Rev. Paul J Cain, Jr.
Hebrews 12:1-13 [11:17-31; 12:1-3]
Perseverance
Through Hardship
Proper 15C, Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost, 18 August
2013
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Sheridan, Wyoming
In many and various ways God spoke to His people of
old by the prophets. But now in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son.
Amen. (Hebrews 1:1-2a)
Our Epistle lesson for today concludes with verses from the
twelfth chapter of Hebrews, where Our Lord calls us to persevere in faith until
the end. I’d like to cover the first five verses of this chapter with you
today.
Our Lord calls us to persevere in faith until the end,
fixing our eyes upon Jesus, the Son, who alone can strengthen our hearts and
minds and bodies. This kind of perseverance through hardship is exemplified by
a person who in the seventh century after Christ was called “The Venerable
Bede.” One of the greatest Christian scholars of his time, he was devoted to
the task of translating the Latin Bible into English. In the last year of his
life he had been working hard on the translation of St. John’s gospel. A
disease had fastened itself on him, and he could hardly go on. At last, on the
morning of Ascension Day, his pupil encouraged him by saying, “Dear master,
there is but one chapter yet to do.” Though scarcely able to work, Bede
commanded him, “Take your pen and write quickly.” He continued at intervals
throughout the day in great weakness and pain. When night came, the pupil bent
over his deathbed and whispered, “Master, there is just one sentence more.”
Bede wasted no words: “Write quickly.” Once more the pupil spoke: “See, dear
master, it is finished now.” Once more the master answered, “Yes, you speak
truly; it is finished.” And thus he died.
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud
of witnesses, having thrown off everything that hinders and the sin that so
easily entangles, let us go on running with perseverance the race marked out
for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus,
the Beginner and Completer of the 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. 3 Consider him who endured such
opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
We are
encouraged by this great cloud of witnesses—God’s saints through all the ages:
Abel, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, David, Jeremiah, John the Baptizer, Paul,
Augustine, Athanasius, Bede, Luther, Walther, and so on. The cloud of witnesses
is the whole host of heaven, including all those saints who have died in the
Lord, our loved ones who, having God-given faith in Christ for the full
forgiveness of their sins now are at rest, at peace, with Christ.
The souls
of the saints are at rest, no longer concerned about the trials that occur on
earth. They are not witnesses that see our faith and testify about us. They are
not looking down upon us through holes in the floor of heaven. They are at
rest, at peace. They would not be at rest or at peace if they were to see bad
things happen to their surviving loved ones and be able to do nothing about it.
They don’t become angels with new work and new responsibilities. They are with
Christ and at rest.
Ecclesiastes 9 reminds us: (5a, 6b) For the living know that
they will die, but the dead know nothing…never again will they have a part in
anything that happens under the sun.
Those who
die in Christ are at rest with Christ and are safe forever. Their witness to us
is of a different kind. They testify and witness to Christ with their faith,
life, works, suffering, and death. We thank God for the encouragement of their
example and pray that we would remain faithful, running the race marked out for
us.
The race
course is clearly marked for us, albeit a narrow way. Sometimes we depart from
the course and run into briars, thistles, sandburs, and entangling vines of
sin. Greed, popularity, jealousy, lust, disobedience, and lies entangle us.
Jesus searches each of us out personally, individually. He comes and removes
the vines, the thorns. He cleans and disinfects the scratches, scrapes, and
gashes. By His wounds, we our healed. We are freed from the entanglement of
sin.
We run in
the freedom of the Gospel, the forgiveness of sins. The sinful nature inside us
is drowned in the waters of our baptism by daily contrition and repentance. We
can then run without our legs in irons or chains.
It is a
race like no other. We run, but the race is over, the battle won. Jesus began
and completed the faith for us and presents the garland crown, the gold medal,
the trophy of salvation to us as a gift. It is as if we were running the
victory lap for Jesus, with our eyes firmly fixed on Him waiting for us with
open arms on the finish line.
Jesus’
race, run with perseverance, is an encouragement to us as well. But more than
that, His enduring the cross, Resurrection from the dead and Ascension to the
right hand of God give us hope so that we do not grow weary and lose heart.
The
struggle against sin continues. Without Christ, we would not be able to
persevere. We would grow weary and lose heart. With Christ, He gives us faith
and endurance to resist faithfully to the end.
4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to
the point of shedding your blood. 5 And
you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: “My
son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he
rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes
everyone he accepts as a son.”
We do get discouraged, especially when the race course gets
rough. The road may be steep, exceptionally narrow, perilously high. Dogs may
run after us mistaking us for the mailman. Storms come up and blow against us,
and hail down icy daggers. We forget that we are sons. We forget that we are
beloved of God.
The author of this letter to the Hebrews writes to encourage
them and us. Sometimes a father has to show his love through discipline to
bring about a greater good. Sons don’t always understand or comprehend the
potential good. Neither do we always understand the thoughts and ways of our
Heavenly Father, even if they are for our ultimate good.
About the Cover: The race we are running in this life
is not a sprint, but rather one of endurance. We do not run it alone, for we
haven’t the strength to take even a step. But our gracious Lord first calls us
to this race and then equips us to run it. Let us keep our eyes fixed on the
Savior, who endured the cross. Let us endure as well until we join Him in the
presence of God.
Amen.
May the God of peace, who through the blood of the
eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd
of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing His will, and may He
work in us what is pleasing to Him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for
ever and ever. [Grace be with you all.] Amen. (Hebrews 13:20-21, [25])
