OPEN: On the screen you’ll see the pictures of various famous attractive women (Twiggy, Christie Brinkley, Cheryl Tiegs, Lauren Hutton, Naomi Campbell, Claudia Schiffer, Tyra Banks, Heidi Klum). They’re models. But they’re more than models… they are “SUPERMODELS”.
Over the years, supermodels such as these have become very wealthy women, because of their national and international fame. But what makes a supermodel a supermodel?
ILLUS: According to one source: “The term supermodel refers to a highly-paid fashion model who usually has a worldwide reputation and often has a background in high fashion and commercial modeling. Supermodels usually work for top fashion designers and famous clothing brands. They have multi-million dollar contracts, endorsements and campaigns. They have branded themselves as household names and have worldwide recognition is associated with their modeling careers. And they have been on the covers of various magazines. (taken with some modifications from from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermodel)
These women are so famous that anytime you’ve walked into a supermarket, you’ve undoubtedly seen their faces.
So let’s sum that up:
A Supermodel is an attractive woman who wears clothing well.
And this woman is well known enough in the fashion world that her face is on the covers of numerous magazines.
ILLUS: The term supermodel (as we know it today) seems to have been coined by a Model named Janice Dickinson during an interview with Entertainment Tonight.
Dickinson stated that her agent asked her, "Janice, who do you think you are, Superman?"
She replied, "No... I'm a supermodel, honey, and you will refer to me as a supermodel and you will start a supermodel division."
Now notice what Dickinson was saying:
She was saying “I’m the modeling equivalent of Superman.”
She was comparing herself - and many in the modeling trade - to a comic book superhero!
Now if you’re going to be a superhero of the modeling world, it’s worth asking “What do you do that qualifies you? What makes you so “super?”
So, let’s go back to our original definition of what a supermodel is:
She’s an attractive woman who wears her clothing well, and appears on the covers of numerous magazines.
And that’s pretty much it.
She doesn’t have to be able to sing, or act.
She doesn’t have to be strong, or smart, or virtuous or even likable.
She just has to look good, dress good, and walk good.
But those are the “super” models of the fashion world.
Now contrast those supermodels to the ones God shows you in Hebrews 11.
God tells us in that chapter about
Abel, Enoch, Noah,
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
Joseph, Moses and Rahab
These folks aren’t just pretty faces… they’re heroes.
They’re not known for the clothes they wear… known for the things they’ve done.
The writer of Hebrews sums up how the heroes of Scripture lived their lives:
“I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.” Hebrews 11:32-34
This is a whole list of heroes.
And they’re not just heroes… these are superheroes.
They are literally the super models of what our faith is all about.
They model for us how faith is lived out in the lives of real people.
A model is someone that is the standard of the best that can be found.
They are heighth of what we should strive to be in our lives.
ILLUS: For example: This weekend is Memorial Day weekend.
Memorial Day is a day to remember the price others have paid for our freedom. And those who have died in the service of our country are held up as being models in our nation of what American citizenship is all about.
These were people who were willing to sacrifice for a higher ideal.
And that’s what God has done in Hebrews 11. He has set before us heroes – examples/models of what Christian citizens should be like. In Hebrews 11:39 “These (the heroes of chapter 11) were all commended for their faith…”
These were people who were willing to sacrifice for a higher ideal.
· Noah built an ark in spite of the criticisms of his neighbors
· Abraham obeyed God and took his family where he was told even though he didn’t know where he was going.
· Moses gave up his inheritance as a prince of Egypt to lead God’s people out of slavery
These were people willing to face uncertainty, ridicule, punishment… and sometimes even death to be the super-models God wanted to use to shape our lives.
The Bible could have told us thousands of stories of these people’s lives. But instead, God chose specific stories that illustrated the struggles and successes of their faith in Him. Oftentimes these Old Testament heroes only did one thing in their lifetime that merited mention in Scripture… but that one things was a decision on their part that was meant to serve as a challenge to us who serve Him today.
In fact, one such story challenged an entire nation to greatness.
ILLUS: It was June, 1940.
In what seemed an impossible defeat, the British and French armies were driven steadily back by the blitzkrieg forces of Nazi Germany and were eventually trapped on beaches Dunkirk with no apparent way of escape. Hitler's armies are poised to destroy them, and German airplanes were strafing their positions.
King George VI called the nation to a week of prayer.
The British people knew their armies faced annihilation at Dunkirk and they anxiously awaited word of their fate.
Then they received a short message from the besieged army.
"But if not…"
It was only 3 words, but it electrified the nation and galvanized the British people to action.
Upon hearing those 3 simple words England mobilized every ship, boat and yacht they could find. Approximately 850 boats of every size crossed the English channel and, over a period of 9 days, rescued nearly 350,000 men from certain death, and allowed them to fight on for freedom for the next 4 years.
It was one of the greatest rescue efforts ever accomplished in the history of man.
All because of the prayer of the British people and a 3-word message from armies trapped at Dunkirk.
But what did those words mean?
The British knew.
At that time Britain was a highly religious nation where the Bible was held in reverence. They KNEW what those words meant.
“But if not” were words that 3 superheroes in the Old Testament had used to defy a King. King Nebuchadnezzar called for them to bow down before an idol… and they refused. The King threatened them with death in a fiery furnace… but they still refused.
