parents are those who are firm with bad behaviour but are also ready with an
explanation and restoration.
This is the sort of loving discipline I believe God exercises with us his children.
He gives us the rules,
if we break them there is punishment, but he is always there waiting for our repentance and ready
to take us back.
He is like the Father in the story of the prodigal son, waiting for us to come to our
senses and come home.
And even ready to embrace us and throw a party.
It is good to learn discipline as a child.
Even better to know it as an adult.
Following Jesus of course is the best way to learn discipline.
The word disciple and the word
discipline come from the same root.
The word disciple literally means a learner, but it is not just
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