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Equipped with Grace to Run the Race:
Hebrews 13 & its final word of grace
One of mainstays of road running races from 5k fun-runs
to 26-mile marathons is the water station.
These are stations set up along the race course where volunteers fill
cups with water or sports drinks to offer to the runners as they run by. Water and sports drinks along the
race course help fuel the runner, keeping them moving forward, regularly
refreshing them toward the finish line.
Like runners equipped with water and sports drinks to
fuel them forward, along the path of Christian faith we’re equipped by God with
GRACE to run the race.
In the book of Hebrews we’re called to “run with
perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer
and perfecter of faith” (Heb. 12:1-2).
The final of this book of the Bible features bookends of grace. At the beginning, in chapter 13 verse 9 we
read that “it is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace” (13:9). In the last verse of this section – and the
entire book – we find the parting words “Grace be with you all.” Let's explore both dimensions of grace, and how it helps to frame the content of this final section of Hebrews.
Strengthened by Grace
“...it is good for our hearts to be
strengthened by grace” v. 9
In the Christian life, we are strengthened by grace in two ways: Grace gets us into the race in the first place…and
then empowers us to move along in following Jesus to the finish.
- The first dimension of getting us into the race in the first place relates to the big picture of salvation and the fundamental question – what is it that gets us right with God, that gets us to God’s promised future at the end of the journey? For the old covenant God made with the Hebrew people, the answer involved a system of blood sacrifices that the people had to make. In this final section of Hebrews the author continues as he has throughout the entire book, showing how Jesus perfects the original covenant. Sacrifice is still required to make us right with God, but Jesus is the High Priest who makes the final, decisive sacrifice – once for all – through his blood shed on the cross and his resurrection, when – as we read in verse 20 “the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus.” This was an act of God’s grace, “unmerited favor,” a gift requiring nothing but a response of accepting faith. We are saved by – and our hearts are strengthened by – grace, not by the rules of the old covenant (v. 9 “Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings…like eating ceremonial foods”).
- Once we’re in the race because of the grace of Christ, the second dimension of grace’s strengthening kicks in. Grace describes the process the Holy Spirit uses to empower us to follow Jesus all the way to the finish. In today’s text we’re encouraged to go where Jesus went as we follow him: 13:12-13 “And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore.” Outside the camp. Outside of our comfort zones, where we encounter some challenging terrain. This is where we encounter suffering and even disgrace. Jesus leads us into places of human suffering as we witness to his love for the world, but we may also run into some of the same resistance that he did. Following Jesus is not the easy road. On the path of faith, by his grace, Jesus strengthens us to keep going. Verse 20 speaks of Jesus as the great shepherd of the sheep. This shepherd is with us full-time, guiding, encouraging, sometimes carrying us, leading us home. Jesus is our ascended and eternal High Priest in heaven who helps us follow him by his gracious strengthening.
Going Forward with Grace
“...Grace be with you all” v. 25
The final word of Hebrews is grace: “grace be with you
all” (13:25). If God’s grace is with us,
what difference does it make in our lives?
Our text shows that lives touched by God’s grace are offered back to God
as a pleasing sacrifice. This
sacrificial living centers on being a witness to the living and loving God in
both word and deed. This takes us back
to primary vocation as the church, our “Pentecostal” call to be Christ’s
witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
- THE FIRST SACRIFICE involves SPEAKING GOD-WORDS. It’s a sacrifice because of the resistance that we might encounter…but grace keeps us going. In verse 15 we read “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.” We’re encouraged to openly profess God’s name in our continual public proclamations of praise. One way to do this is to do exactly what the author of Hebrews does – speak “benedictions” to others. A benediction is the speaking a blessing to others that combines words of witness to the Triune God with personal encouragement. You encourage another person by openly speaking of how you hope God will bless them. A great example is in verse 20-21, where the author of Hebrews openly professing God’s name: starting out with “May the God of peace…” and concluding with “through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.”
- THE SECOND SACRIFICE involves SHARING GOOD WORKS. It’s a sacrifice because we’re giving up something in the process, and because doing good can be very difficult work (that’s why it’s conveniently easy to forget or neglect). But grace keeps us going and giving. In verse 16 we read “And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” This relates to the words of the benediction in verse 21 about what the God of peace will do in us: “equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him…” It pleases God for us to do good to others, and that’s what God’s grace equips us to do. We know we’re running a good race when we’re sharing what we have with others in need.
In conclusion, I offer these words to send you out into the race of life equipped by the grace of Jesus:
Following Jesus into the world,
To those God wants to bless
We speak God-words;
We share Good-works.
Equipped with Grace,
We’re strengthened for the race.
Into the world we run,
Until we reach the "city that is to come."
Amen.
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