Weariness, exhaustion, discouragement, anxiety, and fear are ubiquitous in our culture right now. We live in different times then these believers, but in one sense we are just the same. We have hearts that can grow weary. The devil will use persecution or constant outrage and panic. His aim is the same in both - to wear us down and make us raise the white flag. To run with endurance means to keep going. Our race we are running calls not for a sudden burst of energy. But durability and stamina to finish well.

Finishing Strong

I remember it as though it was yesterday… It was a sixth grade track meet and it was the 4 X 220 relay race (4X200 now). My friend Chris was running the first leg and we were excited because we had a good team and thought we’d win the race for sure. The first leg runners get started and Chris gets out to a great start. He is cruising, crushing the competition. And the team is so excited. 50 yards into the race, we are winning by a substantial amount. 100 yards, still in good shape, but Chris is starting to lose steam. We get to 150 yards and we are beginning to get a little concerned because Chris is running out of gas. The other teams begin one by one to pass Chris and by the time we get to 200 yards, he is about to collapse. Well, he does finally get to the second runner in the relay race, but literally falls to the ground as he hands the baton. It is so vivid in my mind. And one of the lessons that I think about now is: in a race, you need stamina in order to finish the race strong. Hebrews 12:1. Do you want to finish the race of faith strong? Of course you do. So how do we do that? That's the point of this text.

Now, you will notice that our text begins with the word “therefore”. Whenever you see the word therefore, it’s important to look back and see what came before. What comes after a therefore is drawing conclusions based on what was said before. And in this context, what comes after therefore is a bunch of commands. But these commands are built upon the foundation laid earlier in 12:1-11. So we need to do a little work in order for us to be reminded of what has come before.  

Verses 1-2 (we look back to the cloud of witnesses, up to Jesus the Author and Perfecter of our faith, and forward to unspeakable joy) Fixing our eyes on him means setting our thoughts on his Person and work. Having that fuel our running. His cross work. The joy that was set before him, because if we are in Christ, it is our joy too - it is what Titus 2 calls “the blessed hope”. Verses 4-11 (we look to our Father who strengthens our endurance through loving discipline). 

So, we look back to the great cloud of witnesses, up to Christ, forward to joy, and we look to our Father who disciplines us for our good. That’s the foundation. What a foundation! Therefore, two parts 1) we want to run in a certain way and 2) we want to be on guard against certain things. 

We Want to Run in a certain way (3) :

Run With Renewed Strength (v. 12)

Therefore, lift up your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees...

When you are running and getting tired, where is the evidence first seen? Drooping arms and hands and weak knees. The author is like a coach urging a runner, “keep going”. Stop slouching, get your knees higher. But there is a point, I’ve heard in a marathon, where the energy is completely gone. Marathon runners call this “hitting the wall”. The legs don’t work, no strength to keep the arms from drooping. In an actual marathon, the runner desperately needs calories as well as to slow his pace in order to replenish his energy. 

Of course the author of the book of Hebrews (human and Divine) is concerned about our spiritual stamina, because the race we are in is a race of faith. And we desperately need endurance: “You have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what is promised.” We need nourishment to replenish our strength for persevering to the end. The author is quoting here from Isaiah 35. And when the context is broadened just a little bit, you see the nourishment we need:

Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, "Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you." (Isaiah 35:3-4)

What do we need for our stamina to be refueled? How is our spiritual battery recharged? We need to “behold our God!” We need to have the eyes of faith refocused on our great God and Savior Jesus Christ and his salvation. When you are exhausted and weary and fading, you look to Christ for nourishment. [PODCAST unhelpful to say: “look to Christ”?] But we can’t do this alone… and this leads to the next thing we need to do in order to finish strong.

Run Together (v. 13)

And make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.

The first phrase may be referencing Proverbs 4:25-27: “Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.” Stay on the path, right. Don’t stray, right? But how do we do this? Remember this is written to a church. We do it together.  We run together. As you run tough and rugged, help the one who is lame and weak so he doesn’t fall behind. Finishing strong or our perseverance in the marathon of faith is a community project. You and I will not make it on our own. And we are fools if we think we can.

The New Testament knows nothing and speaks nothing of the lone ranger Christian - the one guy who can do it on his own. Me and Jesus. The Christian life is heroic, but not like Rambo (the one man wrecking crew) or Wonder Woman (the one woman heroine). It is more like a band of believers in a battle. 

Running together. Enduring together. And this is certainly a pervasive message in the book of Hebrews. 

Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called "today," that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. (Hebrews 3:12-13)

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (Hebrews 10:24-25)

So we are to run together. So we run strong, we run together. Finally we run after peace and holiness. 

Run After Peace and Holiness (v. 14)

Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

Strive for (strive means violent pursuit, chase after). It’s often used in a negative way to speak of persecuting or in hostility pursuing an enemy in order to overtake. Except here we are told to chase after, run after, strive for peace. And it’s not peace with God. THat’s a free gift through faith in Christ alone (Romans 5:1). Peace with everyone. Peace with others. Conflict among Christians is so disruptive, isn’t it? What if we all took this verse seriously and never allowed real or imagined (which can happen) conflict reside in our hearts? Would the church be stronger? Would you? So we strive, run after, and chase down peace with everyone.

