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Text: Hebrews 12:1-13 W 13th
Sunday after Pentecost Spiritual Gymnastics In the name
of him who preserves our lives both in time and eternity according to his great
love, dear friends in Christ: I’m going
to begin this morning by warning you that what follows may get a little
personal – but I think it’s important that from time to time we do some honest
introspection. And with that in mind,
I’ll ask you to close your eyes, if that helps, and imagine that you have just
stepped out of the shower. Finish
toweling your self off so you don’t get water all over the floor. Good.
Okay, now, if you have a full-length mirror in your bathroom, stay
put. Otherwise, you’ll have to go to a
room that has one. Go there now and
stand in front of it. And don’t
worry: you’re home alone, the shades are
drawn, and the doors are locked. Okay,
is everyone standing in front of a mirror?
Good. Now, if you’re still
holding on to the towel, now’s the time to let it drop. I want you to take a careful look at yourself
from head to toe. Ah-ah: no looking at anyone else’s mirror; just your
own. Take a good look. Without answering aloud, ask yourself, “Do I
like what I see?” Be honest. Oh, and if you’re like me and you’re just
staring at a shapeless, flesh-tone mass, go put your glasses on and start
over. If you’ve done that or can
naturally see well enough without glasses and still see a shapeless,
flesh-tone mass … well … then you’re probably not alone. And those who are thinking, “Well, not
exactly a shapeless mass … ‘round’ is a shape”—you’re not off the hook
here. I’ll bet that 95% of us or more
aren’t quite happy with what we see.
And I doubt that even one is at what he or she would consider peak
possible fitness. No, it’s safe to say
that for each of us there’re pounds that could be shed or in some cases gained, certainly muscles that could be toned up,
and we could all probably benefit from some exercise to increase our
cardiovascular health. But
unfortunately, though we know that’s true – the naked truth is staring right
back at us – it’s doubtful that many of us will actually do anything
significant about it. That’s not to say
that we aren’t exercising and watching what we eat and so on – many of us are;
but let’s face it, that’s mostly to maintain the status quo and prevent
ourselves from getting too much worse, or at least to slow the process down,
rather than to try to make any real improvements. All right,
that’s enough of that self-evaluation.
And as much as we might profit today from a discussion of healthy ways
to improve the overall appearance and physical performance of that figure you
saw in the mirror, that’s between you and your doctor and/or your physical
trainer. My real concerns are even more
personal. As your pastor and spiritual
trainer, I’d like you to run through the same mental exercise we just did to
take a look at your inner self. I
want you to imagine yourself now standing naked before a spiritual mirror: one that allows you to see yourself the way
God sees you … in the light of his perfection and holiness … in view of his
desires and expectations for you as a Christian. And please don’t misunderstand me. We Lutherans are quite accustomed to
examining ourselves in the mirror of God’s Law, seeing the filth and corruption
of sin in our hearts, and fleeing to Christ Jesus, the Savior, who died for our
sins and whose blood effectively covers or clothes our shame and
disgrace. That’s not exactly what I’m
talking about here. I’m assuming from
the beginning that you are a child of God by faith in the Savior, that your
sins have been forgiven, that you’re an heir of the eternal kingdom, and that
you’re walking the path of life. You’re
a Christian. It’s your very Christian
self – the faith by which you call
yourself a Christian – that’s what I want you to strip naked and stare at in
the mirror. The embodiment of your
faith: what kind of shape is that
person in? Do you like what you see there? Or would you describe that person as weak,
underfed, underweight, looking like even a tiny bit of spiritual stress would
cause him or her to collapse? Or perhaps
the person is fed well enough, but carries the weight in the wrong places,
mostly in useless flab around the thighs and midsection, while the limbs are
hanging limp and lifeless, atrophied from lack of exercise? Really now, what does your Christian self look like in the brutally
honest mirror of truth. Are you happy
with the spiritual condition you’re in?
