The Great Race

I know not everyone is not sports, but I want you to think back to a time you were doing something, a sport, or another activity where you had an audience, and because of that you tied a little bit harder than you would have if they were not watching. Imagine playing basketball and Michael Jordan showed up and wanted to play with you, or if your into golf and Tiger Woods wanted to play a round of golf with you. The point is if we have an audience especially one of someone who is well known for being great at whatever it is, we push ourselves to do better. So lets keep this in mind as we look at God’s Word this morning.

Now we are also going to use our imaginations a bit this morning. Imagine yourself during biblical times, you are going to be competing in a race. There are thousands of people who have gathered to watch you compete. They are all cheering you on, encouraging you, because they were once there too. Now lets look at verse one with that scene still in your mind.

Hebrews 12:1 ESV

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

Now remember the “therefore” points us to the proceeding verses. And in this case it points to Hebrews chapter 11, what we call the hall of faith. It is full of examples of those of old who exemplified a faithful life. Abraham, Moses, David just to name a few. Well this cloud of witnesses is those very people. They have lived out the life and are now spectators cheering us on in our race. Now there are a couple of things we need to do to get ready for this race, and let me be very clear this race is not a short sprint, it an ultra marathon, a long race that is our entire life after we meet Jesus. Before we race we must divest ourselves of somethings, we must liquidate our old stuff. We must get rid of the things that weigh us down. When your running a race you do not want to carry any unnecessary weight. We must get rid of our sin, the author says “sins that cling so closely”. These are different for everyone. The NIV says “sins that so easily entangle us”. For some it might be pride, for some lust for some covetousness. It is different for all of us. Now we have cast off the sins that entangle us, but the author also talks about laying aside every weight. There are things in our life that may not be sinful, but they still maybe a weight that slows us down in our race. We are to cast off our sin and anything else that causes us to lose focus on the goal. We must cast sin and weight off and run.

1 Corinthians 10:23 ESV

23 “All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up.

We get rid of the sin, and run with endurance. Now you might be asking yourself, how can I run with endurance, I can’t even run a few steps. It’s a good thing this race is not all about our physical fitness. Running this race takes strength and focus, but what is our focus on? The answer is found in verse two.

Hebrews 12:2 ESV

2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

We persevere the race by focusing on Jesus. He is the founder and perfecter of our faith. The pioneer of what it is to be a faithful person. Living his life completely dependent on God the Father. It is because of Jesus that we can have faith, because of what He has done. He sets the perfect example for us to follow. “The joy before him” is that of setting at the right hand of the father. Jesus sets the example for the type of endurance we are to run our race. The same type of endurance that He had in enduring the cross. He endured the pain suffering, and shame of the Crucifixion.