Run the Race Well
Hebrews 12:1-3
Over this past week, we had the joy of hosting our annual soccer camp with Athletes in Action. It’s always a lot of fun learning new soccer skills, playing lots of games, and cheering each on. I enjoyed watching the different age groups; the older teams were usually more focused on the soccer and skills, while a number of younger campers were distracted by dandelions, butterflies, and pets walking by, especially by the end of the day when we were all hot and tired. I did notice how much cheering each other on made a difference in our energy levels and ability to focus on the games.
Competition was a big deal in Greece and Rome. It’s from Greece that we get our Olympic games which are this summer. The games were about celebrating and worshipping the physical body. Today, no matter where you grew up, or when you grew up, games and competition is a natural and normal part of being human with soccer being one of the most popular sports in the world.
The author of the book of Hebrews sees life as a race. This isn’t a 100-yard dash though; life is a marathon, a grueling long-distance race that takes, training, focus, and determination to run. I can’t expect to sign up to run a marathon for next weekend and expect to do well, or even to finish. I need to get into some serious training with someone who knows how to run long distances if I want to finish the race and run the race well. Knowing what to expect is important and having someone who has run before is a huge blessing. There are predictable times in a race when all you want to do is stop because your body’s telling you that it’s done. Knowing this is coming helps you prepare for it, giving you the determination, strength, and ability to push through it, knowing that on the other side of that wall you’ll find the strength and will to carry on.
This is why we focus in Bethel on mentoring, especially our youth. Following Jesus is like a marathon. We’re in a life-long journey following Jesus and it takes training, encouragement, and the wisdom and experience of others to help us run our race well. Hebrews talks about a great cloud od witnesses. The writer’s talking about the people in the chapter just before this one. There are some amazing faith stories that he points back to, reminders of people who leaned on their faith in hard times, some of them even dying because of their faith in God; people like Abel, Noah, Abraham, Rahab, and so many others. Life isn’t always easy, Hebrews 11, “There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.” I won’t promise you easy, but I will promise you it’s worth it to run your race to Jesus instead of away from him.
A Taizé website shares that “The “great cloud of witnesses” that surrounds us are people from every age whose lives were determined by their faith in God. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews compares them to sports fans in the stands of a stadium. They have already finished their race. But they do not lose interest in those who are still struggling and running. They urge them on and applaud them. That is how witnesses support our faith.” It’s like when we were playing soccer this past week, it’s so much more fun when your team mates and coaches on the sidelines cheered you on. But it’s important to recognize that the power of the witnesses came through struggle and pain, yet they kept their eyes on God; they ran their race even when it included suffering because they knew God is at the finish line to tell them how well they’ve done. Our children and youth need coaches and encouragers, teachers who are investing them. Grandparents and older members are especially important in these roles; you bring a wisdom that is so needed for our children and youth. Ministries like Sunday School, Children in Worship, Treasure and Truth Seekers are beautiful ways for older members to share their wisdom and life experiences with our children and youth, and they are eager to learn from you.
We don’t run our race on our own. Just like runners have people long the road handing out water or oranges to help us keep up our strength, like coaches who run alongside us for a bit and tell us how we’re doing and how to run the next stretch, we need others to help us run our race in life well. From parents, to teachers, counsellors, coaches, mentors, faithful friends, we need others to help us run the best race we can. Just like we need others to help us, we need to use our gifts to help others run their races well. There are no spectators in the Christian race of life; we do it together as a team, as a family.
Hebrews reminds us that the best way to run our race is by keeping our eyes on Jesus. the call is not to keep our eyes on the heroes of faith; they’re there to encourage us but our goal is Jesus. We need a goal in life, something, or in our case, someone that we’re heading towards. Jesus is called the pioneer and perfecter of faith. Pioneer means “originator” or “founder.” A pioneer is at the beginning of, and center of something new. Hebrews reminds us that Jesus is the one through whom everything is created, he’s the founder of creation and the universe and as the origin of everything, he’s the center of our faith; another way of saying he’s God. Jesus is the perfector of our faith. The word used is “telos” and it has to do with finishing, end goals, and completeness. For our soccer camp, the goal was for the kids to learn about Jesus, to gain soccer skills, and to play the game. We keep our eyes on Jesus because he’s our finish line, the one we’re running to, the person who has finished the race already and knows what it takes to get there and how to help us complete our race through life.
We’re called to “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.” This gives us 2 different images of what it looks like to get distracted or side-tracked from running our race well. There are those things that can hamper us from running or keeping our eyes on Jesus. they’re not even bad things or sins, but can even be blessings that God gives us. These good things can be family and children and allowing their desire and wants to draw you away from Jesus and his desires for you. We’re constantly being told to put ourselves and our wants first, and these messages sink in so when it comes to making choices to please ourselves over kingdom activities, the kingdom often is the ignored choice. It can be our toys and pleasure activities, which are blessings, but then take precedence over spending time with God or engaging in engaging in activities that are focused on blessing others and creating a community of blessing. Instead, our first priority is to bless ourselves. Our eyes are on the mirror instead of Jesus and our race suffers. As Tim Keller reminds us, “We take God’s good things, and make them gods.” Faith looks to God and neighbours before ourselves, we live into a sacrificial faith.
Then there’s the image of a fishing net entangling us. A fisherman would go out in his boat and cast his net into the water and hope for fish to swim into it and get tangled in the lines, making it possible for the fisherman to pull them into the boat. If a fisherman’s not careful, a fishing net can get all tangled up, and if it’s bad enough, it can become useless and need extreme measures to salvage it. Think of Jesus’ need to leave heaven and become human and ultimately die on the cross because of our sin. We get so entangled in sin, distracted by God’s blessings instead of keeping our eyes on Jesus, that Jesus needed to become one of us and take our punishment on himself to untangle us from sin and free us to run our race again.
Jesus then gave us the Holy Spirit who keeps pointing us to Jesus, reminding us that he is our best coach and guide in life, that he lived life with us and knows how hard it can be, but he also knows exactly what we need to make it to the finish line and gladly gives it to us. my encouragement to you is keep your eyes on Jesus, allow him to be your coach and guide, and he will give you everything you need to run your life race well and finish strong.
