Lessons from Superman
Scripture: 1 Peter 2: 11-12 Date: 10 October 2010
Purpose: To encourage the congregation to realize who they truly are through the Salvation that has been given through Jesus and become the heroes that God call each to be.
There are some areas in life that I am grown up enough to admit I have not grown up in. For instance, I am still a child when it comes to superheroes. Something about superheroes has always intrigued me. Maybe it is their special abilities to overcome things that would normally be the normal person’s un-doing, or perhaps it is their mysterious nature about them as they usually have an alter ego that they are hiding from the rest of the world?
Bruce Wayne is hiding that he is Batman, Peter Parker is hiding that he is Spiderman. Their alter egos are that they are superheroes and they are hiding who they really are from the rest of the world. They put on a costume and fight crime.
But when we take a look at my all-time favorite superhero, Superman; we see the opposite. Superman is hiding as Clark Kent. His alter ego is Clark Kent. His true identity is Superman. He is really an alien and he is living among us, blending in, hiding who he truly is. HE IS NOT FROM THIS PLANET!! Superman’s citizenship is on Krypton.
Thinking about this lead me to our scripture reading for today. It is found in
1 Peter 2:11-12.
Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
I am a huge fan of “Smallville”, a television show that is about Superman growing up. The series follows superman’s adolescent years as he is growing up. He is discovering his true purpose as he is discovering who he truly is.
I have noticed some lessons about Superman that I believe we can apply to our lives as Christians. Let me ask you this morning…
I.Who are you?
A.Superman is an alien from Krypton. Even though he has grown up here on earth he still feels a sense of incompatibility.
Webster’s Collegiate 10th edition dictionary defines alien as, "...belonging or relating to another person, place or thing; otherworldly; differing in nature or character, typically to the point of incompatibility; a resident of another home, country or planet." Incompatibility: that word has had familiar meaning among Christians for centuries. In actuality, experiencing a feeling of "incompatibility" with this world is completely normal for Christians
1.Christians are called by Jesus to be aliens in this world. We are redeemed, blood-bought, children of the living God and this automatically makes us different than the rest of the world In Philippians 3:20, Paul writes
Philippians 3:20-21 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ
2.Superman grew up as Clark Kent in Smallville hiding who he truly was among the rest of the world. He was always very careful making sure his powers were never seen. He didn’t want anyone to see who he truly. He was an alien living among us just trying to fit in.
3.This is one area that I sadly say many Christians are just like Superman in. Many of us are trying to fit in as well.
4.We come to church on Sunday and we feel at home and we get inspired to be a better Christian and then we’re ready for the week. Monday comes rolling around and we put on our worldly costume and we play that part of blending in very well.
5.We are very careful to never expose ourselves as we are in fear of being made fun of or being out- casted, shunned, separated, or seen as a Jesus Freak.
6.Scripture teaches us that we are to do the opposite. Romans 12:2a says, 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
7. "Do not be conformed to this world..." The word "conformed" here literally means to ("put on the form, fashion or appearance of.") Paul is essentially telling us not to look, act, dress, or even smell like the world.
8.One translation says to be "transformed, by the renewing of your mind." This means "making new"; changing to new thoughts, views and feelings. Christians are represented throughout Scripture as new creatures
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
9.This is who we are. We are aliens in this world and we need to stop hiding and stand up for who we are and for what we are about. We have never been promised that being a Christian would be easy, the truth is, it is hard and we will have many battles along the way. And we all have weaknesses that will keep us pressed down.
II. What is your weakness?
A.We all know that Super Man’s major weakness is Kryptonite but I have realized that this is not his only weakness. Superman has a special place that he goes to that helps train him in becoming the man that he is destined to be. He Calls this place his “Fortress of Solitude” There he gets instruction about life and about who he is from his father on Krypton, Jorel.
If Superman doesn’t ever visit the “Fortress of Solitude” he misses out on the guidance and instruction of his father and this makes him vulnerable to many of life’s problems.
1.Likewise, we Christians also have a so called, “Fortress of Solitude”. We have a special place that we can go to gain knowledge and instruction from our father as well. And we are here today!
2.I have found that when our church attendance becomes sporadic, our lives become unstable in many areas. Life’s problems seem to become harder and we don’t really know how to battle the enemy when we are attacked.
3.This makes us weak. I look at my own personal life and I must tell you that the enemy attacks me and my loved ones each and every day. And if we want to help ourselves and those we love, we must stay consistent in visiting our “Fortress of Solitude”, the church.
