THE RACE OF LIFE
Heb. 12:1-3
INTRO.- Life is a race, don’t you think? A race against something or someone.
ILL.- TOP 10 SIGNS YOU ARE BROKE
10. American Express calls and says: "Leave home without it!"
9. You’re formulating a plan to rob the food bank.
8. Long distance companies don’t call you to switch.
7. You rob Peter...and then rob Paul.
6. You finally clean your house, hoping to find change.
5. You think of a lottery ticket as an investment.
4. Your bologna has no first name.
3. Sally Struthers sends you food.
2. McDonalds supplies you with all your kitchen condiments.
1. At communion you go back for seconds.
I know. I know. That’s bad. But for some people, it might not be so far off base.
Life is something of a race again inflation, recession or some kind of bad session.
ILL.- About 10 years ago my twin sister and her husband were separated for about two years. She was in Arlington, Texas, and he was in Seattle, WA. Why were they separated? It wasn’t because of marital problems, although that’s a real problem in our world today. They were separated because of financial problems. HE NEEDED A JOB. And could only find one in Seattle.
My sister Sharon stayed in Arlington, TX. She lived and worked there while Mike lived and worked in Seattle. They didn’t want things that way, but it just happened that way in order to survive.
Mike lost his white-collar, aircraft computer engineering job after many years with a company in Dallas. They cut back and that sort of thing happens all the time. He even went one full year without work! Finally, he got another job back in the Dallas area and is now living with his wife of 36 years. Hopefully, the job will stick.
Financial problems are tough. They are tough for families and for churches! Amen?!
Work-related problems are tough. They happen in the church too.
ILL.- A preacher friend of mine in Marion, IL, (Gerald Ford, Jerry Ford) preaches at the 3rd Baptist church. It’s a Southern Baptist church, conservative and generally, very committed people. NOT! No, not always. Listen to what he wrote me the other day.
He wrote, “the lack of commitment in the 21st century evangelical church is at an epidemic level. Even with what we are doing, there is an absence of commitment. Our staff does most of the work. I am fortunate to have a good staff. I have 37 deacons and only 2 of them made deacons meeting last night. That is discouraging. We are trying to organize into ministry teams, and get a Baptist Men’s group organized to dovetail with the deacons ministry teams, and it is like pulling eye teeth. Our finances sound good, but for a church that averages over 360 in worship we are a long way from where we should be. The minister of music gets discouraged in the summer, because the 35 voice choir doesn’t show up for practice or Sundays. I had 12 in choir Sunday morning. That is pitiful.”
Work-related problems happen everywhere. In the world and in the church and they are very real. But they are not the only things we have to deal with in this rat-race called life.
ILL.- Someone said, “Careful grooming may make you look 20 years younger, but it still won’t fool a flight of stairs.”
And someone else said, “You’re getting older when all sports leave you tired - including just reading about them.”
Another part of the race of life is called aging. And it’s here to stay whether we want it or not. We can only turn the clock back so far or stop it momentarily.
I Tim. 4:8 “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”
That’s a powerful and enlightening verse of Scripture. Physical exercise is good. And I am one person who believes in it, but it alone will only do so much for us.
What we need is godliness or a continual relationship with the God who created us and His son, the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the only way I know of to make life better during the bitter times of this life!
PROP.- There are certain factors that can help us or hinder us in this race called life. What are they?
1- The witnesses who encompass us
2- The weights that encumber us
3- The winner who encourages us
I. THE WITNESSES WHO ENCOMPASS US
V. 1 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses...”
Are you an action-type person? Or a watch-the-action type person? Do you like to play the game? Or do you like sit and watch from the grandstands?
Who are these witnesses that encompass us? They are probably the people who are mentioned in the preceding chapter of Hebrews. They are such people as: Enoch, Noah, Abraham, etc.
They were people of faith. They lived by faith in God.
