In Charlie Lovett’s book, “Olympic Marathon,” he describes the dramatic finish of the Swiss competitor in the 1984 Women’s Olympic marathon race. Gabriele Andersen-Scheiss entered the stadium fifteen minutes after the winner. She was suffering from extreme heat exhaustion. “The crowd gasped in horror as Andersen-Scheiss staggered onto the track, her torso twisted, her right arm straight and her left arm limp, her right knee strangely stiff. She waved away medical personnel who rushed to help her knowing that, if they touched her, she…would be disqualified. For nearly six minutes [the woman] hobbled around the track, occasionally stopping and holding her head. Doctors watched her carefully…She collapsed over the finish line in thirty-seventh place into the arms of waiting medics.
Finishing this race became for this woman a decided goal from which she would not be persuaded. She set her sights, not on finishing first, but on finishing.
This is what the author of Hebrews discusses this morning. The key idea of this passage is that there is a race set before each believer in Christ. Therefore each of us must discipline ourselves to finish the race to the glory of God.
I. The Example of those Approved by Their Faith Should Cause Us to Complete the Course (v. 1)
The author gives us two examples that should encourage us to persevere in the course that God has set before us. The first is the example of those approved by their faith should cause us to complete the course. We find this in verse 1. The author says, “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”
The author’s point in his introduction is that these who have gone before us should be an encouragement for us to persevere. It is not, as some have seen, a great crowd looking down from heaven and cheering us on, for as we have seen, the author has not used the word “witness” in this way throughout chapter 11. The word “witness” here is related to those who have received the affirmation from God that they have been made righteous. So the author is saying that we have a large group of people who went before us and received God’s testimony that they were righteous because of their faith. Since they lived for God through the midst of some difficult and trying times so can we. It is not that they are looking down from heaven and cheering us on, but that we are looking back through the hall of faith and seeing what God accomplished through them.
The example of these men and women of faith should cause us to go on in the course that has been set before us regardless of how difficult it may seem. And so the author says that because of their witness it should cause us to put aside two things. First we must put aside what slows us down.
A. What slows us down
The author says first, “lay aside every encumbrance.” The word “encumbrance” was used in various ways in the ancient world. It was used to describe “mass, weight, body fat.” The imagery in the sporting world was used of a runner removing burdensome clothing or losing excess weight.” It could describe anything that hindered breathing or the free movement of the limbs (Guthrie-NIV app). It also referred to stripping down for a fight.
What the author wants us to realize is that individually there are things in our lives that keep us from running the race effectively. Perhaps in training a runner may use ankle weights to strengthen himself. But the runner would never think of participating in a race with them on. We are in a race and there are items in our lives that we know cause us to run sluggishly. Each one of us is different and we respond differently to them. Note carefully that he is not talking about sin. He mentions this next. But here he is talking about the certain weights that keep us from running seriously.
Note too that as a person there are differing weight limits in our lives. We may be able to handle a lot of weight in one area but very little in another. And this calls for spiritual discernment on our part. Let me use a physical example from Dr. Paul Brand’s book, “Fearfully and Wonderfully Made.” He says, “Every square inch of our body has a different response to touch. Scientists…have mapped the nerves…meticulously.” One scientist “measured the threshold of touch, the amount of weight it takes for a person to sense that an object has come in contact with the skin. The soles of the feet…do not report in until a weight of [1/100thousandth of an ounce] per [square in].” The fingertips can feel 2/ten millionths of an ounce per square inch. The eye responds to 1/100 millionth of an ounce. The eyelash in a person’s eye is enough to disable them from thinking about anything else. Some things will distract a person from the race in small amounts, whereas in other areas it greater amounts may not be a distraction.
Again remember we are not talking about what the Bible describes as sin but that which a person recognizes as hindering their effectiveness in living for Christ. This is why it takes spiritual discernment to determine these areas that may be impeding you in your walk with Christ. Let me mention some from my life. Crossword puzzles and number games. Logic puzzles or other things that cause me to think out solutions. Are these sin? Does the Bible condemn them? No. They may even be helpful in keeping my thought processes functioning clearly. But how do they affect Dave when he is not vigilant? When I get a book of puzzles I begin to work on them but often they begin to take other important time from me. I’ll give an example. One of my Bible reading times is at night while I lay in bed. I always try to read one chapter before I go to sleep so the Word of God fills my mind while I drift off. But when I get one of these books I first do a logic problem then read my Bible and go to sleep. Any problem yet? No. But soon I’ll work on two or three and find that I am just too tired to read. Now it has become something that slows me down in the race. It can also keep me from time with my family. It is slowing me down in the race. I never usually finish the books. I recognize what they are doing to me and either give them away or throw them away.
There are other things like this in my life. The little windows games that come on the computer. I can without noticing it spend an hour playing a stupid little game like that. What eternal significance did I accomplish with it? This is why I will not have those games on my computer. These things become time wasters for me and are like a runner trying to wear combat boots in the competition. Is it against the rules? No. You can wear combat boots if you want. But they won’t help you.
Friends, this area calls for spiritual discernment. Why? For the very reason that God does not call them sin and yet we know personally that they are becoming a hindrance to us. But because we enjoy them and no one can point to us and say, “That’s wrong” we can often jump into a defensive mode and justify our continuance of them. And so we need also need discipline along with discernment. We need to be able to say, “enough.” Have you noticed something in your life that dulls your spiritual fervor? Is there something you do that causes you to cool off and not be hot for God? Then lay it aside. We cannot afford to run a race of so great importance with all the accoutrements of leisure. Let us remember the example of those who ran before us.
B. What trips us up
Secondly, we must put aside what trips us up. The author says, “lay aside…the sin which so easily entangles us.” So he now describes laying aside not just what slows us down but that which may very well cause us to fall on our faces. Not only are there these hindrances to our race but there are stumbling blocks in our lives. As a believer, the Holy Spirit who dwells inside you points out the sin in your life. You know what these stumbling blocks are. These may be anger, lust, lying, wrong desires, a divisive spirit, or a host of other things. But again the author tells us to lay them aside before they trip you up and keep you from running as you should.
The difference between the weights and sin is that though you still make progress with various weights you cannot make progress in sin. This is the more serious matter the author addresses lest your spiritual growth be stunted and your usefulness for our King be limited. But let us look to those who have lived lives of faith in God’s Word and move forward in the race set before us. Their course may have looked a little different than ours but let’s look at their example of perseverance and continue on.
II. The Example of the “Approver” of Our Faith Should Cause Us to Complete the Course (vv. 2-3a)
In verse 2-3a we see the next example to encourage us in the race set before us. We see that the example of the Approver of our faith should cause us to complete the course. Here the author tells us, “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” What we must notice is that there is a great difference between the previous example of those who have gone before and the example of Jesus. The reason is that though Jesus has run the race that was set before Him as the others, He is more than just a runner. The author says that Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith. Or in the words that I have used, He is not the one approved but He is the approver. He is the one who initiates our faith and completes it. In other words He traveled the path in which He did, so that He would make a way for us to follow. For without the cross-work of Christ there would be no way to God, we would be lost as sheep without a shepherd.
Note here that the way we are to run the race is to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. The word “fixing” means to look away from all else. It is not our physical eyes that are set on Jesus but our spiritual eyes. In looking to Jesus the author is calling for us to keep our eyes from being distracted by the difficulties in living as a believer that would keep us from running the course, as we should. Though difficult the course, the author says we can do this because of the example of Jesus he describes in three ways.
A. He looked to the reward of endurance
The first way he describes the example of Jesus is that He looked to the reward of endurance. The author describes Jesus as He “who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame.” What we can understand from the author’s encouragement to persevere is that Jesus looked to the joy that awaited Him through the midst of the hardship of the cross. What was the joy He saw? It was the joy of Hebrews 2:10. The similarities of the two verses link them together. Hebrews 2:10 says, “It was fitting for Him…in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings.” The joy He saw was in bringing many people to salvation. He saw the joy of rescuing souls from perishing in hell. And this joy is what caused Him to endure the cross. He saw the other side of the hardship and embraced it because of the joy that awaited Him.
The verse also says that Jesus despised the shame. The term “despise,” means to think little of. Because of the joy He would experience later He thought little of the shame and pain He would experience in the cross. The joy of completing the course and seeing the outcome caused Him to think the cross to be of no account. The pain was so little in comparison with the joy He would have he didn’t think it worth great trouble to avoid it.