Just guessing here, but I’ll bet we could all stand to get with it and
shape up. That’s
precisely what the writer of the letter to the Hebrews is encouraging us to do
in today’s Epistle reading. And as he
does it, he’s using language borrowed from the field of physical fitness and
athletic competition. You know, back in
the first century, when this was written, sports were just as popular as they
are today. And with the Olympics going
on now, and this being the centennial anniversary of the modern games, there’s
been a lot of focus on how the Olympics were conducted in ancient times – in
the very days that the letter to the Hebrews was written. I’ve seen several news articles about it, and
even something on the History Channel. It’s fascinating stuff. And it’s remarkable how little some of the
things have changed in two thousand years:
the races, the jumping, the wrestling, the discus and javelin, all
pretty much the same. Of course, there
are other noteworthy differences. One
major difference that you may be aware of is that back in those days there was
no high tech sports clothing and gear that helped give an advantage to the
athletes. As a matter of fact, for most
sports events the competitors went without clothing at all. It may interest you to know that our word
“gymnasium” comes from the Greek word “gymnos”
which means “naked”. So the word gymnasium really means “a place where
people are naked”, specifically for sports; and “gymnastics” means “getting
naked and nasty”—No! I’m only kidding; it means “sporting events
held in a gymnasium”. And please understand
that in those days only men were allowed to participate or even to watch
Olympic competitions – so there was nothing particularly scandalous about
it. Besides, just think of all the funky
gym socks and sweat clothes they got out of having to wash. Anyway,
what the author of Hebrews is asking you to do is to think of your faith as an
athlete, an athlete preparing to compete in a grueling contest of strength and
endurance like those held at the Olympic Games.
And we all understand the kind of dedication and commitment it takes to
even think about reaching that level of competition. The men and women who make it to the games
have undergone years of intense physical discipline, building up their bodies
and perfecting their technique, to get themselves to the absolute pinnacle of
performance in their events. That’s the
way we should approach building up the person of faith in each of us because in
fact, in our day-to-day struggles with sin, and in life’s crisis events, it’s
the strength and performance of our faith that determines whether we experience
the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat.
And when our faith is under stress, it’s as unclothed as an ancient
athlete. At other times, when life is
going along smoothly and there’s not a lot of stress, between events you might
say, we can cover our faith up – and we do.
We can even make it look bigger and more fit than it really is, just
like certain clothes, the way they’re cut or the design on the fabric, can
improve someone’s physical appearance.
But when faith is being put to the test, all those visual illusions and
tricks we use have to come off, and naked faith alone – that person you saw in
the spiritual mirror, is who must run the race.
That’s why we need to build that person up. And to
encourage us, the author of the Hebrews reminds us of the great heroes of
faith: people like Abraham, Joseph,
Moses, Samuel, David, and many others who by their faith accomplished great
things – and it needs to be said that they endured and suffered horrendous
setbacks and tragedies but it was their
faith that carried them through.
These are the Gold Medal winners of faith, the guys whose pictures are
on the church’s spiritual Wheaties
boxes (or in some cases on our stained glass windows). They are there to inspire us with their
stories: how by their faith and trust in
the promises of the Lord they were enabled to do the things they did. And please understand that they were people
just like you and me. They had all the
same sins and weaknesses, the same fears and concerns that we do. Nor were age and physical condition
factors. Abraham was one hundred and ten
when his faith was put to its greatest test, and David was a mere child when he
killed the giant Goliath. Anyone of us
can have the same kind and quality of faith that they did. Which is
why the writer of Hebrews enjoins us, “Since we are surrounded by this great
cloud of witnesses” – the Bible’s rich roll call of heroes of faith who show us
by their examples that we can do what they did – “let us cast off the excess
pounds of spiritual flab, and throw away the bulky clothes that we use to
conceal the true person of faith within and try to make him look better than he
is, and let’s stop fooling around with these silly little sins and temptations
that are always getting in the way – and let’s get down and do some serious
spiritual training so that we can run with perseverance the course that’s been
set out before us.” How do we
do that? He says, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith,
who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat
down on the right hand of the throne of God.” Remarkable:
in that one sentence Jesus Christ is presented to us as the creator of our faith, that is,
the one who gives faith to us; he’s the object
of our faith, that is, who it is and whose actions we are to believe in; and
he’s the example of our faith,
that is, the one whose life best demonstrates what real faith looks like in
action. Now, we
understand that Jesus, God’s Son, creates our faith – he created
everything. But specifically, faith is
created in us when we hear the Word of God; and we know that the Word of God is
not a thing, it’s a person, namely: God’s Son.
