THE SECRETS OF A WORLD CLASS RUNNER
Heb. 12:1-7
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. Comedian MILTON BERLE said, “My doctor recently told me that jogging could add years to my life. I tried it. He’s right! I feel ten years older already.”
2. David Letterman said, "I pulled a hamstring during the New York City Marathon." Letterman added, "An hour into the race, I jumped off the couch..."
3. Someone has observed, “For every mile you run, you add one minute to your life. This enables you, at the age of 85, to spend an additional five months in a nursing home at $5,000/month.”
4. A blonde went out for a run. She came to a river and couldn’t see a bridge anywhere nearby. She spotted another blonde on the opposite bank. "Yoohoo doll!" she shouts, "How can I get to the other side?" The second blonde looked up the river then down the river then shouted back, "You’re already on the other side!"
5. CHUCK NORRIS ONCE RAN A MARATHON BACKWARDS...JUST TO SEE WHAT SECOND PLACE LOOKS LIKE.
B. BACKGROUND : NY Marathon
1. The New York City Marathon is a major annual marathon 26.219 miles long that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is one of the largest marathons in the world, with 45,103 finishers in 2010.
2. It’s among the pre-eminent long-distance annual running events in the United States and is one of the World Marathon Majors and has been run every year since 1970.
3. It is held on the first Sunday of November and attracts professional competitors and amateurs from all over the world. It has rewards: a $600,000 purse, 2 million spectators and 315 million more watching on TV!
4. It’s this kind of event that the writer of Hebrews had in mind when he wrote chapter 12:1-7, representing the Christian life as similar to a long-distance marathon. Let’s take a look at it.
C. TEXT
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, 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. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. 4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: “…the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.” 7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? Heb. 12:1-7.
D. THESIS
1. We’re going to listen as a World Class Runner gives us the secrets of running our Christian race at peak performance to a photo-flash finish befitting the accolades of heaven!
2. First he describes the scene of the contest, then the impediments we face, and lastly the 4 encouragements God has given us to spur us on in our final relay.
I. SCENE OF THE CONTEST
A. PREVIOUS – HEAVEN’S HALL OF FAME
1. Hebrews chapter 11 is an incredible honor roll of the greatest spiritual athletes of all time.
2. Their struggles and exploits are described, showing how they centered their greatest energies on overthrowing evil and doing mighty deeds to enlarge the kingdom of God to bring glory to Him.
3. They have gone before us and are waiting in heaven at the finish line before the dais of the Great Judge.
B. SCENE AT THE FINISH LINE
1. Chapter 12 begins with the scene at the finish line. The multitude of onlookers -- of angels, powers, and the saints of all time -- have swelled to such great ranks that the enormous grandstands are packed to the limits.
2. They are there to behold the glorious spectacle of men and women agonizing in the carrying out of God’s will for their lives with fastings, prayers and tears.
3. As the runners begin their desperate final run, the multitudes jump to their feet.
4. The great roar of the numberless throng -- cheering and screaming, clapping and stomping -- all combine to provide a great volley of encouragement, urging us to give it all we’ve got to complete the final stretch in victory!
II. THE IMPEDIMENTS WE FACE
But in the midst of this joyous picture, the writer describes the problems and challenges the runners of faith must struggle with.
A. THE THINGS THAT OPPOSE US
1. PERSONAL IMPEDIMENTS
a. The KJV translates them as "weights and sins (vs. 1)." We can’t win if we’re weighed down. ‘Sin’ will keep you out of heaven; but ‘weights’ will pull you down into hell.
b. Five or 10 pounds can make a lot of difference! You can buy little weights (bands) to put on your wrists and ankles. It doesn’t seem like much, but try running 3 or 4 miles with those on and you’ll see what an incredible difference they make.
c. Excessive clothing must go. “Oops Joggers” are those that dress inappropriately and rarely finish the race. In original Olympic marathons, long tunics were shed by the Greeks because they could entangle their legs.
d. HUMOR- We Do Things that Don’t Help
1). A woman walked into her bathroom at home. As she did, she saw her husband weighing himself on the bathroom scales, sucking in his stomach.
2). The woman thought to herself, "He thinks that he will weigh less by sucking in his stomach." So, the woman rather sarcastically said to her husband, "That’s not going to help."
3). Her husband said, "Sure it will. It’s the only way I can see the numbers."
e. ILLUS.
1). A friend of mine ran in a marathon. At the starting point he watched the other runners preparing.
2). One man was smoking; He was a macho man; he had to have one last puff before he started the race. When the gun went off, he took off like a rocket.
3). At the 1 mile marker he was way ahead of everyone, but my friend passed him at the second mile marker. The smoker never finished the race.
f. If anything detracts from your life of faith -- you must get rid of it. J. Wilbur Chapman said, "Anything that dims my vision of Christ or takes away my taste for Bible study or cramps my prayer life or makes Christian work difficult is wrong for me and I must, as a Christian turn away from it."
2. PEOPLE WILL HINDER US. Verse 2 & 3 point out that we will face opposition from people. At times we will face shame; the jeering, ridicule, and unbelief of people. At other times there will be outright attempts to stop or slow down your competing.
