The late Bear Bryant coached the University of Alabama football team from 1958 to 1982. In one game, with under two minutes to play, he called on his slow-but-steady, fourth string quarterback to finish the game. Bryant instructed him with a quarterback keep play and run the ball up the middle and then they would punt.
However, the new quarterback stunned the opposition with two first-down runs. Now deep in his opponent’s territory, with under one minute left the temptation overcame his instruction. He had never had an opportunity to throw a touchdown pass. So, disregarding his coach, he threw the ball. The opposing safety intercepted and broke into the clear. The sluggish quarterback struggled to find his feet, but he started chasing the fastest man on the field and tackled the safety just before the goal line. The whistle sounded. The game ended.
The coaches met at mid-field. Bryant’s competition shook his head in disbelief. He said, “How could a fourth-string quarterback catch my swiftest safety?”
“It’s simple,” Bryant responded. “Your man was running for a touchdown. My man was running for his life.” (T. T. Crabtree, Pastor’s Manual, Zondervan, 1985, p.259)
The Bible reminds us that every believer is in a race. The question is: How do you finish the race? How do you compete in the race? How will your race end? Our time today in the book of Hebrews chapter 12 helps with some answers.
Hebrews 12:1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.
The bible tells us to run with endurance the race that is laid out before us. However, every believer is running in a specific race that is set by God. Your race is not my race. My race is not your race. However, God does call every believer to persevere, to finish his or her particular race well.
Think of Judas. Judas started well. He decided to follow Jesus. He heard Jesus teach. He even went out two by two with the other disciples, healing the sick and casting out demons. Judas did everything the other disciples did. But in the end, he betrayed Jesus, and that’s how everybody remembers him. How you end the race is absolutely crucial, because that defines everything that has gone before.
How do you remain faithful to Jesus and finish the race? How do you run with endurance the race that He laid out for you? Well, one part of preparations to run well is that…
WE SHOULD LEARN FROM THE WITNESSES OF THE PAST.
When we study the men and women of faith of the past, their lives should instruct and inspire us to remain faithful to Jesus even when life gets hard. In most cases they lived similar lives that we do, as Ecclesiastes 1:9 reminds us “there is nothing new under the sun.”
Hebrews chapter 12:1 says, “We are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses.” These witnesses are not spectators in the stands, watching us run the race. These are the men and women of faith recorded for our good and wellbeing. Notice in verse 1 the word “therefore.” This word points back to Hebrews 11 and shows how these are the people who ran across the finish line. They bear witness to us of the grace and power of God, which sustained them in life and will do the same for us.
We need to recall that the believers in Hebrews 11 faced impossible situations. It is also important for us to see that the race isn’t the goal, finishing well is. Each person had obstacles in their walk but in Hebrews chapter 11 they endured because God is worth all their effort. They could endure because they loved righteousness and God’s honor more than self.
The witnesses in Chapter 11 people like Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Esau, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, David, Jephthah and Samuel should inspire us to finish our race. We also can be encouraged by loved ones that have passed away, people like relatives or grandparents or people that spiritually encouraged us, and people who depended on God to bring them through some very difficult times. As a result, they were able to finish their races well.
In order to finish the race, we should recall the witnesses of the past and 2ndly…
WE MUST LAY ASIDE THE WEIGHTS OF THE PRESENT.
Shed those things that slow you down and trip you up. Get rid of anything that keeps you from being righteous. Like you do a heavy coat when you come inside a home or building during the winter.
We are better off to reduce down to essentials in our race in this life. Having excess of even good things can bring distractions and even can cause us to set up idol above God. Verse 1 says, “Lay aside every weight.” That is not an easy task, as many of us know about losing body weight. The weight of possessions is just as difficult. It requires sacrifice, diligence, determination and faithfulness to the task.
