Hebrews 12:1-3 Note: Audio file is at the end of text. 1. Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
This passage makes it clear that Paul understood sports. The Greeks invented the Olympic games sometime before 800 BC and Paul was probably a fan and he starts off this chapter by pointing to the activity of the fans who are pulling for those of us running the Christ-follower's race.
Paul appeals to us to look up and know that the saints who have gone before us are cheering us on. From the heavenly bleachers God is watching you and so are great people of faith who left this earth to be with God.
Friday night at the football game, toward the end, our fans started making some noise. They were cheering on our team and we could hear them and it made a difference. When the other team was less than three yards to the goal, our fans got loud and encouraged us to hold them back and we did. For four downs we kept them from scoring so we won the game, 41-0.
In Hebrews 11 Paul lists some of the members of your fan club. There is Moses, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and even the converted prostitute, Rahab. All have walked this earth, all have struggled and all eventually put their faith in their creator God. They know how hard life is and the testimony of their lives should motivate each of us never to give up on God.
How do we run this marathon called life?
How do we stay encouraged not to give up?
How do we stay encouraged not to give up?
Glenn Cunningham was a runner who can teach us about not giving up. He was severely burned when at the age of eight he went to school early to light the heater and an explosion occurred. He was engulfed in flames and his legs were so damaged that doctors wanted to amputate them. Glenn would not let them and he went on to set track records. According to MyHero.com, "For three years, from 1932 to 1934, he won the Big Six indoor titles and was at the Olympics again in 1936. Then in 1938 Cunningham became the world's fastest runner as he set a new record at Dartmouth College."
While preparing to attempt to run one mile in under 4 minutes, Glenn Cunningham, was warming up which was hard for him due to his old injuries. Other runners could do a few stretches then rest until it was time to run. Glenn had to run long distances before his muscles would begin to warm to be ready for a race. This day he was thinking he could get rid of some of the fabric on his shorts so he asked someone to cut a V shape out of the sides of his shorts. You see, he was trying to lighten his load.
Surely Paul had watched the Greeks run and they ran nearly naked and that makes sense. Paul says in The Message translation, "Strip down, start running--and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins." Just as Glenn tried to lighten the weight of his shorts, Paul tells us to get rid of the sin that bogs us down. He says, "throw off the sin that so easily entangles." For us in this room that does not mean stop cheating, stealing and murdering. You are not the cheating, stealing, murdering types. I know most of you and would be shocked to hear that you pulled out a gun and shot someone. What are the sins that "so easily entangle" us? Probably things like depression, greed, envy, jealousy, gossip and self-pity to name a few.
We get comfortable with these sins and use them as an excuse to do less for the cause of Christ. We don't have the energy to lend a helping hand or say a kind word to someone who needs encouragement because we are carrying around a backpack full of greed or self-pity. Having a relationship with Christ is not about what you can't do it is about doing and this takes fitness.
While you work on dumping out the backpack and cutting off the fat and parasitic sins, you must keep your eye on the finish line. The passage says, "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus." In track, its a tape, in baseball, it's the ball. Keeping your eye on the ball is the only way to hit a baseball. It's the only way to catch a baseball. Focusing your eye on the target for where you want to throw the ball is the only way to hit the target. You can float off course if your mind is lazy and you can wonder off the track or off the field if you forget what game you are playing.
Paul is saying that the goal is heaven and we reach it by focusing on Jesus no matter what is going on around us. Some of those saints who are cheering you on died for the cause of Christ. And, it is the life of Jesus Christ that saves us. His life, his death -- a gruesome, painful, long, slow, horrific, death -- teach us that no matter what pain or problems our race presents, if we focus on Jesus, we'll finish with honor and glory as He did. You'll rise as Jesus did. You'll win, you'll score, you'll see victory.
The track is ready, the gun has sounded and the fans are watching. Your life as a follower of Christ is the race and millions line the track as you run this marathon. They are clapping and cheering for you.
