Run with perseverance
13th Sunday after Pentecost at Epiphany on August 22, 2010
Hebrews 12:1-13 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.
Shoelaces – and that’s it! You bend down on one knee to tie one shoe just so, then the next. Now you’re ready. That’s the last item as you worked through your mental checklist. You started with a protein-enriched light breakfast, arrived early for warm-ups, and did your stretching. The sunglasses are in place, the kind that won’t fog up and won’t hold little pools of perspiration, not too tight on the ears and yet won’t slip down your nose. Sunscreen, lip balm, comfie low-cut sox, shoes with a perfect heel-toe impact distribution, and finally the shoelaces. You’re in a race. It’s not a sprint. It’s a marathon – twenty-six miles, three hundred eighty-five yards – and it’s your first. The course is not familiar to you, so you try to picture how the road will bend and turn, drop and rise. A huge crowd of runners has assembled and starts scrunching closer to the starting line. Suddenly your mind flashes ahead to images of marathon runners you have seen on TV – exhausted, doubled-over. You see in your mind some collapsed on the side of the road with cramps, some dehydrated, some just plain worn out. As you look ahead, you begin to wonder, “Am I going to be one of those casualties? Will I make it to the finish line?”
When did you first begin to look ahead in life? Do you remember being in eighth grade and looking ahead to high school? Do you recall the last semester of your senior year in high school looking ahead to graduation? Are you in college or graduate school struggling to see some light at the end of the tunnel as you look ahead to finishing your degree? Have you been looking ahead to retirement, but with the economy the way it is realizing that you’ll have to put in a few more years? Are you in retirement and looking ahead to some relaxing, pain-free days, but they never seem to arrive? The writer to the Hebrews knows the drill. We’re all in a race, the marathon of life. He wants to help us run it, looking ahead with confidence, conviction and even joy. So he encourages us to, run with perseverance, cheered, championed, unentangled, unburdened, and on track.
As you are about to begin the marathon, you have been concentrating so hard on your preparation and the pace you want to set that you blocked out all the sights and sounds around you. You finally look around and see a huge throng of people, not just fellow runners but spectators. They’re cheering, clapping, waving signs, and, of all things, the signs have your name on it. They’re cheering for you!
Can you even begin to count the times you felt like you were all alone on life’s marathon, when you felt like you were battling through school issues or work issues or family issues or relationship issues all alone? Do you know that there’s a massive assembly of fellow Christians who are on your side and cheering wildly? You look closely at the crowd and you can see Noah with a dove sitting on his shoulder. There’s Moses lifting up his staff in your honor. People in the crowd know what its like to be afraid but run into headlong danger – Abraham, Gideon, Samson, David. Plus there are thousands upon thousands of unknown faces in the crowd who have completed the marathon and are cheering you on. (Hebrews 11) “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses … let us run with perseverance.”
It’s one thing to be cheered. It’s another to be championed. That’s what makes our race unique. There is One who has gone before us, who completed the race not just to be a model as someone whose record we can shoot for and whose running style is worth imitating but who is our substitute. “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the one who starts and completes 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. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful people, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” That does not mean we don’t have to run. What it does mean is that there are two things we know for sure. Number one: Jesus knows exactly what we’re going through when we run because He has been there and done that. Number two: Because Jesus won the race for us, it doesn’t matter how fast we run. We are considered by God to be winners. All we need to do is finish the race.
So, you toe the mark. Adrenaline starts coursing through your veins. You can feel your heart rate climbing. Bang! – the gun goes off. Lifting your head to see how you can sweep to the front, you stride out only to find your foot go only a foot. You tumble to the ground, scraping palms and knees and get “that close” to a “header” into the pavement. What in the world? You try to scramble up only to lose your balance again. Just then, you hear snickers from up ahead. The guy who had been lined up behind you, had reached down and, right before the race, tied your shoelaces together.
Because your homework wasn’t done the way your teacher would have liked, and you were docked for it, you stumble as a dirty word slips out. Because the guy on the freeway cut you off, and the boss loads even more on your desk, you stumble as frustration and hatred boil up inside. Because a person of the opposite gender is a friend who suggests that you need more attention than your spouse offers, you stumble by looking at that person the way Eve looked at the fruit of the forbidden tree in the Garden of Eden. The devil loves to sneak up behind us and tie our shoelaces together so that we stumble during life’s marathon. He’s very tricky and very good at it.