ILL.- For example, what do you recall about the man Enoch? Gen. 5:24 “Enoch walked with God, then he was no more, because took him away.”
Heb. 11:5 “By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. FOR BEFORE HE WAS TAKEN, HE WAS COMMENDED AS ONE WHO PLEASED GOD.”
Enoch was quite a man. He was more than just a man’s man. He was a God-man. He was God’s man. A man who walked by faith in God. Completely. Absolutely. He was so good and godly, in fact, that he never died. GOD TOOK HIM FROM THIS LIFE WITHOUT HAVING TO EXPERIENCE DEATH!
Where is Enoch now? Well, obviously, he’s with the Lord. In heaven, we would say. But what is he doing? IS HE SEATED IN A HEAVENLY GRANDSTAND WATCHING US RUN THE RACE OF LIFE? Is he up there yelling, “Go for it, Steve! Hang in there! You can do it! Just do it!”
Are the people of heaven watching us as we live our lives? Are they our heavenly cheerleaders? No, that is not the meaning of the text at all. It sounds good, but it’s not true.
Eccl. 9:5-6 “For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward... never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun.”
What happens under the sun is on earth. And those who have left this earth have no part in this life anymore. THEY DO NOT KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON IN THIS LIFE. They do not know what we are doing!
If they did know what was going in this life and in our lives, how could they possibly be happy in heaven? They couldn’t.
Enoch, Noah, Abraham and the other people of faith listed in Hebrews chapter 11 are witnesses who encompass us. They are witnesses “to” us, but not witnesses “of” us.
THEY ARE WITNESSES “TO” US ABOUT GODLY LIVING. Of obedience and faithfulness to God. They are godly examples to us to encourage us to do better in life. If these people made it, then we can too!
If old Enoch, Noah and Abraham did what they did with what they had, think of what we can do with what we have?! If the saints who have gone before us did what they did without telephones, cell phones, cars, pagers, TV’s, comfortable church buildings with AC, videos, transparencies, PA systems, church buses, church vans, contemporary Christian music, computers, email and a hundred other things, THEN JUST THINK OF WHAT WE CAN DO WITH ALL OF THESE THINGS!
Can we do better? We could, if we wanted to! The witnesses who encompass us are a great encouragement to us. They are a source of encouragement to us to live by faith in our loving God.
II. THE WEIGHTS THAT ENCUMBER US
V. 1 “Let us throw off everything that hinders...and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”
ILL.- Bob’s Speed Parts and Muffler Service. Have you been there to get your speed parts? Huh? Have you been there to get some speed parts for your car to make it run faster?
Most of you know our Bob Chaney is a dragging man. He is drag-racing man. And he wants to put Elaine in his dragster and let her rip down the drapstrip. Well, not really. But he would like to get her in that slingshot dragster and take her picture.
Have you seen Bob’s slingshot dragster? It’s fast and one reason is because there is no extra weight on it. It is not like the car that you drive on the street. It’s basically, just a frame with a motor, wheels and tires. YOU SEE, EXTRA WEIGHT WOULD SLOW IT DOWN.
Added weight always slows a person down. And that is the meaning of our text. If we want to go faster or run faster, we need to get the lead out of whatever or wherever it is. DO YOU NEED TO GET THE LEAD OUT? We all do at times.
Are you sluggish in living the Christian life? Has your zip been zapped? Is the going getting tough? Well, perhaps you need to throw off some added weight that you are carrying so you can run the race better and faster.
ILL.- I have a good Christian friend who ran the Chicago Marathon some years ago. The Chicago Marathon is always run on Sunday morning. Well, since that time he went through a very nasty divorce in which he lost everything. I mean everything: two homes, cars and cash.
He still runs and he’s back into fellowship with the Lord the way he should be. He is attending the Lord’s Day fellowship and faithfully serving the Lord in a nursing home ministry which he started himself. And he said, “I’M NOT GOING TO RUN ANYMORE SUNDAY MARATHONS.”
