Hook
Good morning, church! My name is Conrad, and I’m one of the pastors here. If you need a Bible throw your hand in the air and our of our Serve Team members will make sure you get one. Go ahead and turn to the book of Hebrews. And while you’re finding the book of Hebrews (it’s near the back of your Bibles), let me ask you—has anybody ever heard of a Half Ironman race?
Church, this thing is CRAZY. I’m talking about a 1.9 km swim, then a 90 km bike ride, and just when your body’s begging for mercy—oh no, no, no—they finish it off with a 21.1 km run. That’s right. A HALF marathon after all of that!
Who signs up for this? Like, “Hey, you know what sounds fun? PAIN.” And the wildest part? They PAY for this. Not like twenty bucks. No, no. We’re talking HUNDREDS of dollars—for the privilege of suffering!
These people burn 6,000 to 8,000 calories in one race. They chug litres of water—and STILL risk dehydration. They fight through heat, wind, freezing water, cramps, sweat, and exhaustion. Their hearts are pounding at 80–90% of max for HOURS. And they’ll hit the dreaded “wall” not once, but TWICE.
And I know someone who did one of these. Their goal? To finish in under 7.5 hours. Church, did you hear me? Seven and a half HOURS of straight-up, non-stop, body-breaking exercise. And they said, “You know what? That’s a little ambitious. I’ll be happy just to FINISH.”
So picture it: Early June, Oliver, BC. This person—who clearly needed an intervention—dives into Tuc-el-nuit Lake for an hour-long swim. Jumps on a bike for FOUR HOURS through the Okanagan heat. Then—because why not—caps it off with a THREE-HOUR half marathon.
Who was this person? Did they hit their target time? Did they even finish? I know you want answers, but you know we aren’t getting answers until the end. So take that Half Ironman and put it in your pocket, cause we’ll come back to it at the end.
Now, let’s turn to Hebrews chapter 12.
Book
(Hebrews 12:1–2, NKJV) Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Look
Verse 1
(Hebrews 12:1, NKJV) Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us
Since we are air-dropping in Hebrews 12 without the rest of the book as context, our first question might be, “Who—exactly—are these witnesses by whom we are surrounded?” They are those mentioned in the so-called “Hall of Faith” from Hebrews 11; Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, the prophets. And what faith is it—exactly—that is represented by these figures?
Sacrificial Faith, Walking Faith, Obedient Preparation, Journeying Trust, Expectant Hope, Promised Inheritance, Persevering Covenant, Visionary Redemption, Liberating Leadership, Redeemed Courage, Bold Dependence, Battle-Ready Faith, Flawed Might, Vowed Resolve, Conquering Heart, Prophetic Listening, Inspired Witness.
Were these men and women perfect? No. No they certainly were not. The inclusion of some of these folks might even lead you to wonder what in the world they are doing on this list! I know I’ve had many conversations about the qualifications of these men and women with plenty a raised eyebrow!
Gideon? Wasn’t he an idolater? And wasn’t Samson a philanderer? Yeah. And God still used them. Just like he used Abraham, who pimped out his wife to save his own hide. And Jacob who lied to his ailing father to steal his older brother’s birthright. And Moses who murdered a guy and then fled the country. And Rahab who was a literal prostitute. And David who was both an adulterer and polygamist!
So here’s the real question: who am I to sit in judgement of these people? Am I God? Do I know their heart? Even those about whom we know a great deal—David is talked about in over 1,100 verses, Moses in another 800-plus. But Able, Enoch, Barak, and Rahab only have about 65 verses combined! All-told we actually know very little about them. I have two books at home about Steve Jobs—over 1,000 pages between the two of them and I still know very little about the heart and soul and perspectives of the man. Yet with just a glimpse into the lives of these people I am going to cast aspersions? Am I so great? Is my life with all its comfort and excess so great that I should look down my nose at another’s struggle and decide that their faith is not adequate? Really?
Friends, we ought not be this way. We should look at the faith that overcame failure and praise God. I, too, am a flawed, scarred, and imperfect man and Jesus bears the scars of my sin in His hands just as he bears the scars for Gideon, Samson, Rahab, and David. We should not think we can stand in judgement of these people, but ask the Lord to give us a similar faith that surpasses failure and welcomes us into the family of God as co-heirs with Christ.