He tried that on Jesus, too. In the middle of the 40-day marathon in the desert Satan was emptying his arsenal on the Son of God. Fortunately, our Savior is so powerful that He broke the shoelace knots that Satan had tied. Jesus never stumbled but went striding forward all the way down to hell and bludgeoned Satan into submission. Jesus does not merely model how we should break tied shoelaces. He gives our spiritual ankles and legs power. You and I are on a marathon run through life. Keep your eyes peeled to see the devil’s tricks and break free from the sin that so easily entangles so that you run the race with perseverance.
You hit mile five, and as you swing by a water station, something drops out of a tree onto your back. It’s heavy and seems impossible to get rid of. You wanted to go the entire twenty-six point two miles, but now you are not sure if you can go another ten feet. The burden is so heavy.
What is this burden? It is your guilt. Blaming other people for your problems seems to work for a while. But eventually the truth comes crashing down on you – your pain is self-inflicted. It’s your fault. You cheated on her. You overspent on the credit card. You drank too much. You did not control your anger and your tongue. One of the most debilitating of all human experiences is guilt. Guilt smothers hope. Guilt becomes heavier and heavier. Guilt keeps you from praying or reading the Bible. Guilt makes you hide from God, the very One whose voice you need to hear.
Jesus’ mission on this earth was to neutralize and remove your guilt. His death and resurrection provide an unlimited source of the forgiving relief that we all need. The Old Testament marathon runner David wrote about this in Psalm 32: “When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. … I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord’ – and you forgave the guilt of my sin.” (3,5) You and I are in a marathon run through life. In order to be a good distance runner you need to lighten your load. Let us throw off everything that hinders, throw it on Jesus and let Him have it. Then we can run the race with perseverance.
During the marathon you’re trying to stay focused and on track. You see another long hill up ahead. And it is a very narrow path. But as you approach it, you glance to the side and notice what appears to be a short cut. You see some of your friends going that way. They are following the Hollywood celebrities and pro athletes. It is the way of the world. It is a wide road for many are going that way.
What temptations are distracting you and enticing you to get off track? Moving in together and behaving like married people when you’re not married? Blaming others for the hot water you’re in when it was your fast mouth that caused hurt and pain for others? Giving only a half-hearted effort at work and expecting the same benefits and bonuses? Giving only a half-hearted effort in your faith-life and expecting eternal benefits and bonuses?
Jesus had plenty of tempting distractions, too. Don’t you think he could have heard those Palm Sunday cheers and said, “These accolades are exactly what people ought to give me. I’m going to get off this donkey, find a stallion, and ride through Jerusalem to show my opponents whose boss. Why should I be so humble when I’m God? Why should I give in to their hate?” But our Savior stayed on narrow winding course through the Jerusalem streets and five days later went all the way to that hill outside Jerusalem. It wasn’t the easy route, but it was the right one – all for us. You and I are in a marathon run through life. Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
“Citius, altius, fortius” is a Latin phrase meaning, “swifter, higher, stronger.” It is the motto of the Olympic Games and does well to embody what our calling in Christ pursues. Christ has already taken care of saving us for a Christian life and setting us apart for an eternal life in heaven. He’s placed us on the path of righteousness, but still lets us run. Swifter we flee from temptation. Higher we stretch ourselves to practice Christ-like love. Stronger we stand in the midst of suffering in this world. A shining example of this kind of fortitude was revealed in the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico.
A Tanzanian marathon runner named Akhwari was the last man to finish the marathon race. He arrived in the stadium staggering and limping, and finished his race long after the winner did. This, of course, prompted all kinds of post-race questions as to why he continued when he had no chance of winning. He simply replied, “My country did not send me to Mexico City to start the race. They sent me to finish the race.”
A Christian who knew why God saved him and set him apart, the apostle Paul, also spoke in similar terms, “I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me ... I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12,14).
Run, Christian, run. You don’t have to win. Christ has already made you a champion. The prize is already yours. Run with perseverance. Finish the race. Amen.
