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. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith,
Hebrews 12:1-2 has a special place for anybody who belonged to the youth organisation Crusaders before they became Urban Saints. It’s the Crusaders’ motto – “Looking unto Jesus”. It’s a lovely picture. The Olympics have arrived! Throw off everything that hinders – run the race to win the prize. An inspiring picture! It’s a shame we usually take it out of context. We forget how impossibly hard the race is going to be!
Consider Jesus … who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its
shame, … 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
This isn’t a fun sprint. This is a marathon where everybody who competes wins the prize – but where you have to get to the finishing line to win!! And then comes the part most Christians prefer to ignore.
5 “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons.
We prefer not to think about discipline. We run away from the idea that God will sometimes allow life to get difficult, or even CAUSE our life to get difficult, because we have lessons to learn. And God’s discipline of hardship and suffering are the only way we will learn those precious lessons.
For what son is not disciplined by his father? …. 10 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. 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.
The message of Hebrews is that we will all always face the danger of drifting away or of neglecting our salvation (2:1-3); When the going gets tough, the temptation is so often just to give up! A couple of months ago we looked at Hebrews 3 and 4 and thought about Seven Things we could do when the going gets tough. In that sermon we said that there may be times when we must simply hang on in there and accept our hardships as God’s discipline!
Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? (Hebrews 12:7)
When the going gets tough that is never a reason for just giving up. When the going gets tough it is appropriate for us to examine our lives and see if God is disciplining us in some way. Usually that is NOT the case. But occasionally there are things which God wants us to learn through these experiences. Sometimes the right question is not, “When am I going to get out of these troubles?” but “What am I going to get out of these troubles?”
Sometimes the lesson God wants to teach us is to Stop doing things we should not be doing. At other times the challenge is the opposite: Start doing things God wants us to do.
Sometimes our experiences of suffering are given to us to build our character.
“we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” (Romans 5:3-4)
Sometimes we need to learn to depend on God and on His grace – that was the apostle Paul’s experience. 2 Corinthians 12: 7 To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.
9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
So sometimes the reason we need to learn to endure suffering as disciples are because it builds our character, or because it teaches us to rely on God instead of on ourselves and our own limited resources.
One thing we must NOT think is God has stopped loving us, even if it is the case that our sufferings are an expression of God’s discipline. God never stops loving us! God always keeps on loving us with a love which will never let us go. But it is only natural when things aren’t going well that we can begin to doubt that God loves us. Maybe our doubts come because of
1. Things WE have done. Specific sins. Indifference or apathy or neglect of spiritual things. Failures in things we have tried to do for God. We can easily ask how could God possibly love us, when we fail him so often in so many ways? But God’s love still will not let us go!
We can begin to doubt that God loves us because of
2. Things that happen to us or to other people: Bereavement, illness, accident, problems with work, problems with family; Hurts from the past. We can easily ask how could God possibly love us, when we have been hurt so badly? But God’s love still will not let us go!
It may be we begin to doubt God’s love because of
3. Things God has done or has not done: our own sufferings or the sufferings of others. Blessings we hoped for but did not receive – not getting that job, or relationships not working out. Prayers not answered; NOT having particular spiritual experiences (such as NOT speaking in tongues, prophecy, or falling down and “resting in the Spirit”). We can easily ask how could God possibly love us when we feel that God has let us down? But God’s love still will not let us go!
It is very important when we are going through times of God’s discipline that we DON’T doubt that God loves us! Discipline is a sign of love – not a sign of lack of love!
5 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, 6 because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.”
Sometimes children don’t understand why their parents won’t let them devour the whole tub of ice cream. They don’t understand why they aren’t allowed to swim in those big exciting waves as the tide goes out, or stand right at the edge of the cliff to enjoy the pretty view. When a parent says “no”, that is not usually a sign that the parent doesn’t love their child. Saying “No”, setting boundaries and giving guidance is usually an expression of love. Sometimes we may not understand WHY God does what He does in our lives. Or why sometimes He appears to be silent. Or seems nots to answer our prayers. Even when we don’t understand, even when we are being disciplined, never doubt the truth that God loves us – and His love will never let us go!
