Can You Help Me Find A Hero.

Can You Help Me Find A Hero

1/24/1999 Men’s Sunday 1 Samuel 15:1-11 Luke 4:14-30 Text John 11

If I told you come over to my house this afternoon, I want you to meet Mr. Hero. What kind of person would you expect to find. Would you expect to see someone who has done something to save someone’s life in a dramatic fashion or would you expect to see someone who sells sub sandwiches in a store with green and white trimming..

Sometimes we unconsciously choose to identify with certain people and make them our heroes. When we sing it’s not just us singing, it’s Whitney Houston or Lionel Ritchie. When we shoot the ball, it’s not just us, its Michael Jordan or Michelle Edwards of the Cleveland Rockers. When we dress, its not just us dressing, its some famous model getting ready to walk out into the world. Even when we drive, its not just us driving, but the best driver the world has ever known. But sometimes, if we could look behind the scenes of those we choose as our heroes, we would discover we need to keep on looking for someone to truly admire and is worthy of our imitation.

We’re not the only ones who have searched for heroes and been impressed by the wrong qualities of a person. There was a time in history in which Saul was the king of the people of God. Saul demonstrated through his lack of obedience to God, that he was no longer qualified to be king. God said, "I am grieved that I made Saul king and I have rejected him. Samuel go and anoint another to be king in his place."

Samuel was a prophet who went in search of this new hero. God sent him to the house of Jesse and told him to anoint one of Jesse’s sons. Samuel said, "Brother Jesse, can you help me find a hero. Jesse said, well I’ve got just the boy you’re looking for. He called in Eliab. Eliab, son come in here.

When Samuel saw Eliab, he knew he had found his hero. For Eliab was tall and very good looking, the kind of person that people would immediately respond to as a leader. Samuel was so excite and He was ready to anoint him, with the oil " But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things a person looks at.

People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." Is there someone in your life that God is saying the exact same thing about today. God is saying, just because it looks good, does not mean its good for you or in my plans for your life.

The world never want us to look beyond the exterior of the person. "Just look at what the person looks like, or how many runs he scored, or how beautifully she sings, or what a great politician he is. Don’t look at their hearts to see their private lives. That’s not important. Let us stop deceiving ourselves. Our character is important because God is going to hold us accountable for it. What we are in private will eventually become known in public. Truth will not hide forever. Any hero without character is not a hero at all.

Are there any true heroes left today. People are not the only ones searching. For the Scriptures says of God in Ezekial 22:30 "I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none." God is asking, "can someone help me find somebody who is willing to be a hero for me today by standing in the gap between what is and what ought to be." When you go to the amusement park, they now have signs that say, "you must be this tall to ride this ride." In order to be a hero for God, we must be willing to rise up and live at this level in order to ride with Him.

Being male or female is a matter of birth. But becoming an adult man or a woman is a matter of choice. It takes strength to go against peer pressure. It takes will power to be a role model by doing what is right in the sight of a holy God. It requires bravery to stand out from the crowd instead of bowing to it. There is nothing easy about being a Christian. Anybody can be a sinner, but only few can become saints. God places within the heart of every believer the ability to be a hero, a champion, and an overcomer for Him. God leaves it up to us whether or not we will allow that ability within us to grow and burst forth.