Hebrews 12:1-13 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.
Shoelaces – and that’s it! You bend down on one knee to tie one shoe just so, then the next. Now you’re ready. That’s the last item as you worked through your mental checklist. You started with a protein-enriched light breakfast, arrived early for warm-ups, and did your stretching. The sunglasses are in place, the kind that won’t fog up and won’t hold little pools of perspiration, not too tight on the ears and yet won’t slip down your nose. Sunscreen, lip balm, comfie low-cut sox, shoes with a perfect heel-toe impact distribution, and finally the shoelaces. You’re in a race. It’s not a sprint. It’s a marathon – twenty-six miles, three hundred eighty-five yards – and it’s your first. The course is not familiar to you, so you try to picture how the road will bend and turn, drop and rise. A huge crowd of runners has assembled and starts scrunching closer to the starting line. Suddenly your mind flashes ahead to images of marathon runners you have seen on TV – exhausted, doubled-over. You see in your mind some collapsed on the side of the road with cramps, some dehydrated, some just plain worn out. As you look ahead, you begin to wonder, “Am I going to be one of those casualties? Will I make it to the finish line?”
When did you first begin to look ahead in life? Do you remember being in eighth grade and looking ahead to high school? Do you recall the last semester of your senior year in high school looking ahead to graduation? Are you in college or graduate school struggling to see some light at the end of the tunnel as you look ahead to finishing your degree? Have you been looking ahead to retirement, but with the economy the way it is realizing that you’ll have to put in a few more years? Are you in retirement and looking ahead to some relaxing, pain-free days, but they never seem to arrive? The writer to the Hebrews knows the drill. We’re all in a race, the marathon of life. He wants to help us run it, looking ahead with confidence, conviction and even joy. So he encourages us to, run with perseverance, cheered, championed, unentangled, unburdened, and on track.
As you are about to begin the marathon, you have been concentrating so hard on your preparation and the pace you want to set that you blocked out all the sights and sounds around you. You finally look around and see a huge throng of people, not just fellow runners but spectators. They’re cheering, clapping, waving signs, and, of all things, the signs have your name on it. They’re cheering for you!
Can you even begin to count the times you felt like you were all alone on life’s marathon, when you felt like you were battling through school issues or work issues or family issues or relationship issues all alone? Do you know that there’s a massive assembly of fellow Christians who are on your side and cheering wildly? You look closely at the crowd and you can see Noah with a dove sitting on his shoulder. There’s Moses lifting up his staff in your honor. People in the crowd know what its like to be afraid but run into headlong danger – Abraham, Gideon, Samson, David. Plus there are thousands upon thousands of unknown faces in the crowd who have completed the marathon and are cheering you on. (Hebrews 11) “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses … let us run with perseverance.”
It’s one thing to be cheered. It’s another to be championed. That’s what makes our race unique. There is One who has gone before us, who completed the race not just to be a model as someone whose record we can shoot for and whose running style is worth imitating but who is our substitute. “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the one who starts and completes 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. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful people, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” That does not mean we don’t have to run. What it does mean is that there are two things we know for sure. Number one: Jesus knows exactly what we’re going through when we run because He has been there and done that. Number two: Because Jesus won the race for us, it doesn’t matter how fast we run. We are considered by God to be winners. All we need to do is finish the race.
So, you toe the mark. Adrenaline starts coursing through your veins. You can feel your heart rate climbing. Bang! – the gun goes off. Lifting your head to see how you can sweep to the front, you stride out only to find your foot go only a foot. You tumble to the ground, scraping palms and knees and get “that close” to a “header” into the pavement. What in the world? You try to scramble up only to lose your balance again. Just then, you hear snickers from up ahead. The guy who had been lined up behind you, had reached down and, right before the race, tied your shoelaces together.
Because your homework wasn’t done the way your teacher would have liked, and you were docked for it, you stumble as a dirty word slips out. Because the guy on the freeway cut you off, and the boss loads even more on your desk, you stumble as frustration and hatred boil up inside. Because a person of the opposite gender is a friend who suggests that you need more attention than your spouse offers, you stumble by looking at that person the way Eve looked at the fruit of the forbidden tree in the Garden of Eden. The devil loves to sneak up behind us and tie our shoelaces together so that we stumble during life’s marathon. He’s very tricky and very good at it.
