Run Life’s Race With Grace!

August 27, 2007 by admin.

Hebrews 12:1-13

In Christ Jesus, the Evidence of God’s Undeserved Love for Sinners, Dear Fellow Saints of the Lord,

Marathon runners refer to it as a “runner’s high.” Not that I’ve ever experienced it (although one time trying to leg out a double in softball I might have come close), but from what I’m told it’s a state of euphoria a runner reaches after a certain time which seems to give them that extra boost to keep going. It’s as if they forget the pain and weariness and suddenly find that little extra to help them finish the race. My wife, who herself nine years ago actually ran in and completed a 26.2-mile marathon, said it had something to do with the release of endorphins into the bloodstream. However it works, the runner’s high often plays a key role in the success of many marathon runners.

The Christian life has often been compared to a race, and we’re not talking about a short, 100-yard dash. It’s a marathon, one that we could never finish on our own. In reality, any kind of success we experience here on this earth or in the life to come is all because of God’s love for us. It’s that love — totally undeserved — that we call grace, and it’s this grace that acts as the “runner’s high” for Christians.

This morning let’s talk about the Christian marathon and how important it is that we:

“Run Life’s Race with Grace!”

I. Travel light
II. Endure hardship
III. Stay focused

The race we’re running has been run before. Go back one chapter, to Hebrews 11, and you find a nice synopsis of the Old Testament. Highlighted are the lives of believers such as Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, and the like. They were men who succeeded in running the race of life by the grace of God. That’s because they ran by faith, trusting in all that God had promised them. These are the “witnesses” mentioned in the first verse of our text (v 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.” The Old Testament saints are “witnesses” who can tell us a thing or two about the reliability of God. Their lives serve as witnesses for us to give us strength. We need that strength because the race is long one. That’s why the writer to the Hebrews encourages us to run with “perseverance.” We’re in it for the duration, and we can only persevere with God’s grace.

Marathon runners don’t usually run with their sweatsuits on. They’d only get in the way and slow them down. So also we’re encouraged to “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.” The Greek word that here is translated as “everything that hinders” is the same one from which we derive our word for the study of tumors, oncology. Tumors attack healthy cells in the body. Malignant tumors not only hinder, they kill. Sins that come easy to us, that may not seem all that serious, can still entangle us. They may start out small, but if they grow and are not removed, they have the potential to kill spiritual life and to snuff out saving faith. As with physical health, so also with spiritual health — it’s foolish to take chances. Get rid of what’s hindering you and holding you back! Replace it with God’s grace for the duration of your race!

Jump to the last two verses of our text for more encouragement (vv 12,13), “Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. ‘Make level paths for your feet,’ so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.” You can’t endure a marathon with “feeble arms and weak knees.” That’s what happens when we let the things of this world interfere by weighing us down and holding us back. That’s what happened to the army of Alexander the Great as it advanced on Persia. At one point it even appeared as if they would be defeated in battle. The soldiers had taken so much plunder from their previous campaigns that they had become weighted down and were losing their effectiveness in combat. Alexander immediately commanded that all the spoils be thrown into a heap and burned. Even though the soldiers complained, the tactic worked. Someone wrote, “It was as if wings had been given to them — they walked lightly again.” Victory was once again assured.

We need to be light on our feet as we run our race. That’s how it worked with the saints in the past. In chapter 11 we read (v 25), “[Moses] chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time.” What entangling, hindering pleasures of sin are you dealing with? Greed, envy, anger, unfaithfulness, hatred, jealousy — fill in your own blanks. We all have our own spiderwebs to avoid, sins that we can refrain from only by the grace of God. Take Paul’s advice when he tells the Philippians (Php 3:13,14), “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” That prize will be ours also because we have grace for the duration of our race!

The Christian race is long, and it’s hard. Let’s talk some now about the need for God’s grace for the struggle we face as we run our race.

“In your struggle against sin, you have not resisted to the point of shedding your blood” (v 4). Thankfully, the same can be said of us today. I don’t think any of us have had to shed blood for what we believe. The Hebrew Christians had suffered some persecution and the loss of possessions for their faith, and the writer of this epistle was a bit concerned that they were in danger of letting these setbacks affect their faith, so he reminds them of the words of Proverbs 3:11,12 (vv 5,6), “And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: ‘My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.’” Remember, the Lord doesn’t punish us for our sins because he punished Jesus on the cross. When the Savior cried out, “It is finished,” we were assured that the payment for sin was paid in full. And yet the Lord does allow pain and sadness into our lives, but only for his good purposes. Let’s not be so eager to ask, “When am I going to get out of these troubles?” Instead, let’s ask, “What am I going to get out of them?” As Paul reminds us (Ro 8:28), “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.”

Sometimes during our race on this earth we do struggle, but through that struggling the Lord strengthens our faith. Our text elaborates further on this point (vv 7-10), “Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.” There are times when my wife and I have to discipline our son by revoking privileges or by sending him to his room, but we do so out of love to teach him what’s right. As children we eventually understand that our parents disciplined us because they loved us. It proved that we had parents who cared. If there is no discipline, then no one cares. Then we are only illegitimate children. God disciplines us “for our good, that we may share in his holiness,” that we may continue to persevere and, with his grace, run the race and inherit the reward won for us by our Savior.

As you struggle during your race here on this earth, remember the Lord and his grace are behind it (v 11), “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” As children we may not have appreciated it when we were disciplined by our parents. But as we grew up, we realized why it was necessary. So it is with God’s discipline. It may not seem pleasant or joyful, but just as with fruit on a tree, ripening takes time. In the end “a harvest of righteousness and peace” will be ours. Even though we struggle while running our race, Scripture assures us (1 Co 10:13), “God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” We may struggle, but God will always be there for us. He’ll always be by our side during our race with his grace!

Finally, we have motivation to keep running. People need motivation to complete a marathon. They may want to prove something to themselves, to their friends or family. They may use the example of others to inspire them. It works that way with us as well. We have all the motivation we need to complete our race in Jesus.

“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. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart” (vv 2,3). Jesus is our light at the end of the tunnel! He’s “the author and perfecter of our faith,” or, as the King James Version states, “the author and finisher” of our faith. He is the object and the cause of our faith, giving us something to believe and the faith to do so. He was the one who “endured the cross” for us. Why? “. . . for the joy set before him.” Christ endured the cross because he could see just ahead of him the joy that would be ours when he gave his life for our salvation. Someday we will hear the joy in his voice when he says to us (Mt 25:34), “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.”

When we consider what Christ endured for our salvation, we can’t help but be motivated to keep running our race as we live for him. We’re motivated by grace. “Christ’s love compels us, . . . And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again” (2 Co 5:14,15). So we fix our eyes on Jesus. We make time for him and his Word, whether it be at home or at church, with devotions or worship, by ourselves or with fellow saints in Bible classes. We teach our children about God’s grace. We bring them to church and Sunday School. We share our faith with others in whatever way we can, anxious for them to join us in our race. All this we do because of what God has done for us. We race assured of his love. We race with his grace!

If you’ve ever run a marathon (and I know a few of you have), you know that the goal is not necessarily to win. Finishing is what counts. It’s the same with the Christian race. We don’t have to win — Christ has already accomplished that for us. But our goal is to finish, by God’s grace, and to receive what he has in store for us. And what would that be? Scripture promises us (Jas 1:12), “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.”

The race may be long. It may be a struggle. But we have all the motivation we need. So keep running! God has given us grace for the race, and it’s that grace that assures us of reaching the finish line — in heaven!

Amen

-Rev. Jonathan Rockhoff

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