That was a weight that he decided to throw off in order to live a better and more faithful Christian life. AND GOD HAS BLESSED HIM FOR THROWING OFF THAT WEIGHT THAN ENCUMBERED HIM. Are there weights that we need to throw off in order to run a better and faster Christian race?
ILL.- Someone put it this way: “The Lord wants our precious time, not our spare time.”
Matthew 6:33 Jesus said “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness....”
What weights are hindering you, encumbering that you need to throw off in order to run with perseverance the race set before you?
Are you encumbered by some secular things or perhaps extra-curricular things that get in the way of your relationship to Christ? Things that keep you from church, Sunday School, Bible study, prayer time, and Christian service?
Are you hindered or encumbered by: too much work (workaholism), too much socializing, too much partying, too many trips, too much running here and there, too much TV, too many hobbies, or too much sleep?
The weights that encumber us need to be thrown off in order to live a better Christian life. And if you have too many things hindering you or encumbering you, perhaps this story will help.
ILL.- There was a farmer who had three sons: Jim, John, and Sam. No one in the family ever attended church or had time for God. The pastor and the others in the church tried for years to interest the family in the things of God to no avail. Then one day Sam was bitten by a rattlesnake. The doctor was called and he did all he could to help Sam, but the outlook for Sam’s recovery was very dim indeed.
So the pastor was called and appraised of the situation. The pastor arrived, and began to pray as follows: "0 wise and righteous Father, we thank Thee that in Thine wisdom thou didst send this rattlesnake to bite Sam. He has never been inside the church and it is doubtful that he has, in all his time, ever prayed or even acknowledged Thine existence. Now we trust this experience will be a valuable lesson to him and will lead to his genuine repentance. And now, 0 Father, wilt thou send another rattlesnake to bite Jim, and another to bite John, and another really big one to bite the old man. For years we have done everything we know to get them to turn to Thee, but all in vain. It seems, therefore, that what our combined efforts could not do, this rattlesnake has done. We thus conclude that the only thing that will do this family any real good is rattlesnakes; so, Lord, send us bigger and better rattlesnakes. Amen."
The weights that encumber us need to be thrown aside.
III. THE WINNER WHO ENCOURAGES US
ILL.- After actor/dancer Fred Astaire’s first screen test, the memo from the casting director of MGM, dated 1933, said, “Can’t act! Slightly bald! Can dance a little!” And most of us know the rest of his story. Fred Astaire to become one of America’s most-loved dancer/entertainers.
When April Fore and Kye Hudson got married recently, Mike Morton played Elaine’s favorite song at their reception, “Unchained Melody.” Mike had us take the floor to dance and I could hardly believe how many people thought I danced like Fred Astaire. WELL, PERHAPS NOT. But Fred Astaire was an example for someone to follow. A winner of sorts who encouraged us.
And it matters not if I can dance like Fred Astaire, but it matters a whole lot if I can live and love like Christ!
II Cor. 2:15-16 “For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life.”
I often wear the fragrance of “eternity” on my person. Rather appropriate for a Christian, don’t you think? It smells good, I am told, but there is a better fragrance, a sweeter fragrance that I would prefer to spread around. AND THAT IS THE FRAGRANCE OF CHRIST!
And sometimes, like all human beings, I don’t always spread that fragrance. But I want to. I’m working at it. I want His sweet fragrance to permeate and penetrate my being to the point that others can smell Him on me. They can see Him in me. I want to be a winner in that way; a winner who encourages others.
ILL.- Many people have seen the popular movie CHARIOTS OF FIRE of 1981 which received the “Best Picture” Oscar. It was said that Eric Liddell trained for months with the idea of winning the 100 yard footrace at the 1924 Olympics. Many sportswriters predicted that he would win. He had already won the 100 and 220-yard races in Scotland, England and Ireland. He joined the British team for the 1924 Olympics in Paris.
