I preached this sermon on August 17, 2025, as pulpit supply at First Presbyterian Church in Fort Thomas, Kentucky.
The lectionary text is Hebrews 11:29-12:2 – By Faith & God Disciplines His Sons.
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”
As a runner, Hebrews 12:1 is a favorite verse of mine. Put with the prior two verses, we have a powerful picture:
“These (heroes of our faith) were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.”
(Hebrews 11:39–40)
This isn’t just a personal race marked out for us. It’s a relay—a race run by generations of believers who have run their leg and now must pass the baton.
(WE)
Did you watch the Olympics last year and before? I suspect the Apostle Paul would have been a fan. He loved using athletic metaphors—discipline, endurance, and finishing strong. The writer of Hebrews, it seems, carries that same interest in athetics.
Every four years, the Summer Olympics captivates the world. We cheer for Michael Phelps in swimming, Simone Biles in gymnastics, the Dream Team in basketball. But my favorite moments come during the second week when Track and Field takes center stage.
There, the original Olympic motto comes alive, “Citius, Altius, Fortius,” kee-tee-oos, “AL-tee-oos”, “FOR-tee-oos”.— Faster, Higher, Stronger.
Track is mostly an individual battle of speed and endurance. You’re racing against the other runners, and may the fastest runner win. That’s for all the events – [PAUSE] except the relays. A relay is a team event, where four runners take turns carrying a baton around the track to the finish line.
Let’s unpack what makes a relay powerful:
- The baton: Not just a tube of aluminum or a steel stick—it represents purpose, momentum, and unity.
- The lead runner: They set the pace, trying to get the early lead.
- The middle runners: They keep the momentum alive, delivering the baton to the next runner.
- The anchor: A misleading moniker, they are often the fastest, closing with a flourish.
In the relay, the key is the handoff. The baton exchange must be clean, swift and in stride. It carries the hopes of the whole team. I frequently hold my breath as I watch an exchange. (Mention Richard’s relay team debacle.)
Now picture yourself mid-race. The baton lands in your hand. Your teammate gave their all to reach you. It’s your turn.
(GOD)
That’s exactly the image Hebrews presents: a spiritual relay.
Chapter 11 lists the heroes of our faith: Noah, Abraham, Moses, Rahab [RAY’-hab], David. They faced doubt, danger, delay—but they ran their leg. Moses through the desert, Joshua around Jericho. Each inspired the next generation of faithful. And now these faithful martyrs, as they are called in Revelations, hand us the baton, and are in the “great cloud of witnesses” cheering from the sidelines.
Verse 40: “Only together with us would they be made perfect.”
They’re not finished without us.
This is why we run—not just for personal salvation, but to carry forward the faith entrusted to us. Let’s pause right here and think about that point. We run this race—not just for ourselves, but to carry forward the faith entrusted to us by those who came before us.
12 [1] Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses,
Who composes this great cloud of witnesses? Traditionally, the final event of the Olympics was the men’s marathon, where the finish line was in the Olympic stadium while people were gathered for the closing ceremonies. What a terrific way to finish the race with a great cloud of witnesses!
I once ran a marathon that finished at the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games. I entered the stadium as hundreds of bagpipers filled the field, playing “Flower of Scotland” before thousands of cheering fans. It was exhausting, exhilarating—not cheering for me, per se, but unforgettable nevertheless.
That’s how I imagine the great cloud of witnesses – Cheering saints, not just biblical heroes, but ordinary people of faith who believe in us, encourage us, and wait for us at the finish.
And one day, we will join them. But not before we faithfully finish our leg of the race.
Now for some instructions from the writer: we are called to “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.”
I am a volunteer at Step Forward, part of City Gospel Mission in Cincinnati. Step Forward is part of a faith-based substance abuse recovery program that uses walking, running and relationships in the recovery process.
The program participants come in as broken people:
· Amanda got in the wrong crowd in high school, got addicted and dropped out.
o SF helped her get clean, she ran 3 10Ks, and now she owns a restaurant!
· Joey couldn’t walk and got hooked on painkillers.
o SF mentored and healed physical and spiritually, and completed 3 5Ks!
o After graduating, she now mentors others in the program.
