Heb 12:12-14 Finish Well
Notes
Transcript
Heb 12:12-14 Finish Well
Reading Heb 12:7-14
7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. 11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
12 Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. 14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
There was a marathon runner who was also a writer and he very well described the struggle to finish the Boston Marathon. He says:
“By now, the rigors of having run nearly twenty miles are beginning to tell. My stride has shortened. My legs are tight. My breathing is shallow and fast. My joints are becoming raw and worn. My neck aches from all the jolts that have ricocheted up my spine. Half-dollar-size blisters sting the soles of my feet. I’m beginning to feel queasy and light-headed. I want to stop running. I have “ hit the wall. ” Now the real battle begins.
Up the first of many long inclines, I start to climb—one-two, one-two, one-two, right-left, right-left, right-left. I keep watching my feet move, one after the other, hypnotized by the rhythm, the passage of the asphalt below… shoulder cramps, leaden legs, seething blisters, dry throat, empty stomach, stop—keep moving—must finish.…
A radio-listening spectator reports that the race is over. Six miles away, Bill Rodgers has won again. His ordeal is done; the most intense of my own is about to begin. “ Heartbreak Hill ”—the last, the longest and the steepest, a half-mile struggle against gravity designed to finish off the faint and faltering. Hundreds of people stand along the hill, watching… [urging] the walkers to jog, the joggers to run, the runners to speed on to Boston.…
Slowly, ever so slowly, the grade begins to level out.…
The last four miles are seemingly endless. Some runners, their eyes riveted catatonically to the ground, trudge alone in their bare feet, holding in their hands the shoes that have blistered and bloodied their feet. Others team up to help each other, limping along, arm-in-arm, like maimed and battle-weary soldiers returning from the front.
Finally, the distinctive profile of the Prudential Building looms on the horizon. I begin to step up my pace. Faster, faster… smoother, smoother. Suppress the pain. Finish up strong. Careful—not too fast. Don’t cramp.…
I can see the yellow stripe 50 yards ahead. I run faster, pumping my arms, pushing off my toes, defying clutching leg cramps to mount a glorious, last-gasp kick…
40 yards, 30 yards, 20 yards… cheers and clapping… 10 yards… finish line… an explosion of euphoria…
I am clocked in at two hours, 50 minutes and 49 seconds.
My place: 1,176.
I find the figures difficult to believe, but if they are accurate, then I have run the best marathon of my life. While times and places are important, and breaking a personal record is thrilling (especially as you grow older), the real joy of the Boston Marathon is just finishing… doing what you have set out to do.”
This is what we have here in Hebrews 12. Like this runner describing the arduous struggle of the marathon, here in Hebrews we have the insights and wisdom to run the spiritual marathon and finish well. We are to run with endurance the race that God set before us.
Now here in v12-17 the author of Hebrews is giving us more specifics, first (v12-14) on what to do now while we are in the middle of the race. Then later from v15-17 in what to guard against while in the struggle of the race.
What we must do:
1. Run Strong
12 Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. 14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
When you are running a marathon the visible signs of running out of energy are: drooping arms, flopping hands, and wobbling knees. All of this will significantly reduce the runner’s pace to a defeating bodily posture. This picture is also something that the prophet Isaiah uses as a mental and spiritual slowdown.
Isaiah 35:3-4 says “Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. 4Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.”
So here the author of Hebrews, like a good coach, gives this exhortation, 12 Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees.We could reword this verse to more modern coaching terms it might be something like this: “Straighten up! Get those hands up! Come on pick your feet up! Stomach in, chest out! Pick up your pace! Come on…
Unlike the modern day running coach, who would be conjuring up the deeper human strength of the runner, the author of Hebrews here is not saying do all of this in your own strength. Rather, he is saying something similar to what Paul says in Col 1:29 “… [I] struggle[e] with all God’s energy that he powerfully works within me.”
Paul had learned to struggle with all of Jesus’ energy. Life in this world is a life of repeated hardships and struggles. Through all of these hardships God is changing our hearts, and the sufferings are a sign of our adoption as sons and daughters of the King of the Universe.
