Pastor Dan Mangler's Sunday Sermon

The Christian Marathon

Hebrews 12: 1-2

August 19, 2007

The Christian Marathon

I am not a runner. Maybe its my body build. Maybe its my diet. Maybe it’s because I am averse to pain. Whatever – the end is the same. But I watch runners with some interest, and I notice that I have a different regard for different kinds of runners. I marvel as I watched the 100 yard dash in the summer Olympics. The explosiveness off the blocks and the quickness with which the runners hit top speed, covering the distance in a mere 10 seconds and less.

But I have a completely different feeling toward the long-distance runner. It's a feeling of admiration, respect, esteem, and especially for the runners of the Marathon. Their effort is not over in a 10 second explosion. Here, rather, is a sustained effort well over 2 hours, not jogging, but running at a constant speed over a cross country course of some 26 miles. I can appreciate the developed natural abilities of the winner of the 100 yard dash; but I have an even greater appreciation and admiration for the runner who even just finishes the Marathon.

Christianity is more like a Marathon than a 100 yard dash. When the author of Hebrews writes, "...and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us...", he refers not to a sprint that is over quickly, but a long-distance race that lasts a lifetime. In 1 Cor. 9 Paul speaks of winning the race. I have the sense in Hebrews 12 that just finishing the race is sufficient.

How is it that we, as Christians, can be sustained in this life Marathon we call the Christian faith? Where, for us, is the source of strength and sheer determination that will find us on our feet at the finish line? In the first two verses of Hebrews 12 we learn those answers. “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith…”

The writer of Hebrews says that in the Christian life we have a goal to cross and a course to follow to get there: "...and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us..." or literally "...the course that is marked out for us."

Can you imagine a long-distance race in which the runners were not told where the finish line was or by what route they were to reach it? The situation would be laughable -runners all undressed with nowhere to go. But for those who run the race of the Christian faith, the goal and course are made as explicit as an Olympic Marathon. The goal toward which we strive is the Kingdom of God; and our way is Jesus Christ. "I am the way, the truth, and the life," says Jesus, "no one comes to the Father except by me." If a runner deviates from the prescribed course he is disqualified from the race. If any choose another way but Jesus to God's Kingdom, he, too, is out of the race. We must stick that that course with dogged determination.

We will be like the lady, a widow, at Good Samaritan Village last week. She was playing bridge with three other ladies in the dining room overflow. A man walked in - a new resident.

One of the ladies waved at him and spoke: "Hello! You're new here, aren't you?" He replied, "Yes, I am. As a matter of fact I just moved in and I was taking a stroll around to look over the place."

He replied, "Oh, I was just released after twenty years in San Quentin". Surprised, one of the ladies asked, "San Quentin? What were you in for?"

He said, "Well, in a fit of rage I murdered my wife." Immediately this little widow lady perked up and said, "Oh, then you're single...?"

We may question this lady's judgment, but we cannot doubt her singleness of purpose. So also in our striving for the Kingdom of God.

According to Hebrews in this Christian life we have an inspiration. "We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses."

Nothing is as disheartening as a lonely struggle. This would seem to me to be one of the great enemies of the long-distance runner. With no one to watch, no one to encourage, it would seem to me to be the easiest time to give up, stop running, and go home. How different it would if the entire 26 miles of the course were lined by spectators cheering every step! It is not that they give you energy, but that they help you call forth the energy and stamina already in you.

In the Christian life we have such inspiration. In our Christian race we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, Christians who have gone before and Christians whose lives today testify to the love of Christ and the godly life. They are witnesses in a double sense, for they have witnessed to their confession to Christ, and they are now witnesses to our Christian performance. The Christian is like the runner in some crowded stadium. As he presses on, the crowd looks down; and the crowd looking down are those having already received their prize, for they have completed the race you are now running.

The author of Hebrews writes, "...let up also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely." You know, I have never seen a runner carrying a bowling ball, nor have I seen athletes running in bathrobes and hiking boots. In the Olympic games of New Testament times, athletes stripped down to a loin doth or to complete nakedness so nothing could impede their running.

Runners today wear the lightest and loosest of clothing. The writer of Hebrews cautions us to take similar measures that nothing may impede us in our Christian long-distance race.

There is much in life that would entangle us or weigh us down in our running toward the Christ-like life. Just as a long flowing garment can entangle a runner's legs, so sin encircle and trips the Christian in his race toward God's kingdom.

William Barclay writes, "If we would travel far, we must travel light. There is in life an essential duty of discarding things. There may be habits, pleasures, self-indulgences, associations which hold us back or weigh us down. We must shed them as the athlete sheds his track suit when he goes to the starting mark; and often we need the help of Christ to enable us to do so.

It is in this light that we come to understand those words from Jeremiah when he speaks of God's word "...like a fire... and like a hammer which breaks the rock in pieces...", and the words of Jesus when he says, "I came to cast fire on the earth...Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division..." and so on. Anything which might handicap the Christian life must be discarded. So critical is the Christian race, so single minded must be the running it, that nothing nor nobody can be allowed to weigh us down or impede our progress. If there is a choice, the choice must always be Jesus.

The writer of Hebrews presents Jesus as the "pioneer and perfecter of our faith." He was the first to run the race. Having run it, he runs now with us. The right running partner knows just how to run to draw from the other his greatest potential. Jesus is that running companion in our Christian life, our long-distance faith run. As he runs with us he challenges us just right to draw from us our greatest potential in living the Christian life.

The Christian life, like the long-distance race, does not come easy. But in these words of Hebrews 12 we are best coached in that race. We are instructed in the goal, and guided in the course we are to take to reach it. We are reminded and inspired by the great crowd of witnesses, those who have completed their lives and now by example and by encouragement cheer our every step toward the finish line. We are cautioned concerning everything that might deter or impede our progress. We are promised Jesus as a life companion in that race perfecting our lives making us worthy of God's kingdom. "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith...". Amen.

May the peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.