· I especially remember Brian.
o A drunken evening and racist outburst to match his tattoos got him pushed into a campfire. After he got out of the hospital, he got mentored in SF, trained for a completed a half marathon!
· 600 program participants have entered these races and 600 have successfully thrown off everything that hinders and the sin that they intimately know easily entangles, and finished their races.
· We volunteers are their great cloud of witnesses.
· Running is just an excuse to get the volunteers and the participants together.
(YOU) (Bonus)
So who handed you the baton? Who built your faith?
Think of your parents or grandparents taking you to church. Maybe it was a youth leader, Sunday school teacher, or a friend whose faith shined through hardship.
In my life, confirmation was a big event—a two year journey that pointed me in the right direction.
Think of those people. They are part of your great cloud of witnesses!
Remember my favorite verse? Hebrews 12:1: “And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,”
Some translations use “endurance” or “patience.” That doesn’t work for me. Running a race with patience to me means starting off at the right pace so you don’t blow up too early. It’s Dave Wottle with his golf cap at the 1972 Munich Olympics running the 800 meters in perfectly paced laps, patiently falling to last place on the first lap before storming in to win the gold.
Running with endurance means keep running when you get fatigued. It’s descriptive for our purposes, but not nearly as meaningful. It’s the talented Kenyans winning the Boston Marathon ten years in a row.
Running with perseverance, on the other hand, means conquering obstacles that come up. In running, that could include: muscle cramps, dehydration, blisters, broken bones, extreme heat, extreme cold, blazing sun, blizzard, thunderstorms. Rattle snakes. Getting hit by cars. Injuries. Yes, that would be Sprains, Strains and automobiles. No flogging or stoning though. You face the obstacles and keep going.
Back when I was young and relatively fast, I would do speed work at a local high school track. The fast runners always claimed lane one – don’t get in their way. Basic track etiquette.
On the other hand, I would also see this large woman working hard, trying to be inconspicuous on the outside lane. She would jog the straightaways and walk the curves. That’s all she could do. I would always give her a wave of encouragement, a fellow runner’s nod of respect.
But she never knew how much her perseverance inspired me. She was overcoming perhaps a lifetime of physical neglect, of medical problems, of family and societal norms that required her perseverance. She deserves a great cloud of witnesses.
Have you ever seen someone like this? Head down, quietly running their race? Paul wrote in Romans 5:3-4, “We rejoice in our sufferings, for suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”
Our spiritual race isn’t easy. Obstacles can affect our faith journey too: doubt, hardship, fear, shame, temptation, back to the sin that entangles. But we are called to run our leg in this Relay of Faith; nobody else can run it for us.
(YOU)
Eventually, the time will come to pass your baton. To your children. To your community. To those just stepping onto the track. Paul declares in 2 Timothy, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” Who have you prepared to continue this relay? Who have you inspired to carry the baton? Here’s the main question, “What’s your succession plan?”
Think of this church. You had two baptisms last week, and they involved a promise – made by the entire congregation – to guide and nurture Ryman and Lucy, by word and by deed, with love and with prayer, encourage them to know and follow Christ. How are you personally fulfilling that promise? I was in a service when the pastor reminded the congregation of their vow, then passed clipboards to solicit volunteers for the nursery. I am not sure what would have happened if those clipboards didn’t come back completely filled!
Have you volunteered? Taught Sunday School? Have you chaperoned youth group outings? If not, it’s a painless background check and then you are mentoring children and youth for the next generation. My youngest son, Erich, stays in touch with Jim Tyrone, a youth mentor and grandfather to his own kids.
And this church? I’m so glad the children are in this service to hear the hymns of Charles Wesley and Martin Luther as we prepare to move into their great cloud of witnesses.
If you remember one thing from this sermon, remember the importance of passing the baton.
Now to the Anchor Leg
Chapter 12:2: “Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
We’re told to fix our eyes on Jesus as we run our leg of this relay. He designed this race, He picked each of us for the relay, Jesus is the anchor leg.
(WE)
Verse 1 again: “Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus…”
Don’t drop the baton.
Run with perseverance.
Run toward the Author and Finisher of our faith.
Have a succession plan.
And when your relay leg is done—pass the baton.
In Jesus’ name.