Following Jesus requires grit and determination, and we run, toil, and struggle with all His energy that He (Jesus) powerfully works within us. Therefore, we must run strong!
We must run strong the race that God has set before us. God has uniquely planned the race for each of us. He is not surprised by the race set before us … the inclines or the flat stretches, as such He has planned ways to encourage us and ways to strengthen us.
What we must do:
2. Run Strong and Straight
V13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed
We must run strong and straight. That is what the author of Hebrews is saying here “make straight paths for your feet”. What does that mean? It means we walk on the path that God has directed and instructed us in His Word.
Here the author is making a reference to Proverbs 4:25-27 which says:
25 Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. 26 Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. 27 Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.
Notice here in Proverbs it is the same idea that the author of Hebrews is giving us to keep our eyes on Jesus, keeping our focus on Him as we run, and we must run straight, not swerving to the right or to the left, but keeping our walk straight to Him.
Throughout the whole Bible, we see God telling us over and over to walk in the straight path, to walk in righteousness, to follow His commandments to pay attention to His instructions.
Some see the Bible as a book of rules on how to live. There are many instructions and commandments in the Bible, but it is ultimately about Jesus. We must obey and walk in the straight path not because we are obligated to, but because of love.
Jesus said in John 14:15 “15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. Therefore, we must walk straight because of our love for Jesus. If we love Jesus we will care about running in the straight path.
Because when we run in the straight path it will lead straight to Jesus. We must follow and obey God’s commandments because it will lead us to God, the end goal of all of God’s instructions is to lead us back to Himself. Then if you want God, we must run to Him.
Now back here to v13, as the author of Hebrews quotes this Proverb, he is urging the believers to run strong and straight, to press on so that those members of the church who have drooping hands, those who have not stayed on the straight path, those that became lame because of the crooked path. We must run strong and straight so that the lame may be healed.
13and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed
What we must do:
3. Run Strong Straight Together
The point is, that every consideration should be made to help everyone to finish the race. The bloodied, blistered Boston Marathoners teaming up to help each other, limping along arm-in-arm, are a vivid metaphor for this idea. The church should be a place where the weak help the other weak, limping along arm-in-arm looking to Jesus, the one who gives us the strength to continue running and finish the race. When we finish the race, and the race is complete, we will not say look what I did, we will say yet not I, but through Christ in me. It was because of His strength, His faithfulness, His mercy, and His grace that abounded and showered upon us as we ran together.
The book of Hebrews is full of this idea of helping each other. We saw earlier on Heb 3:13 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin
This is why we must run strong straight together. Sin is so deceitful that it can cause our vision to be distorted and not be able to see the straight path. We need one another to help see the straight path that we must run.
Heb 4:1 Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it
Heb 4:11 11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience
Heb 6:11 11 And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end
Heb 10:24-25 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
The marathoner is right when he says “The real joy of the Boston Marathon is just finishing”—and I am even more sure that the real joy of the race set before us will be in the finishing.
There will be even greater joy when we finish together! As we run the race that God has set before us, we must exhort and encourage one another. We must fight against the influence of our society that tells us that individualism is the way to life and liberty. That we need to care only for ourselves.
God didn’t create us to be independent. If anything, life shows us that we are creatures that are dependent on God and on one another. Paul Tripp talking about our need for one another says the following:
“Many of us would be relieved if God had placed our sanctification in the hands of trained and paid professionals, but that simply is not the biblical model. God’s plan is that through the faithful ministry of every part, the whole body will grow to full maturity in Christ. The leaders of his church have been gifted, positioned, and appointed to train and mobilize the people of God for this “every person, everyday” ministry lifestyle.
The paradigm is simple: when God calls you to himself, he also calls you to be a servant, an instrument in his redeeming hands. All of his children are called into ministry, and each of them needs the daily intervention this ministry provides. If you followed the Lord for a thousand years, you would still need the ministry of the body of Christ as much as you did the day you first believed. This need will remain until our sanctification is complete in Glory.
