Can You Help Me Find A Hero
1/24/1999 Men’s Sunday 1 Samuel 15:1-11 Luke 4:14-30 Text John 11
If I told you come over to my house this afternoon, I want you to meet Mr. Hero. What kind of person would you expect to find. Would you expect to see someone who has done something to save someone’s life in a dramatic fashion or would you expect to see someone who sells sub sandwiches in a store with green and white trimming..
Sometimes we unconsciously choose to identify with certain people and make them our heroes. When we sing it’s not just us singing, it’s Whitney Houston or Lionel Ritchie. When we shoot the ball, it’s not just us, its Michael Jordan or Michelle Edwards of the Cleveland Rockers. When we dress, its not just us dressing, its some famous model getting ready to walk out into the world. Even when we drive, its not just us driving, but the best driver the world has ever known. But sometimes, if we could look behind the scenes of those we choose as our heroes, we would discover we need to keep on looking for someone to truly admire and is worthy of our imitation.
We’re not the only ones who have searched for heroes and been impressed by the wrong qualities of a person. There was a time in history in which Saul was the king of the people of God. Saul demonstrated through his lack of obedience to God, that he was no longer qualified to be king. God said, "I am grieved that I made Saul king and I have rejected him. Samuel go and anoint another to be king in his place."
Samuel was a prophet who went in search of this new hero. God sent him to the house of Jesse and told him to anoint one of Jesse’s sons. Samuel said, "Brother Jesse, can you help me find a hero. Jesse said, well I’ve got just the boy you’re looking for. He called in Eliab. Eliab, son come in here.
When Samuel saw Eliab, he knew he had found his hero. For Eliab was tall and very good looking, the kind of person that people would immediately respond to as a leader. Samuel was so excite and He was ready to anoint him, with the oil " But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things a person looks at.
People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." Is there someone in your life that God is saying the exact same thing about today. God is saying, just because it looks good, does not mean its good for you or in my plans for your life.
The world never want us to look beyond the exterior of the person. "Just look at what the person looks like, or how many runs he scored, or how beautifully she sings, or what a great politician he is. Don’t look at their hearts to see their private lives. That’s not important. Let us stop deceiving ourselves. Our character is important because God is going to hold us accountable for it. What we are in private will eventually become known in public. Truth will not hide forever. Any hero without character is not a hero at all.
Are there any true heroes left today. People are not the only ones searching. For the Scriptures says of God in Ezekial 22:30 "I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none." God is asking, "can someone help me find somebody who is willing to be a hero for me today by standing in the gap between what is and what ought to be." When you go to the amusement park, they now have signs that say, "you must be this tall to ride this ride." In order to be a hero for God, we must be willing to rise up and live at this level in order to ride with Him.
Being male or female is a matter of birth. But becoming an adult man or a woman is a matter of choice. It takes strength to go against peer pressure. It takes will power to be a role model by doing what is right in the sight of a holy God. It requires bravery to stand out from the crowd instead of bowing to it. There is nothing easy about being a Christian. Anybody can be a sinner, but only few can become saints. God places within the heart of every believer the ability to be a hero, a champion, and an overcomer for Him. God leaves it up to us whether or not we will allow that ability within us to grow and burst forth.
It’s going to be determined by how faithful are we willing to be. You see God is going to call some Christians to greatness in the eyes of the world, while others are called to positions that the world considers failures. None of us know the impact that we will have in the lives of others. A spiritual hero will have a life of quality and consistency with the word of God.
One day Mother Teresa was taking care of a group of people who were ravaged by disease and not a very attractive lot to even look at. A reporter with a camera said to one of his friends, "Now I wouldn’t do that for a million dollars." Mother Teresa heard his comment, and "she looked at him and said, "neither would I." She became a hero not by doing something great, but by doing something Jesus ask, which was "to love the least of these."
Where should we look as Christians to understand what a hero truly is. My friends we need look no further than Jesus Christ Let’s turn in our bibles to John 11 and see a hero in action.1:1-6 Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair. So the sisters sent word to Jesus, "Lord, the one you love is sick." When he heard this, Jesus said, "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it." Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.
The first thing we should notice about a hero is that a hero knows how to love people. Jesus treated people in the same way he wanted them to treat him. I’d like to know, as a man, how did Jesus get the reputation for loving people? How did he show his sensitivity and appreciation in an open and affectionate manner?
Notice the passage says, "Lord the one you love is sick." It’s a well known fact that Jesus openly loved Lazarus another man, and there is nothing to suggest any kind of homosexual relationship. Brothers, its okay for us to love each other. Notice also that as a man, it says, Jesus loved Martha and her sister. Yet there’s nothing to indicate any kind of sexual attraction or interaction is going on between Jesus, Mary and Martha.
There can be a love in Christ between a man and woman in which they are simply friends and never enters the bedroom.
As we focus on loving each other this year, let’s keep in mind God’s instructions to us as family as found in Timothy. Paul told Timothy, treat older men as if they were your fathers, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters with absolute purity. True heroes know how to stay within the boundaries of the relationships God places within their lives. Ask you neighbor, are you staying inside the boundaries.
When Jesus saw people, Jesus saw an opportunity to demonstrate the love of God. There is something tender and compassionate about Jesus in this passage. In becoming the hero that God wants us to be, are we winning the love and affection of others by being loving.
Love is patient, love is kind. Love is gentle. Love does not keep a record of wrongs. Love is not jealous. Love does not boast. Remember the sign, "you must be this tall to get on this ride." My friends, who is it that is very close around you that you need to love in order to get on this ride and become a hero.
Jesus didn’t set out to become a hero to Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. He did it simply by loving them. Thank God for all the men and women who treat each other with the kind of love and respect that they vowed to each other in their marriage vows. Thank God for all the men and women who are there in the home working together to raise their children. It’s a gift from the Lord. Thank God for all who are willing to fight to preserve their marriages and their families because Satan seeks to destroy every home that has some joy in it.
