RUN BECAUSE OF JOY
In Hebrews 12:1-2a it says:
“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, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross…” (ESV)
These two verses are hugely significant in helping us to understand what it means to be and live as people who make much of Jesus! Notice firstly, that the writer to the Hebrews says part way through verse 1 “let us run the race”. This is a figure of speech, such as “falling in love”, “racking your brains”, or “climbing the ladder of success” and is used to help imprint on the minds of the readers that the Christian life is not a static or a sedentary thing, but rather a journey, a contest and challenge – “let’s run the race”.
Notice also that prior to describing the Christian life as a race, the author writes, “Let us also lay aside every weight” or “every encumbrance” or “every burden”. These ‘weights’ or ‘burdens’ that the author is talking about are simply the bulk or mass which we accumulate in our lives. They don’t necessarily have to be bad things. Often, they can be perfectly harmless and even good, but if it weighs us down, diverts our attention or saps our energy and dampens our enthusiasm for God and his purposes, then they start acting like post-Christmas-podge on an elite athlete. Jesus described them in one of his stories, as being like thorns and weeds (the cares and worries of this world) that grow up and over our lives, suppressing any potential growth out of us.
He goes on to say that we need to not only “lay aside every weight” but also “every sin…” Isn’t this the real deal for most of us? Isn’t this where the author’s figure of speech suddenly stops being a figure of speech and makes us go “Ouch!”?
THE PURSUIT OF JOY
Notice how in these verses the author, after painting the picture of the Christian life being like a demanding race, turns our attention away from the heat and agonising and points us towards Jesus. It says that to run the race we must “fix our eyes on Jesus”!
This may seem an overly simplistic point, even Sunday-school-like; however, I know from my own life that it is so easy to get preoccupied with my life, my struggles, my challenges, and even my attempts to improve my running ability or endurance levels! “Fix your eyes on Jesus”.
However, it is important for us to see that part of the reason why the author wants us to fix our eyes on Jesus is that he wants us to see and learn something about the way Jesus endured. He wants us to see and learn something about the way Jesus pressed through the agonising that he faced at the cross. It says, “for the joy set before him he endured the cross…”
- How did Jesus endure the pain and brutality of Roman crucifixion? For the joy set before him!
- How did Jesus face the mocking and wagging fingers of people whom he had created? For the joy set before him!
- How did he endure seeing his mother dying on the inside as her son, the boy whom she had nursed, was being brutally executed before her very eyes? For the joy set before him!
- How did the perfect and sinless Son of God face the Holy wrath of God being poured out upon sin as he took the place of punishment for me? For the joy set before him!
- How did the author of life taste the bitter waters of death as his life was snuffed out like a common criminal? For the joy set before him!
My point is this – Jesus did not set us the example of barely holding on by his fingernails! No! We are told that great oceans of joy, pleasure and delight were the means by which Jesus endured his own harrowing race of redemption at the cross!
So what will help us to lay aside burdens and sins and run the race of making much of Jesus? When we look to the example of Jesus, we see the answer is in having a heart consumed with Joy. Joy and not duty. Joy and delight, not in guilt or trying a little harder! Hearts that are captured by such a potent delight understand then, that the temporary burdens and sins we experience in our lives lose their power because we’ve been captured by a greater delight!