Ouch, That Hurt!

Last time we were in Hebrews, we went into the first two verses of Chapter 12 to help it make sense with what we were talking about all of the witnesses that had gone before in the OT and the way they provided examples for us of how to live. Even though their lives weren’t perfect, still at the heart of their being, they served God to the best of their ability and return to Him with true remorse.

We are going to continue to look at this as well as the way the Lord disciplines us and the way we should look at this as we experience this.

Hebrews 12:1–17 ESV

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, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 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. 3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. 4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. 6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” 7 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? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 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? 10 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. 11 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. 12 Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. 14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. 15 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; 16 that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. 17 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.

Place title slide here

We’re going to take a look at these first two verse from a slightly different angle from last week. This is what I love about digging into the Bible. There are so many nuggets you can glean from the same scripture. If we dig deeper than the first glance we take a look at something, we can find so much more.

Hebrews 12:1–2 ESV

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, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 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.

Fixing Our Eyes on Christ

During this chapter, the writer is going to refer to a lot of sports metaphors. I love sports. There are a few I like to watch on TV. There are a lot of sports I like to watch live. Basketball and baseball are a couple I really like to watch live, but don’t particularly like to watch on TV. Track and field, I can go either way. I do like to watch these events during the Olympics, but that’s about it on TV. Jaylyne, my daughter was involved in track in middle school.

I may pay for this later, but here she is in one of her favorite events.

Long Jump. This picture was taken by our principal at the time. It’s one of my favorites while she was doing this. This is either her 6th or 7th grade year. She really enjoyed track during her years at Blennerhassett. She learned a lot of life lessons from her time running.

Fixing Our Eyes on Christ

When you watch a runner today on TV or really any type of physical racing, the runner will wear a suit which is as skin tight as they can get it. In some races where a helmet is required, the team of coaches will put the helmet through computer simulations and tests to make sure it is as aerodynamic as possible. They don’t want anything creating drag for the athlete.

We need to try and get rid of everything which is weighing us down to run this spiritual race we are in. It is easy for us to say we need to get rid of our sin, but what qualifies as sin?

Anything which takes our eyes off of Christ and the prize He and His Father have for us at the end of the race.

John Martin, who was a history teacher at Blennerhassett when I was a student and teacher, was an awesome track coach. One of his best assetts for track was teaching how to run hurdles. He was retired by the time Jaylyne got into middle school, but he came to watch Jaylyne at one of her early practices her 6th grade year. His comment to me was,

“I’ve never seen a kid run hurdles with such reckless abandonment.”

He worked with her and gave her the skills to run the hurdles. She did pretty well at them, even though they weren’t her favorite event.

If you have ever heard a racer say they had the perfect race. The running conditions were right, they were in the best shape they could have been in, the other racers pushed them just enough - Christ ran the perfect spiritual race. He saw what was at the finish line and endured the suffering of the cross and the shame He put on Himself by taking our sins. He kept His eyes on what was coming at the end of this spiritual race He ran, being seated at the right hand of His Father, and providing a way for mankind to be able to come back into the presence of He and His Father.

Hebrews 12:3–4 ESV

3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. 4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

It would have been very easy for Christ to have gotten distracted by what all was going on around Him. It would have been very easy to look at the sidelines and realize the price He was having to pay for our eternity, but He kept His eyes straight forward and on that finish that would change the world forever.

Hebrews 12:5–6 ESV

5 And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. 6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”

If we could only remember these words. When we are going through the Lord’s discipline or He is trying to grow us. He is trying to make us into the people He needs us to be. He is trying to make us vessels that are more open. These verses we are told to remember come from Proverbs 3:11-12. The book of Proverbs is so full of wisdom for life. As we go through this part of the sermon, we will be referring to many verses from this book.

Why discipline?

These two verses are very clear why the Lord disciplines us. He loves us. Let’s read on in this next set of scripture. I think it will be very clear to us why God disciplines us and why we need to take a different look at it.

Hebrews 12:7–11 ESV

7 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? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 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? 10 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. 11 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.

Why discipline?

Verse 8 ought to hit us like a ton of bricks. When God disciplines us, it proves we are His children. This verse flat out tells us if we go without God’s discipline, we are illegitimate. We are not sons and daughters of Christ.

Our earthly fathers and mothers disciplined us. Boy do I remember. There are some you who have known me for a short time and didn’t see me when I was growing up. There were several times when mom and dad had to apply the board of education, or a belt, or a hand, or whatever was convenient to grab to the seat of knowledge.

Give a couple stories.

Did I like the discipline at the time? Yeah sure. I was the golden child all of you think I am. Are you kidding? It was painful. There was some that was painful for a little while. The whippings only hurt for a short while, but they taught none the less. As I got older and the groundings came into play, the pain was a lot longer to bare. When I had the one six weeks I was grounded from everything but the TV from 8-9 in the evening, that was awful. I was missing Star Trek at 5 on WTAP.

Our heavenly Father disciplines us for our good. He wants what is best for us. What does the discipline He gives us yield. The last part of verse 11 tells us.

Hebrews 12:11 ESV

11 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.

Proverbs 13:24 ESV

24 Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.

Revelation 3:19 ESV

19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.

We also need to be careful to allow God to work through this manner with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Do we enjoy seeing others going through this? No. We can show empathy and love towards the people who are going through this, but we need to allow God to work.

Joe Bryant

What would have happened if Joe would’ve been there every time my father needed to discipline me?

