Running Free heb 12:1-13. Uni of Winch. 5th Dec 2005
In 1968 Tanzania selected John Stephen Akhwari to represent it in the Mexico City Olympics. During the marathon, he stumbled & fell seriously damaging his knee. By 7pm an Ethiopian runner had won the race, and all others had finished. Only a few thousand spectators were left in the stadium when a police siren caught their attention. Limping through the gate came # 36: Akhwari, leg wrapped in a bloody bandage. The remaining crowd cheered. Later a reporter asked him: ’why did you continue the race after you were so badly injured?’ he replied ’my country did not send me 7ooo miles to begin a race; they sent me to finish the race. ---"let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us" Heb 12:1
Well- how can you run the Christian race? Free? How can you make sure you finish the race
- as all Heaven is watching you
- but all the world, the flesh and the devil is trying to stop you
The statistics of those who fall away, lose it is phenomenal.
- something like 40% of our country USED to go to church
o we immediately say "yeah- but they were Churchians, not Christians"
" not so
" 20% were evangelical, born again Christians
" became disillusioned, disappointed, hurt or couldn’t take it
o many from LBC have lost it
Now- I don’t want to get into where they stand with the Lord,. That’s not my point, tonight.
- I’m making the point that not all who start the race run free! They get tripped up by sin, or the church or BY LIFE itself- as life is tough!
- And ’forewarned is forearmed’. You make the decision at the start that, by God’s grace, you are going to ’run free’ and ’run to finish’
And we want to run well, don’t we!
So- how? I have some words from the Lord for you
LOOK BACK
As you’ll know , Hebrews is written to Jewish Christians who are in danger of reverting to Judaism as their way of salvation because of the pressure of other Jews
The author says: when it’s getting tough- look back. Look back to those who made it through rougher times than you. Learn from their experience
- and be aware that they are up there, now, willing you on!
- "in your struggle against sin, and these Judaisers, you have not resisted to the point of death"- like they did!
In other words- don’t be surprised when tough times come your way! Others have died through tough times! You almost certainly won’t - but don’t act as if
- suddenly your experience isn’t in the Bible!!
- God has deserted you or fallen off His throne
He has not. He is with you. He will never leave you or forsake you.
Illustr: I’ve watched the things that have knocked people out of the race
- disappointment: eg "we felt so sure God was going to do THIS… and He didn’t"
- doctrine: "I was told this so definitely by one group of Christians.. then I found it wasn’t true… or wasn’t the whole picture"
- dark times: how could God have allowed that? I thought Christians were exempt from that?!
- Deception: It’s okay for me to do that
How do you future proof your own faith? To protect for the future- look back
- learn from how they made it through! Hear them calling you
- learn from their mistakes, as well (or be forced to re-learn them yourselves!)
o because every excess, extreme and exaggeration is in there as well!
But they made it through! So will you!
LOOK UP
Want to make it to the end of the race? Run free/ Here’s something else this says you should do
- fix your eyes on Jesus. Look upward to Him
If you’re running a marathon it’s no good spending all your time looking around you at others!
- "am I faster than them? Have they won more people for the Lord than me?" Are they more trendy Christians than me?
- Comparison is a deadly and hurtful sin
No- the focus is Jesus- and it’s Him you run and race for. Look at others and you’ll trip up
- 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.
- Contributed by: Kent Lenard on www.sermoncentral.com 15/09/04
- It’s a question of you using the gifts God has given YOU… and you running the race He has set before YOU. You are not to be someone else
- What matters is Him saying to YOU: well done, good and faithful servant!
"But they are beating me! They are definitely a cooler Christian! So much more spiritual!"
- hey! There are no losers in this. Everyone who finishes the race wins!
o (and time will tell who is more spiritual!)
And we’re specifically to look to Jesus so that when things get tough we can endure like He did
- and having done all, stand, stand, stand. Persevere.
LOOK IN
The other thing to run free is to look at what God is doing inwardly when things get tough externally.
You see- fate and chance do not rule! Jesus is Lord, and God is at work in our lives
- now, it’s easy to say this when things are going good… or when we can SEE what God is working through the difficulties
- But what when things don’t make sense? What if you really can’t see or can’t understand?
o There ARE plenty of times like that in Christians lives!
… Jesus is still Lord!
- thank heavens He is not limited just to doing things that I understand!
- "my ways are not your ways, neither are my thoughts your thoughts"
This is such a consolation in running the race
- you do not have to be superhuman, understand everything and have an answer for everything to be able to do it!
o it’s a matter of letting God be God…
..and believing that SOMEWHERE in what is happening God is at work
- in you!
- For others! That God can use it
- That He is at work in your life as a Father
So- you don’t have to fight it! "Why are you allowing this, Lord!"
- you can let it train you… so that it might produce a harvest of righteousness and peace for you
- note v11 says ’for those who have been trained by it’
o it’s saying: "not everyone lets themselves be trained by it!"
Illustr: one of my friends. A pastor. Constantly frustrated that he wasn’t being ’released’. I said "let it train you". He didn’t, really. Eventually was released. Went at it hammer and tongs. Had a breakdown. Was trained by that- he is simply the best pastor and leader I know. I’d be in his church!
What is God allowing in your life that you are fighting, not submitting to?
Well- running free is about knowing how to fight the race… not fight God!
LOOK FORWARD
It closes with this challenge to strengthen feeble knees-so that the lame may be healed.
Basically it’s talking about attitude. Go for it! Look forward to heaven, your reward, what God can do through you
Do you remember the four-minute mile? They’d been trying to do it since the days of the ancient Greeks. Someone found the old records of how the Greeks tried to accomplish this. They had wild animals chase the runners, hoping that would make them run faster. They tried tiger’s milk: not the stuff you get down at the supermarket, I’m talking about the real thing. Nothing worked, so they decided it was physically impossible for a human being to run a mile in four minutes. Our bone structure was all wrong, the wind resistance was too great, our lung power was inadequate. There were a million reasons. Then one day one human being proved that the doctors, the trainers, and the athletes themselves were all wrong. And, miracle of miracles, the year after Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile. And the year after that three hundred runners broke the four-minute mile!
Harvey Mackay, U.S. Entrepreneur and author in Speechwriter’s Newsletter, quoted in Bits & Pieces, July 20, 1995, pp. 20-22.
- God can achieve incredible things through those who
o Learn from the past. Look to the saints of old
o Look up to Jesus
o Look in and expect Him to work in their lives
o And look forward to what He’s going to do in them
