Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. ·...Abel...,  ·Enoch...,  ·Noah...,  ·Abraham...,  ·Sarah...,  ·Isaac...,  ·Jacob..., ·Joseph..., ·Moses..., ·the people (of Israel)..., ·Rahab..., ·Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jepthah, David, Samuel and the prophets ·…{were weak people who were given strength..}. ·These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. ·…Only together with us would they be made mature.[i] (Hebrews 11:1,4,5,7,8,11,20-22,29,31-32,{34 JB},39-40 NIV)

Surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders us, and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. ·Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the {Pioneer}and Maturer[i] of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God... ·During…his life on earth he offered up prayers…with loud cries and tears to the One who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. ·Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered ·and, once made mature[i], he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him… ·Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that YOU[ii] will not grow weary and lose heart... ·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: (12:1-2; 5:7-9; 12:3-5a NIV {RSV})

My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline; do not lose heart when he rebukes you, ·because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and punishes everyone he accepts as a son. [Prov.3:11-12 LXX]

·Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating YOU as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? ·If YOU are not disciplined…then YOU are…not true sons. ·We {had earthly fathers to discipline us and we respected them}. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! ·{For they} disciplined us for a little while as they thought best, but {he…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 (relational) righteousness [Gr. dikaiosunee][iii] and peace for those…trained by it. ·Therefore: (12:5b-12a NIV {RSV})

Lift YOUR drooping hands and strengthen YOUR weak knees! [Isa.35:3]

·Make straight paths for YOUR feet… [Prov.4:26]

so that {the injured limb} may not be put out of joint, but rather {grow strong again}… ·YOU have not come to the mountain ·...so terrifying...that Moses said, “I tremble with fear”. ·But YOU have come: to… the city of the living God...; ·…to God, the judge of all; to the spirits of the righteous made mature[i]; ·and to Jesus. (12:12b-13; 18,21-24a NRSV {JB})

Another reason many people turn to religious schoolmasters, rituals and rules is to try to avoid suffering. Since they tend to see suffering as punishment from God, or as a sign of spiritual weakness, they think that if they are doing things ‘right’, God will protect them from it. Yet the writer of Hebrews puts the emphasis on how a relationship with our Father through Jesus gives us a powerful way to deal with the suffering in this life.

Living by faith during times of suffering requires that we, first of all, look to God as our Father the way Jesus did. On the one hand, he saw his Father as one who had the power to deliver him from suffering and Death. So he asked for that, even with ‘loud cries and tears’; for he knew that many times God strengthened and brought deliverance to those who cried out to him in faith (Heb.11:31-35a). But he also knew that God sometimes answered people of faith by giving them strength to go through heavy suffering, or even untimely death (11:35b-38). And the latter was the Father’s answer to Jesus (Med.#39), and to Paul (Med.#34).

Second, we must learn to treat suffering as adult training when we must go through it. As children we often experienced the pain of discipline only as punishment for doing something bad, or as parental control and abuse. People with such memories tend to focus on the word ‘punishes’ [Gr. mastigo] in the above text. Yet this word appears only once, in the quote from Proverbs.[iv] The author himself only focuses on the other word that appears in the quote: ‘discipline [Gr. paideia]. The Father disciplines us, he writes (5 times!), not because we so often get things wrong, but rather because the ‘race’ we are running requires perseverance and endurance. And our Father-Coach is training us as adult sons and daughters to win the prize—the full inheritance that Jesus has already attained. So we must learn to treat many of the hardships and sufferings that come our way as discipline—as part of the same maturing process towards becoming like our Dad, in all holiness, relational righteousness and peace. True fatherhood is goal-oriented and training-focused, not about punishment or finding fault!

This is why, thirdly, that we need to focus on Jesus as the ‘Pioneer and Maturer' of our faith. Besides coming to die for us, he also came to run our race as our Eldest Brother (Med.#7)—demonstrating how to run it, with the Father as Coach—so that after he reached the goal, he could come back and help us, through the Holy Spirit, to attain the same prize he received. It is as if the successful race of one Olympic champion somehow qualified his or her fans to become champions too. Yet each of us still must enter and run the race to win the same 'gold medal'. And we can do it; because the ‘Judge of all’ (12:23) has himself become our Father-Coach. And he demonstrates his faith in us, by giving us Jesus and his Spirit to empower us.

Fourthly, achieving the goal requires obedience and submission to the Coach. Jesus modeled this for us. Though he never sinned, he still had to ‘learn obedience from what he suffered’ because he lived in a mortal body like ours and was subject to the same temptations we experience (4:15). One of my lessons in discipleship came through my gymnastics coach at university. He had a rule: You always come to training regardless of how you feel. You only leave early if you've first tried and got nowhere. One day, the skin on my hands was badly torn up from the horizontal bar; so I chose to skip the training. The next day he took me aside and told me that I could only stay on the team, on probation, if I demonstrated my desire to be a gymnast by submitting to his rules and training regimen. Otherwise, I was off the team. It was my decision. When I quietly in prayer sought direction from Jesus, I was surprised by the answer. ‘If you can't submit for three hours a day to the training of an earthly coach you respect, how can you say you are my disciple?!’ Though it was not what I wanted to hear, I chose to stay and learn ‘obedience through suffering’. And this earthly coach led us from being winless to being state champions in just two years. It was one of the most important decisions of my life.

Fifthly, endurance requires that we not break training under the pressures of hardship and stress. Athletes avoid seeking comfort in things that are not good for them—like alcohol, over-eating and partying. These not only add extra ‘weight’, but they can also ‘entangle’ them (12:1) in addictions that impede their performance. And finally, learning endurance through suffering helps ensure we will not quit. The last ‘enemy’ we each have to face is Death (1 Cor.15:26). And even Jesus experienced ‘fear’ and ‘distress’ when he faced it. But because he faced it and triumphed over it, Death has lost much of its sting. Even so, Death is still never easy to face. One reason our Father uses suffering, as part of our training, is to prepare us for this last ‘leg’ of our race.

Meanwhile, the heavenly stadium is full of those who have already reached full maturity in Christ, many of whom ran their race without the benefit of the promised Messiah and the Holy Spirit (11:39). But instead of envying us for having this advantage, they cheer us on. How about you? When you face hardship and pain, are you turning aside to ‘comfort’ sins, or turning back to relying mainly on weak human religious systems? Or are you turning to your Father-Coach: both for deliverance, and for the strength to endure suffering and finish well? And are you supporting and encouraging your suffering brothers and sisters to keep doing the same?