Psychologist Dr. Larry Crabb has described the mentality of many today who look for human help outside of themselves or an intimate relationship with the divine.

“Too often people take a word like authenticity and they secularize it to mean ‘I’m going to let you know exactly what I feel,’ thinking that that is going to result in intimacy and a release of guilt.

“What may in fact be happening is that you are demanding that the other person now deal with your feelings the way you want him or her to. If the other person doesn’t do that, then you go into hiding convinced that nobody will ever deal with how you really feel; so why bother caring? The point is that you are not facing the real issue. Authenticity demands that you expose yourself not for the purpose of getting a person to respond to you in the way that you  want, but exposing yourself so you can respond to what God wants. Only God can truly deal with your sin. Only God can truly forgive you.” (Crabb, 1989)

In other words, in our modern psychodrama we want to put the burden of our inner life on other people rather than on ourselves and our relationship with God. The writers of Hebrews understood that this can never work out.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, ¹  we must get rid of every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and run with endurance the race set out for us, keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set out for him he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.  Think of him who endured such opposition against himself by sinners, so that you may not grow weary in your souls and give up.” Hebrews 12:1-3

Imagine a sports stadium filled with a capacity crowd all looking for the front runners in a marathon. The runners are the readers of this epistle (including us in the 21^st Century), who need to run a grueling race. Encircling the track is a stadium filled with a great cloud of witnesses, among them many of the worthies of the past named in chapter 11. They are witnesses in the sense of bearing testimony that the race can be run successfully and that the rewards are great.

I used to swim competitively in high school and one way we would strengthen ourselves for races was to practice with dive belts on. On the day of the race, we wouldn’t wear the belts and consequently we would be faster because our bodies had adapted to the extra weight in the water.  So I am familiar with the admonition to “get rid of every weight” that makes for a successful race. I know more competitive swimmers who shave their bodies to cut down on the resistance through the water that might be a metaphor for sin that clings so tightly. Endurance athletes know that the lighter the load you start out with, the longer you can travel at speed.

Remember that Chapter 12 is part and parcel with Chapter 11. Moses laid aside the privileges of royalty for the sake of his God-given mission. Similarly we must throw off whatever may hinder faith even though it may be right for others. Joseph properly ruled in Egypt, but for Moses it was a hindering weight. He needed to go be a shepherd. Other weights might well be ambition, anxieties, hobbies, wealth or fame. Each runner must honestly judge what hinders faith for him or her and resolutely lay it aside, even though others seem to be unhindered by the same thing.

The primary block to gaining the prize is the sin that so easily entangles. The writers did not specify what this entangling sin is, so we can take for granted that it is the sin continually warned about in Hebrews --persistent unbelief We should not take God's Word lightly! Do not excuse any sin as all right for you, but forbidden to others! Do not feel you can evade God's discipline or judgment! "God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows". (Galatians 6:7). Unbelief often looks trivial to us, but Moses was kept out of the Promised Land because he treated God's word lightly on one occasion (Deuteronomy 32:51-52; Psalm 106:33). David apparently felt that his twin sins of adultery and murder could be overlooked because he was king, but God felt otherwise and sent Nathan the prophet to expose his wickedness and to announce his punishment.

The race is life itself. God who gives us life is also God who starts us in this race. We are all here for a purpose, to live our lives in fulfillment of God's intent for us. This requires faith in God's revelation, but also perseverance and endurance. Life is not a 100-yard dash, but a long and sometimes agonizing marathon. No one knows just how long it will be. Its very uncertainty requires that we run it as if it will last a long time, being prepared to keep going no matter what happens. The goal toward which we run is the end of life, whether it be death or the sudden transformation of living saints at the return of Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:51-52). Jesus told the suffering saints of Smyrna, "Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life" (Revelation 2:10).

How is consistent endurance possible? The authors of Hebrews told us to “fix our eyes on Jesus.” This is the central theme of Hebrews, stated repeatedly (Hebrews 2:9; 4:14; 4:16). The writers effectively advised that we listen to the testimonies of those who have gone before because they know the way and know what will impede your progress, but above all else, fix your eyes on Jesus, because he can do what no one else can – impart faith to you and bring it to perfection in the end. Jesus stands at the finish line, but He also meets you along the route to provide strength and encouragement and to guard your steps from disaster. Other men and women of faith can encourage and inspire us, but Jesus is above and behind them all.

