RUN, RUN, RUN!
Hebrews 12:1-3
INTRODUCTION
I don’t know who the author of Hebrews is, but I think that he would be right at home in front of a big screen television watching the Superbowl next Sunday, that is if he had not already purchased tickets. Why? Take a look at the first few verses of the twelfth chapter. We are introduced to a powerful athletic metaphor in which the Christian life is compared to a race.
If you know Jesus then you are a participant.
You are already running, whether you realize or not. (Turn to the person next to you and tell them, “You are in a race”.)
The issue is not if we are running but how we are running.
RUN FREELY
I do not know which race this author of Hebrews had in mind. I don’t know if he was thinking of a sprint, long distance or a marathon. I don’t know about you but being a Christian is often like an obstacle course, more than anything else. In any case we are told to run unhindered.
Ill. Can you imagine what it would be like to be at a track meet waiting for the start of the 100 meter race? Gathered together are the top runners from across the world. Fractions of a second separate these runners. While the marathon is a test of stamina and endurance, the 100 meters is an explosion of power that is over in less than ten seconds. If you have ever run the sprints you know that there is little room for error. Often a race is won in the start itself. But imagine that as the runners come to the blocks that something seems strange about the world record holder. You pick up your binoculars to get a better view and what you see doesn’t make any since. Strapped around his ankles are 25 pound weights. For what ever reason, he has decided to run with this extra load. There is no way he is going to win.
Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
The words used here mean to lay aside anything, any obstacle any impediment that would hinder your running. Take it off! Strip down. Get rid of any sinful thought, action, habit, or relationship. Sin will trip you up and cause you to fall. Ancient track competition like today demanded intense practice. Olympic athletes had to swear that they had undergone ten months of rigorous training before competing. The last month head to be under the stern eye of an Olympic instructor. They disciplined themselves to remove unwanted body weight and when they computed they ran almost naked. We also are to remove anything in our lives that hinders our running.
Ill. There is a terrible story about a man who went out to play golf early one Saturday morning. His wife became concerned when he had not returned home by dinner time. It wasn’t until about midnight when he came through the front door, exhausted.
“Where have you been?” she demanded
“I’ve been playing golf” came the reply.
“But that was 18 hours ago. What happened?”
“I was having the best game of my life. I was two under par when on the seventh tee Harry had a heart attack and died.” His wife still didn’t understand.
“After that it was hit the ball, drag Harry - hit the ball drag Harry . . .”
Is there something or someone slowing you down?
Are you trying to run with extra weight?
Are you dragging something behind you?
Get rid of it! Run Freely
RUN FOCUSED
The words used in the text carry the emphasis of running fast moving ahead exerting yourself and making progress.
Fixing our eyes on Jesus
We are to give attention to one thing to the exclusion of all else. Look with undivided attention,
The author and perfecter of faith
(1) strictly, one who goes first on the path; hence, leader, prince, pioneer.
(2) as one who causes something. to begin originator, founder, initiator.
Ill. When I was in the marines, the training for commandos included cliff assaults. The theory was that a commando raid should be a surprise, done as quickly and as silently as possible on the area with the lightest defenses. The lightest defense is at the point where attack is least expected. More often than not, it was the cliffs. We would come close to the cliff in our small boats and fire one rocket up through the darkness. Attached to the rocket was a grapnel. Attached to the grapnel was a light rope. When the rocket landed on top of the cliff, the grapnel would lie on the grass. We would then pull it back gently until it caught on something. We hoped it caught on something secure. We had expert climbers. Those guys were like spiders. They would get out of the little boat onto the seaweed-strewn rocks, and scale those cliffs in the dark hanging onto this thin, little rope that was on the end of a grapnel they hoped was hanging onto something secure. A bigger rope trailed behind them. Below, we held onto the rope. When the climber got on the top, he would secure the rope he’d taken up and then give two little tugs on it. The minute the two little tugs came, we jumped out of our boats, cold and wet on the waves and rocks. We would scale the cliffs. It was a hairy experience, except we had utter confidence in the one who’d gone before us. We had utter confidence in the security of the rope he had fastened for us. You could imagine my delight when I discovered that Jesus is called "the one who has gone before," or in the Greek, the "prodromos." The prodromos was a person who headed a patrol in military maneuvers. He was the one who went ahead and made sure the way was open.
Citation: Stuart Briscoe, "Handling Your Insecurities," Preaching Today, Tape No. 119.