And their famous words of defiance were these:
“O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
What the armies at Dunkirk were telling their nation was this:
"Our God is able to save us… BUT if not, we will remain faithful to Him anyway."
They were willing to sacrifice for a higher ideal.
(from Charles Colson BreakPoint October 2001)
Hebrews is telling us that the stories like this from the Old Testament were stories of people who were models of courage, models of bravery, models of strength … and models of faith.
“These were all commended for their faith…”
But then, lest you get the mistaken idea that these superheroes always won. That their courage always succeeded in a there being a “happily ever after” in their lives, Hebrews 11:36-37 continues:
“Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison.
They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated - the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.”
That’s not the kind of story I want to hear.
I want my heroes to always win.
Because that means – if I’m a hero, if I always do the right thing all the time - everything will turn out alright.
But you see, that’s not the nature of heroes.
True heroes - like those who died during our nation’s wars, and those who suffered and died in the stories of the Old Testament - true heroes sometimes lose.
But it doesn’t matter, because a true hero/ a true supermodel of faith is willing to sacrifice for a higher ideal - no matter what the cost.
Because they’ve been willing to sacrifice for something bigger than themselves.
And when they’re willing to sacrifice in for that larger cause… they can say to the world
"Our God is able to save us… BUT if not, we will remain faithful to Him anyway."
You see, that’s what makes this “fashion supermodel” thing so sad. So pathetic.
These folks aren’t sacrificing for much of anything. They’re not doing anything really SUPER with their lives. They’re just doing a job.
They’re getting hair done, their nails polished, makeup applied.
They wear the clothes they’re given, they smile pretty and they get their picture taken.
And when they do all this they don’t inspire to do great things because of how they’ve lived.
But Hebrews tells us that these great heroes and heroines of the past were models of faith. And they should inspire us to live great lives of faith and heroism.
Heroes and heroines of the faith SHOULD inspire us.
And many times those great heroes and heroines are people we’ve lived around.
I’m going to take a few minutes in the midst of this sermon for your to tell me who has inspired you. Who was it that you admire because of their faith? Who was it that helped shape you in your faith?
(In both services I allowed at least 5 people to share their stories. In the first service NO ONE mentioned a preacher as someone who inspired them).
ILLUS: During the first service one woman shared how they nearly left the church after the preacher who had led them to Christ left to start a new ministry (he wasn’t forced out and the church financially supported him in his new ministry). But the wife of one of the Elders here went to her place of business and asked to talk with her. This Elder’s wife (knowing this family was tempted to leave) explained that the church was more than just its preacher. It was a family who worked together and worshipped together, and looked for one another. And because of the witness of that Elder’s wife, the family stayed and became an integral part of this congregation.
During the first service, no one mentioned a preacher as being the one who inspired them. And that’s ok. Because the church is more than the preacher. It’s a group of believers that God has called together to inspire each other to do great things for Him.
Hebrews 12:1 tells us that “… since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses (these heroes and heroines of Hebrews 11), let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”
We are surrounded by a great host of witnesses.
Great heroes of our faith.
And you know, amongst that great host of witnesses are my own mom and dad.
They watch to see what I’m doing with my life.
But as I got to thinking about that, I realized they might not just see my great deeds. They might also see my weaknesses, faults and sins. They – and all those other folks – would see me just as I am and I’m not sure I like that idea.
But then I realized all that great host of witnesses probably see me the same way that God does.
They’re not looking down on me in disapproval.
They’re not looking down in disappointment.
Because I (and you) have something that changes all that.
We have the blood of Jesus that covers all our sins.
When we believed that Jesus was the Christ the Son of the Living God. When we repented of our sins. When we confessed Jesus as the Lord and Master of our lives. And when we were buried in the waters of baptism and risen up to newness of life - all our past was washed away.
As Romans 6:6-7 tells us “For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.”
ILLUS: I had a conversation on Facebook once with a young girl. She doesn’t come here, but she knows who I am.
She asked me what to do if a friend of hers was “cutting herself”
I explained “Most people who cut themselves do that because they are mad at themselves. They’re not pretty enough, not smart enough or not good enough to be what they want to be and so they use this as a way of punishing themselves for not being everything they think they should be. If that's the case, you need to help her find the love and forgiveness that only Jesus can give.”
The girl posted back and confessed that the friend she’d referred to was herself. She’d been cutting herself, and she asked if God would forgive her.
I replied “Oh yeah. He promises to take all of your sins (and mine) and bury them in the depths of the sea. But you've got to make Him first in your life.”
You see… all I was doing was repeating what the writer of Hebrews assures us of.
“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Hebrews 12:2-3
The heroes of the Old Testament were heroes because they fixed their eyes on God. They had faith in a force that was bigger than they were and that led them to do great deeds in His name.
Hebrews says we should fix your eyes on Jesus. We have faith in a power that’s bigger than we are. He’s the ultimate superhero. He’s our ultimate super model. And it’s because of Him that we have any hope at all in this world
But we need to keep our eyes fixed on Him, so that when people see us, they see Him.
Jesus is our SUPERMODEL… He is our hero.
And He’s our hero because He was willing to sacrifice for something bigger than us.
He was willing to sacrifice His life on the cross so that God could forgive us… all sins
It’s because we fix our eyes on Jesus that we have the power to become supermodels for this generation. We have the ability to rise above who we are and become heroes of the faith and to inspire others to great deeds of faith.
But first you need to belong to Jesus (Invitation)
