Title: Olympians Run with Perseverance
Text: Hebrews 12:1
The Big Idea: Spiritual Olympians, with a “go for the goal” mindset, run with perseverance.
Series: Spiritual Olympians: Going for the Goal, is based on Hebrews 12:1-13 and designed to coincide with the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, August 8 – 24 and beyond. It is a series developed from Go for the Goal: Become a Spiritual Champion, Mainstay Ministries.
Introduction
The text today likens the Christian’s journey through life as a race we run with a goal in mind.
“Let us run with endurance or perseverance the race God has set marked out before us…” Hebrews 12:1c
The idea of the Christian life as a race takes on a new clarity when we understand the word as it is used in this context. The word translated for us as “race” is the Greek word “agon” which means “contest.” It is also the word from which we get the word “agony.” (W.W. Vine, An Expository Dictionary of N.T. Words, P. 226))
While most of life is a thing of absolute beauty, some of life can be very challenging, even agonizing.
A week ago, seven-time Tour de France champion, Lance Armstrong, was runner-up in the “Race Across the Sky,”also known as the Leadville Trail 100… 100 miles of grueling mountain-bike racing. He finished just 1 minute and 56 seconds behind the winner whom Armstrong urged to go on and win when, as he put it, “At the end I realized I was thoroughly cooked, but,” he added, “I’m having a good time.” (The Seattle Times, Briefs / Cycling: Armstrong finishes 2nd in Leadville Trail 100, August 10, 2008)
The point being made is that at times the Christian life involves some hard fought and agonizing challenges, which require everything we have in order to overcome. The story of Team Hoyt is a heart touching and challenging example of how deep we sometimes have to dig in order to overcome the challenges in life.
The clip we are about to see is called My Redeemer Lives and features Team Hoyt. Perhaps you have heard of them… it is about a father Bill, who is now 65 years old and his son, Rick, who is 30 years old. During his birth, Rick suffered oxygen deprivation and doctors told his family that he would be a vegetable for the rest of his life. But his parents did not accept that diagnosis and set about raising him as normally as possible. They found that despite the fact that he was physically challenged and unable to speak, he seemed very bright. When he learned to talk with an interactive computer… his first words were not “Hi Mom” or “Hi Dad.” He typed, “”Go Bruins!” From that moment they knew Rick had a keen interest in sports. Dick and Rick Hoyt are a marvelous example of the overcoming power of the grace of God. If you would like to learn more about their story you may go to their web site: TeamHoyt.com.
Video Clip: My Redeemer Lives – Team Hoyt Clip (Godtube.com)
The clip ended with a simply stated truth that we would all do well to tuck away in our hearts and minds as a mantra to be used when the going is tough.
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13
Now that we are aware that we are in the race of a lifetime… a marathon of living out our faith in anticipation of receiving what the Apostle Paul described as, “the prize – the crown of righteousness that the Lord will give all who look forward to his return.”
We are now aware that we are surrounded by a great crowd or cloud of witnesses who have completed their own races and are now cheering us on as we run our events. We are also painfully aware that there are hindrances or friction factors that slow us down and even besetting signature sins that trip us up, that we need to strip off or lay aside in order to be the Spiritual Olympians God wants us to become.
This morning we will explore the nature of the race toward the end of understanding it and responding to its challenge.
The first thing we need to understand is that we run.
1. Spiritual Olympians understand the necessity of making progress in the Christian life.
“And let us run…” Hebrews 12:1c
The phrase “let us run” connotes the idea of speeding along… on those mornings when I decide to walk to work I don’t leap out of bed, beat my chest, let out a Tarzan yell, and announce I am going to run to work. My plan is to walk up 68h Avenue, climb the steep bank to Sheridan, cross Sheridan, and walk up 66th Avenue to Benton, then walk up Benton to 65th Avenue and one block and a parking lot later I arrive at the gym door. Note the numerous references to walking “up”. It is literally uphill until I get to 65th. My goal on those days is to reach our church… my goal is to arrive.
