Life is often compared to a race,
better yet, a marathon. It is an endurance test of the human will to
push itself to the limits and then push itself even further. Faith
enables us to push through the barriers and continue until we have
reached the prize that awaits us. During a race, the runners
continually remember the finish line that lies ahead of them. They
envision crossing that line with their arms raised, the crowd
cheering, and the race finally finished. They endure the months of
rigorous training for just a few moments of pain and a brief moment
of glory.
This race metaphor of life is nothing
new. The New Testament is full of analogies that stress the
importance of running the race before us, enduring all that is in our
path for that final moment of glory.
I spent a better part of ten years as a
runner. I chose running over other sports because I found running to
be more of a challenge. It is just the runner, the road, the pain,
the miles, and God. And in order to make it through, the runner had
to be willing to go through Hell itself. I absolutely loved it. I
don't anymore but I did. Being a runner drew me to several parts of
the New Testament. I thought it was cool to read about an Apostle
using the running imagery as a way to develop a Christian life. As
time went on, I began to understand the need for endurance in the
Christian life.
In the Letter to the Hebrews, the
author encourages a suffering community to preserve, endure both
physically and mentally in their race. The author of Hebrews writes a
beautiful sermon to a struggling people. The few clues Hebrews offers
to the identity of its audience point to a second generation of
Christians that has suffered in the past and is undergoing another
form of persecution.1
While endurance is stressed in the letter, the author makes a valid
point that is crucial for his/her audience: They are not alone.
One night before a cross-country meet
while I was in college, I was cruising the videos at the local
Hollywood Video store, and I came across a movie titled, On the
Edge. It starred Bruce Dern, who I like, and it was a running
movie, so I rented it looking for some nightly inspiration. However,
at the end of the movie I was deeply surprised. Here was a character
who desired more than anything to win, and as he approaches the
finish line he stops, extends his hand to a sixteen year old girl,
who then extends her arm to a 55 year old woman, and by the time they
reach the finish line, seven runners are crossing the finish line
hand in hand. It is above all, the greatest picture of a Christian
community.
In a long race, a runner can often
forget that there are others who are running the exact same race.
Some are further along than others, but they are still enduring the
same path. The author offers encouragement for those of us in the
race, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of
witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings
so closely, let us run with perseverance the race that is set before
us, looking to Jesus the pioneer” (12.1-2a).
These clouds of witnesses are not
spectators watching their “successors” as they in their turn run
the race.2
These witnesses do not look at us, but we look at them as
encouragement. The author encourages the audience to look to those
who came before them and know that if they can do it, so can we. We
are running the race with a crowd of believers who have, are, or will
endure the struggles that come in life. We are none of us alone,
those who have come before still run with us.
The fact there is a “crowd a
witnesses” implies that there is an implicit struggle, and so in
order to compete well, the readers are encouraged to cast off
whatever might weigh them down3,
“Let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so
closely” (12.1). During a race, a runner will often hit a
metaphoric wall. In order to get through this wall, the runner is
going to need to find some resilience, endurance, and encouragement to
break through this wall. We are only able to cast aside our burdens
when there are people around us who have endured much of the
struggles of faith as we have. Remember the third Christian service:
to bear one another's burdens?
There was a statement about six years
ago, making it's way through church offices that said, “No perfect
people allowed”. Many churches would take it to be their motto of
the month, it is a statement which implies that such a place will
foster the openness where people can be a community, the body of
Christ, lifting each other up in our failing and becoming that which
is perfect where done right when our eyes are fixed upon Christ: the
Christian community.4
During a race, a runner is often told
to find something to fix their gaze upon. The longer they focus on
this object, the easier the race becomes. There are fewer
distractions to a runner when they become fixated on the road below
them. The author tells us in verse 2, to look to Jesus. All we have
to do is fix our eyes on Jesus and allow him to pull us through.
Jesus is the front runner of the race and Jesus differs from the
witnesses in verse 1 because he completed the course and received the
prize. Like us, Jesus endured hardships, trials, suffering, death,
but also resurrection. From his example the audience learns the power
and value of endurance in the face of suffering.5
Jesus becomes our model to imitate in
our own struggle; we “too are drawn into the history of faithful
endurance.”6
The scope of Christ’s life provides a powerful image for us, and
the reader who find running the race grueling and difficult. By
focusing our eyes on Christ, we are able to cast off the weights of
sin and break through the wall that is necessary for spiritual
growth.
Steve Prefontaine is a hero of mine.
His running had a major impact not only on the way I ran but the way
I live as well. In the movie “Without Limits” Bill Bowerman and
Pre are talking strategy about running the upcoming 5k at the Olympic
trial. Bill is trying to get Pre to use some sort of strategy where
he sits on Bill Young’s heels and steals the race at the end. Pre
replies, “I don't want to win unless I know I've done my best, and
the only way I know how to do that is to run out front, flat out
until I have nothing left.”
While we are surrounded by a “cloud
of witnesses” and run this race together; we still have to run the
race. Often times, a runner will become complacent in the race and
hang back. While others are giving their all and pushing themselves
to the limits of their heart, they hang back waiting and steal the
race at the end. To win the race, it doesn’t take a great effort.
Many races in the Olympics have been won with mediocre efforts.
The same can be said for those who
claim to live the Christian life but they say one thing and do
another. Often in our spiritual walk, we become safe, afraid of what
will happen if we truly lived as Christ lived. We become complacent
and become more concerned with protecting our spot, our position, our
place of importance, and then at the end have not really earned the
prize we are rewarded. When we rest on the memories of past triumphs,
we will discover that we live in a museum. The only way to finish the
race is to keep running. No matter how tired we get, no matter how
far ahead others might seem, we must keep running. As Augustine says,
“For the minute we say we have had enough, we are finished.”
At the end of “Without Limits”,
Coach Bowerman this of Pre’s life:
“All my life, man and boy, I've
operated under the assumption that the main idea in running was to
win the race. Naturally, when I became a coach I tried to teach
people how to do that. Tried to teach Pre how to do that. And Pre
taught me. Taught me I was wrong. Pre, you see, was troubled by
knowing that a mediocre effort can win a race and a magnificent
effort can lose one. Winning a race wouldn't necessarily demand that
he give it everything he had from start to finish. He never ran any
other way. I couldn't get him to, and God knows I tried... but... Pre
was stubborn on holding himself to a higher standard than victory. 'A
race is a work of art' is what he said and what he believed and he
was out to make it one every step of the way. Of course he wanted to
win. Those who saw Pre compete or who competed against him were never
in doubt how much he wanted to win. But how he won mattered to him
more. Pre thought I was a hard case. But he finally got it through my
head that the real purpose of running isn't to win a race. It's to
test to the limits of the human heart.”7.
We do not live in a museum full of
decaying family portraits and rusted trophies. We do not run this
race just to win. We run this race to show the world that the love of
Christ can in fact change people’s lives, governments, and that we
can bring forth the kingdom of God. The writer of Hebrews understood
the purpose of the Christian life and community. The author
understood that it was necessary to strive, persevere, work together,
and avoid complacency in order to run the race to its fullest. The
purpose of the Christian life is not to remain small and not grow. We
are called to continue our spiritual growth in Christ. We are called
to grow and live together. There is no life in a museum, only
memories that give a warm glow and no challenge.8
1
Mitchell, Alan C. Hebrews pg 11
2
Bruce, FF. The Book of Hebrews pg 333
3
Mitchell, Alan pg 268
4
AJ Williams
5
Mitchell, Alan pg 269
6
Mitchell, Alan pg 269
7
Moore, Kenny “Without Limits”
8
Grimond, John pg 24
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