"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before Him He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
"Run the race marked out for us." What is this race? It is the command of the Lord Jesus given in Matthew:
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." (NIV) (28:19-20a)
We frequently have marathons in the community where I work. These races are always "marked out," that is, the direction and place where the runners are to go is clearly marked so that they all run the same race and they will stay safe. When Father God determined, in His great wisdom, to leave His Church on the earth, He devised a specific direction for His Church to take. He didn’t just say, "Okay, now that you have been reconciled, now that you have the power of the Holy Spirit, go live your lives the best you can until I come for you." No. He had a purpose, a specific direction for us, and the characteristics of that purpose are delineated in Hebrews through the idea of a great race in which believers are all participants.
Notice the characteristics of this race:
* Throwing off everything that hinders
* Throwing off the sin that entangles
* Running with perseverance
* Fixing our eyes on Jesus
Throwing off everything that hinders
The Greek word is onkos and is defined as "whatever is prominent, protuberance, bulk, mass" (Strong’s G3591). Think about that for a moment. This is, in a very real sense, anything that comes between us and God, anything that is more important to us than obeying Him, anything that distracts us from the task at hand, which is to run the race with perseverance.
The writer to the Hebrews gives us two things to throw off. One is the thing that hinders and one is sin. So, it is possible to have something that distracts us from the race but which isn’t necessarily sin. It could, in fact, be something that appears to be totally fine and, in a different circumstance, might actually be, but in this case, is hindering us from fully running the race set before us. It could be culture. It could be relationships. It could be obligations. It could be something as simple as what we eat or drink.
Paul encouraged the Church to not be hindered by even the things we are allowed to do (those things which are not sin), but rather to be constantly thinking about serving each other, even through our actions (even in what we model):
"You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’" (Galatians 5:13-14 NIV).
We are to throw off those things that distract us from running the race set before us. If we are offending those around us, if we are demanding or fighting for our own rights or opinions, if we are refusing to serve others humbly, we are distracted from the race and we cannot encourage others to follow behind us with confidence. The cause—whatever it might be—might appear to be valid, even noble. But the race has been lost when we fail to humbly serve those around us, when we lose our kindness, when we fail to be gentle, when we aren’t self-controlled.
Throwing off the sin that entangles
The Greek word is euperistatos and is translated as "skillfully surrounding as in besetting" (Strong’s G2139). The definition of "beset" is to trouble, harass, to hem in (Merriam-Webster). I like the NIV’s translation "entangles." That certainly is what sin does. It entangles us to the point that often we feel we have no way out, nowhere to go, no solution to find.
The original Greek was translated in the KJV as to "lay aside" the things that hinder, the sin that besets. But I like the NIV better. The Greek word apotithemi also means to "cast off" (Strong’s G659). The idea that there is a sense of violent repudiation, I think, is important. We need to strongly and emphatically throw off those things which keep us from running the race with perseverance. We need to turn our backs on them and never again even consider that they might become part of our lives.
I’ve had to do that with chocolate.
Now when I share with people that I can’t eat chocolate, their responses are almost always the same. They can’t imagine a life without chocolate! "How do you do it? I can’t even think about never eating chocolate." But in my case, I have a severe allergy that puts me in the hospital if I eat even a tiny amount. The pain is akin to a heart attack (which is what the doctors thought I was having the first time I had a reaction to eating chocolate). It wasn’t always this way in my life. I loved many kinds of chocolate and ate it with great regularity. But now it’s like poison to my body. I wouldn’t dream of voluntarily eating even a small bite, the consequences would be too great, too painful.
We need to make that kind of final decision with many things in our lives. We need to say, "Never again!" and mean it. We need to turn our backs on those things which hinder us from running the race set before us. We need to throw off those things which hinder including all sin. We need to turn our backs on our old lives and embrace that new life to which the Lord has called us.
Running with perseverance
The Greek word is hupomone and is translated "the characteristic of the person who is not swayed from their deliberate purpose and their loyalty to faith and piety by even the greatest trials and suffering" (Strong’s G5281). This is the race to which we are called. It is a deliberate purpose. Our loyalty shouldn’t waver, regardless of whatever we face. Whether we are maligned, persecuted, attacked, or even killed, we are to maintain our loyalty to the faith and to worship of God Almighty.
What’s interesting is that scripture doesn’t demand that we fight for our rights or try to change our circumstances. Rather, the emphasis is upon our response within difficult situations. We are to remain kind, generous, loving, forgiving, patient, and self-controlled. This is a hard thing. And, frankly, it’s easier to judge someone else’s response to their circumstances than it is to remain patient within our own. Patience, by definition, requires suffering and we don’t suffer well. We would rather bring any and all efforts to bear to remove our suffering rather than to remain in that pain for one second longer. And yet, as a Church, we are called to share in the sufferings of the Lord and of other Christians:
"So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me His prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel by the power of God." (2 Timothy 1:8 NIV).
We are called to run with patient enduring in the midst of suffering. We are called to persevere.
Fixing our eyes on Jesus
Who is Jesus? This verse tells us that He is the one who modeled our faith for us through His life here on earth. The KJV says "the author and finisher of our faith." The NIV says "the pioneer and perfector of faith." The Greek word for "finisher" is teleiotes and means "one who has in his own person raised faith to its perfection and so set before us the highest example of faith" (Strong’s G5051). I think about the Lord Jesus who cried out from the cross: "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" (Matthew 27:46 KJV), but who then moments later said to the same God, "Into Your hands I commit My Spirit" (Luke 23:46). Jesus who was totally rejected by God so that He could bear our sins but then fully entrusted Himself to that same God, the God who had rejected Him.
It is this Jesus who modeled faith for us in these pivotal moments. Jesus who showed us that we can fully trust God, regardless of the circumstances, that we can fully follow God even in the darkest moments, that we can fully run the race set before us knowing that God’s will is perfect and holy and wonderful!
As Christians we have a high calling and we often forget it. We become so immersed in our own egocentricity, in our own emotions, that we fail to look past that moment to see that we are called to run a race already set out. We are called to live lives that beckon others to follow us. We are called to persevere through this life, casting off the muck and mire, and joyously trusting God regardless of what lies around us.
We are called to be the Church that He intended, a Church that is the light on the hill, the light that cannot be extinguished. We need to determine today, in the power of the Holy Spirit, to become that light so that others might follow us without reservation, that others might join in the race set out before us, that others might follow into the Kingdom of Heaven because our faith is sure and the way is clear.
© 2016 Robin L. O’Hare. All rights reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment