“God’s Hero”
July 28, 2012
Hebrews 11:32-39
“And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and 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.
Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed 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, living in caves and in holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith...”
Revelation 22:1-5
“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.”
God chooses to work through people. He doesn’t have to – He is God. He speaks worlds into being. He creates life. He calls the stars by name. Man is nothing but a vapor to Him. But for some reason God only knows, He loves us. He wants us to love Him in return. And for that we need a free will. We need the power and ability to make choices. So God chooses to work through man – His greatest creation.
God can not use just anyone. God needs a hero. We read about some of the great hero’s of the faith. We read about what they went through and what they had to give up. What would possess a person to live like that? The answer is – faith. They had a tremendous faith in God. They had a tremendous love for God. They were heroes in the true sense of the Word. The dictionary defines hero as: “a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.”
Noble qualities means “exalted moral and mental character”. So a hero is someone who is distinguished by his morals and courage.
I believe God has his hero’s today. I believe some of those hero’s are you. I want to explain why I think that and I want to share three qualities of a true hero this morning.
First of all, a true hero is not fearless – he simply overcomes his fear. Moses was a hero in my book. He left Egypt running in fear for his life – but he returned in obedience to God to challenge the Pharoah. Listen to him facing his fear. God says:
“And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”
But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” Exodus 3:9-11
“Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you’?” Exodus 4:1
God had to convince Moses that he can do the impossible - with His help. Moses has a lot of doubts. He has a lot of fear. He has a lot of insecurities and feelings of inferiority.
Gideon is another reluctant hero. Listen to his calling to be God’s hero.
“The angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.”
“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the LORD has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”
The LORD turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”
“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”
The LORD answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”
Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me.” Judges 6:11-17
Gideon has a lot of doubts. He has a lot of fear. He has a lot of insecurities and feelings of inferiority. God had to turn a bush into fire and a staff into a snake, and his hand into leprosy before Moses believed. Gideon put out two fleeces before he would believe the angel. God doesn’t choose the arrogant and the greatest. He chooses the least likely to work through. The Word says,
“God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.”
1 Corinthians 1:27-29
God doesn’t choose the worldly wise or the strong or those that are great in the worlds view. He chooses the foolish and the weak and the lowly to be his heroes. That kinda makes you and me qualified, doesn’t it? God’s heroes are not brave – they have just overcome their fears with God’s help.
Secondly, God’s heroes are sacrificial. Moses gave up a comfortable life as a shepherd to lead a bunch of rebellious, cantankerous people through the desert for forty years. Gideon left the safety of his hideout to face an army a thousand times greater than his. Abraham left the home he grew up in to follow God to a new and strange place. Before God can use you – you have to sacrifice your will to do His. The very idea of a hero is to forget about self; surrender self; ignore your desires for the good of others. Here’s an example of a Medal of Honor recipient:
“Staff Sergeant Leroy A. Petry distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty in action with an armed enemy in the vicinity of Paktya Province, Afghanistan, on May 26, 2008. As a Weapons Squad Leader with D Company, 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Staff Sergeant Petry moved to clear the courtyard of a house that potentially contained high-value combatants. While crossing the courtyard, Staff Sergeant Petry and another Ranger were engaged and wounded by automatic weapons fire from enemy fighters. Still under enemy fire, and wounded in both legs, Staff Sergeant Petry led the other Ranger to cover. He then reported the situation and engaged the enemy with a hand grenade, providing suppression as another Ranger moved to his position. The enemy quickly responded by maneuvering closer and throwing grenades. The first grenade explosion knocked his two fellow Rangers to the ground and wounded both with shrapnel. A second grenade then landed only a few feet away from them. Instantly realizing the danger, Staff Sergeant Petry, unhesitatingly and with complete disregard for his safety, deliberately and selflessly moved forward, picked up the grenade, and in an effort to clear the immediate threat, threw the grenade away from his fellow Rangers. As he was releasing the grenade it detonated, amputating his right hand at the wrist and further injuring him with multiple shrapnel wounds. Although picking up and throwing the live grenade grievously wounded Staff Sergeant Petry, his gallant act undeniably saved his fellow Rangers from being severely wounded or killed. Despite the severity of his wounds, Staff Sergeant Petry continued to maintain the presence of mind to place a tourniquet on his right wrist before communicating the situation by radio in order to coordinate support for himself and his fellow wounded Rangers.”
