Joy From Sorrow

Good morning, welcome to NHCC, please open your Bibles to Hebrews 12.

Recap.

Easter next Sunday morning.

Read Hebrews 12:1-2- 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, 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.

Pray.

Throughout Scripture, the command to be joyful always.

James 1:2- Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds...

Philippians 4:4- Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.

Romans 12:12- Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

Galatians 5 lists joy as a fruit of the Spirit, in which we are to constantly be growing.

All of this being said, our text in Hebrews defines life as the strenuous work of running.

2 Timothy 4, fighting the good fight.

These are not joyful activities, and yet we are called to joy.

When our life of faith is a fight, when it is rightly described as strenuous running, how am I to remain joyful in affliction rather than sorrowful?

To answer such a question, we turn to our text. Let’s begin by noticing what is said about this race.

1. Life is a race of substantial distance.

Running road races- Consider the range of emotions- starting out fast, beginning to wear down, cramping up and feeling the pain in one’s gut, getting a second wind.

Consider the range of terrain- My favorite, a slight downhill. But that’s not all there is- flat ground, the long uphill, the short but steep uphill (Lincoln Park- Mount Runmore).

The idea of life as a race makes sense. We get the imagery of the terrain, we get the imagery of the range of emotions.

The author of Hebrews is not just speaking of life, however. He is speaking of a life of faith, a life of joy, a life modeled after Christ Himself.

Our life of faith is a race, meant to be run as well as is possible.

But there is more to be gained in our text- we are to run it with endurance.

This is a long-distance race, not a sprint.

Many Christians live as though their life of faith is a sprint. We go for short spurts before we get worn out and leave behind the race altogether. (Rain from a thunderstorm).

What does this look like? Consider daily time with God. Or commitment to the body of Christ.

Have we properly prepared ourselves to understand that the life of faith is a marathon that requires perseverance?

This marathon will require proper training, diet and oxygen intake- what we would call the spiritual disciplines.

Diet is the Word of God. Training of our spiritual muscles takes place in the context of the local, gathered church. Proper breathing is the practice of prayer and presence of God throughout every aspect of our lives.

Some may ask, why is it that i cannot endure? Why is it that joy is so fleeting? How are we training ourselves?

Perhaps the more basic and important question to be asked- Are we running? Or are we spectators? How would you describe your life of faith?

2. How to run wisely.

Again, we must ask, am I running? How can we tell? What does my clothing say of me?

Notice what is written in the text- In order to properly run, we must lay aside every weight and every sin that clings closely, or entangles.

Again, this makes sense. We don’t want anything in our possession that will either weigh us down or trip us up.

Let’s begin by looking at that which weighs us down.

Notice, this is not sin. There are things in this life that are not sinful in the least, and yet completely slow down our progress in Christ.

There is clothing that is appropriate for certain settings, but not for running a race.

We could say that such clothing is fine, and not at all sinful, if one has little concern with running a race.

But, if we are indeed running the race, then such clothing has no place on our person.

We wear what is necessary for the task at hand.

Am I being helped or hindered by what is in my life? Does it help me run freely? Does it make the race more difficult?

Removing everything fancy from planes so that the planes can fulfill their intended purpose.

Let’s take this just a step further- perhaps we ought to pay attention to swimmers.

Sure, they are not swimming around in tshirts and jeans. But they take careful precautionary measures to make sure that there is nothing on them that will slow them down. Shaving their hair. Covering up in suits. They pay attention to even the most minute details.

How does this apply to us? We can see the heavy weights that would slow us down.

Are we paying close enough attention to what else hinders us?

Consider our amusements. Consider our hobbies. Consider where our time is spent. Consider our relationships.

We then turn our attention to sin.

What is sin and what does it do?

What it does becomes pretty obvious.

ESV- Clings so closely; NASB- so easily entangles us; NKJV- so easily ensnares us.

We can picture this in so many helpful ways.

Sin effectively ties our shoelaces together. It hinders our ability to move freely in the race that has been set before us.

This makes sense as sin is contrary to what God calls us to do and be.

3. Following the leader of the pack.

Now, how am I to run the race with joy?

Our text is all about vision.

Chapter 11- the great hall of faith.

We are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses.

We like to imagine them watching us, as witnesses, but consider the alternate meaning.

Their witness surrounds us in our race. Who they are, what they have done, how they have trusted in God.

Dad doing pushups.

We are to be aware of such witnesses, found and studied and meditated upon in Scripture.

Ultimately, our vision is to be set on someone else. Jesus. And His credentials are listed.

Founder and Perfecter of our faith.

He is the initiator, the creator of our faith, as we find in John 1:4-5- “In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

Not only the initiator of faith, but the sustainer, perfecter, and completer of our faith, as we find in Philippians 1:6- “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

Jesus is the focal point of our text. Our eyes are to be locked on Him.

Though they had never met or seen Jesus, all of those witnesses had their sights set on the promises of God.

So here is the necessary question- What caused Jesus to endure the cross? We are called to endurance in the text, then the author notes that Jesus endured. So we are following in His footsteps.

First, Jesus’ reunion with the Father. Seated at the right hand.

Second, the goal of the suffering. Jesus knew what His race would accomplish, namely the salvation of His family.

Are we not to have the same goals? What gives us the ability to be filled with joy in the most difficult of circumstances?

Psalm 30:5- “For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.”

The weeping turns to joy as we consider what is ahead- the very presence of the Father.

We tend to get excited about reunion with family and friends, and that’s fine. But this excitement ought to pale in comparison to our readiness to be with the Father for all of eternity. The Father who has loved us, who has saved us, who has adopted us into His very family, who has never wronged us in any way.

Psalm 16:11- “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

Joy is made possible now when we consider the great joy that lies before us.

Further, we find joy in knowing the goal of our lives. Not only to bring glory to God in all things, but to spread the gospel in all circumstances. We are a part of God’s family and are inviting others in.

Both of these realities are meant to create great joy within each of us.

In our salvation, have we been brought from sorrow into joy?