Text: Hebrews 11:32-12:2
(32) And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: (33) Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, (34) Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. (35) Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: (36) And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: (37) They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (38) (Of whom the world was not worthy🙂 they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. (39) And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: (40) God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. (12:1) Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, (2) Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
I got called out, to a street fight when I was 15 years old.
Two brothers and their cousin took offense at my breaking up their three way fight and they turned on me and challenged me to take on all three – at the same time.
Being less cautious than I should have been, I accepted, because I knew my best friend, Tony Huff, would stand with me.
On that fateful day, Tony and I met the trio of trouble at a road construction site about two blocks from my home.
We were Determined to Meet the Challenge.
We were not necessarily equipped to meet the challenge, but we were determined.
I don’t think I’ll forget the moment when we were through talking and about to square off, 2 against 3, my fists raised, my adrenaline pumping and my best friend beside me…
When all the sudden I heard running feet coming down the alley.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a wave of brown hair and a flash of blue denim skirt and a voice saying, “Stephen Eugene Kuntzman, Anthony Douglas Huff, you come here right now.”
Too our everlasting embarrassment, Momma had heard about the rumble and she was there to stop it.
But we were determined.
That youthful rumble ended in embarrassment, but it taught me a lesson about determination.
Life eventually brings real battles where “Momma” cannot step in to save you and in those challenging moments, you can look to a much greater cloud of witnesses who stood their ground.
Determined to Meet the Challenge
Life is full of challenges, struggles, trials, tough decisions, unpleasant conversations, disappointments, losses,
And even when you have done everything correctly to meet those challenges head-on there is no promise that you’ll succeed in the moment.
In faith you come to the battle, but you are not guaranteed the outcome you believed for, hoped in, dreamed about, and prayed over will come to pass.
To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see.[1]
And we know we can do all things through Christ because He is the source of our strength.[2]
And we understand that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.[3]
But what do you do when ALL YOU HAVE BELIEVED FOR CRUMBLES BEFORE YOUR EYES?
Are you determined to meet the challenge?
It’s 1968, the Olympics are being hosted in Mexico City, and John Stephen Akhwari, a runner from Tanzania, cements his Olympic legacy not by winning, but by finishing last. Despite falling, injuring his knee and shoulder, and suffering from altitude cramps, he kept meeting the challenge. By the time he entered the stadium, the sun had set, the medal ceremony was over, and a small crowd remained. 75 started the race, but only 57 finished, and that final competitor to cross the line was Akhwari. Battered, bruised, injured and bandaged he was asked why he didn’t just quit. He replied, “My country did not send me 5,000 miles to start the race; they sent me 5,000 miles to finish it.”[4]
He was Determined to Meet the Challenge.
The Apostle Paul wrote to Pastor Timothy, his son in the Gospel: “(2) Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. (3) For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; (4) And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. (5) But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. (6) For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. (7) I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: (8) Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”[5]
The challenges of life and leadership are not easy,
But after 43 years, Bishop Moore and First Lady Moore have proven their determination, their grit, strength of character, and faith in God.
You are surrounded by their witness of faith.
God chose this man and woman to represent Him to you and to this city.
Moreover, God has been using them to teach, train, mold, edify, and love you so that you can do the work of the ministry.
And at the same time, He has filled their lives with challenges that reveal His hand and purpose in their life.
But, as Søren Kierkegaard wrote: “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”
When God Wants to Drill a Man[6]
By: Angela Morgan[7]
| When God wants to drill a man | Watch His methods, watch His ways! | And he lifts beseeching hands! |
| And thrill a man | How He ruthlessly perfects | How He bends but never breaks |
| And skill a man, | Whom He royally elects! | When his good He undertakes; |
| When God wants to mold a man | How He hammers him and hurts him, | How He uses whom He chooses |
| To play the noblest part; | And with mighty blows converts him | And with every purpose fuses him; |
| When He yearns with all His heart | Into trial shapes of clay which | By every act induces him |
| To create so great and bold a man | Only God understands; | To try His splendour out– |
| That all the world shall be amazed, | While his tortured heart is crying | God knows what He’s about! |
We’ve all been there, haven’t we?
We have all experienced God ruthlessly perfecting, hammering, and chiseling, and smoothing our rough edges as He molds us for a noble purpose.
We have all asked Jesus, “Why?”
And He is often silent, but you can count on this – God knows what He’s about!
“..weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.”[8]
When your faith is challenged, questioned, ATTACKED, or injured, you will face a moment of choice between meeting the challenge or stepping aside.
And if you have determined to meet the challenge, you will often face the same choice again and again and again.
The challenge is bigger than you are, it is more important than you can sometimes grasp. It is eternal in scope:
“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”[9]
That’s faith! The substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.[10]
And without it, without FAITH, it’s impossible to please God.[11]
Do you know how I know that this Man of God and His wife have pleased God?
They are still here. They haven’t quit. They’ve kept the faith.
They decided a long time ago that they were determined to meet the challenge.
It no longer matters what the challenge is, after 43 years they have dealt with all kinds of challenges from the pew, from the pulpit, from the world, and from the enemy:
- Moral Bankruptcy
- Spiritual Apathy
- Physical Sickness
- Social Injustice
- Financial Challenges
- Demonic Influence
- Mental Instability
- Gender Dysphoria
- Death
Life has thrown every obstacle in their pastoral path, but they are still standing, still determined, still standing in the gap for you.
Most of you have taken their example and followed suit, but some ran when challenges arrived.
The trying of your faith revealed a weakness, a brokenness that you can’t seem to get over.
You have been beating yourself up for so long that you don’t even know how you made it here today.
You are not as lost as you think.
Jesus is searching for you even in your cloudy and dark day: (11) For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. (12) As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. (16) I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.[12]
The Lord God is not resisting, rejecting or denying you…He is searching for even one lost, broken, scattered sheep.
“For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again.”[13]
Paul and James wrote about enduring the persecutions, hardness and afflictions that challenge all believers and ministers of the Gospel.
They could only write about such things because they had experienced them.
Is it possible that they were determined to meet the challenge, but sometimes, like Peter on the night of our Lord’s crucifixion found themselves not as strong as they professed?
Did mercy come to them and now their voices of grace and experience encourages us to stand tall, firm, resolute?
Now, to our text: Hebrews 12:1-2, “(1) Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, (2) Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
The cloud of witnesses – our heroes of Hebrews, our elders, your Bishop and First Lady are looking towards you today.
They surround you, they compass you, watching to see if you can lay aside that which has hindered you.
Can you receive the baton of determination, faith, and endurance?
Will you run with patience the race set before you?
Are you Determined to Meet the Challenge?
Look to Jesus: “And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51).
Jesus demonstrated determination by deliberately marching toward Jerusalem. He knew that betrayal, torture, and crucifixion were waiting for Him.
He was determined to face the agony of the cross and to bear your sins on it.
He refused fear, even when facing intense physical and spiritual pain. Jesus looked past the temporal and focused on the ultimate eternal victory.
He disregarded the humiliation and pushed through the suffering for the sake of the final goal:
“…who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”[14]
That joy was you.
Conclusion:
We are surrounded by a massive cloud of witnesses—from the heroes of Hebrews to 43 years of pastoral grit.
Jesus did not stop at Gethsemane,
Akhwari did not stop on the marathon track,
Bishop Moore and Lady Moore have not stopped through 43 years of challenges.
Lay aside the weights that hold you down and turn away from your sins.
Stop beating yourself up over past falls and failures.
Jesus is here binding your wounds today.
Stand up, square your shoulders, and be
Determined to Meet the Challenge.
[1] Good News Bible.
[2] Philippians 4:13
[3] Romans 8:28
[4] Source: https://www.olympics.com/en/news/marathon-man-akhwari-demonstrates-superhuman-spirit
[5] 2 Timothy 4:1-8
[6] https://marbaniang.wordpress.com/2017/09/07/origin-of-the-poem-when-god-wants-to-drill-a-man/
[7] Believed to be an anonymously “Christianized” form of her 1918 poem When Nature Wants a Man.
[8] Ps. 30:5
[9] 2 Corinthians 4:17-18
[10] Hebrews 11:1
[11] Hebrews 11:6
[12] Ezekiel 34:11-12, 16
[13] Proverbs 24:16
[14] Hebrews 12:2
The Pillar and Ground of Truth 