Why look away from human leaders to Jesus? Because he is the author and perfecter of our faith. He gives it and completes it. The word translated here "author" is archegos (seen also in 2:10) and means  pioneer or leader. Jesus has gone before us in this race to keep faith. He knows the need for it. He himself ran the race. He laid aside every weight, every tie of family and friends. He set his face against the popular sin of unbelief and daily lived in patient perseverance, trusting his Father to work everything out for Him. He set the perfect example. Remember, God turned from Him as He hung on the cross. It was by sheer faith that Jesus faced the bitter agony of rejection and desertion amid the taunting, scourging and crucifying.

Jesus is more than an example, however; He is empowerment itself! Through the moments, days, weeks and years of our lives, we find strength imparted to us when we look to Him. By faith Jesus is within us. He has entered the sanctuary, into our innermost person, to the very place where we need strength and grace. He is available every moment to help us in time of need through to work of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 3:16). Faith is essential to spiritual vitality. Jesus is our example of the kind of faith required, but His very life in us imparts the faith we need to run the race of life successfully. "I can do everything through him who gives me strength" (Philippians 4:13).

“You have not yet resisted to the point of bloodshed in your struggle against sin. And have you forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as sons?  “My son, do not scorn the Lord’s discipline or give up when he corrects you. “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son he accepts.”

“Endure your suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline? But if you do not experience discipline, something all sons have shared in, then you are illegitimate and are not sons. Besides, we have experienced discipline from our earthly fathers and we respected them; shall we not submit ourselves all the more to the Father of spirits and receive life? For they disciplined us for a little while as seemed good to them, but he does so for our benefit, that we may share his holiness. Now all discipline seems painful at the time, not joyful. But later it produces the fruit of peace and righteousness for those trained by it. Therefore, strengthen your listless hands and your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but be healed.”  Hebrews 12:4-13

Christians are to exhibit certain point of view toward hardship and opposition. It might be summed up as “Remember, it’s not as bad as it could be!” The Hebrew Christians hadn’t shed their blood yet and behind the difficulties that they faced and would face in the future would be a father’s loving heart.

An incident from the Old Testament illustrates this. David was rebuked by the Lord for numbering Israel and was given the choice of three punishments. He wisely let the Lord decide, and undoubtedly experienced the least hurtful of the three, but in the plague God sent, 70,000 Israelites died! (2 Samuel 24). That was a lesson David never forgot! It is important to note that our authors insisted that such discipline comes from God's love for those sons He is bringing to glory. Severe discipline only comes to those who have violated great responsibility or who are being trained for tough assignments. Many Christians today have testified that God got their attention only after some severe trial or circumstance!

God has adopted us as His children. Christians are not illegitimate children for whom no future is being prepared, but legitimate children who require discipline to develop properly. Anyone who has ever competed in sports knows that great athletes must endure what they would rather not in order to become great athletes. The Hebrew Christians were told to “hang tough" because their trials were proof that they were beloved children and not bastards. Similarly, we discipline our earthly children because we love them and care what will happen to them. Our children may not always like our discipline, but looking back on my own parents’ attempts to discipline me, I know those punishments were meant for my own good. How much more should we accept the discipline of our God, Who makes no mistakes and Who aims at enabling us to share His own perfect character! The reference to God as the Father of our spirits is meant as a contrast to "human fathers" and reminds us that the fruit borne by suffering is spiritual in nature.

The trials, .disappointments, hardships and even physical attacks which sometimes constitute God's discipline may be painful to bear. No one enjoys such experiences. C. S. Lewis noted, "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to arouse a deaf world". Pain is not the whole story. There is always an effect which follows. There is a harvest of righteousness and peace which invariably will come for those who have been trained by discipline.

Christian suffering is not simply sheer circumstantial misery or the result of blind chance. Paul declared, "We know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope" (Romans 5:34). James stated, "You know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything" (James 1:3-4). Peter concurred, "These [trials] have come so that your faith---of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire---may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed" (1 Peter 1:7).

How foolish then it is to complain and grouse about the difficulties we face. In rebelling against difficult circumstances we shut ourselves off from learning the lessons God is teaching us.