Church Sermon - August 29, 2004

Rev. Bernt P. Tweit

Old Testament Lesson; Jeremiah 23:23-29
Gospel Lesson; Luke 12:49-53
Sermon Text; Hebrews 12:1-13

Just out of curiosity this morning, how many of you have watched some, or part, of the Olympics these past couple of weeks? Probably, most of us have taken in some part of it. Our text is pretty fitting then, especially with the track and field events that take place, during the Olympics every four years.

The year was 1968. The Olympics were held in Mexico City, Mexico that year. The day was October 20^th. And, it was on that day that the marathon was run for the Olympics. Evening had fallen, and it was beginning to get dark. Hours before, the first marathon runner had already crossed the finish line. In the Olympic Stadium that night the spectators were beginning to leave. But then, there were some sirens from a police car. There were some whistles that began to blow and the spectators all turned toward the entrance of the Olympic Stadium. There they saw a man hobbling in, who was wearing the colors from Tanzania. It was obvious that he had taken a fall earlier in the marathon race, and yet, he was hobbling along. It was then, as he was making the final lap to the finish line, that all of those spectators stood up on their feet, to cheer on that marathon runner. After he crossed the finish line, a reporter quickly came up to him and said, "You have been badly injured from a fall, it looks like. How come you didn’t give up? Why didn’t you quit?"

The man from Tanzania with dignity said, "My country didn’t send me 7,000 miles to start this race. They sent me to finish."

Last week, Pastor Bartels talked about the chapter previous to this one, Hebrews Chapter 11. Hebrews Chapter 11 is talking about all of those people, those heroes of faith, who have gone before us, into Heaven. He focused on Abraham. Abraham was the one who lived up north, in Ur of the Chaldeans. But God called him to come down to Israel, to the land that He promised to him and his descendents, even though he was 75 years old, and even though he didn’t have any children. Abraham believed God. The Bible says God credited it to him as righteousness.

There are many other heroes of faith that are mentioned in Hebrews Chapter 11, as well. People like Noah, who God called to build an arc. It took Noah 120 years to build that arc. I am sure he was ridiculed, throughout that time. And yet, he believed, too. People like Joseph, Isaac, Jacob, and David, Barak, Rahab and Jephthah, and the list goes on. It is those people, along with everyone who has finished the race of faith, that are a part of that cloud of witnesses our text mentions for today.

Just as that crowd at the Olympic stadium in 1968 cheered on that runner from Tanzania, we have people in Heaven, part of that cloud of witnesses, who are cheering us on. They are saying things like, "Don’t give up." "Stay on the right track." "Keep on running."

Therefore, today, let’s do that. Let’s keep on running, as we follow our theme, ‘Run the straight race, through God’s good grace’. There are three points that I want you to take home from our sermon, this morning.

As we run the straight race through God’s good grace, one thing that we have to remember is that we need to run for the duration. We need to run for the duration. Our text for today says, "Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."

(I can’t believe I am using this as an example this morning, and yet it fits so perfectly.) Last year my Minnesota Vikings started the season 6-0. They had a rough middle of the season and they had a rough end of the season. And all of you won’t let me forget that on the very last game of the year, we played the Arizona Cardinals. They were doing great at halftime. They were up. But on the very two last possessions of the game the Arizona Cardinals scored. The most painful thing for me was on the very last play of the game, on the very last play of the season, the Arizona Cardinals scored and my Minnesota Vikings never made the Playoffs, last year. They started out well, and yet they didn’t finish.

For those of you who have been watching the Olympics this year, on Friday you saw the Women’s 4 x 100 meter relay. The race started out fast. Angela Williams had a great start. She passed off the baton to Marian Jones who then sustained and kept the pace that was set. As we all know, the baton pass was botched between her and Laura Williams. Even though they started out the race fast, they never finished the race.

Judas is an example for us from scripture, a warning example for us, of someone who started the race of faith, and yet never finished, because of sin’s entanglements.

On the other hand we can look at the Apostle Paul as probably one of the great spiritual athletes that scripture talks about. Think about something that he said to the Philippians. Paul said,

"One thing I do,

forgetting what is behind and

straining toward what is ahead.

I press on toward the goal,

to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward,

in Christ Jesus."

Certainly, we can also look at the example of Jesus, Himself. Our text for today says He endured the cross for us. He endured the shame of the cross for us. Jesus fulfilled the goal that He had. The goal that Jesus had was our salvation. Jesus is the One who gives us the endurance to endure the duration of the whole race of this life, so that we can finish this life of faith, in faith in Jesus, our Savior.

I am not a marathon runner and I don’t claim to be one. But people tell me that there are two important times, during a marathon. One is at the very beginning of the race and the other is in the middle. It is important for marathon runners not to start out too fast, to set a pace that is too fast, so that they burn out, quit, and don’t finish the race.

Sometimes, in our life, as Christians, when we come to faith, we start out too vigorous, too fast, and then we burn out and quit in our life of faith.

The other important time in the marathon is at the halfway point. When a runner thinks, "Why, I have made it this far. I have made it halfway and that was really hard. Now, I still have half the race to finish?" And, they hit the wall.

I think sometimes in our life, as Christians, maybe the same thing happens to us. We have been faithful in our life, as Christians, for half our life (or even more), and then battles come up, trials, and temptations come up and then we hit the wall. We give up. Sin’s entanglements get the better of us and hinders us. And, we don’t know if we can finish our life of faith.

May we run the straight race through God’s good grace and run for the duration, from start to finish!

As we are running the race through God’s good grace, may we continue to run through the struggle of our sin.

In marathons, runners try to take off everything that might slow them down. In ancient marathons, the runners would run with the least amount of clothing, and sometimes even naked, so that they would not have anything to slow them down. Today we saw the example that I used with Pastor Bartels, in the Children’s Sermon. Certainly, how foolish it would be to put on winter boots and a winter coat, and carry that 20-pound boat anchor along with its rope, when running a race! And yet, in our life, how often don’t we do that, as we let sin hinder us and entangle us?

May we do what our writer says this morning, "Let us throw off everything that hinders, and the sin that so easily entangles". Run through the struggles of our sin.

III. Run with the Proper Motivation

Now thirdly and finally this morning, we need to run the straight race through God’s good grace with the proper motivation. What is our motivation? Our writer today says, "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. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."

May we focus our eyes on Jesus. He is the perfect example for us. He is the one who was oppressed. He is the one who was scorned. He is the one who endured that scorning, to win for us the forgiveness of our sin and give us everlasting life in Heaven! Jesus is that perfect example for us, because He followed and completed that race course. He is the one who finished the goal. The goal that Jesus had was your salvation and my salvation.

It is today that we are kicking off a new year, here at Holy Cross. Our Christian Day School starts up tomorrow. In a couple of weeks our Sunday School program, our adult spiritual growth, and youth spiritual growth will begin. All of these things help us to run the straight race through God’s good grace. It helps us to focus 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.

Today we will pray that God would help us to continue running this straight race through God’s good grace, to run for the duration from start to finish throughout our life, to run through our the struggle of our sin, and to keep our eyes focused on Jesus, who won for us that goal of everlasting life in Heaven. God grant you this, for Jesus’ sake.

Amen.

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