A hero sacrifices himself for the good of others. The Bible says,
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice...” Romans 12:1
“For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.”
Colossians 3:3
God is calling you and me to be His heroes of today. We may not ever be involved in a firefight – but daily we face the onslaught of the enemy. Daily we are exposed to trials and temptation and tribulation. The flesh cries for the easy way. Our spirit demands endurance. And the Bible says,
“If we endure, we will also reign with him.” 2 Timothy 2:12
Heroes endure. No matter the cost. No matter the sacrifice. And the promise is that we will reign with Christ. Back in the old days heroes would often receive honors and titles and land and wealth. God’s heroes will reign with the King one day. Some think we will get our own planet to reign over. Could be. Could be even better than that – but we will reign with Him.
Thirdly, heroes are willing to go when others are not. One of my heroes in the Old Testament was Isaiah. God spoke to Isaiah. I like Isaiah’s response.
“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” Isaiah 6:8
None of God’s heroes said they like it or want to go. But their desire is to do God’s will. Jesus prayed in the Garden, “Not MY will – but Yours be done.” (Matthew 26:39)
Are you willing to go when everyone else is not? If you are – you are one of God’s heroes. As I look over this congregation I see a lot of heroes. I know you. I know your stories. I know how you have struggled against all manner of trials. Many of you have come out of ugly, painful, sinful backgrounds. Jesus has lifted you up from the miry clay, as the song puts it. You have resisted the enemy. You have overcome the trials and tribulations. Angels in heaven want to know what you know (1 Peter 1:12). The whole creation is waiting with bated breath to see who God’s heroes are (Romans 8:19). And you are one of them. It will be worth it. Glory and honor comes to heroes – and it will be no different for you. Listen to what the Bible says.
“You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.” Revelation 5:10
“Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.” Revelation 20:6
“There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.” Revelation 22:5
In my first church that I pastored, way back in 1975 -76, I pastor a little Nazarene Church in the Bay Area. The name of the town the church was in was “El Sobrante”. Being a Northern Minnesota boy I had no idea what the name meant – so I found out. In Spanish it means “the leftovers”. Apparently all the choice Spanish land grants had been given out but there was one more noble Spaniard who was worthy of a land grant. He got the ‘leftovers’. That’s how the name came to be.
Folks, you won’t be reigning in the ‘leftovers’. You will reign and rule with Christ for a thousand years – and after that – “forever and ever”.
It is the normal thing for heroes to receive glory. The troops all gather around, all the top brass is watching and your commanding officer pins that medal on your chest or drapes that Medal of Honor around your neck – WOW! What an honor. God’s heroes receive glory, too. Even a person who holds up a great light will reflect some of it off himself. When you give Jesus the glory – some will naturally shine on you. The Bible says,
“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” Romans 8:18
“our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” 2 Corinthians 4:17
“When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” Colossians 3:4
“And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.” 1 Peter 5:4
There is eternal glory in your future. I don’t know what that means but if man knows how to glorify their heroes I think God well do a way better job!
Folks, people don’t know you! They don’t realize who you are! YOU don’t know you! You don’t realize the value that God puts on you. You don’t realize the value God places on your victories over sin. You don’t realize how God values your heroic overcoming of the enemy. The book of Revelation shares a little bit of God’s value in overcoming – but I don’t think we can comprehend what He is preparing for us.
You are like a prince or princess dressed in paupers clothing. You may look poor and unworthy and lowly in the world’s eyes. But God has adopted you into His family. You are brothers with Christ. You are joint-heirs with Jesus. What is in store for us is beyond our comprehension right now. But one day – one day we will know – as we are known. One day – the war will be over. The enemy will be defeated. One day you will be lifted up to be admired by all for making the good choices you made. Of course you will give Jesus the glory for his grace. Without His strength we could do nothing. But without our wills – He would do nothing. It may be hard to accept praise and honor and glory – we feel so unworthy - but the Bible promises it. Get used to the idea.
In the meantime, knowing these things – what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live like the heroes you are. You ought to live holy and blameless lives. People may not realize who you are – but you need to live like the Kings kid that you are. Go and live for Him. It will be worth it!
SONG