3. OTHER CONDITIONS WILL HINDER.
a. Verse 4 mentions our “struggle against sin.” This is the tide or gravity of the entire age we live in. The fallen state dominates it.
b. The elements runners face are similar: the wind, rain, cold, heat, humidity, etc. It’s easy to run with the wind, but it’s difficult to run against even a 5 mph wind.
c. “Hitting the Wall” is a state of exhaustion when your body runs out of glycogen or energy; usually around the 20 mile point. We definitely need the inner reserves of the Spirit to empower us for our contest!
B. NEED: GO INTO STRICT TRAINING
1. So what is the answer to all these adversities? We must go into strict training!
2. 24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. 27 No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. 1 cor. 9:24-27.
3. No Olympian ever got there by accident; you will never win without intending to win! Our "strict training" is spiritual growth: it requires rigorously studying the Bible, resisting sin, laboring in prayer, entering into Christian service, living sacrificially, and sharing the Good News about Christ. We must develop endurance.
4. Will you be a mediocre Christian? Tara Lipinski won gold in the women’s single figure skating Olympics a few years ago. She started early -- at eight years old she won silver at the National Roller Skating Championship. She began practicing on ice at 3 AM before school each morning! My heart bleeds and is jealous: "Where are God’s gold medalists?"
III. 4 ENCOURAGEMENTS TO THE WEARY
As I’ve described, all the forces of Hell will attempt to make us grow weary, or if possible, to “faint” or collapse, and not finish the race. But God has ordained four avenues of encouragement for the weary and discouraged:
A. THE WITNESSES
1. Football players know the power of crowd support. Winning is an attitude and a posture of faith. If you believe you can, all things are possible to you.
2. The multitude that cheers us tells us that we CAN do it. They themselves are examples that it can be done.
B. THE LORD JESUS
1. "Looking unto Jesus." That’s how we got started on this race and it’s the only way we’re going to finish. The Greek word "looking" means “to look away from all else."
2. “Unto” would be better translated "into." We are to look to Jesus with so penetrating a gaze that we look into Him.
3. Jesus is our model, Savior, the Pattern for our life.
4. The right hand seat beside the Judge is the most honored position; Jesus has been given the highest place of Victory in the universe!
5. Jesus Himself rises from His seat as we approach the finish line (as he did Stephen). With tears, He beckons us to give our best final effort.
C. CONFIRMATION OF SONSHIP
1. Some want all the rights of sonship without the responsibilities.
2. HUMOR.
a. On his 18th birthday, Paul Ennis’ son announced that he no longer had to obey the curfew his parents had imposed on him.
b. "I’m 18 now," he announced. "And you can’t stop me from leaving the house if and when I want to."
c,"You’re right," Paul said. "I can’t stop you from leaving. But I can stop you from coming back." [Reader’s Digest, 11/12, p. 28]
3. Verses 5-7 remind us that the discipline, or strict training we must go through, is evidence of our sonship. If we endure it, we are really sons; if we don’t, we’re illegitimate.
D. THE WREATH/ CROWN OF VICTORY
1. Paul noted, “They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever” 1 Cor. 9:25; 2 Tim. 2:5.
2. Paul also mentions the “crown of righteousness” (2 Tim. 4:8). James the “crown of life” (1:12) and Peter the “crown of glory” (1 Pet. 5:4).
3. We too will not only be cheered, but crowned with victory on the day of our triumph!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. It happened in a famous London theater. The audience, chatting amiably, drifted to their seats. The orchestra, in starched shirts and tuxedos, droned their monotonous tuning.
2. The stage hands scurried behind huge and heavy curtains, checking props. The players mumbled difficult lines as aides adjusted their colorful costumes.
3. Finally the lights lowered and the orchestra received the determined tap of its conductor, who then began the soft overture.
4. Suddenly, in the middle of a stanza, the musicians came to an awkward stop. A deathly silence followed while music sheets were hurriedly switched and then began the swelling and stately strains of the national anthem.
5. Backstage, the manager ran from actor to actor whispering excitedly, "Give it all you’ve got tonight! Act as you’ve never acted before!" "Why?" the anxious question came.
6. "Because," came the anxious reply, "King George has just come in. The King is in the audience!" And they did play grandly!
7. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords is in the
audience viewing our lives. Let’s live as we have never lived before! (poss. from Peter Marshall).
B. THE CALL
1. [Heads bowed.] How many of you have wondered lately if you could keep going? Are you “weary?”
2. There are some of you ‘struggling with sin.’ It feels like you’re trying to walk upstream or against the tide. You ask yourself, “Will it ever let up?”
3. Some of you have wondered why it always seems like everything is against you. “God must not be on my side since all this is happening to me.”
4. Could it be the opposite? Could it be that because you ARE a Son, God is letting you face adversity so that you can develop perseverance?
5. Remember: Who is waiting at the finish line? – Jesus! Listen as the crowd of angels and saints cheers you on! The ribbon is stretched before you. The end is in sight! Don’t give up now, you’re almost home!
6. Prayer.