When Liddell learned that the qualifying heats for the 100 yard dash were on Sunday, he dropped out of this, his best event. He believed he could not honor the Lord by running on Sunday. His fans were stunned by his refusal to run. Some who had praised him, now called him a fool. BUT ERIC LIDDELL STOOD FIRM.
Liddell entered the 400 yard dash but instead of participating in the heats, he preached a sermon at a Paris church. The 400 was not what he had trained for, but he ran anyway. He finished the race 5 yards ahead of his nearest competitor and set a new world record of 47.6 seconds! That was a victory which he attributed to the Lord.
Following the Olympics in 1924, Eric Liddell went to the mission field in China. Dr. David Michell who knew Eric Liddell after he was captured by the Japanese and put in their prison camp, said of him, “None of us will ever forget this man who was totally committed to putting God first, a man whose humble life combined muscular Christianity with radiant godliness.
“What was his secret? He unreservedly committed his life to Jesus Christ as His Savior and Lord. That friendship meant everything to him. By the flickering light of a peanut-oil lamp early each morning he and a roommate in the men’s cramped dormitory studied the Bible and talked with God for an hour every day.
“As a Christian Eric Liddell’s desire was to know God more deeply, and as a missionary, to make Him known more fully.”
AS GREAT AS ERIC LIDDELL’S DEVOTION WAS TO GOD, THERE WAS ONE WITH A GREATER DEVOTION. A greater commitment. A greater surrender.
Heb. 12: 2-3 “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. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
Do we realize everything that Jesus went through in His life, His ministry and His death on the cross? What pain He endured? What opposition He incurred? What burden He bore?
Jesus is the real winner, the greatest winner there ever was. Calvary was not defeat. CALVARY WAS CONQUEST! Calvary was victory! Calvary was the triumph of light over darkness, salvation over sin, the Savior over Satan!
He is the one who can save us and motivate us and encourage us to make it in the race of life! Because He won, we shall too! Because He endured, we can too! But only with His strength and Spirit.
ILL.- Someone put it this way:
We mutter and sputter,
We fume and we spurt,
We mumble and grumble,
Our feelings get hurt.
We can’t understand things,
Our vision grows dim,
When all that we need
Is a moment with Him.
We certainly do need Him, His help, His mercy, and His grace, BUT MORE THAN JUST A MOMENT! We need a lifetime of His help and encouragement.
He alone knows our sorrows, our burdens, our thorns, our pains, our heartaches, our weariness. And He longs to support us, to help us, to strengthen us, and encourage us! He is the winner who can encourage us better than anyone!
CONCLUSION-------------------------------------
ILL.- Someone wrote these words which are supposed to encourage and help us:
There may be days when you get up in the morning and things aren’t the way you had hoped they would be.
That’s when you have to tell yourself that things will get better. There are times when people disappoint you and let you down.
But those are the times when you must remind yourself to trust your own judgments and opinions, to keep your life focused on believing in yourself.
There will be challenges to face and changes to make in your life, and it is up to you to accept them.
Constantly keep yourself headed in the right direction for you.
It may not be easy at times, but in those times of struggle you will find a stronger sense of who you are.
So when the days come that are filled with frustration and unexpected responsibilities, remember to believe in yourself and all you want your life to be.
Because the challenges and changes will only help you to find the goals that you know are meant to come true for you. Keep believing in yourself.
Brethren, while these thoughts sound good and there is a certain amount of truth in them, there is a greater belief that we must have, that we must live by faith. AND THAT IS FAITH IN THE LORD!
If we believe too much in ourselves, we will most surely fail. But if we believe in the Lord and put our trust in Him, we will never fail!
ILL.- Murderer, Timothy McVeigh, believed in the words “I am the master of my fate. I am the Captain of my soul” from the poem “Invictus.” McVeigh believed in himself and he paid for it dearly.
We must walk by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the only way to experience victory in this life and the next.