Joe would’ve kept interfering in my parents trying to teach me how to behave during a worship service. Both of my parents were involved during the Sunday morning services. I had to sit on the front row. Dad was in the choir, and if mom wasn’t playing the piano, she was in the choir. I had to learn how to sit there by myself and behave. Like I shared earlier, I wasn’t always successful, but more times than not, I didn’t get into trouble when I got home.

Proverbs 23:13 ESV

13 Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with a rod, he will not die.

Proverbs 22:15 ESV

15 Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him.

We need to make sure we allow God room to operate and allow Him to work in our brothers and sisters lives the way He wants to. There may be times we will have to be honest with people about certain matters, but we can do it in love and pray they take our advice our opinions the right way. This journey isn’t easy, but we are all meant to grow from it and be better Christians.

We also need to remember as Christians, we should all be going through this process. Even people who you consider walk the closest walks with the Holy Spirit are still under the conviction of this same Spirit.

You can take a look at the purest of ores, and there will still be imperfections. Even the most precious of diamonds have flaws. It is the same with all of us. We all have our failings. We will not be made perfect until we reach this final destination. God is working on each one of us. We need to remember this as we come up to the next section of scripture.

Proverbs 13:1 ESV

1 A wise son hears his father’s instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.

Proverbs 10:17 ESV

17 Whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life, but he who rejects reproof leads others astray.

When we are going through rough times, don’t automatically think all the time it is Satan trying to get at you. Sometimes God may be using your circumstance to make you stronger. However, just like in Job, when God restored him to health and told Satan no more, he was much stronger than before God allowed Satan to test him.

Just like an athlete, you can’t be good at what you are doing without the training and the discipline it takes to get you there.

The next section of scripture will return back to the racing metaphor.

Hebrews 12:12–15 ESV

12 Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. 14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. 15 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;

The Battle Scars

Verses 12 & 13 tell us to keep our eyes on the prize at the end of this race we are running. You have a picture of a wounded, tired athlete here. What a picture. We all have our battle scars. There isn’t one of us who is free of them. If you work and serve in a church, you are going to have them. Sometimes the wounds will come from your own brothers and sisters in Christ.

What do are we supposed to do? We are supposed to keep our eyes on the prize. We are to forgive each other. We are supposed to set an example for the world of who we are. We are to demonstrate a holiness that can only be explained by the Spirit who lives in us.

Peace, but not just for peace sake

We need to strive for peace. As we build each other up through the teaching and preaching of God’s Word, we need to be sensitive to what we are being taught and what the Holy Spirit is saying to us through our leaders. If someone talks to us about an area in our lives where we are weak or are straight out sinning. We need to know, just like the Father is trying to get us to be better witnesses for Him, so should the brother or sister who is speaking with you.

We need to do all out of love. Will we look at it this way when it happens? If we feel the pain of it when God is disciplining us, why would we find joy in a brother or sister pointing out a sin in our lives? We will not find it enjoyable, but we need to work through it. Do you think the person who is talking with you is enjoying the conversation they are having with you? I have lost sleep when I am having to talk with someone about issues. I am trying to come up with “great words of wisdom” so I can do what I need to do with the least amount of hurt as possible.

The Bitter Root

Satan will look to find a way into our lives and into our church. He will look for a chink in our armor, and he will begin to pick at it. Before long, there will be a hole he will be able to get through and really start working that point. It will become a sore. As he keeps picking at it, it will become a wound. If not taken care of, the wound will become infected and destroy our witness as an individual. It will also destroy our witness as a church. It is important we take care of issues in our personal lives as well as the body of the church. If we don’t, the infection spreads in our personal spiritual life as well as the spiritual life of the church.

Hebrews 12:16–17 ESV

16 that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. 17 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.

The actual are where the book of Hebrews was written isn’t clear just as the author of the book is unclear. We know it was a book written to Jewish converts, but that’s really about it. It could be sexual immorality was a problem in this area where the letter was sent. It does seem a little weird that this is just thrown in here in the midst of what we’ve been talking about. Think about any temptation which is readily available to us today, and you could fill it in here. Pornography would be one of them.

True Repentance

Then you come to Esau. Esau lost his birthright for a moment of pleasure. When he realized what he had done he went back upset he had messed up. He wasn’t really sorry for the fact he gave up his birthright as much as he was sorry he lost it. He was upset not about the sin, he was upset about the consequences of his sin. Do you see the difference?

I tell the kids at school two of the most useless words I hear are, “I’m sorry.” When it boils down to it, kids aren’t sorry for their actions, they’re sorry they got caught. When we are truly repentant about a situation we may still have to pay the consequence of what we have done, but we are sorry for what caused the consequence.

Are you truly repentant of sin in your life or are you sorry you know God is watching you and you can’t hide it from Him?

Ouch. I pulled my toes back on that one. We need to get serious about the sin in our lives. We need to get serious about how God is bringing us into a better relationship with Him and being more open vessels to be used by Him. He will do this through many ways, but one of them is His discipline. We may not like it at the time, but we need to recognize it and what God is trying to do.

Are you really willing to let God have control of your life and allow Him to use you?

This question isn’t only to the one who has never accepted the gift of salvation, but it is also to the Christian in the pew who is holding on to areas of their life that God wants control of.

Keep your eyes on the goal He has in front of us. There are many distractions in this race we’re running. Some of them may even seem like good things, but in the end, they only end up with temporary joy. The real prize is when we cross the finish line and meet our Father God and He tells us we ran the race well and we hear the words, Well done my good and faithful servant.