The Weekend, October 3 –
The first October weekend and Autumn’s nights are cold where
I live. We have one reading for the
weekend, and it is in Hebrews 12:1 – 28.
This is an important chapter in our reading of Hebrews, so take your
time and understand what he’s saying with all of his word pictures. Please come back, and we’ll take a second
look together.
The twelfth chapter makes a shift in focus from faith to perseverance. He uses a metaphor of a runner running a race
to encourage the readers not to give up and keep running to the finish line -
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us
also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run
with endurance the race that is set before us” (12:1).
The “cloud of witnesses” surely looks back at all those Old Testament saints
who lived by faith. The need for any
runner is to get rid of anything unnecessary to run the race. We can picture runners coming into a race
with track slacks and hoodies, but they strip those off because they represent
a “weight” that is not needed. Those
weights, spiritually, are any sin that weighs us down in terms of following
Christ. This is a race that requires
endurance, and the goal is to persevere – finish it.
The life of following Christ by faith is not a sprint, nor a
walk in the park; it is instead, a marathon.
“ …let us run with endurance the race that is set before
us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the
joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is
seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured
from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or
fainthearted” (12:1b-3).
If this was a race, the coach is Jesus, the crowd cheering them on is the cloud
of witnesses. You can read through the
metaphor a coach’s plea to “keep going, don’t give up.” They are tired, sore, and want to stop. We often think faith makes things easier, but
sometimes it makes it harder. Jesus is
our example, for he endured – even through the cross – and has become the
victor. It’s hard to persevere in the
face of opposition. They were encouraged
to endure even through shame and hostility.
“ In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point
of shedding your blood” (12:4).
How hard was it? Many of those who went
before them had lost their lives because of their faith. The early believers had been kicked out of
families, excommunicated from the synagogues, and had their family sometimes
taken from them.
How do we endure that kind of struggle? The writer gives them several reasons to
persevere. First, he calls them to cling
to their identity as God’s children – “And have you forgotten the
exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the
discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord
disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives”
(12:5-6). A Christian’s identity has
to be rooted in what God says about them.
We are children of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Anything difficult is because God has allowed
it to come. He doesn’t do that to hurt
us, but to make us even more the children of God.
Second, he tells them to remember that God cares – “It is for discipline
that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there
whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline,
in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not
sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we
respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and
live?” (12:7-9).
God is not remote, unconcerned, but actively involved as a Father to his
children. A father stands beside their
child but also stands in front to correct.
Besides this, there is always a reason for the discipline. God always has a purpose for the things He
allows in our lives -
“ For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them,
but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For
the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it
yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it”
(12:10-11).
No one likes discipline, struggles, pain, yet God is always purposeful in
whatever he allows. He is sovereign in
knowing what will be the best for us to persevere. He calls it “a short time,” reminding us that
the immediate is never the ultimate. God
is working his will, and “all things work together for good to those who God
loves” (Romans 8:28). The ultimate
outcome is “the peaceful fruit of righteousness,” which among other things
means – like fruit – it takes time with all sorts of weather from sunshine to
thunderstorms to create. God the Father
is wise, careful, and knows what and how much we can stand.
Now he turns toward another picture of persistent
faithfulness in a group of exhortations.
We are urged to see that our lives can go in different directions if we
do not keep our focus on Christ Jesus -
“Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and
make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of
joint but rather be healed. Strive for peace with everyone, and for the
holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one
fails to obtain the grace of God; that no ‘root of bitterness’” springs up and
causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; 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”
(12:12-17).
Here we have various kinds of encouragements to deal with – watch out for
despondency, maintain peace with others, and keep focused on living a holy,
God-pleasing life. Also, keep God’s
grace always in mind, and rest in that grace to stop any growing
bitterness. Do what is needed to
maintain purity in sexuality, and learn from the Scriptures. Our life of faith is both an internal
challenge, and also an outward earthly challenge. Sanctification is the biblical word to
describe the believer’s pursuit of Christ-likeness in a growing faith. Sanctification is like a train on two tracks
– only one will certainly derail the train, so stay evenly between both
tracks. Allow neither Pharisaical
legalism nor Worldly licentiousness to prevail. Worldliness isn’t everything I was told as a
young believer. Simply put, worldly
licentiousness is putting anything in the world above Christ, so that it has
rule over your heart, instead of Christ Jesus.
Worldly living is defined by “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the
eyes, and the boastful pride of life” (1 John 2:16). Everything God has created is to be enjoyed,
and all things are lawful, but nothing is to rule over my heart but
Christ.
The writer draws our attention away from the world, it’s
struggles, the discipline, tiredness, and demands to give us heavenly
encouragement -
“For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness
and gloom and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made
the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. For they
could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the
mountain, it shall be stoned.” Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that
Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” But you have come to Mount Zion and to
the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels
in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are
enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the
righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and
to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel” (12:18-24).
The great cloud of witnesses, the angels of God, God himself, Jesus, all live
in the “city of the living God.” Lest
they think Jerusalem is a better place to be, he reminds them that the Law was
given in a terrifying way, and remains that way for all who seek to obtain God
through religion, law, and works. Yet to
all who place their faith in Christ alone, he is the mediator – the go-between
– of a New Covenant through his blood shed for our sins.
His summary is succinct – how foolish it would be to ignore,
reject, turn away from what God has done through his Son, Jesus Christ, our
Savior, and Lord -
“See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape
when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we
reject him who warns from heaven. At that time his voice shook the earth,
but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but
also the heavens.” This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of
things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the
things that cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for
receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God
acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire” (12:25-29).
You may not have realized it, but this is now the fifth time
in this letter that the author has given a warning. You may want to look back and see the flow of
them. They are in 2:1-4, 3:7-4:13; 5:11-6:20; 10:19-39; and this one in
12:25-29. He has told them to listen to
Jesus, beware of hard-heartedness, keep growing spiritually, stand firm in
God’s faith, and this last one, trust…don’t turn away. All of this is given to a group of people
living on the edge of their faith.
Summarized, it’s simple – God has supplied everything we need in “grace
through faith in Jesus Christ.” There
are no guarantees that everything will be rosy – in fact, God always “shakes
the shakable so that the unshakeable will remain.” I’ve seen in my life over and over
again. I’m living through his shaking
right now, so are you. What do we do
when the shaking comes? We hang on to
the only certain thing we have – faith in Christ Jesus!
Peace
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