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Becoming a Champion in 2005:
Run the Race
(Hebrews 12:1-3)
January 9, 2005
Sermon
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Imagine a group of people coming to your home and interrupting your evening routine with an urgent message: “Good News!
We are from the United States Olympic Committee.
We have been looking for someone to run the marathon in the next Olympics.
We have statistics on every person in the entire nation on computer.
We have determined that out of the two hundred seventy-five million people, you are the one person in America with a chance to bring home the gold medal in the marathon.
So you are chosen.
You are on the team.
You will run the race.”
You are surprised because the farthest you’ve run in years is from the couch to the refrigerator.
The one time you began a running program you ran down your driveway, onto the sidewalk in front of your house getting to the end of your yard only to turn around exhausted.
And just yesterday you were sweating so profusely, dripping like a faucet on the clean kitchen floor, your spouse asked, “Did you go for a jog?” “No, I just walked out to the mailbox.”
After the shock of being selected passes, you are gripped by the realization of what’s happening in your life.
You picture yourself mingling with the elite athletes of the world.
You allow yourself to imagine that maybe you do have what it takes to run the race.
At night you dream about standing on the podium after the race and hearing the national anthem, seeing the flag raised, and bending low to receive the gold medal.
You begin to feel a rush of emotion.
You say to yourself, “This is the race I was created to run.
This is my destiny.
This is why I was born.”
This race becomes the great passion of your life.
It dominates your mind.
It occupies every waking moment.
To run the race well—to win it if you can—becomes the central focus of your existence.
It is what gets you out of bed in the morning.
It is what you live for.
*I.
The Characteristics of the Race*
As a believer in Jesus Christ, you run a race.
It, too, is the race of a lifetime.
It, too, dominates your mind.
It, too, occupies your waking moments.
It, too, becomes the central focus of your existence.
It, too, is what you live for.
The writer of Hebrews spoke of this race,
/Heb.
12:1 NLT/
“1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress.
And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us.”
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*A. **You have been chosen for the race.*
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In this race, like the Olympic race, you have been chosen.
This time, however, the Olympic Committee is not selecting; God Almighty has picked.
He has chosen you to run the race of a lifetime.
Imagine the thrill if an Olympic committee knocked on your door selecting you to represent our country?
Imagine, God knocking on the door of your heart selecting you for his team.
If you have trusted in Jesus Christ God has done just that.
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*B. **The race is both a contest and a conflict.*
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1.
This is no ordinary race.
2.
The Greek word for race is agon from which we get our word agony.
3.
The race is a contest in daily progress toward Christ-likeness.
In many respects we race not against opponents, but against ourselves.
4.
Are you more like Jesus today than you were yesterday?
The race is a conflict in that there is an internal struggle of the soul.
Our natural bent is toward sinfulness and laziness.
Are you engaging in the necessary disciplines and activities that will enable you to grow and mature in Christ-likeness?
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*C. **The race is unique to you.*
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1.
It has been marked out especially for you.
Like the orange cones on the roadway that indicate the path of a long distant race,
2.
God has marked out a race distinctive for you that will take you on an adventure.
3.
While the destination is the same for everyone—a life like Jesus, the journey that gets us there is different for everyone.
4.
Don’t compare your track to someone else’s track.
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*D. **The race has no time outs.*
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Like the marathon run, this race has no time outs, no breaks, no intermissions, and no halftimes.
We are instructed to run and keep on running.
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*E. **The race is full of obstacles.*
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1.
Unlike the marathon and more like a steeplechase, this race is full of obstacles, barriers, hurdles, and hazards.
They can’t be avoided or erased.
They come in different sizes and at different stages.
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*F. **You run to win this race.*
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“Run in such a way that you may win” (1 Cor.
9:24 HCSB).
*1 Cor.
9:24*
Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but /only/ one receives the prize?
Run in such a way that you may win.
1.
Winning is not beating the other runners.
2.
The prize is becoming a spiritual champion.
3.
A spiritual champion is one sold out to Jesus, straining to become more like him everyday.
4.
The finish line of faith is a life that is more Christian today than yesterday.
The goal is not perfection, but progress.
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*G. **Winning the race will require great endurance.*
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1. Winning this race will require great endurance, perseverance, patience, and resolve.
2.
Victory necessitates that we run with undying persistence and steadfast endurance until we arrive at the finish line victorious.
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*II.
Training for the Race*
Back to your home and the U.S. Olympic Committee’s invitation.
It dawns on you: You cannot run a marathon.
More to the point, you cannot run a marathon even if you try really, really hard.
If you are serious about seizing the gold and standing on the winner’s platform, you will have to enter into a lifetime of training.
You must arrange your life around certain practices that will enable you to do what you cannot do now by willpower alone.
Do you realize the number of hours an Olympian trains?
The average Olympian trains four hours per day, 310 days per year, for six years before succeeding.
That translates into more than 7,000 hours of training for an event that may last less than sixty seconds.
This need for training is not only for athletes; it is required for playing a musical instrument, learning a new language, or acquiring a new skill.
In fact, it is mandatory for any significant challenge in life—including becoming a spiritual champion.
The single most important principle for running the race toward becoming a spiritual champion is:
Spiritual transformation
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