Ill. Perhaps no name is more synonymous with greatness in the sport of golf than the name Jack Nicklaus. The 20 major championships. The electrifying finishes. The sheer will to win. Jack’s achievements are legendary.
However, the name Nicklaus transcends his dominance as a player. The legacy Jack has left as a player can be rivaled only by the legacy he is leaving as a golf-course designer. Today, Nicklaus also stands for superior golf course design, a result of Jack’s more than three decades as a renowned golf course designer. Jack has been involved in the design of 197 courses open for play worldwide. Jack was named GolfWorld’s Architect of the Year in 1993, and in 1999, Golf Digest named him the world’s leading active designer. He recently was honored with the International Network of Golf’s Achievement in Golf Course Design Award for 2000-2001.
Jesus is the One who both designed the race and has victoriously finished the race.
RUN TO THE FINISH
They race that is set before us
In a recent NCAA cross-country championship held in Riverside, California, 123 of the 128 runners missed a turn. One competitor, Mike Delcavo, stayed on the 10,000-meter course and began waving for fellow runners to follow him. Delcavo was able to convince only four other runners to go with him. Asked what his competitors thought of his mid-race decision not to follow the crowd, Delcavo responded,
"They thought it was funny that I went the right way."
Delcavo was one who ran correctly. In the same way, our goal is to run correctly--to finish the race marked out for us by Christ.
Citation: Loren D. McBain, Mesa, Arizona. Leadership, Vol. 15, no. 3.
Ill.A world-class woman runner was invited to compete in a road race in Connecticut. On the morning of the race, she drove from New York City, following the directions -- or so she thought -- given her over the telephone. She got lost, stopped at a gas station, and asked for help. She knew that the race started in the parking lot of a shopping mall. The station attendant also knew of such a race scheduled just up the road and directed her there.
When she arrived she was relieved to see in the parking lot a modest number of runners preparing to compete. Not as many as she’d anticipated; an easier race than she’d been led to expect. She hurried to the registration desk, announced herself, and was surprised by the race officials’ excitement at having so renowned an athlete show up for their race. No, they had no record of her entry, but if she’d hurry and put on this number, she could just make it before the gun goes off. She ran and, naturally, she won easily, some four minutes ahead of the first male runner in second place.
Only after the race--when there was no envelope containing her sizable prize and performance money-- did she confirm that the event she’d run was not the race to which she’d been invited. That race was being held several miles farther up the road in another town. She’d gone to the wrong starting line, run the wrong course, and missed her chance to win a valuable prize.
D. Bruce Lockerbie, Thinking and Acting Like A Christian, p. 52.
Jesus has set out a course for you to run, but if you are running your own race you are wasting your time. Run the race He has set before you. Run freely; run focused, and run to the finish.
CONCLUSION
Ill. By 7 p.m. on October 20, 1968, at the Mexico City Olympics Stadium, it was beginning to darken. It had cooled down as well. The last of the Olympic marathon runners were being assisted away to first-aid stations. Over an hour earlier, Mamo Waldi of Ethiopia had charged across the finish line, winning the 26-mile, 385-yard race looking as strong and as vigorous as when he’d started. As the last few thousand spectators began preparing to leave, they heard police sirens and whistles through the gate entering the stadium. The attention turned to that gate. A sole figure, wearing the colors of Tanzania, came limping into the stadium. His name was John Steven Aquari. He was the last man to finish the marathon in 1968. His leg was bandaged, bloody. He had taken a bad fall early in the race. Now, it was all he could do to limp his way around the track. The crowd stood and applauded as he completed that last lap.
When he finally crossed the finish line, one man dared ask the question all were wondering.
"You are badly injured. Why didn’t you quit? Why didn’t you give up?" Aquari, with quiet dignity said,
"My country did not send me seven thousand miles to start this race. My country sent me to finish."
Citation: Craig Brian Larson, "Strong to the Finish," Preaching Today, Tape No. 155.
In most races awards are given for the top finishers. But here the prize is given to those who finish the race. Crossing the finish lines makes you a winner. And from the preceding chapter there is a great host of competitors of the faith who have already successfully finished the race. They are cheering you on, encouraging on to victory. You can do it.
Run Freely
Run Focused
Run To finish
God didn’t just send you to start this race. He didn’t just send you to begin a noble task or a noble relationship. God sent you both to start and to finish.