At the risk of belabouring this point, let me be as clear as possible: it is not our place to rank the ‘worthiness’ of other Christians. We are no more their judge than they are ours. Am I saying that we should never judge another Christian? No. I am not. We are indeed called to keep one another accountable and to challenge and even rebuke each other. Look at how Nathan rebuked David 2 Samuel 12, or how Paul rebuked Peter as recorded in Galatians 2. But that is motivated by love—tough love, but love nonetheless.
But when we try to evaluate another’s worthiness for God’s grace, we have turned grace into a wage that is earned by our effort—this is false. We cannot earn grace. By qualifying and disqualifying one or the other we twist grace from a gift into a commodity! We twist grace into a boast-able accolade! Grace is unmerited favour. We cannot judge someone because all we see is the outward appearance, their works. But God knows their heart. And it is NOT their works that got them into this list. It is their faith. Faith in God, faith in His promises. That’s what the author of Hebrews tells us at the end of Chapter 11:
(Hebrews 11:39–40, NKJV) And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.
So then the natural next question becomes, “What does it mean to be surrounded by a cloud of witnesses?”
Often—given the race metaphor—we picture an Olympic stadium with these witnesses in the stands and looking on as we race. This is a rather unlikely interpretation. The word “witness” actually means “one who testifies” they are not witnesses OF us, they are witnesses TO us. They—our fellow runners—encourage us by their faith and faithfulness to keep on keeping on.
And how do we do that? By “laying aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us”.
Firstly, “lay aside” is routinely translated as “strip off” and was routinely used for an athlete removing as much clothing as decency allows so that their performance would not be affected. And that is noteworthy because the word, “weight” in Greek implies neither a bad thing nor a good thing. None of us would say that a suit worn to a meeting or a joggers worn while training are a bad thing, but if you’re going to race, you don’t want to be wearing a suit!
- Maybe that weight is relationships. Sometimes they are good, they sharpen us, and the drive us toward God, but sometimes they are unhealthy or non-God-honouring relationships that are pulling us away from God.
- Maybe we find a niche where we excel and it allows us to operate in our God-given gifts, but sometimes it’s an unwillingness to step out of our comfort zone so that we can grow spiritually.
- Maybe has blessed us with money and resources that allow us to “pay it forward” and help His Kingdom purposes, but sometimes it’s just materialism and our desire for stuff that keeps us distracted.
- Maybe it’s something else…
The point is that these are individual struggles, so you need to ask God to show you what things are weighing you down and preventing you from running your best. And then submit those things to God so He can help you cast off that weight! And yes, that might mean making some tough changes in your life. But faith without sacrifice leaves us missing out on seeing God “show up big”.
And what about the sin? It’s important to take note of what this ISN’T. The author doesn’t put forward any particular sin—lying, jealousy, adultery, whatever—because it is not a particular sin in question, but rather sin as a concept. All of it. Why? Because the phrase “easily ensnares” is actually a single Greek word which means “tightly controlling”. As renown theologian Bob Dylan once said, “It may be the devil or it may be the Lord, but you’re gonna have to serve somebody”. Now we can’t serve both, and God won’t force Himself on us because he wants our love to be genuine… but sin? Sin has no problem cheating to win. Sin will attack when you’re weak, kick you when you’re down, and tell you that you deserve to be there. Sin doesn’t just want to stop you from running, it wants to use you to stop others, to leave the track, and wander off into the parking lot!
But that’s not for us, church. We are daughters and sons of the King. We are royalty. Sin is defeated. Satan is defeated. Death is defeated. That doesn’t mean we’re perfect now, but we will be in Heaven and God sees us in our perfect, completed form right now today. So you stumble, you slip, it happens, get back up and keep going. Don’t listen to Satan. He’s a liar, he’s a loser, and he’s just trying to do as much damage on the way down as possible. Don’t fall for it, church!
No, instead we will lay aside those things that are slowing us down. Instead we will refuse to let sin have control over us. Instead we will run with endurance the race set before us. And there’s a lot in here, too, church!
What about ‘run’? Did anyone notice what it doesn’t say? I don’t see walkhere. I don’t see jog here. The word is RUN. There is an excitement, an urgency, a speed to this word. We are not called to plod along, but to RUN. To accomplish something. And then to do so with endurance! And this is good, this means “to bear up under difficult circumstances”. There is an underlying assumption that it will be difficult. The it will require more than a minimal amount of effort—it requires a persistent, steady determination. And that is because the word ‘race’ is the Greek word agon—from which we get the modern word agony and it means a contest, a struggle. A contest? A struggle? The implication here is clear; you can win and you can lose. There is no contest without a winner. There is no struggle without a loser. But—and this is critical, church—we must be aware that we do not compete against our fellow racers, we compete against the race itself.
Imagine you are at the airport and you are late for your plane. The PA announces that the plane is about to take off without you. Suddenly the race is on! You need to get to that gate ASAP! So yeah, you can win and you can lose in this scenario, but there’s no advantage to be gained by tripping the other passengers or try to taunt them into submission. To win is to finish the race. This is how we are called to press on toward the goal!
One more thing before we move on to verse two. What is the “race set before us”? One of the big life questions I used to hear all the time as a youth pastor was “How do I know God’s will for my life?”
We like to make a lot out of this, but I don’t think it’s as complicated as all that. So I just want you to know that if you are seeking God’s will, He will show it to you. Now, if you are expecting champaign to fall from the heavens, doors to open, and velvet ropes to part—you will likely find yourself disappointed. However! If you are willing to hold your plans in open hands and take one step at a time and ask God if you should keep moving forward, then you will be in great shape. Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened. The key in all of these is the waiting, which Tom Petty assures us in the hardest part. But if we ask God to speak to us, we need to listen. And when He puts that check in our hearts, we’d better take heed of it.
With that said, let’s keep moving:
Verse 2
(Hebrews 12:2, NKJV) looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
My father was a world-class billiard player. And he had a table in his basement. My brothers and I spent many a summer in that basement playing 8 and 9 ball. Of the three of us, Mark got the best at the game and could pull of some fairly impressive shots including bank shots, combos, jump shots, and what’s called a “masse”. Here is a video of a masse shot so you can understand just how impressive this thing is.
[Masse video]
But despite how impressive this shot is, it was not my brother’s favourite. His absolute favourite was to set up a shot then look me in the eye while he sunk his target ball. Why was this his favourite? Why was this so impressive? Because no matter what sport you play, you have been told since your first practice to “keep your eye on the ball”. Why? Because your feet don’t set your direction. Your body doesn’t set your direction. Your head doesn’t set your direction. Your eyes do.
Who remember the Mythbusters TV show? They tested this by attempting to walk in a straight line while blindfolded and both of the hosts ended up travelling in anything BUT a straight line, ultimately finding themselves behind their starting positions when they were stopped for safety reasons.
So when the author of Hebrews tells us to look to Jesus, this means that Jesus is what our attention is focused on, not the weight, not the sin. How is this done practically? We cannot physically see Jesus, so how do we keep our eyes on Him?
- By keeping Him front of mind with acts of worship throughout the day.
- By aligning our actions with His Word revealed in Scripture rather than the world.
- By prioritizing our relationship with Him through ongoing and open-ended prayer.
So we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and who is He? He is the “author and finisher of our faith”. Church this is so good, don’t miss this. What does it mean that Jesus is the “author” of our faith? Well that word in Greek means “initiator”, “originator”, or “founder”. He is the one who institutes salvation. Jesus is who (what) makes salvation possible. Church, what do we even have faith in? Where is our hope? Our hope is in the rescue promised by God. And how is that rescue accomplished? Through the cross? And who went to the cross to died in our place, to steal that judgement and replace it with his own righteousness? Jesus of Nazareth! The Christ! The Messiah! The Son of God Most High.
Jesus made a way, and when He did, He became the originator of our faith!
But He is not merely the founder of our faith, He is also the finisher. The beginning and the end. But the big question here is, “What does it mean to be the finisher of our faith?” To understand that we need to understand what this word means in the original Greek. This is good, church. Don’t miss this, note-takers. The word “finisher” means “perfecter” or “completer”. Do you see what this means?
Jesus made a way to salvation, and so gave us a promise in which to place our faith. And when we do so, our sins are washed away and so our faith is brought to ‘completion’ as the benefits of Jesus’ sacrifice are credited to us. In John 19:30 when Jesus says, “It is finished”, he means that the work of salvation was complete. Perfected. And in that instance, in the moment every person who ever HAD put their faith in God or ever WOULD put their faith in God achieved the perfect completion of their faith.