4.At church we receive guidance for all of the problems that life throws at us. Our Father, God, gives us the instruction we need in becoming the man or woman that we are destined to be.
5.Like Superman, Our father has a plan for each and every one of us. We each have a destiny to fulfill. God wants to give us so much more than we realize. He wants to bless us and use us to be heroes for him.
6.When we gave our life to Jesus, we were given a mission. This is where many of us miss what it truly means to be a Christian. We become His servants and we are to serve Him.
7.Everything we have in this life is from Him. Our clothes, talents, health, money, homes, family, and even the very air we breathe. But often times we find ourselves serving ourselves and all the things of the world instead of who we should really be serving.
VIDEO: “God’s Pie”
8.God has truly blessed us and I think it would be safe to say that when we forget God and drift away from spending time with Him, we become weak in this sinful world. We need to realize where we draw our strength from.
III.What gives you power?
A.Superman draws his strength and abilities from the Sun. And I believe that we draw our strength and abilities from “The Son”, Jesus Christ!
1.You see, all of Superman’s powers, Super strength, Flying, speed, heat vision, x-ray vision, and even super hearing comes from the sun. When he is feeling weak from a hard tough battle, all he needs to do is let the Sun shine on him.
2.Friend’s, this is a great lesson from Superman for us. We too draw our strength from the Son but from a far greater Son. Jesus gives us the strength to carry on in times of trouble.
3.We are told this in Psalm34:19 A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all;
4.Jesus is our strength in times of troubles. We were never told or promised that we would not have any troubles once we gave our lives to Jesus. But we were told and promised that He will see us through the troubles we face and He will give us the strength and abilities to overcome them.
Philippians 4:13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
5.Have you been beat up by the super villain twins, Sin and Temptation? The truth is, temptation has some super powers over each of us and sometimes it over comes us and then we get beat up by the all-powerful villain Sin!
6.We are promised that we will find the strength to overcome the temptations of this world through our Savior, Jesus Christ. We say we know this but do we really have faith in it? Do we truly trust in Him to see us through the things of this world?
Illustration: The old story is told about a great flood that engulfed an entire town. Everything was submerged; people were at the mercy of the waters. One Christian man in particular found his way on top of his roof. There he sat trusting that the Lord was going to take care of him. A rescue boat came by but the man said no thanks, I trust that God will see me through this. Then a rescue helicopter came by, but once again the man said no thanks as he knew God was going to help him during his time of trouble.
The waters continued to rise and eventually the waters took the man’s life. He made it to heaven and was confused about why he died. After all, he was a Christian man and he trusted that the Lord would see him through the flood. So he asked God where he was during the flood. He told God that he believed the Scriptures and had complete faith that He would deliver him from any trouble that came his way.
God told him, “Look, I sent you a boat, you said no thanks, I then sent you a helicopter and you once again said no thanks, what else did you want me to do?”
7.I believe we are much like this man. We say we have faith and we say we believe but when it comes down to it, life is more about us and how we want things done. We want it our way and if things don’t match what and how we want it, then it’s not good enough for us.
B.Looking back at our Scripture reading for this morning we are told to “abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
1.When I look at this Scripture I can’t help but to see the evangelical emphasis that it has for us. You see this Scripture is not just about us, not just for us.
2.It’s pointing towards others seeing us that they may give their lives to Jesus and glorify God as well. This Scripture helps me to understand that the world does not just revolve around me and that it is no just about me.
3.Superman’s destiny was to help the people of earth. We all have seen on television or have read a comic book or two about how Superman is selfless, compassion, and how he cares for people as he lives his life to help others.
4.Christian, I ask you, what is your destiny? Is it to make it into heaven? If you believe and have given your life to Jesus, then you must know that that goal has already been accomplished. What more must we do as Christians?
5.I believe that the main lesson we can take from Superman is this: “Life is not about us” We need to be selfless, compassionate, we need to care enough about other people that they may be saved and not perish.
6.We need to live our lives as the true Superman, Jesus Christ.
Matthew 20: 26-28 … whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
Conclusion:
The simple truth is that there is no such thing as Superman but there is such a thing as the Superman. You see, Jesus Christ embodies all the characters that we need in order to be the super people that God has destined each of us to be.
As we look to our father for guidance, I pray we all can become the heroes that he has called each us to be.