And we strive for holiness. What is holiness? Don’t think boring and harsh. Don’t think that a holy person is one who is always concerned that somebody somewhere is having a good time. To be holy is to be more and more Christ-like. To be more beautified from the inside-out. And we are to pursue this. In other words holiness or Christ-likeness doesn’t just happen. It doesn’t happen apart from effort. It is grace-based effort, no doubt, but still effort. Strive for Christ-likeness. One way to strive for holiness is to stop settling for low expectations regarding your transformation. Stop thinking or saying, “nobody’s perfect.” Okay, fine, but that’s where you are headed. Don’t make peace with hidden sins or “acceptable sins”. Sins like worry, anxiety, gossip, slander, judgmentalism, self-righteousness, discontentment, lack of self-control, pride, anger, envy, worldliness. And why is our personal holiness so vital? The author tells us. Without holiness, you will not see the Lord. Regardless of your profession of faith, if you are not growing in holiness, your faith is not saving, and living. Actually Jesus puts peace and purity together in the Sermon on the Mount when Jesus says:

Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.  Matthew 5:8-9

Remember, this is why the Father disciplines - that we may share his holiness (12:10). So we run after peace with everyone and holiness. Well, to finish the race of faith well, we not only need to run a certain way. We also need to be on guard against some things. Let’s look at 3 in verses 15-17:

What We Are On Guard Against (3):

1. Guard against falling short of the grace of God (v. 15)

See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God

God’s grace is his undeserved kindness for his children. Kent Hughes says the picture that helps him think of this is of a “brimming pitcher in God’s hand tilted to pour blessing on us.”  Well, this phrase “fails to obtain the grace of God,” means not keeping pace with the grace of God which spurs the progress of the Christian. The NASB puts it this way: “See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God.” Don’t think of earning, you can’t. Rather, think of remaining in the way of God’s grace. How does this happen? How do Christians come short or fail to obtain the grace of God? Let’s consider just two ways:First, we can come short or miss the grace of God through self-starvation of the word of God. Many children of God are malnourished. The word of God is grace to us! Paul begins many of his letters, “Grace to you”, because God’s words are grace. We receive the empowering, enabling, and loving grace of God through his word. 

Second, we can fail to reach the grace of God through a lack of self-conscious, robust fellowship with the church. There is a rugged individualism built into the fabric of the American spirit, but we shouldn’t assume that this is necessarily a Christian virtue. There is good in it. But if one thinks that we are called to a personal relationship with God and the church is optional, let me hold up the danger sign. That is a sure sign to trouble. And many come short of this glorious, life-giving means of God’s grace… they come short of the grace of God. 

The command “see to it” is a plural command, meaning there is communal responsibility to make sure no one misses the grace of God. Of course, this does not mean meddling in the lives of others, like God’s watchdog, making sure everyone is in line. Rather it looks like consciously being part of the body of Christ, looking out in love for one another, and being humble to receive the loving admonition from one another. 

2. Guard against a “Root of bitterness” (v. 15b)

[See to it] That no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled

Often we use the word bitterness to speak of being angry, unforgiving and hold a grudge. If someone is bitter, they hold a grudge and won’t forgive. I don’t think this is talking about that. If something is bitter, it can also be poisonous or foul. And so, I think that a root of bitterness probably refers to a bitter root that produces poisonous and bitter fruit. The author may have Deuteronomy 29:18-19 in mind:

Beware lest there be among you a man or woman or clan or tribe whose heart is turning away today from the LORD our God to go and serve the gods of those nations. Beware lest there be among you a root bearing poisonous and bitter fruit, one who, when he hears the words of this sworn covenant, blesses himself in his heart, saying, 'I shall be safe, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart.' 

What is the root that produces bitter fruit? A brazen attitude about grace. It is the attitude of someone who has a stubborn heart and yet assures himself, “all is well, I shall be safe.” This is rampant. And it is poisonous. The message of “come as you are and stay as you are. You are safe. You don’t need to submit. You don’t need to change. You don’t need to bow the knee to Jesus” It’s a lie. And it defiles MANY. It’s what Dietrich Bonhoeffer called cheap grace: 

Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.

Commenting on this verse, here’s what John Piper said:

A “root of bitterness” is a person or a doctrine in the church which encourages people to act presumptuously and treats salvation as an automatic thing that does not require a life of vigilance in the fight of faith and the pursuit of holiness. Such a person or a doctrine defiles many and can lead to the experience of Esau who played fast and loose with his inheritance and could not repent in the end and find life.

3. Guard against sensual (sinful) appetites (v. 16-17)

[See to it] That no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.

Sensual appetites. Appetites that please our senses - touch, taste, sight, and so forth. I think we might be surprised at how many people’s spiritual lives have been derailed because of a love of pleasure. In 2 Timothy 3:4, Paul describes some as “lovers of pleasure, rather than lovers of God.  

In our text, the author specifically draws our attention to sexual pleasure and physical appetites. Sex and sexual relations is a good gift from God in the context of marriage. What is in view here is a deviant form of sexual expression. The Greek word translated immoral is “pornos”, from which we get our English word pornography. Though it would include all manner of sexual sin, it probably is referring primarily to fornication - or sexual relations outside of the bond of marriage. Food is a good gift of God - meant to serve our nourishment and joy. But it is a terrible master. McCheyne makes the following statement regarding a minister, but I think it applies universally: “If Satan can only make you a lover of praise, of pleasure, of good eating — he has ruined your ministry.” We need to guard against this!

Looking to Jesus

Remember, looking to Jesus… We've got to look to Jesus!