Everyone runs at the finish line. Even at the end of an ultra-run, even after they have run 30, 50, 60 even 100 miles, everyone runs at the finish line. It’s not always pretty. One by one ultra-runners stagger and stumble across the finish line. Often they have bloodshot eyes, tear stained cheeks and salt dried to their forehead from the evaporated sweat. They are almost always muddy and very often bloody and bruised. They tend to limp because the blisters on their feet have bursts and the nails on their toes have fallen off (it’s not uncommon for the bones in their feet to be broken). At the end of a race ultra-runners look more like zombies than athletes. Their arms hang limply at their sides and their feet shuffle through the dirt as their muscle spasm, twitch, and cramp from fatigue. However, despite their pathetic appearance and pitiful condition, they run. Why? How?
Today in our epistle lesson from Hebrews 12:1-3, the author compares your life as a Christian with an ultra-run. In verse one of our text the author takes us to the starting line of our race. There he tells us, “we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses”. The start of a race is full of excitement and energy because the start of the race is where spectators gather. Friends, family, crew members, and aid station workers surround the runners and talk strategy, give guidance and direction, and share words of inspiration and encouragement.
At the start of our race the author invites us to see the spectators who have gathered around us to do the same. The author calls them a cloud of witnesses. In the previous chapter the author recognized a few of the witnesses by name. Abel, who had given a faithful offering is mentioned as is Enoch who walked with God. Noah, who built an ark despite some pretty intense peer pressure, is given a shout out. Of course, Abraham, who is the poster child for those who fear, love, and trust in God above all things, is mentioned as are his children and grandchildren. The great prophet Moses who traded in the pleasure of the palace for the persecution of God’s people is mentioned as are the people who trusted in God’s power and obediently followed Moses through the Red Sea. The soldiers who watched the walls of Jericho come tumbling down and the prostitute Rahab who welcomed the spies are mentioned as are servants like Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, and Samuel. At the start of our race the Author wants us to see that we are surrounded by witness such as these. Witnesses who were as feeble, frail, and flawed as we are and yet they still, by the grace of God, finished the race. From the pages of scripture men and woman surround us to talk strategy, give guidance and direction, and share words of inspiration and encouragement. As you start running your race, the first thing you want to do is surround yourself with this great cloud of witnesses.
The first couple miles of any ultra-race are relatively easy and oddly enjoyable. However, it doesn’t take long before the trail begins to take a toll on the runners. Legs get heavy after miles of carrying the weight of gear and gut. That’s why many experienced ultra-runners spend a great deal of money on lightweight shoes, shorts, and shirt; and its why the wise ones lose some unneeded body fat before they hit the trail. The only thing worse than carry an extra 10 pounds is carrying an extra 10 pounds for 12-24 hours.
Carrying extra weigh in a race is an unnecessary hinderance, kind of like guilt. Guilt doesn’t seem too bad in the beginning, maybe even something you can just live with, but after a lifetime of carrying guilt around, the weight can be nearly unbearable. In Psalm 38 King David confesses, “My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear.” Guilt can be so heavy that it makes you want to give up and quite the race. But guilt is like excessive body fat, it is an unnecessary weight. At least it is for you who confess your sins and believe in Jesus as your savior. As a Christian, you don’t have to carry your guilt around. Jesus took your sin upon Himself and carried your guilt to the cross. With His substitutionary life and sacrificial death, Jesus has freed you from the burden of your guilt, there is no reason for you to keep carrying it around. The author’s advice to us Christians, as we run our race, is to “throw off everything that hinders”; throw off the unnecessary weight, get rid of your guilt.
It is important in a race to get rid of any unnecessary weight because you need to have agile feet. There are a lot of dangers on the trail that you need to avoid. Most ultra-runs are in the middle of a remote wilderness. As a result, the ultra-runner often comes into contact with wildlife. Most wildlife is a welcome distraction. However, some wildlife is an anxious concern. One time a friend and I were running in the Texas hill country at night when some sort of wildcat started stalking us. Last year when I was running on the Appalachian Trail, I had a rather awkward black bear encounter. Wildlife can be cause for anxious concern for a runner, but there is something more dangerous than wildcats and black bears on the trail, and that something is roots and rocks. I know they don’t seem so dangerous, they don’t have teeth or claws, they don’t attack, they just sit there, but many a runner has been bruised, bloodied, or even broken a bone after tripping over a root or a rock. More runners drop out of a race because of roots and rock than they do because of wildcats and black bears.
As you run your race, you should be aware there are dangers on the trail. In 1 Peter 5:8 the devil is accurately described as one who “prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour”. Indeed, the devil and the demons are a cause for anxious concern for the Christian. But the most dangerous thing of all are the temptations that are scattered along the Christian’s path. Some temptations are like logs or boulders others are like roots or rocks. I have noticed, as we run our Christian race that it’s not so much the logs and boulders that get us. I’m not aware of anyone here who has physically murdered anyone; I don’t think there is a big danger of any of us robbing a bank, dealing drugs, or hiring a prostitute. It’s not the logs and boulders that tend to get us, more often than not it’s the roots and the rocks. It is those seemingly small insignificant temptations that trip us up. More than anything else, worry, gossip, jealousy, foul language, disrespect, pride, lust and all the other “little temptations” trip us up and leave us spiritually bruised, bloodied, or even broken. As we Christians run our race, the author warns us to watch out for “the sin that so easily entangles”. The author wants us to remember that more runners drop out of a race because of roots and rock than they do because of wildcats and black bears.