There is an ancient Asian story about the king of Siam of Burma who had an enemy that he wanted to torment and destroy. So he would send that enemy a gift, a white elephant, a live, albino elephant. These white elephants were considered sacred in Asian culture. It would require the recipient of the white elephant has no choice but to intentionally care for the gift. Over time the white elephant would take an inordinate amount of the enemy’s time, resources, energy, emotions, and finances. Because of the white elephant’s need for extensive support, Siam’s enemy would be distracted and eventually destroy themselves because of the extremely burdensome process of caring for the gift. (Jim Nicodem, “The Gravity of Greed,” www.PreachingToday.com)
Today we get our white elephant gift exchange idea from this account. Our enemy Satan has a similar tactic. He can give us “white elephants” so we get all occupied with non-essential weight of things in this life, and they will distract us during the race or take us out of the race.
The nice “white elephants” are not just weights that wear you out and slow you down. They are very effective in keeping us from finishing the race God laid out. Since we want to finish the race, we need to do a better inventory on some things; and maybe remove a few that would weigh us down. For each of us one big weight that needs to be addressed is in the next phrase in verse one.
Literally we are to, “Lay aside THE sin that can clings so closely to.” In the original Greek language, there is a definite article in front of the word “sin.” That means there is a particular sin the author has in mind; and in this context, that particular sin is the sin of being unfaithful. This sin is what will consume our time and energy when we should be living for the glory of GOD. Unfaithfulness will keep us from the race that He has set before us.
The entire last chapter was all about faith. Let me overview this again: Faith means to believe God, to be certain of what others cannot be certain; to see what others cannot see; to hear what others cannot hear; to know what others cannot know; to be able to do what others cannot do. And faith brings us across the finish line.
Pastor Jerry Van Auken of Kokomo, Indiana, talks about a time when his son, Aaron, was five years old. He kept asking his dad to help him climb a very large tree in their backyard. When he first asked, it was too cold. Then finally, it was warm enough to learn how to climb a tree.
Pastor Jerry lifted Aaron onto the tree’s lowest branch, but Aaron panicked for fear of falling. Jerry tried to coach him along, telling him to first kneel on the branch, then slowly stand up and climb to the center of the tree. But the only thing Aaron was concerned about was falling. He kept whining and crying, “I’m going to fall! I’m going to fall!”
Jerry was unable to coax him, so he shouted, “Aaron!” Once he got Aaron’s attention, Jerry said, “Don’t think about falling; think about climbing.” Aaron thought about that for a moment, and then he proceeded to stand and climb to the center of the tree. He was able to do what he wanted.
The next week Aaron wanted to climb the same tree again. This time when Jerry lifted him onto the lowest branch, Aaron said, “Daddy, this time I will think about climbing.” And he did! He climbed confidently right up into the middle of the tree. (Jerry Van Auken, Kokomo, Indiana; www.PreachingToday.com)
There is a bit of good advice for us: Don’t think about falling; think about finishing your mission for God. Take off the weight; and climb to heights you never thought possible before. Depend on the Lord and keep on going!
If you want to finish the race, 1st, recall the witnesses of the past. 2nd, Lay aside the weight of the present. And 3rd…
WE MUST LOOK TO THE WINNER HIMSELF.
Focus on Jesus! Look to our Savior, who has the victory already won.
Hebrews 12:2 Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Jesus is the creator and sustainer of our faith. From the very beginning of time, Genesis to the book of Revelation, Jesus blazed the trail all the way to its completion.
We have the privilege to run in the only race with a victory line. But running in this race REQUIRES that the runner must trust Jesus as your Savior.
Nabeel was a Muslim, who became a follower of Christ. He had a Muslim friend, named Sahar, who was attracted to parts of Christianity, but couldn’t accept the idea of God becoming a human being. On one occasion Sahar honestly asked Nabeel, “How can you believe Jesus is God if he was born through the birth canal of a woman and that he had to use the bathroom? Aren’t these things beneath God?”
Nabeel affirmed her questions and then asked her one in turn: “Sahar, let’s say that you are on your way to a very important ceremony and are dressed in your finest clothes. You are about to arrive just on time, but then you see your daughter drowning in a pool of mud. What would you do? Let her drown and arrive looking dignified, or rescue her but arrive at the ceremony covered in mud?”
Her response was very matter of fact, “Of course, I would jump in the mud and save her.”
Then Nabeel asked her another question: “Let’s say there were others with you. Would you send someone else to save her, or would you save her yourself?”
She responded, “If she is my daughter, how could I send anyone else? They would not care for her like I do. I would go myself, definitely.”
Nabeel said, “If you, being human, love your daughter so much that you are willing to lay aside your dignity to save her, how much more can we expect God, if He is our loving Father, to lay aside His majesty to save us?”
God’s willingness to become a man and endure the cross eventually won Sahar’s heart. As Nabeel reported, “The message of God’s selfless love had overwhelmed her, and she could no longer remain a Muslim. She believed that Jesus was her Savior.” (Nabeel Qureshi, No God But One, Zondervan, 2016, pages 100-101; www.PreachingToday.com)
That’s the message of God’s love, the gospel in a story. Faith begins by accepting Christ as your Savior. Trusting that Jesus gave His life for you! Hebrews 12:2 says it this way: look to Jesus as your Savior.
It means that, we who believe will look to Jesus as the way. He went before us to shows us the way to finish the race. There is not another way to finish the race.
Stuart Briscoe told his story while in the Marines, training to do cliff assaults as a commando. He says, “The theory was that a commando raid should be a surprise, done as quickly and as silently as possible on the area with the lightest defenses. The lightest defense is at the point where attack is least expected. More often than not, it was the cliffs.”
They would come close to the cliff in their small boats and fire one rocket up through the darkness. Attached to the rocket was a grapnel. Attached to the grapnel was a light rope. When the rocket landed on top of the cliff, the grapnel would lie on the grass. They would then pull it back gently until it caught on something, hoping it caught on something secure.
Among them were expert climbers, who were like spiders. One of the climbers would get out of the boat onto the seaweed-strewn rocks and scale those cliffs in the dark hanging onto this thin rope that was on the end of a grapnel he hoped was hanging onto something secure.
A bigger rope trailed behind him. Below, a few of the marines held onto the rope. When the climber got on the top, he would secure the rope he’d taken up and then give two little tugs on it. The minute the two little tugs came, the rest of the marines exited out of their boats, cold and wet on the waves and rocks. They would scale the cliffs. It was a frightening experience, except they had utter confidence in the one who’d gone before them. They had utter confidence in the security of the rope he had fastened for them.
Stuart Briscoe says, “I rejoice to tell you that many times we’d find ourselves totally secure on those cliffs because of the utter reliability of the skilled climber.” (Stuart Briscoe, “Handling Your Insecurities,” Preaching Today, Tape No. 119; www.Preaching Today.com)
That’s the picture we have of Jesus here in Hebrews 12:2. He is the author and sustainer of our faith. That is the theme of the book of Hebrews. Jesus blazed the whole trail all the way to the top, and we must follow Him with confidence, totally secure in the path He has opened up us.
Because Jesus goes before us, we can endure our burdens, trials and frightening experiences; we can bear running the race! We are to finish the race by looking to Jesus as our Savior; looking to Jesus as the way;
We also need to look to Jesus as our motivation to persevere.
Hebrews 12:3 “For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.”
The witnesses in Chapter 11 people like Noah, Abraham, and Moses should inspire us to finish our race. We also can learn from somebody we personally know that has gone on. Believers are required to have a sure faith and depend on God to bring them through some very difficult times. As a result, they are able to run the race.
Yet it is during those times when we face the hardest trial, screaming in your heart, “I can’t do it! I can’t do it!” That we need to remember verse 3. This verse reminds us to look to Jesus’ who endured the cross and gave us the victory so we who believe can keep going and finish. Without Him we are already defeated at the starting line.
We all can finish the race by learning from the witness of the past; we need to lay aside the weights of the present; and we must follow the Winner Himself – Jesus our Savior.