This should cause us to recognize that any difficulty or hardship we might experience because we desire to live for Christ should be of very little consequence to us in comparison to the joy we will experience in heaven. It isn’t that the hardships we face won’t be difficult for us. To think that this is simply a walk in the park is to ignore the harsh reality of life. And the harsher reality of persecution that will come upon us for following Christ with all our heart. The key to living faithfully for Christ is to recognize the joy we will experience later because we obeyed far outweighs the pain or suffering we might experience now, even if might end up that we experience the cross. I love the way the apostle Paul says it in Romans 8:18. He tells us, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us.”
B. He received the reward of endurance
The second way the author describes the example of Jesus is that He received the reward of endurance. At the end of verse 2 he says that Jesus has “sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Jesus finished the course His Father sent Him to accomplish. And because of this He received the reward of endurance. The fact that He was sitting down showed He finished the work He came to do. And now He rejoiced in the presence of His Father as He came to His reward.
We can look forward to the fact that as we follow Christ, in the hard but right way, as John Bunyan put it in Pilgrim’s Progress we will receive a reward of endurance. James describes this crown (or reward) for those who endure affliction for the sake of Christ. In James 1:12 he says, “Blessed is the man who endures under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.” The testing or approval process that God uses shows that someone’s faith is valid and they are not simply a “fair-weather” follower of God. But what we can understand is that those who receive greater affliction for the sake of Christ receive greater reward.
C. He suffered for the reward of endurance
And this brings us to the final way the author describes the example of Jesus. In the beginning of verse 3 we see He suffered for the reward of endurance. The author tells us, “For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself.” Let us not think that if our Master needed to have completed His course through suffering (or as the author puts it, to “have been perfected through suffering) that we should escape it. In Matthew 10:24-25 Jesus told His followers, “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul (or the devil), how much more will they malign the members of his household!” What Jesus tells us is that you should not think you can live for Him boldly without experiencing persecution if the One you follow endured such suffering.
This is what verse 3 says. Consider the fact how Jesus endured such hostility against Himself. The Christian life doesn’t guarantee smooth sailing. It is not the ultimate self-help movement to avoid pain. Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:12, “All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” So if you are not being persecuted for your faith then there are two reasons for it. First, you don’t desire to live godly in Christ Jesus or your time hasn’t come yet. The Scripture never says that we should seek out suffering. There is no call for self-inflicted suffering in Scripture. We are just not to run away from it when it does come. Jesus suffered in accordance with the will of God as Peter says in His first letter. Let us not forget that we are not any better than our master. Consider Jesus who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself.
III. Both Examples Are an Encouragement to Persevere (v. 3b)
The author uses the example of these past believers and the example of Jesus for one purpose. Both examples are an encouragement to persevere. This is what the author notes in the last part of verse 3. He says, “so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Literally the words he uses are being “weary of soul.” He doesn’t want our soul to give out in the course set before us.
The author is encouraging these people in the midst of a time of great persecution against the church. He wanted them to be ready for continued hardship and not give in because of the current pain they experienced.
We must remember that the Christian life is not a sprint but a marathon. We are running for the long distance. It is a paced run. Of course this doesn’t mean leisure. There is a roaring lion in the path seeking whom he may devour. We can’t be too relaxed about that. But we must be in this for the long haul.
This section is an encouragement by the author to not give in, to not throw in the towel, to not quit or not walk off the course.
Dennis Dennigan was my 7th grade science teacher. He taught me to love running and racing. Mr. Dennigan was in training for marathons. But he would also run in smaller local races. One day he ran in the Woonsocket 10K Road Race. But because he kept his eye on bigger races he had taken a practice run of about 15 miles the day before. In the middle of the race he began to get leg cramps. As he began to slow down and walk he purposely headed off the course down a side street. A moment later, an official or someone who thought they were an official ran up to him and ripped off his entry number because they thought he was cheating. He had been disqualified.
Mr. Dennigan walked off the course. He didn’t find any reward waiting for him because he didn’t set his eyes on the prize. He thought it too much trouble to finish the race. What about you? When the spiritual heat exhaustion sets in will you maintain your focus on the goal of finishing? Will you diligently set your heart to complete the race? Or will you disqualify yourself from it? Will the goal of the reward stimulate you to continue in spite of the difficulty? Remember that persecution even includes demonic discouragement to keep us from doing what is right when we don’t feel like doing it.
Will you set your eyes on those who have gone before you and keep pressing on? Will you set your eyes on the author and finisher of your faith and look to the reward of joy in the distance? Will you not give in, give up or turn back? Complete the course by faith in the one who has gone before us and has opened the way by shedding His blood for you.