And we also understand that Jesus is whom we believe in. His coming into this world to take our fallen
flesh, his going to the cross to die for our sins and make everlasting
atonement for us, and his resurrection to life to proclaim that forgiveness,
life, and salvation belong to all whose trust is in him – these things are the content
of the faith. But it’s not very often
that we think of Jesus as our example of living a life of faith. We tend to think, “Well, he is God, after
all, and so he knew before hand everything that what going to happen. And so, in a sense, when he came into this
world he was just sort of playing a role – going through the motions when he
went to the cross.” But that’s
just plain wrong. No, in order for Jesus
to die for us, to be our true substitute, he had to be exactly like one of us –
with all the same human limitations and weaknesses that we have. The only difference is that he had no
sin. And so we understand that though he
was God, that he set aside his divine powers and prerogatives – choosing not to
use them for his own benefit (though he did use them for the benefit of others
from time to time). What that means is
that when Jesus faced his trial, his bloody passion, his crucifixion and death,
that he went to them armed with naked faith alone. His faith was in the promises of God that he
knew from reading and hearing the Old Testament Scriptures – and not from
special divine insight and foreknowledge that he had. When he was nailed, naked to the cross and
exposed to the full fury of God’s wrath against our sin, when he was receiving
no sign of mercy or compassion, his faith did not falter or waver. Instead he was over and against everything he
was feeling and experiencing trusting in such words as these that the Psalmist
had written: “You will not abandon me to
the grave nor let your Holy One see decay.”
So please understand that though in Jesus God died for your sins, that God died as a man
– and not a “superman” drawing on some reservoir of divine strength – but a
man, a person, like you or me, who had a super strong faith – the same kind of
super strong faith that is available, that is attainable by people like you and me. Ah then,
how do we lay hold of such faith? The
text before us suggests two ways. The
first is what we would expect of any athlete in training: a steady regimen of diet and exercise. Knowing that faith comes of hearing the Word
of God, and that Jesus is the creator, strengthener, and object of our faith,
it only makes sense for us to build our spiritual training program on regular
and repeated exposure to the sacred Scriptures – and specifically using Christ
Jesus and his Gospel as the key to understanding them. We do this, of course, through weekly
worship, attendance at the Lord’s Supper, and in private and family devotions
and prayer. These are our spiritual
gymnastics. And where the text speaks of
“making a level path for your feet so that the lame may not be disabled”,
what’s actually described is a rut in the road worn by wagon wheels. The idea is that by your repeated practice of
spiritual disciplines, worship, Bible reading, and prayer, that you create for
yourself a habit that is deeply impressed upon you, that has ridges keep you
from straying so that you could walk it in your sleep or when you’re
spiritually injured and just sort of limping along. I might add that an athlete who’s training
for serious competition always tries to push himself beyond comfortable
limits. There’s always more to learn
about our faith. And there are countless
opportunities to go to the spiritual weight room and pump up: Bible studies that are offered, books you can
read, that are able to move you to a deeper and stronger faith. The other
way the text mentions to grow stronger in faith is to submit ourselves to the
Lord’s discipline. You know, if you were
serious about competing in the Olympics, you’d have to hire a skilled and
knowledgeable trainer. And what you
would pay this person to do is to push you beyond what you think are your
limits. The trainer would drill you with
no apparent mercy, critique every minor flaw in your style, stance, and form,
he would make your life a living hell – but by so doing he would extract from
you your best possible performance. And
when it was done, you’d respect and thank your trainer for it – for being
someone you very nearly learned to hate. Well, it
happens that the Lord treats us exactly the same way: like a trainer who wants to bring out the
best in us. And he does it by bringing
hardship into our lives. He presents us
with challenges that we cannot handle, tests we cannot endure, and with loses
and sorrows that are too heavy for us to bear.
He does it because it is precisely when we cannot do it with our own
strength and power that must rely on faith – on naked faith in him and his
promises. It is those times of intense
stress, those spiritual marathons that are so painful and that seem to have no
end, that push us to higher levels of faith and confidence. Then, as the text says, after we have had to
endure the hardships and our faith is strengthened, we are able to produce the
amazing results: the harvests of
righteousness and peace that the Lord seeks to bring into our lives. That’s how the heroes of faith became the
heroes of faith. And so when we face
such hardships, we are not to become angry at God, or bitter and sullen like
spoiled children who when having received a well deserved spanking, scream that
they hate the “offending” parent; no, instead we are to recognize that the Lord
is through trial and suffering bringing us to perfection – perfection which is
obtained by pure and holy faith in the Lord Jesus who also suffered before
entering into glory at his Father’s right hand. That’s
where the great heroes of faith have already gathered to receive their crowns
of gold – and that’s where we too will be crowned with everlasting life after
we have run our course in faith. May we
then “strengthen our feeble arms and weak knees” with a rigorous and thorough
program of spiritual gymnastics, and humble ourselves under the Lord’s
discipline, that we too may run the course set before us with perseverance and
give thanks to God who gives us the strength to win all things in his Son,
Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Soli Deo Gloria! |