The run, as it is used in our text, is not the same word you would use to say, “Run down to the stop sign and back.” This word means to continue to run… it is as people who understand Greek verb tenses say, “in the continuous present tense.” The idea is that that the Christian life is like a race that you keep running and keep running and keep running until you reach the end of the race and receive your reward. (W.W. Vine, An Expository Dictionary of N.T. Words, P. 308)
There is a fascinating passage of scripture in Isaiah 40 where the prophet says, “Those who wait upon the Lord will find new strength. They will fly high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31
On Tuesday Michael Phelps swam the second half of the 200 meter butterfly unable to see the lane line or the wall. His goggles were faulty and filled with water forcing him to swim blind. He could not see the line at the bottom of the pool or the wall… all he could do was count strokes and keep swimming. (Simon Barnes, “Inevitability of Michael Phelps does not lessen greatness,” TImesOnline, August 13, 2008)
Sometimes you just have to keep swimming…
Sometimes we feel as though we are soaring like eagles. Sometimes we feel like we could run forever. Sometimes we feel like we could just walk and walk and walk… but in my experience I have found that sometimes you just have to keep crawling. Sometimes it is not about flying high or going fast.
The Christian life is about making progress…
The Christian life is about making progress… it is about moving forward. It is always about becoming more like Jesus Christ and getting nearer the end of the race.
The second truth we lift from the text today is the Christian life is an endurance race. It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon.
2. Spiritual Olympians understand that the Christian life is something you stick with and push through when life is difficult.
“Let us run with endurance or perseverance…” Hebrews 12:1c
The words endurance and perseverance are translated from the Greek word “hupomone” which means patient continuance.
It is used to define:
• How we live through trials in James 1:3;
• How we bear up under divine discipline in Hebrews 12:7;
• How we are to abide undeserved affliction in I Peter 2:20;
• How we persevere in doing good in Romans 2:7 and in bearing fruit in Luke 8:15; and
• How we live out our lives of faith here in Hebrews 12:1 (W.W. Vine, An Expository Dictionary of N.T. Words, PP. 167-168)
Patient continuance is not expressed through frustration and frenzy. It is expressed through, as William Barclay says, steadfast endurance which is patient, but not a passive way. Steadfast endurance implies “mastering” the obstacles before us. This kind of patient continuance does not just endure… it overcomes and continues to move even in the face of challenges to one’s faith. (Wm Barclay, The Daily Study Bible Series, Hebrews, P. 173)
The Christian life is lived out as a sustained effort and especially so when the going is tough. We continue to depend on God and push through when a loved one dies, when we loose our job, when we loose our home in foreclosure, when the pathologists report includes the “C” word, when a child makes a very bad choice, and on and on the scenarios go. We don’t endure it… we push through it and persist with patient continuance. We emerge wiser, stronger in faith, more loving and kind, more at peace, gracious and understanding of the circumstances of others, and closer to God.
A story from ancient folk lore wisdom tells of a warlord who was once imprisoned in solitary confinement. Nearing the point of absolute despair he observed an ant in the corner of his cell attempting to carry a kernel of grain up the wall. The kernel was larger than the ant… sixty-nine times the ant tried to carry the kernel up the wall. Sixty-nine times he fell back to the floor. On the seventieth try the ant pushed the grain over the top. (Adrian Deileman, Run the Race, Hebrews 12:11-2a, Encouraged by An Ant)
In II Corinthians 4 the Apostle Paul wrote, “We are pressed on every side, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but we don’t give up and quit. We are hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep on going… so everyone can see that our glorious power is from God and is not our own. II Corinthians 4:7-9
We persist in the life of faith when we dig deeper, push harder, and reach higher rather than let the circumstances of life knock us back onto the floor.