Avoiding the roots and rocks that are scattered along the trail requires near constant attention. However, when you are running a race you can’t be looking down the entire time. If you do, you are likely to get lost. To prevent runners from getting lost most races have well marked trails. The trees have metal blazers on them that identify the trail. At intersections along the way the right path is often marked with cones, flags and ribbons. Some races go so far as to put chalk arrows on the dirt in the middle of the path. However, despite all these markings some runners still get lost, either they get distracted, fail to pay attention, or blatantly ignore the markings and head off down a wrong path. Some of these runners go so far in the wrong direction they end up getting disqualified, the fortunate ones have to back track. There are few things more frustrating in an ultra-run than adding extra miles.
There is a danger of getting lost for us Christians as we run our race. To prevent us from heading off in the wrong direction or going down the wrong path the author tells us the race has been “marked out for us”. Our heavenly race director has marked the trail. But, instead of using cones He uses commandments. The Ten Commandments make it very clear to us which path is the right path and which path is the wrong path. Because of the Ten Commandments we know how to walk with God and with one another. As long as we obey these Commandments, we can be confident we are on the right path. It is only when we allow ourselves to get distracted, fail to pay attention, or blatantly ignore these Commandments that we are in danger of getting lost. When you find yourself on the wrong path, the best thing you can do is turn around, repent of your sin, and head back to the right path. I know it is frustrating to have to backtrack as often as we do but it is better than being disqualified from the race.
As you can tell there are a lot of things that make ultra-running difficult. But, the most obvious difficulty is the distance. These races seem like they go on and on with no end in sight. Seconds turn in to minutes, minutes turn into hours, day turns into night. Such a prolonged effort burns a ton of calories. The typical ultra-runner burns between 5,000-15,000 calories per race. As a result, it is critical for a runner to constantly be consuming the proper fuel. Most runners load up on energy beans, bars, gels, and gues. Their drinks are full of calories, electrolytes, and sodium. The wise runner knows that they burn their fuel at a faster rate than they can consume it, so they spend the entire race constantly eating and drinking.
Without the proper fuel it is impossible to finish an ultra-race. The same is true for us Christians as we run our race. It is the height of arrogance to believe that we don’t need Jesus to run the race that has been marked out for us. And yet so often you and I have demonstrated such arrogance. When we are absent from church for extended periods of time, we arrogantly believe it is because we can get through the weeks, months, or even years without Jesus. When we find ourselves faced with a challenge and fail to turn to Jesus in prayer but rather depend on our own wisdom and experience to guide us, it is because we arrogantly believe we don’t need Jesus. When we consume the current philosophies of our culture and become bloated on the trendy ideas of our society instead of timeless truths of Scripture, it is because we arrogantly believe we don’t need Jesus. But the Christian who tries to live life without constantly depending on Jesus is like the runner who runs a race without constantly consuming fuel. Without Jesus it is impossible for us to finish the race.
Jesus is the fuel our faith needs in order to finish the race. That is why the author tells us to “fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.” Fixing our eyes on Jesus is not just looking at him, it is learning about Him; learning about who He is, where He comes from, why He came here. It is learning about how He lived, how He died and what His life and death mean for you and me. It is learning about His victory over sin, death, and the devil and how that victory equips, enables, and empowers us to run the race marked out for us. We are to fix our eyes on Jesus and keep them constantly fixed on Jesus, for He and He alone is the author and perfecter, He and He alone is the fuel for our faith.
With our eyes fixed on Jesus we will finish the race. At the finish of an ultra-run a crowd, like that one that gathered at the start of the race, assembles. Friends, family, crew members, and aid station workers gather eager and excited to congratulate and comfort the runners as they cross the finish line. Standing prominently in that crowd is the race director. He is there to personally hand the runner their prize for having finished the race.
One day, my Christian friends, we will finish our race and when we do, I imagine we will see another great cloud of witnesses gathered. And more than a few of those witnesses we will know by name, for they will be our grandmothers and our grandfathers, they will be our mothers and our fathers, they will be our spouses or siblings, they will be those who died believing in Jesus as their Savior. As I imagine it, the finish line is full of those who have already finished the race marked out for them and now they are eager and excited to congratulate and comfort us. And standing prominent among them is Jesus. The author tells us Jesus is “at the right hand of the throne of God.” From that throne Jesus will give to you and to me and to all who have faithfully run the race marked out for them a robe of righteousness and a crown of victory. And that is the how and the why everyone runs at the finish line of a race. Amen