Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of
witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so
closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us,
looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of
the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and
has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.
Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from
sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart. In your struggle against
sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have
forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as children—
‘My child, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
or lose heart when
you are punished by him;
for the Lord disciplines those whom he loves,
and chastises every
child whom he accepts.’
Endure trials for the sake of discipline. God is treating
you as children; for what child is there whom a parent does not discipline? If
you do not have that discipline in which all children share, then you are
illegitimate and not his children. Moreover, we had human parents to discipline
us, and we respected them. Should we not be even more willing to be subject to
the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as
seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, in order that we may
share his holiness. Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant
at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those
who have been trained by it.
Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak
knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be
put out of joint, but rather be healed. Pursue peace with everyone, and the
holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
As we enter this season of Lent, we have a time set aside by the church calendar for self-preparation
that is directly in front of us. A whole period of 40 days in which to be intentionally introspective and clean the 'muck' out of our lives.
The phrase that immediately jumps off the page from the Hebrews reading in this context is “let us run with
perseverance the race that is set before us.”
I never thought of Lent as a race before and I can't remember how many years it's been since I enjoyed running. However, I know what it means to
train. In any kind of training or discipline, there are periods of discomfort and
hardship that help condition our bodies so that they can be stronger, go faster,
endure longer, etc… (no pain, no gain!) In this respect, we
can look at the whole season of Lent as a sort of spiritual training period. The
things that we intentionally do, or take on, in this season should be to make
us spiritually stronger and healthier, but they are not always easy.
The training metaphor covers the
whole reading… It seems like the writer
to the Hebrews is acting like a coach, giving a pregame locker room pep speech as he explains that Jesus
is our MVP and team captain that holds the playbook for us. Jesus is the one who first
won the prize after enduring the pains of the cross. Then we have God who is
our personal trainer, who disciplines us like children (as any good parent would) preparing us, nurturing us, and training us.
It is interesting to think of Lent as our spiritual training
camp where we are provided with the best coach and trainer available to run the
race of our lives. That is where we are, here today, at the beginning of our journey through the season of lent, ready to begin our training.
Blessings for Holy Lent!
