Homefield Advantage

Ask any athlete at any level, and he or she can discuss the value of homefield advantage. Cheering, screaming, clapping, frenzied fans make a difference to athletes. Yankee Stadium, Arrowhead Stadium, or Lambeau Field—these are tough places for visiting teams to play. But they’re amazing venues for the home team, elevating teams to victory on the voices of their fans.

Homefield advantage reminds us of a comforting truth for us as Christ-followers. The Bible metaphorically describes the Christian faith as running a race. Hebrews 12:1 even offers the image of a packed stadium, describing it as “a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us.†While there will be fatigue, pain, setbacks, and losses, we can be encouraged by that great cloud of witnesses, which includes the people mentioned in Hebrews 11. They are cheering us on,
exhorting us to keep our eyes on Jesus to win the race, just as they ran and finished before us (Hebrews 12:2).

Here’s the great irony in the cloud of witnesses cheering us to victory: we’re running in a packed stadium today because Christ paid the price on a lonely hill called Calvary. He had no homefield advantage. He was crucified alongside two criminals. There were a few hardened Roman guards and a few supporters, including His mother. All the fans Jesus seemed to have during His ministry had deserted Him.

But, a few days later, alone in a tomb, Jesus overcame death and threw off the burial clothes. What Christ accomplished on a hostile hilltop—and then alone in the dark of a tomb—has enabled us to run the race before us. Not only that, we have a stadium full of cheering fans. • Mike Hurley

• Look at the list of some of the witnesses in Hebrews 11. Who are some of the people cheering for you?

• What does this chapter tell us about running the race of the Christian life?

Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us. Hebrews 12:1 (CSB)

Read Verses:

Hebrews 12:1-12