And the best part is we don’t have to go it alone. In fact we should NEVER go alone! When we stumble, fall, or fail it is precisely because we tried to go alone and got picked off by a fiery dart of the enemy! What is our shield, church? Ephesians 6:16 tells us that our shield is FAITH. A faith which Christ made possible and brings to completion in us!
And why? Why did Jesus do this? For the JOY!
The joy?! We aren’t talking about the cross, are we? Is this another Half-Ironman situation? What joy was set before Jesus? Some people say it’s about His exultation to glory after His resurrection but I don’t think that’s it. See, he already had glory, He specifically stepped DOWN from glory to do this. The joy of coming to earth to be tortured and murdered just to go back to what He was already doing doesn’t make any sense… at least not to me.
No, church. His joy… was you. And you. And you. And me. His joy was making a way for His creation to be reunited with Him in glory. For us, church. Jesus did it for us. And what did He do?
He endured the cross. He despised the shame associate with it. And He died for us. Lots to unpack here.
Firstly let’s look at some parallels here. Jesus endured and we, too, are called to endure. But Jesus has joy set before Him and we get a race? What’s that all about? It’s about perspective, church. Jesus looked past his “race”, He looked past the cross, He looked past the shame, and He saw the joy at the goal line. We should do the same thing. Look past the race, the struggle, the contest to Jesus, our prize, our Saviour standing at the goal line with arms open wide waiting to embrace us. Because honestly, why would we endure if not for a prize? Why bother doing it all for nothing? We are His prize and He is ours.
And so He endured the cross, despising it’s shame. And the cross was the most shameful way to be executed. In fact the word excruciating literally means “to crucify”. The agony of the cross was so severe that it became the standard-bearer for the worst pain imaginable. This was a method of death so unflinchingly brutal that Roman citizens were exempt from it. It was reserved for not only the worst offenders, but also non-citizens and foreigners. And yet, in spite of all this we are told that Jesus “despised” the shame. He disregarded it. He looked down on it with contempt. He gave it no weight. It did not factor into His decision or plan in any way.
Jesus resolved that He would do what needed to be done. He endured the cross, paying the opinions of mankind no attention so that he could bring our faith to completion. Jesus endured to perfect our faith. Jesus had the power to come down from the cross and immediately enact judgement on those who tried to kill Him, but if he had done that He would not be our Saviour. If He had done that, He would not be our example of endurance and pressing on toward the goal.
Jesus endured the cross to save us AND to show us the way. His death was the greatest example and manifestation of love. And because of that Jesus now sits at the right hand of the throne of God. He ran the race, received His prize, and now sits in glory!
Took
Now, let me bring us back to that Half Ironman. Who was this maniac? Did they finish? Did they hit their goal?
It was my wife… and yes, she did! [HOLD UP MEDAL] She crossed the finish line at 7 hours and 21 minutes, right at the top of the beginner category, and 10 minutes ahead of her goal. And when that medal was placed around her neck, the exhaustion, the pain—everything she’d endured over those long months of training, early mornings, late evenings—just melted away.
Church, that’s just a taste of the joy that’s waiting for us. But we have to press on. Because just like in that race, life is tough and it’s journey is full of reasons to quit running. When the weight comes, when sin knocks at our door, when the distractions of this world try to pull us down, what will we do? If we don’t persevere, we risk missing out on the fullness of God’s blessing.
Think of those men in the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11 who so often fall under modern scrutiny! Gideon with his Bold Dependant faith. A man who ran well early, but stumbled down the stretch. And Samson with his faith displayed through Flawed Might. His is the opposite story; he seemed to never really get into gear and only started really giving his best effort at the end. We should be thankful that the faith which saved these flawed men is the same that saves this flawed man [point to me]. But more than that, these men should serve as a cautionary tale! Think of all the Lord might have accomplished through these men if they had run with endurance from the beginning and to the end!
Oh Lord, help me to be a faithful servant who runs well for as long as you lend me breath! Help me to keep taking my next steps when the world—this life—comes at me like a freight train.
Philosophical sage Rocky Balboa sums up the harsh reality of life thusly:
The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place, and I don’t care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done!
Jesus said something similar in John 16:33: “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
Church, here’s the reality—life will knock us down. If we don’t run with perseverance, the distractions of life, the weight of sin, and the pressures of this world will do everything they can to keep us from the prize. But we’re called to better, to more. So, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
The key to finishing strong is perseverance—we must keep running, eyes fixed on Jesus, and trust that the prize ahead is worth every step.