I am persuaded that the church today has many more consumers than committed participants. Sure, one may volunteer for a specific activity like VBS or a diaconal project, but this frequently falls woefully short of the “everyone, all the time” model of the New Testament. Our tendency toward ecclesiastical consumerism has seriously weakened the church. For most of us, church is merely an event we attend or an organization we belong to. We do not see it as a calling that shapes our entire life.”
Let me say this last part again, “for most of us, church is merely an event we attend or an organization we belong to. We do not see it as a calling that shapes our entire life”
We might see the church in this race metaphor as the bystander giving us a water bottle in the middle of the race. That is not what the church should be. The church should be more like a group of runners running together in a group, running together through deserts, running through the jungle, with lions, tigers, and bears ready to devour the weak and feeble.
If you go hiking in the woods where you know there are bears or lions, you will not feel safe jogging all by yourself. There is a natural desire to be with others when there is danger and threats to our lives. It will be a lot safer to run through that scenario with others.
We do have an enemy who prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. With this kind of race, no one can finish well by running alone, we will not survive, and we truly need one another. We need the body of Christ, and we need to minister to one another.
One day we will finish the race, but until then we must run strong, we must run straight, and we must run together looking to Jesus the author and perfector of our faith. And we must…v14
14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
What we must do:
4. Strive for Peace and Holiness
Life in this fallen world tells us that even though we have peace with God. We do not always have peace with all men and women. If we follow Jesus, we must expect opposition. Jesus said in John 15:18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you”
Paul says in Rom 12:18 “ If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all” As far as it depends on you, meaning we must do all that it is in our ability to keep the peace with others.
As we run the race that God has set before us we must strive for peace with “all men”—both Christians and non-believers alike. The word “make every effort” or “pursue” brings to mind the idea of action. This word in the original is often used with the sense of “to chase after one’s enemies—to persecute.”
In the same way, we must chase, or strive after peace! Other passages in Scripture also urge us to pursue peace. Eph 4:3 “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace”
Rom 14:19 “let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.”
Jesus said in the beatitudes in Matt 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God”. Those who strive, or pursue peace will forgive and will forget and will be kind and will be thoughtful and will help others and will pray for their enemies!
The author of Hebrews linked the pursuit of peace with the pursuit of practical holiness (purity of soul) because he sees a logical link between them. Significantly, Jesus made the same connection between peace and holiness or purity by joining them in consecutive beatitudes. “Blessed are the pure in heart” is followed by “Blessed are the peacemakers” (Matthew 5:8, 9).
Ultimately, it is holy people who finish the race, for it is they who “will see God” (Matthew 5:8) at his glorious return or in the glory that comes with death.
The way to finish well and endure the spiritual marathon is by striving for peace and holiness. In other words “to give it our best—to “make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy.”
We all nod our heads with the idea of striving for peace. This is something very easy to say, but very hard to live out. We may say yes we know we are supposed to turn the other cheek and walk the extra mile. But what does it mean for you to strive for peace in your context? With the people in your life?
Each of us has interactions with different people and we have different backgrounds and a history of interactions with the people in our lives. What does it mean to strive for peace in your specific context? The answer is I don’t know. I do know it is going to be different for each situation and might be different for different moments in that relationship.
The key is we have to seek guidance from the Lord, asking Him for wisdom and discernment as to how to strive for peace in each situation. We will also find out that we will need His help in order to even want to strive for peace. We must toil and struggle with all of Jesus’ energy that He powerfully work through us.
Where are you in this spiritual marathon? Some of you might be doing just fine and you are running well, others might be weak and tired, your hands are drooping, and your knees are wobbly. We have a Savior who gives us strength and because of Him “Straighten up! Get those hands up! Come on pick your feet up! Stomach in, chest out! Pick up your pace” Be strong in the Lord, put away the sin that clings so closely, and let us run strong and straight together, with blisters and aching legs, teaming up to help each other, limping along, arm-in-arm, striking for peace and holiness until we finish this race. Until we see Jesus face to face.