Holy Heroes: Spider-man
Scott Bayles, pastor
Blooming Grove Christian Church: 11/17/2013
Good morning and welcome to Blooming Grove. If you are visiting with us today, I hope you feel right at home—like a part of the family. These past several weeks I’ve been preaching about superheroes—using the stories of these fictional comic-book characters as modern-day parables that illustrate spiritual lessons.
Last month while our family was volunteering as the Avengers for the Route 66 Mother Road Festival in Springfield, we met a very excited woman who told us about a little boy named Tyler. Tyler is four years old and he couldn’t come out to the festival that day because he was in hospital getting radiation treatments to keep his lymphoma at bay. The woman gave us Tyler’s contact information and told us how much he would love a visit from his favorite superhero, Spider-man! We made arrangements with Tyler’s mom and set up a visit last week at Saint John’s Children’s Hospital.
Although I’ve made several Spiderman costumes for other people upon request (including my own son), this was the first time I’ve gone anywhere as Spider-man myself. I got lots of smiles and waves from patients and staff on my way up to the fifth floor where the cancer patients reside. A somewhat startled security guard pointed us to Tyler’s room and when I poked my head through his door, I was surprised by what I saw. I was expecting a frail little boy, too weak to climb out of bed. But as soon as Tyler saw Spider-man he excitedly jumped out of bed and ran over to meet me. He bounced about energetically, telling me everything he knows about the Spidey and his amazing powers. As we talked, I learned that Tyler is in "maintenance" now, which means he still has radiation treatments on a regular basis, but he has been cancer free for several months! Praise God!
Tyler was a bright little boy and after noticing that I wasn’t hanging upside down from the ceiling or sticking to the walls, he said slyly, “You’re not the real Spider-man, are you?” I just smiled and confessed, “You’re right Tyler, I’m not really Spider-man. That’s because superheroes like Superman, Batman and Spider-man are just pretend. But, you know, there is one real Superhero who came to earth a long time ago with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. He gave his life to save the world. Would you like to read a comic book about him?” Tyler nodded expectantly as I handed him a copy of the Amazing Gospel and his mom promised to read it to him later. Tyler wasn’t the least bit disappointed to find out I wasn’t the real Spider-man. Instead he said that he loved my costume, asked to try on my mask, and then told me all about his own Spidey costume he has at home. Before saying good-bye, I asked Tyler to always remember the advice Uncle Ben gave to Peter Parker before becoming Spider-man: “With great power, comes great responsibility!”
Those words are the heartbeat of Spider-man comics, cartoons, and cinema.
For those unfamiliar, the spectacular Spider-man started off as puny Peter Parker—a brainy, unpopular teenager at Mid-Town High in New York. But one day, while attending a science exhibit, Peter was bit by a radioactive spider and imbued with the proportionate strength and agility of an arachnid. Suddenly Peter can scale walls and ceilings and he develops a precognitive “spider-sense” that warns him of impending danger. Adopting the name Spider-Man, Peter first uses his newfound powers selfishly—to earn money and fame. In a very telling moment, Peter witnesses a robbery, but rather than help catch the crook, Peter just looks the other way—a decision that would haunt him for the rest of his life. There’s a clip from the most recent Spider-man film that retells the story in dramatic detail.
• Play Spider-man Video Clip
Because Peter chose to look the other way instead of doing the right thing, his uncle Ben is shot and killed. This is the defining moment in Spider-man’s story. In his grief Peter finally realizes what his uncle Ben had been trying to teach him: with great power comes great responsibility! This maxim has become the moral compass that guides Spider-man’s heroic adventures.
Long before Stan Lee scripted the story of Spider-man, though, the Bible said something very similar: “Do not withhold good from those who deserve it when it is in your power to help them” (Proverbs 3:27 NIV). I suppose the question someone might ask after reading such a statement would be “Who deserves it?”
Jesus once told a story to answer that very question. It’s a timeless tale about a man, not unlike Uncle Ben, walking down a dangerous road in a perilous part of town. Here’s how Jesus tells it:
“As a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, some robbers attacked him. They tore off his clothes, beat him, and left him lying there, almost dead. It happened that a Jewish priest was going down that road. When he saw the man, he walked by on the other side. Next, a Levite came there, and after he went over and looked at the man, he walked by on the other side of the road. Then a Samaritan traveling down the road came to where the hurt man was. When he saw the man, he felt very sorry for him. The Samaritan went to him, poured olive oil and wine on his wounds, and bandaged them. Then he put the hurt man on his own donkey and took him to an inn where he cared for him. The next day, the Samaritan brought out two coins, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of this man. If you spend more money on him, I will pay it back to you when I come again.’” (Luke 10:30-35 NCV)
When we look at this story—much like the story of Spider-man—we see several individuals all traveling the same road, but with very different attitudes in their hearts. As Jesus paints this vivid word-picture three heart-conditions come clearly off the page. The first is a corrupt heart.
• A CORRUPT HEART
The first people this innocent traveler encounters during his seventeen mile trek were his attackers. The road from Jerusalem to Jericho was notoriously treacherous. It was a winding path through bleak and barren terrain that provided ample hiding places for thieves and bandits. Just like Uncle Ben’s killer, the attackers in Jesus’ tale are nameless. They simply appeared, stripped him of his clothes and his dignity, gave him the beating of his life and then left him for dead. Sadly, stories such as these aren’t relegated to comic-books or the cannon of Scripture.
The real world is full of villains.