He tried that on Jesus, too. In the middle of the 40-day marathon in the desert Satan was emptying his arsenal on the Son of God. Fortunately, our Savior is so powerful that He broke the shoelace knots that Satan had tied. Jesus never stumbled but went striding forward all the way down to hell and bludgeoned Satan into submission. Jesus does not merely model how we should break tied shoelaces. He gives our spiritual ankles and legs power. You and I are on a marathon run through life. Keep your eyes peeled to see the devil’s tricks and break free from the sin that so easily entangles so that you run the race with perseverance.
You hit mile five, and as you swing by a water station, something drops out of a tree onto your back. It’s heavy and seems impossible to get rid of. You wanted to go the entire twenty-six point two miles, but now you are not sure if you can go another ten feet. The burden is so heavy.
What is this burden? It is your guilt. Blaming other people for your problems seems to work for a while. But eventually the truth comes crashing down on you – your pain is self-inflicted. It’s your fault. You cheated on her. You overspent on the credit card. You drank too much. You did not control your anger and your tongue. One of the most debilitating of all human experiences is guilt. Guilt smothers hope. Guilt becomes heavier and heavier. Guilt keeps you from praying or reading the Bible. Guilt makes you hide from God, the very One whose voice you need to hear.
Jesus’ mission on this earth was to neutralize and remove your guilt. His death and resurrection provide an unlimited source of the forgiving relief that we all need. The Old Testament marathon runner David wrote about this in Psalm 32: “When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. … I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord’ – and you forgave the guilt of my sin.” (3,5) You and I are in a marathon run through life. In order to be a good distance runner you need to lighten your load. Let us throw off everything that hinders, throw it on Jesus and let Him have it. Then we can run the race with perseverance.
During the marathon you’re trying to stay focused and on track. You see another long hill up ahead. And it is a very narrow path. But as you approach it, you glance to the side and notice what appears to be a short cut. You see some of your friends going that way. They are following the Hollywood celebrities and pro athletes. It is the way of the world. It is a wide road for many are going that way.
What temptations are distracting you and enticing you to get off track? Moving in together and behaving like married people when you’re not married? Blaming others for the hot water you’re in when it was your fast mouth that caused hurt and pain for others? Giving only a half-hearted effort at work and expecting the same benefits and bonuses? Giving only a half-hearted effort in your faith-life and expecting eternal benefits and bonuses?
Jesus had plenty of tempting distractions, too. Don’t you think he could have heard those Palm Sunday cheers and said, “These accolades are exactly what people ought to give me. I’m going to get off this donkey, find a stallion, and ride through Jerusalem to show my opponents whose boss. Why should I be so humble when I’m God? Why should I give in to their hate?” But our Savior stayed on narrow winding course through the Jerusalem streets and five days later went all the way to that hill outside Jerusalem. It wasn’t the easy route, but it was the right one – all for us. You and I are in a marathon run through life. Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
“Citius, altius, fortius” is a Latin phrase meaning, “swifter, higher, stronger.” It is the motto of the Olympic Games and does well to embody what our calling in Christ pursues. Christ has already taken care of saving us for a Christian life and setting us apart for an eternal life in heaven. He’s placed us on the path of righteousness, but still lets us run. Swifter we flee from temptation. Higher we stretch ourselves to practice Christ-like love. Stronger we stand in the midst of suffering in this world. A shining example of this kind of fortitude was revealed in the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico.
A Tanzanian marathon runner named Akhwari was the last man to finish the marathon race. He arrived in the stadium staggering and limping, and finished his race long after the winner did. This, of course, prompted all kinds of post-race questions as to why he continued when he had no chance of winning. He simply replied, “My country did not send me to Mexico City to start the race. They sent me to finish the race.”
A Christian who knew why God saved him and set him apart, the apostle Paul, also spoke in similar terms, “I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me ... I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12,14).
Run, Christian, run. You don’t have to win. Christ has already made you a champion. The prize is already yours. Run with perseverance. Finish the race. Amen.
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