Even when God is disciplining us, He still loves us. Our hardships are signs of His love.
When God disciplines us we have a simple choice – we can become bitter or we can become better! The question for each of us to reflect on tonight in our own lives is simple. Is there anything God is wanting to teach ME? Things He wants me to stop doing? Things He wants me to start doing? Aspects of my character He is working to refine? Lessons I need to learn?
Back in earlier chapters of Hebrews we thought about seven things we can do when the going get tough. Accepting that our experiences may be an expression of God’s discipline is just one. We have also seen that we can look for help from our Minister and our Church. We should also hang on in there and rejoice that we are sharing Christ’s sufferings. And we should hang on in there and rejoice when we are being persecuted for Christ’s sake. Jesus inspires us to carry on! So the beginning of Hebrews 12 points us to Jesus.
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. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith,
That phrase “a cloud of witnesses” is often misunderstood. It is talking about the heroes of faith which we learned about last week in Hebrews 11. But it is not saying that the Old Testament saints are witnessing what we are doing. It is not saying that the dead are looking down from heaven watching what the living are doing here and now. The heroes are faith are those who are bearing witness through their lives to the grace of God. Their faith is an example and an inspiration to us not to give up, however tough life gets.
So we should throw off everything that hinders. All the weights of possessions and materialism and greed. The army of Alexander the Great was advancing on Persia. At one critical point, it appeared that his troops might be defeated. 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. The men complained bitterly but soon came to see the wisdom of the order. Someone wrote, “It was as if wings had been given to them—they walked lightly again.” Victory was assured. They threw of the things that were dragging them back.
We should also throw off the sin that so easily entangles, Hebrews says. Besetting sins and our fallen sinful human nature which can drag us down.
And we should run the race of faith with perseverance. Keeping on going and not giving up. That great theologian Dolly Parton explains perseverance like this. “I never stopped trying and I never tried stopping.”
As Magnus Magnusson and John Humphrys say on Mastermind, “I’ve started so I’ll finish!!”
Of all the heroes of faith, of course our ultimate example and inspiration is Jesus Himself.
2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith,
Jesus is the source and the object of our faith. Our lives have their beginning and their end in Him. So we should fix our eyes on His wonderful example. The example of His life and ministry. The example of His passion and His death. And the example of His glorious resurrection. Especially in the hard times – fix your eyes upon Jesus!
Consider Jesus … who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its
shame, … 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
However tough our lives may get – consider Jesus. Jesus endured all the agonies of the cross. Not only the physical torture, the heat, the thirst, the pain. But the spiritual agonies of God the Son separated from God the Father. The Holy Trinity, eternally One, torn apart by human sin. And Jesus endured such great opposition from sinful men. When other people are mocking us and insulting us and ignoring us and rejecting us and betraying us, remember that Jesus has already gone through exactly that. For our sake, for our salvation.
Jesus endured all that for us. So we should not grow weary or lose heart. He hung on in there for us. We should hang on in there for him!
Jesus endured the suffering of the cross and all the opposition of sinful men, for the joy set before him. When the going gets tough we need to look beyond this world to the next. Colossians 3:1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
Fix your eyes on the prize. If you will not bear the cross you won’t wear the crown. Run the race with perseverance!
Hebrews 10:36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised
So when the going gets tough, here is the encouragement of Hebrews 12. Hang on in there!
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. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith,
Prayer of Sir Francis Drake
0 Lord God, when thou givest to thy servants to endeavour any great matter,
grant us also to know that it is not the beginning,
but the continuing of the same unto the end,
until it be thoroughly fininshed, which yieldeth the true glory:
through him who for the finishing of thy work laid down his life,
our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Amen.
