Persevere
06/01/2025
As a result of a concussion from my car accident back in February, I was given a referral to physical therapy for "vestibular treatment." I had no idea what that was until I looked it up - it's balance therapy. Basically, they have you do various eye and body movements to desensitize you, to 'reset' your brain and inner ear connections. In short - they make you 'off balance' and a little dizzy until your brain adapts.
It started with simple eye exercises and then progressed until I was fast walking, spinning left or right on command, catching a tennis ball, tossing it back and then spinning back around again to continue walking without missing a beat. Needless to say, my first try at that one did not go smoothly. But I'm getting much better.
Switching gears - I've said before that the Christian life is not a sprint, but more like a marathon. And I still stand by the metaphor of a marathon - but now I think it might be more like a 'marathon/therapy' hybrid. In your spiritual walk, or run - you do still have to keep running for the long haul, but there's also surprises constantly being thrown in your way. It's one thing to plan for a long run - it's another to keep getting knocked down and having to keep getting back up.
Let's say you're running along fine - and then 'surprises' come along and you have to pivot: you lose a job, you have a health crisis, maybe your marriage hits a rough spot, maybe you lose a loved one, you watch kids or grandkids struggle ... So many things change and you didn't really plan for any of this when you started the run.
The Christian life is not a sprint; I guess it’s more of a marathon with obstacles. It’s about discipline and hard work over the course of a life time. It’s about being faithful and useful to God. I want us to look at the words from the writer of the book of Hebrews for some encouragement on this subject. I looked back through my files and I have referenced this next passage 24 times over the past almost 20 years of preaching here. Let's look at Hebrews 12:1-3 (NIV)...
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. (2) Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
(3) Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
There's a reason I've read this passage together with you so many times. First, because I need to hear it repeatedly. And secondly, because I want to encourage you in your faith. We’ve committed to Jesus for the long haul, and it’s not always an easy journey. One of the purposes for Jesus establishing the Church was so that we could help each other on this journey. It wasn't intended that we have to run this race alone.
There are several things from the writer of Hebrews that can help encourage us to run the race faithfully. First off, we know that living the Christian life successfully is hard - but not impossible. We’ve seen…
I. Others before us
We didn't invent the faith. It was passed on to us from others who ran the race before us. We are the recipients of their legacy.
I’ve heard it said that some things are impossible - only until someone does it. Years ago, many thought climbing to the summit of Mt. Everest was impossible. This past Thursday marked the 72nd anniversary of the first recorded summit climb on May 29th, 1953, by Sir Edmund Hillary and his Sherpa guide. As of this past December - 7,120 people have reached the summit of Mount Everest. It's impossible only until someone does it.
If we believe a task before us is impossible, it may be easy to become discouraged. That's why in Hebrews we have the example of others who have successfully followed Jesus. You may have noticed something right at the beginning of the verses we just read. Let’s back up and focus on the word 'therefore’.
When you see that word ‘therefore’, chances are pretty good that there are some facts preceding it and then a conclusion after it. The conclusion is that we are to run with perseverance; the facts that lead up to this conclusion are that others have already run the race successfully. If we look back to chapter 11 in Hebrews, we see their examples before we get to the ‘therefore’. Let’s start at Hebrews 11:1-2 (NIV)...
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. (2) This is what the ancients were commended for.
Then, the entire chapter continues giving example after example of ‘the ancients’ to which he was referring. I’m not going to read the entire chapter but I want to give some highlights, “By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did; by faith Enoch was taken from this life, by faith Noah built an ark to save his family, by faith Abraham obeyed.
All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth.
Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses' parents, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
Notice that recurring phrase, “by faith”. Mark that chapter, Hebrews Ch. 11, and maybe take the time to read it in full this week – it’s an amazing account of faith. It's an account of ordinary people who did extraordinary things - by faith. Others faced incredible challenges but still ran the race, dodging the obstacles, by faith – therefore – we can do the same.
Not only do we have the account of those 'ancients' in the Bible, but we’ve also seen, with our own eyes, the lives of those who've run by faith; perhaps even in our own families. I’m guessing each of you can think of at least one person who ran by faith all the way until they were called home. I can think about my grandparents who ran by faith and raised my parents to run by faith. I’m still blessed to see the example of my parents and the amazing faith by which they live.
We know that many others have run the race by faith; therefore…
II. Continue to train
I am not ultimately responsible for your spiritual growth. Yes, I'm here to help teach and encourage – but ultimately, you are responsible for running your race. A coach can help an athlete get into top physical shape – but the athlete has to do all the hard work.
If you want to train - you are responsible for reading the Bible on a regular basis. That's why I plug our "Reading through the Bible in a year" program each week. If you still haven't yet tried it - it's a great way to get daily Bible readings. And you can both read it or listen to the passages. I highly recommend it!
If you want to train - not only are you responsible for reading the Bible on a regular basis - you are also responsible for spending time in prayer. You decide whether you attend a Bible study or a Sunday school class or any type of personal devotional time. You are responsible for responding to God’s blessing in your life and even deciding how much you put in the offering plate.
You are responsible for how faithful you are to God’s commands. However, that doesn’t mean that you're alone. Let’s look at it again...
Hebrews 12:1 (NIV)
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.
The witnesses, the examples of those who have gone before are there to encourage us – but we need to make the choice to run faithfully. We need to choose to get rid of the things that get in the way of us following Jesus with all of our hearts. We need to grow to hate the sin in our lives and the distance it puts between us and God, and get rid of it. If we jump a few verses ahead, we read…
Hebrews 12:4-6 (NIV)
In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. (5) And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, (6) because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.
It's so easy to see sin in everyone else’s life but ignore what's in our own lives. To ‘resist sin to the point of shedding your blood’ – that’s something that not many of us may have the conviction to do. But if we are going to run this race faithfully – if we are going to continue to train to live Godly lives; we have some tough decisions to make.
You are called to throw off everything that hinders you. We need to get rid of the sin in our lives, to repent, to turn away from those things – but there may be other things which might not be as obvious. Notice that scripture says, “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.” The writer is referring to two separate things. That’s not insignificant there.
Sin definitely gets in the way of us running the race, but there are also other things that get in the way as well. Are there possibly those things that may be 'good things' - but that still may draw your attention away from God? - Things that are not bad in and of themselves, but do they take away from your race? Being too busy with 'nice enough things', but ignoring the best things, hinders you from running with perseverance.
Hobbies, work, vacations, sports, entertainment – those all may be good things. But if we’re not careful, even those good things can distract us from the best things. I knew a well intentioned family that bought a camper to spend more time together as a family - a good thing. But then they went camping every weekend and stopped attending Church services all together. There are so many things that can distract us from our purpose, from running faithfully. How in the world do we decide what to get rid of and what's best? Again, Hebrews tells us to...
III. Fix our eyes on Jesus
We have many examples of those who have gone before us, but we also have the perfect example. Back to Hebrews 12:2-3 (NIV)...
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (3) Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
What was that ‘joy set before him’? What was it that drove Jesus on to endure the cross? He knew the end of the story – death wasn’t the end! The joy that drove Jesus on was the knowledge that He would save the world – He died to save you and me from our sin!
When you focus on what’s important to Jesus, it’s a lot easier to ‘throw off things that hinder and the sin that so easily entangles’. We have seen others run before us; we know we need to train to persevere; and we have to finish strong.
We don’t win or lose the race based on our past, good or bad. We don’t win the race because we’re the best. We win because of the grace of Jesus Christ and we’re called to finish.
Hebrews 10:36-39 (NIV)
You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. (37) For in just a very little while, "He who is coming will come and will not delay. (38) But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him." (39) But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.
Jesus is coming back – that's a fact! ‘When’ really doesn’t matter in the whole scheme of things. What does matter is – when He comes back, will He find you faithful? One last scripture from Matthew 16:13-17 (NIV)...
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" (14) They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets." (15) "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"
(16) Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." (17) Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.”
Many people in this world have opinions about Jesus. I want to focus on that question that Jesus asked Peter. - But what about you? Who do you believe that Jesus is? And most importantly, do you act consistently with that belief?
So What?
I’d like to ask you to think about one person you know, who has gone before, who ran the race well and finished strong. Now as you think about that person, I want you to ask – regarding their walk with Jesus, how often did you hear them say things like, “I’m too old, let somebody else step up and do it.” - or “I’m too busy.” – or “It’s just a little sin, no big deal.” – or “I’d like to make a difference, but it would cost too much.”
My guess is the person you're thinking of probably didn’t talk much like that. People of faith who finish strong don’t make excuses. People of faith who finish strong don’t retire from the faith – their role changes over the years, but they keep serving. People of faith, who finish strong, sacrifice a great deal over their lifetime. People of faith, who finish strong, take sin seriously - and fight against it in their own lives and in the lives of others. - That’s why we remember their witness and a re encouraged.
Will you be one who others look back on and say, “There was someone who kept the faith!”
The Christian life is too long of a journey to be a sprint. It’s not a relay race because you only get to pass the baton after you cross the finish line. The Christian life is a marathon, with many obstacles and surprises, and we’re all called to run with perseverance.
Keep at it, and keep training – otherwise, one day you’ll wake up and find yourself 'spiritually out of shape' and useless for the task at hand. God has a purpose for your life – this week, be about His business with a renewed energy because you know that Jesus is coming back!