“In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 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, because the Lord disciplines those He loves, and He punishes everyone He accepts as a son.’ Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined [and everyone undergoes discipline], then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” Hebrews 12:4-11
On August 7, 1954, during the British Empire Games in Vancouver, BC, Canada, one of the greatest mile-run races of all time took place. It was touted as the “miracle mile” because Roger Bannister and John Landy were facing off and they had to that point in time been the only two men in history to have run sub-four-minute miles. Bannister strategized that he would relax a little during the third lap and save everything for his kick at the end. But as they began the third lap, Landy poured it on, stretching his already substantial lead. Immediately, Bannister adjusted his strategy, increasing his pace and gaining slowly but surely on Landy. By the end of the third lap, Bannister had drawn even. Landy began running even faster, and Bannister followed suit. It became obvious that Bannister was going to lose if Landy did not slow down. Then came the infamous moment [which has been replayed tens of thousands of time in both print and film] as at the last stride before the home stretch the crowd roared. Landy could no longer hear Bannister’s footfall and thus unconsciously looked back – a fatal lapse of concentration. Bannister launched his now legendary counterattack, and Landy did not see it until he had lost the lead. Roger Bannister won the “miracle mile” that day by five yards.
John Landy’s infamous lapse of concentration serves as a stark metaphor of what the writer of Hebrews implicitly warned against in his earlier charge to “run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith” [Hebrews 12:1, 2]. Those who look away from Christ – the end goal of our race – will never finish well. And this is exactly what was happening to some treading the stormy waters mounting around the small Hebrew church. They had begun to take their eyes off Christ and to fix them instead on the hardships challenging them. When these Hebrew Christians first came to Christ, the Savior filled their lives from horizon to horizon. It was a delightful, joyous fixation. But that initial rush of joy began to be assaulted by hardships and difficulties. Some of their lifelong friendships cooled to estrangement. They were no longer welcome in the synagogue. Some lost their jobs as they were squeezed out of the family business. Others were assaulted by domestic stress, as even husband and wife relationships became strained over the matter of Christ. And to boot, their newfound faith did not shield them from the common vicissitudes of life – they suffered reversals, accidents, illness and death just like everyone else.
As a result, not a few were distracted. Those increasingly longer looks away from Christ left some off-stride. Others stumbled here and there, and tragically a few had quit altogether. They were, in fact, a microcosm of many in the modern church who have lost their focus through hardship – who say, “It all began so well. But I didn’t expect this. I had problems before I became a Christian, but nothing like this. Thanks for the offer of the abundant life, but I’ve got an abundance of problems already. You go ahead. I think I’ll take a breather.” It is these that the writer of Hebrews attempts to encourage.
He begins this section with a pair of reproaches. First, he reminds them that life is not as bad as some may suppose. “In your struggle against sin,” he said, “you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood” [v. 4]. Jesus, of course, had suffered death because of His decision to stay on track – all the way to the cross. And many of the heroes of faith so memorably praised at the end of the preceding chapter had paid the ultimate price as well. But though the Hebrew church had experienced severe persecution early on under Emperor Claudius, no one had yet been martyred. The parallels with the modern church in the West are plain to see. The tides of neo-paganism are rising, but none of us have resisted to the point of spilling blood. Then, like now, was no time to be discouraged – especially considering the great examples of those who have remained steadfast amidst far greater hardships.
The writer’s other reproach was that they had failed to recall and reassure themselves with God’s Word – “And you have forgotten that Word of encouragement that addresses you as sons” [v. 5]. Of course, this is an even more common sin of the modern church. We certainly cannot be profoundly influenced by that which we do not know! The comfort and strength that is found in God’s Word is of little benefit to those who have never read it nor seldom hear it. Knowing God’s Word is essential for spiritual survival as the writer had earlier insisted, “We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away” [Hebrews 2:1].
Discipline is the telltale sign of being loved by God and being in a familial relationship with Him – “because the Lord disciplines those He loves, and punishes everyone He accepts as a son” [v. 6]. In other words, if we cop out in respect to the Lord’s discipline by either making light of it or by fainting away from it, we are turning our backs on the personal evidence of His love and relationship with us. In other words, discipline is the divinely ordered path to a deepening relationship with God and a growing love with Him. In fact, it is the only path! Thus to refuse His discipline is to turn our backs on growth and love. It is important to realize that the very word “discipline” comes from a root that generally means, “to teach or instruct as one would a child” [see also Acts 22:3; 1 Timothy 1:20; Titus 2:12]. Often it means “to correct or to punish” – as it means here [see also Luke 23:16, 23]. Broadly, it signifies much of what we would think of as discipline for the purpose of education. We experience God’s education through our hardships and afflictions. And most importantly, we must remember that God’s discipline of His children NEVER involves His wrath. God’s wrath is solely rests on and is reserved for the unbelieving.
The ancient world found it incomprehensible that a father could possibly love his child and NOT punish him. In fact, a real son would draw more discipline, than say, an illegitimate child for the precise reason that greater honor and respect were to be his. The ultimate example of this is, of course, Jesus who as the supreme Son “learned obedience from what He suffered and, once made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him” [Hebrews 5:8, 9]. There is no doubt about it – the hardships and disciplines we endure are signs of our legitimacy and ought to be embraced as the telltale signs of grace that they are. Those who live life to the fullest are those who do not buck God’s discipline but rather knowingly embrace it.
No comments:
Post a Comment