Hebrews 11-13

 Have you ever seen the NBA Slam Dunk contest?

Can you imagine the thrill of being a participant in it and being surrounded by some of the NBA’s brightest stars, as you perform an array of dazzling dunks?

Not only that, but you are surrounded by NBA legendary players at courtside, in the stands, watching on TV, and even judging the dunks.  What a rush of adrenaline that must produce!  These stars whoop it up, give you high 5’s, and jubilantly celebrate each of your dunks. 

To have the respect of your peers, of those who have gone on before – to have the opportunity to perform well in front of them and the desire to impress, pushes you on to even greater feats. 

The word “therefore” in Hebrews 12:1 introduces us to a scene of positive peer pressure in our Christian experience.  It points to the gallery of stars, the heroes of the faith, the hall of famers in chapter 11.  [Today’s references are from the New International Version, 1984.] 

Since we are surrounded by this great cloud of witnesses, we are challenged and motivated to run a special kind of race in our Christian experience.  There are three particular pieces of advice our player coach (he uses the word “we”) offers for us in Hebrews 12:1-3.  Like a good salad, they all begin with, “Let us.” 

1.      Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. 

An athlete takes off anything and everything that hinders.  At that time the athletes often trained and even competed naked or as close to it as they could possible could.  They didn’t want anything to hold them back – not even good things.  Today athletes wear warm-up pants, but when it is time to compete in a race, they come off.  They hinder.  They are an impediment.

There is nothing wrong with hair on one’s head.  But swimmers shave their heads before a race to cut down on resistance.  They “throw off” the hair because it hinders.  How much resistance does a little hair offer?  How much does hair weigh?  Not much, but even good things may become bad things if they hinder us from running a winning race, in the realm of athletics and in the realm of our Christian race.

Sometimes we may get too much of a good thing.  Sometimes we may be too involved in something that is not wrong in itself – TV, the internet, sports, recreation, sleeping, eating, video games, pleasure seeking, hobbies, or whatever. The dedicated athlete throws off everything that hinders.  So does the dedicated Christian. 

2.      Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us – 12:1.  

The Christian race is not jogging, not sprinting, and it is not a middle distance run.  It is a marathon.  It requires endurance. 

We are to run with perseverance.  This is the Greek word hupomone.  It is defined as cheerful or hopeful endurance, even under pressure.

3.      Let us fix our eyes on Jesus - 12:2-3

The word fix means to turn the eyes away from other things and fix them on something else.  It means to consider attentively.    

We are to fix our eyes on Jesus who is the author (meaning the leader or captain) of faith.   He is the perfecter of that same faith.  He, for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

When we follow Jesus’s example, then we will be able to say as Paul did in 2 Timothy 4:7 – “I have fought the good fight.  I have finished the race.  I have kept the faith.

Paul Thompson