The most obvious Olympic Games story that comes to mind to illustrate this point is from the Summer Games in Atlanta in 1996 when the Olympic gold medal for the women’s gymnastics team depended upon the performance of 18-year old Kerri Strug. Despite the vault being her strength… she landed short on her first vault and she heard a pop. It was her ankle. She felt excruciating pain. It felt wobbly and like it would fall off. She limped back down the runway. Her coach was cheering her on but she knew something was terribly wrong.
Kerri also knew everyone was depending on her and she owed it to them to at least try. So she prayed, “God, please help me out here…” She sprinted down the runway and after a twisting blur, landed on both feet and heard another snap. She lifted her throbbing ankle and balanced on one foot to salute the judges before collapsing to her knees. Her score was 9.712 and the U.S. team won the gold because she trusted God and pushed through her pain.
Perhaps the most important insight into the Christian life as a race to be run with Olympian-like determination is this:
3. Spiritual Olympians understand that the race that stretches out before them is a “God” thing.
“Let us run with perseverance the race that God has set before us or marked out for us.” Hebrews 12:1c
The word we read as “set before” refers to something that is laid out before. It is the word used to describe a race course.
One of the most challenging of Olympic events is the Steeplechase. It is a race that takes runners around the 400 meter track seven and one half times. Each of the laps includes a water jump and three additional hurdles. It is a test of speed, skill, strength, and endurance. When you run the Steeplechase you must run the course as it is set before you or laid out for you.
The Steeplechase runner cannot deviate off course and run around the water jump or an occasional hurdle. Runners run the course that has been laid out before or in advance for the race.
The bible says that God has laid out or set before us a course for life. While we may prefer that life be otherwise, at the very core of a Spiritual Olympian’s being is the understanding that he or she is living life in the place God wants.
We understand that we don’t make the plans or make the rules… We know that God is faithful and that “God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” Romans 8:28 God says, “I have plans for you and they are good plans and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope,” God is faithful and true and it will be so. Jeremiah 29:11
If you are a mother or father, not necessarily with a handful of kiddos but kiddos who are a handful… you are in the place God has laid out for you right now. If you are in a stressful work environment and God has not opened another door of opportunity… you are in the place God has laid out for you. The Christian soldier who would prefer to be assigned to the American Embassy in a tropical Caribbean paradise nation, but is serving instead in Iraq or Afghanistan… is in the place God has set before him or her. The family to whom a special needs child is entrusted… is in God’s place for them. If you are have never been in such a place and are not currently in a challenging place… you will be. And when you are, that is when you take hold of God, relying on the sufficiency of His grace for this leg of your race, and believing that this is part of the course God has marked out for you.
Spiritual Olympians are not unlike Athletic Olympians… though we cannot see every detail of the course that is laid out before us or even the finish line, we run with persistence the race that God has marked out for us.
Conclusion:
Zoe Koplowitz was 59 when she ran the New York City Marathon on Monday, November 5, 2007 (last year). She did not do well. The first woman to cross the finish line did so in 2 hours and 23 minutes. Zoe finished the marathon in 28 hours and 45 minutes.
Zoe has MS. She entered her first marathon in 1988 and has completed it twenty times since. This year she wore braces and walked w/crutches the entire race.
One reported noted that when the best athletes ran past her, she kept walking. When hardcore runners went by, she kept walking. When the last person in the race crossed the finish line, she kept walking. She kept walking and kept walking and kept walking… (Deepi Hajela, AP Writer, “Woman with MS last to cross finish line,” Newsday.com, 11/05/07)
How might we keep walking? What can we do to make progress in our walk of faith? What are some ways we may respond to God today?
• Remember your cheering section… if they did it, so can you!
• Rid yourself of “friction factors” and the “signature sin” that is keeping you from being the person you know God wants you to become.
• Formulate a plan to get yourself back into a daily regimen of bible reading, spiritual reading, reflection, and prayer.
• Plug in to a place where you can serve Christ and others.
• Finish a spiritual goal you would like to see through.
• Keep walking! Keep trusting Christ! You can do all things through Christ who strengthens us!
