Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Good morning.

It's a joy to have you here today and to get the opportunity to proclaim the Word of God to you today.

I look forward to breaking bread with you after service.

I want to begin by sharing a story as related by Paul Smith online.

MEXICO CITY IS A world away from the East African country of Tanzania, where John Stephen Akhwari lived.

But that’s exactly where he found himself in October 1968, representing his country in the Summer Olympic Games as a marathon runner.

Unfortunately, Akhwari suffered a fall during the race.

And it wasn’t a gentle tumble on a grassy knoll.

He fell hard on rough concrete, badly cutting his right leg and dislocating his knee.

Medical personnel arrived quickly and bandaged his wounds.

But the dislocated knee required more treatment than they were prepared for in the street.

He needed to go to the hospital.

But against their advice, Akhwari instead stood up and started off down the road behind the rest of the runners.

Given the severity of his injuries, he couldn’t run his normal pace.

With a combination of jogging, hobbling, and walking, he pushed ahead.

At 2: 20: 26 into the race, Mamo Walde of Ethiopia crossed the finish line in first place.

Most of the remaining competitors finished within a few minutes.

Akhwari was nowhere close.

An hour later, the Olympic stadium had only a few thousand people left in it.

The marathon was the last event of the day, and the sun had already set.

Mexico City was brutal on the marathon runners.

At over 7,400 feet in altitude, the air has 23 percent less oxygen than at sea level.

As a result, 17 of the 74 runners failed to finish the race that day.

Akhwari, bloodied and injured, was determined to not be one of them.

Followed by a police escort, and clearly in great pain, Akhwari finally arrived and limped his way onto the track, his loosening bandages dangling from his leg.

As the diminished crowd cheered in awe and disbelief, John Stephen Akhwari made his way around the track and crossed the finish line at 3: 25: 27, in last place.

The few remaining reporters rushed onto the field to ask him why he continued running in his condition.

He responded simply,

My country didn’t send me 5,000 miles to start this race.

They sent me 5,000 miles to finish it.

He came in dead last.

But he crossed the finish line.

Friends, we aren't in a competition with each other.

We're all trying to complete the race set before us.

In the beginning of chapter 12 of Hebrews, the author uses the imagery of a race to encourage the Hebrew Christians he was writing to that they should persevere and push through.

He told them about the discipline of the Lord and there's an implication that they should be thankful for it since only those who are children of the Lord are disciplined by him.

Read Hebrews 12:12-29

This is the Word of the Lord.

Let’s pray and ask God to use it to change us.

The author had just covered the topic of God discipling His children.

One of the reactions that many people have to discipline is to just give up.

It’s as if our author wants to say that he knows you’re tired.

He knew these Jewish Christians were exhausted from living the Christian life amid the persecution they were facing and the temptation pulling them back toward the old covenant.

But even though you’re tired, don’t stop.

Get up and run.

I. Get up and run.

He encourages them by telling them to:

- Lift your drooping hands

- Strengthen your weaken knees

- Make straight the paths for your feet

- So that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.

How to run - with our eyes fixed on Jesus.

This was a lot of what we talked about last week.

We run with our eyes fixed on Jesus, who lived a perfect life, died a criminal’s death that He did not deserve for you.

He died in your place as a substitutionary sacrifice for you.

He got the wrath of God that was for you and in exchange He gives you the righteousness of God.

And He died.

Three days later He proved that He was God and that God accepted that sacrifice on your behalf by Jesus rising from the dead.

So when life is hard and we feel wore out and our legs are tired… RUN WITH YOUR EYES ON HIM.

Consider His goodness and His grace that you don’t deserve but that you freely can receive.

Look to him for life and strength.

Expect Him to discipline you to help you stay on track and grow you into the person that He is making you.

II.

Looking out for other runners.

We are to be at peace with others and look out for them.

I want to look how the author of Hebrews commands these two points in the lives of the believers.

First is to be at peace with everyone.

A. Peace with everyone.

Strive for it.

Pursue it.

It doesn’t say achieve it.

But we are to work for it.

We should be known for working toward peace.

This echoes a familiar verse around our house, Romans 12:18

What this doesn't mean: Capitulating.

Letting people live in their sin.

Not speaking out.

As we will see in the very next point, we do hold each other accountable.

We don’t give into the world to keep peace but we work toward peace even with those who are outside our circles and groups.

Again, we may not be able to achieve it but our call is to pursue peace.

B. Holding each other accountable.

You can not get through scripture without understanding that holiness is expected of all Christians.

It’s not just for the “super Christians” or pastors and missionaries.

There are not two classes of Christ followers.

This is not salvation by works or working your way to somehow be good enough to earn forgiveness.

No, salvation is once and for all by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, in our place, for our sins.

But the author of Hebrews throughout the book encourages these believers and us as well to holy living.

It is part of persevering in the faith.

It is running the race of the Christian life.

Holiness is a mark of the regenerate.

It’s a mark of a Christian.

Some mistakenly think that expecting Christians to live a certain way is legalism.

Let me explain: Expecting Christians to follow what is commanded in the Word of God is not legalism.

Legalism is when you set up some extra biblical rules around the biblical rules so that you don’t even get close to breaking those and then you take what you’ve taken on yourself and you project that onto everyone else and expect them to live by your law or your rules that you set up.

That’s legalism.

We should have a higher expectation of Christians (while allowing for confession and repentance) and a lower expectations of non-Christians.

Many times we expect those outside of the church to act like they are part of the church of Jesus Christ.

They are lost in their sin just like we were before we believed the Gospel.

The ONLY way that people truly change down to the core is by the power of the Gospel.