In recent news, I read an article about an 88-year-old World War II veteran who earned a Purple Heart medal after he took a bullet in the Battle of Okinawa. In late August, Shorty, as he was called by his friends, parked his car in front of the Eagles Lodge in Spokane, Washington where he was meeting a friend for a game of pool. He never got to play that game. In fact, he never even made it out of his car; rather, he was robbed and brutally beaten to death by two sixteen-year-old boys. How anyone could so viciously attack an elderly man is beyond my comprehension. And yet, stories such as these are commonplace in the news today.
Our world is full of criminals, cowards, and killers. I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised, though. In one of the darkest corners of Scripture, God gives this bleak assessment of humanity: “There is no one who does anything good; there is not even one. Their throats are like open graves; they use their tongues for telling lies. Their words are like snake poison. Their mouths are full of cursing and hate. They are always ready to kill people. Everywhere they go they cause ruin and misery. They don’t know how to live in peace. They have no fear of God.” (Romans 3:12-18 NCV).
This passage isn’t in reference to the Philistines, the Canaanites, or any other enemies of God’s people. It’s describing humanity in general. Can any of us argue? Ever since Cain killed Abel the hands of evil men have shed innocent blood. The villains in this parable, and the death of Peter’s uncle Ben, are a reminder of just how dark and vile our world can be. The further a person’s heart grows from God, the more corrupt and cruel it becomes. That’s why our world needs heroes who will shine God’s light into the darkness. Of course, not every heart is totally corrupt. Some hearts are simply calloused, which is the next heart we find in this story.
• A CALLOUSED HEART
As this innocent victim lies dying on the side of the road he is passed—not once, but twice—by people who could have and should have helped. Looking back at our text, Jesus says, “By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side” (Luke 10:31-32 NLT).
Edmund Burke is attributed with the famous adage, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” Evil almost triumphed in this story, because two good men did nothing. Notice that the two men who passed by on the other side of the road were not your average church-goers. These were the religious leaders of Jerusalem—a priest and a temple servant. Neither of these men was violent or abusive, like the robbers, yet when they saw someone in need of help, they did nothing. Their hearts were calloused.
Peter Parker made the same choice when he looked the other way. He could have chosen to help. To get involved. He had the power to do the right thing, but he didn’t think it was his responsibility. Sadly, I think so many of us are guilty of the same sin.
In some ways our culture has become desensitized to the needs around us. We see commercials about starving children in the Horn of Africa and our first instinct is to change the channel. How many times have you driven through the city and seen a disheveled displaced vagrant standing at the intersection with a cardboard sign in their hands, only to avoid eye contact until the light turns green?
It’s just easier to do nothing. But that is how evil triumphs.
John F. Kennedy, aptly quoting Dante’s Inferno, once said, “The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, during a time of moral crisis, do nothing.” While I don’t think that statement is theologically accurate, I certainly agree with the sentiment.
The traveler’s hopes must have been at their lowest point as he lay there bleeding and struggling to breathe. But there was one more person traveling this barren boulevard. The final heart-condition we see in this story is a compassionate heart.
• A COMPASSIONATE HEART
Just as the sun was beginning to set over the horizon, a Samaritan man comes around the bend. If the injured traveler was conscious enough to recognize the Samaritan, it probably wouldn’t have brought him any hope.
Although Jews and Samaritan were separate branches of the same family tree, they had become enemies. In fact, the Bible says elsewhere, “Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans” (John 4:9 NLT). The Jews of Jesus’ day discriminated against and looked down upon the Samaritans. Just as the convenience store clerk was a jerk to Peter, the Jews had been jerks to the Samaritans.
It would have been easy for this Samaritan to turn a blind eye, just like Peter. But, instead, Jesus says, “A despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him” (Luke 10:33 NLT).
First, he cleaned the wounds and wrapped them with bandages—essentially applying first-aid. Furthermore, he lifted the man onto his own donkey and gave him a ride to the nearest Best Western. Finally, going the extra-mile, he paid the innkeeper and promised to cover any additional expenses.
Today, the word Samaritan is synonymous with good deeds and helping others. In fact, the dictionary defines it as “one who is compassionate and helpful to a person in distress.” The volunteer workers at Saint John’s Children’s Hospital, where I visited Tyler, are even called Samaritans. And it’s all because Jesus made a Samaritan the hero of his story.
Peter learned a painful lesson when he lost his uncle Ben. From that moment on, he understood that with great power comes great responsibility. And so, he became a Good Samaritan to those around him; or, as Peter often puts it: “Your friendly neighborhood Spider-man!”
Just as Superman reminds us that we have a hero in Jesus, Spider-man reminds us that we can be a hero to those in need. You don’t have to be able to spin webs or stick to walls or have the proportionate strength of a spider to be someone’s hero. All you need is a caring and compassionate heart.
When you see suffering or injustice, don’t just look the other way. Don’t withhold good from those in need, when it’s in your power to help them. The Bible says, “See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to all people” (1 Thessalonians 5:5 NLT). Let this command be the moral compass on whatever road you travel and, in so doing, become the hero in someone’s story—the hero God made you to be.
Conclusion:
Like it says in your bulletin, the world needs heroes—defenders of truth and justice, who fight for what’s right and save the day. Even though comic-book heroes like Superman, Batman, Thor, Captain America, and Spider-man aren’t real—there is a lot that we can learn from their stories. Like modern-day parables, these Holy Heroes can illustrate some important Biblical truths. And most important of all, they can point us to Jesus—the one true Superhero!
Invitation:
Maybe you could use a hero right now. Maybe you feel beat up and left by the side of the road, and you need someone to lift you up and lend a hand. Or maybe you’re ready to embrace Jesus as your own personal Hero and Savoir. In either case, we’re here to help. Come talk with me while we stand and sing!
