BIG
1 Peter 2:21-25
Before I start let me make a disclaimer and two promises…
Disclaimer:
This sermon will be 95% setup and then will have only one main point and a quick application
Promises…
1. You may not like this sermon but you will remember it
2. You will get to see some truly amazing things
(Apologies to those unable to see the video)
It is hard for me to tell you how excited I am about preaching this sermon. The idea came to me about three weeks ago and I have given it a lot of thought.
One of my favorite videos to watch is the Ronald Reagan assassination attempt from 1981. Why?
Heroism!! This video is loaded with heroes… people who did some truly amazing and courageous things.
Most people never know a real, honest to goodness, war hero.
We know and have great respect for everyday heroes…
Police, fire, military, TEACHERS
But few of us know any actual, decorated heroes
I remember as a child when Jantzen Childers was wounded in battle and received the Purple Heart medal. We boys in Lockhart idolized him. When we played war… we fought over who was Jantzen.
But even in you know a bonafide hero…
Very few people ever have a chance to be an eyewitness to someone in the act of true heroism. We hear or read about it… but never see it.
Today you are going to get to eyewitness several bonefide heroes in the act of heroism.
Let me set the stage
The year is 1981 and we have a new President, Ronald Reagan.
He is leaving the Washington Hilton Hotel, and heading for the presidential limousine. He is surrounded by DC policemen, Secret Service agents and media.
Unknown to any of them there is another person in the crowd, John W. Hinkley, a mentally deranged 26 year-old who had a fascination with actress Jodi Foster and decided that the way to get her attention was to murder the president.
He had actually tried to assassinate Jimmy Carter, but was arrested on a firearms charge. His next attempt came on March 30, 1981 at 2:25 pm when Hinkley, at pointblank range fired 6 shots at President Reagan.
Hinkley was waiting for the President but there were people between him and the target: Press Sec. James Brady and DC Policeman Thomas DelaHanty. Hinkley’s first shot hits Brady in the head and his second hits officer DelaHanty in the neck… both fall like rocks, clearing a path to Reagan. The third shot hits the window of the limo right at Reagan’s stomach the fifth is never found and the last… pure luck… shot ricochets off of the limo door jam and hits Reagan in his left side, just under his arm and lodges in the heart.
And this is where it gets good. In the next two seconds two men will become heroes and you will get to see their heroism.
First of all though… when a person is surprised by an explosion or loud noise beside them… what is the normal human reaction?
Duck-- cover-- flee (SHOW)
Duck and cover is to make yourself as small a target as possible
Flee is the normal reaction to fear… to get away from the danger
QUESTION: What is a hero? a person who has performed a heroic (brave, courageous) act
Pendleton definition: a person who, in the face of danger and personal injury, overcomes the instincts to make himself small, flee and take care of number one… and makes himself big, confronts the danger and risks life and limb to protect another
We’re going to watch the attack… it took only about 2 seconds but you are going to see it in slow motion… see if you can recognize the heroes!
Show video
Let me point out two heroes
1. Secret Service Agent, Jerry Parr
He is assigned directly to the President.
This is the man who always was MY hero… the one who I looked up to the most.
Shots are fired. 6 shots in 1.9 seconds… almost quicker than you can react.
Reagan flinches, ducks and tries to get away.
But Agent Parr, in just .4 seconds puts his hand on the President’s shoulder, pushes the president’s head down, and used his body to shield and to tackle the President into the limo… the safe zone.
Even as the shots ring out, in less than one second, Parr has the President halfway into the limo.
No shrinking, no fleeing, no thinking… just reacting with hundreds of hours of training… he stepped into the line of fire, with no of himself, but of the President… his responsibility.
Watch here as you see Parr react
Video
Now that is a hero
But let me show you the real hero
This is Agent Tim McCarthy
Look back at this picture from before
Look at all the people in this picture and see their responses
Two men, Parr and McCarthy are aware and reacting
Look at the intensity on McCarthy’s face… he is focused!!
When the first shot is fired, Agent McCarthy and two other policemen are between Reagan and the shooter. The other two officers do what is natural…duck and cover.
VIDEO
But watch as Agent McCarthy does exactly the opposite… instead of making himself small… he makes himself BIG
VIDEO
Agent McCarthy is not stooping, he is taking a defensive position… like a hockey or soccer goalie
He sticks out his arms and legs and spreads out his body to make himself as large as possible.
You can see that he looks like a goalie… trying to cover as much space as possible… trying to fill up the goal… trying to deflect or catch soccer balls
Agent McCarthy however is not trying to catch soccer balls but bullets,
And he is not trying keep the other team from scoring… he is trying to save the President of the free world.
While everyone around him is trying to become small… Agent McCarthy is being BIG to save the President
OK… what is the lesson, the point, the sermon?
Look at this silhouette of Agent McCarthy… besides a soccer goalie, of what does he remind you?
Maybe this!!!! Cross
Or… this……………. Jesus
The point and the message today is THE SINLESSNESS OF JESUS
You may be asking yourself, “What does the assassination attempt on Reagan have to do with the sinlessness of Christ?”
I’m so glad you asked!
Satan had you in his crosshairs. He had his gun aimed at you and a bullet with your name… that bullet was ETERNAL DAMNATION for your sins.
And who was there to step up and help you, take the bullet for you?
NO ONE! Why? Because just like most of the people around Reagan, EVERYONE MADE THEMSELVES SMALL
How? SIN… everyone committed sin and therefore they made themselves small and unable to help you
Every sin made them smaller
BUT… while everyone else made themselves small…Jesus made himself BIG
HOW? Because He lived a sinless life, never sinned, never disobeyed, never chose His way instead of God’s
Jesus made himself BIG SO THAT He could take the bullet meant for you
We Christians talk about the sinlessness of Christ…
His righteousness… His purity
But do you really understand just how important was that sinlessness?
Do you realize without His sinlessness… we would be lost
We would go to Hell
Do you realize the blood of Jesus was efficacious - worked- washed away our sins ONLY because Jesus was sinless
I know we talk about it… but do we really stop to think about his sinlessness?
Jesus’ righteousness was NOT RELATIVE RIGHTEOUSNESS
Jesus was not MORE righteous than others
He was not pretty righteous
That is what we are willing to accept from ourselves…
Pretty righteous relative righteousness
And the reason we will accept so little from ourselves is because we don’t have a high view of the righteousness/sinlessness of Jesus
IF we water down HIS sinlessness… relative
THEN we can further water down our expectation
That is why I used this video and this true story today because I want to get this point across to you in a way that really drives the truth home and that you might not forget…
If Agent timothy McCarthy had… even for a second… done what everyone else did… get small… Reagan would have died that day
If he had been pretty brave or pretty committed… that would not have been enough
He had to be TOTALLY COMMITTED
Anything less and Reagan was dead
Jesus had to be TOTALLY SINLESS
Anything less and WE WERE DEAD
What is your view of Jesus’ sinlessness, righteousness, perfection???
What do you think He expects from YOU???