Thank God for all the single parents who have determined to be a hero in the best way possible by living for Christ before their children as they seek to journey ahead in life. Your journey is not an easy one, but God is going to give you and your child or children the grace to become heroes. Thank God for all of you in the church that realize, you can be a hero to those who have no heroes at all in their lives. It takes love, tenderness and compassion. If you feel you don’t have it to give, ask God for the Scriptures says every good and perfect gift is from above. If you want it God will surely give it to you..
Let’s look at John 11:7-10 Then he said to his disciples, "Let us go back to Judea." "But Rabbi," they said, "a short while ago the Jews tried to stone you, and yet you are going back there?" Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours of daylight? A man who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by this world’s light. It is when he walks by night that he stumbles, for he has no light."
Another characteristic of a hero, is that a hero has courage. A hero is willing to stand in the face of the odds because he or she knows that something has to be done.
Jesus knows that his friends need him. The disciples remind him, "look here, Jesus we didn’t leave Judea because we wanted a change of scenery. The last time we were there we barely got out alive. Those people picked up the stones and were ready to stone you. We do not advise you to go back there again." Mary and Martha knew it was dangerous for Jesus to come to Bethany, that’s why they didn’t ask him to come.
From day one of his ministry, after Jesus announced the Spirit of God was upon Him to do God’s will, somebody got upset with him. In his own town of Nazareth where he grew up, right after his first sermon in the synagogue they grabbed him and tried to drag him up a very high cliff to throw him off the top, to put an end to him once and for all.
A hero is courageous because he or she knows that there is sometimes a greater need outside of himself or herself than there is for the him or her to survive. One cannot be a hero without putting God’s will ahead of his or her own. Each parent that goes to work each day and faithfully takes care of his or her children is a much greater hero than some famous athlete who scored the winning basket. Why because that faithful parent, who very few people know his or her name, puts the well being of his or her children ahead of his own .Isn’t it strange the lengths we will go to get the autographs of people who don’t know us, don’t want to know us, and don’t intend to ever give us anything else and will put their posters in our rooms. Yet Mom, who struggles to feed us day in and day out never gets so much as a thank you. We never did ask Dad for his autograph, but its doubtful if we could be where we are today without Him. Have you ever thought of asking God for His autograph?
It takes a lot of courage to stand for Jesus Christ in a situation when we seem to be the only one wanting to stand. Paul said in Romans 1:16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. Wouldn’t it be great if we could all say "I am not ashamed of the gospel" and be telling the truth.
Yet so often our actions betray us. When people say, "why can’t you do it?", how often are we willing to say, "because I am a Christian and I know it would displease the heart of God if I did." We know that if we started to talk like that, friends would leave us by the wayside. Sometimes heroes are left by the wayside, because standing alone is often where heroes find themselves. Often times that’s what sets them apart from everybody else. That helps others to be able to find a hero. Right now, somebody is looking at you from a distance trying to see if you really are what you claim to be.
Jesus did not let the fear of death keep him from doing what he felt had to be done. He also knew that time was not on his side. He knew the numbers of hours in a day in which to walk. Jesus said for us to walk while it was day. There are so many of us who are planning on one day, in which we are going to make a change. We can see how we plan to do it because it is still the day. The opportunity for us to do it is still presenting itself. All we have to do is make up our minds and go to it.
What we fail to realize is that the night is coming much quicker than we intend it to. Then we will no longer be able to see clearly. Circumstances that were once there will be gone. That person is not always going to love you if you don’t change. That child is not going to wait for you to get your act together before he or she shuts you out. Opportunities that we thought would last will be shut out forever.
Things we thought we could walk away from will have such a grip on our lives that we will find ourselves completely addicted to them. God’s mercy is saying, that’s enough, you’ve pushed Me to the limit. We will find ourselves stumbling and falling over things we thought would never happen to us. Our goal of being anybody’s hero will quickly vanishes in the wind, because we put our own desires ahead of the needs of others who looked to us for help for far too long.
Another quality of a hero is that a hero is motivated by a vision to accomplish a task. Let’s look at John 11:11-16 After he had said this, he went on to tell them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up." His disciples replied, "Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better." Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. So then he told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him." Then Thomas (called Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him."
Jesus was going to Judea even if it killed him. He knew that God was not through with the situation there, and He intended to be where God wanted Him to be. Others wanted him to take the easy way out, but He was not willing.
When you make up your mind to get serious about serving God, the first thing you should expect is for others to tell you not to get to serious. I’ve heard some say, you can mess up your mind if you study the Bible too much. That same person will never complain about how much TV you watch or other books you read, but they don’t want you to study the Bible too much. Get a vision for your life to do what God wants you to do, to go where God wants you to go, and to be what God wants you to be. When others try to discourage you, remember they tried to discourage Jesus, long before your came on the scene.
Notice that because Jesus’ private life and public life were lived in the same manner, even though the disciples didn’t agree with his choice of actions, they still wanted to be with him. Not only that, Thomas suggested that they be willing to die with him as well. They didn’t feel this way because Jesus had treated them like nobodies. No they felt this way because Jesus had loved them. Jesus had previously put their needs ahead of his own. Jesus had shown courage in the face of danger. They were not sure of all that Jesus had, but they knew that wanted it.
Look at John 11:17-18 On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home. "Lord," Martha said to Jesus, "if you had been here, my brother would not have died But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask."
When Jesus arrived on the scene, people were looking for a hero big time. Lazarus was dead. As a matter of fact, Lazarus was dead before Jesus even got the message that he was sick. Lazarus had been dead for four days. Jesus waited two days to leave after he got the message. If it took him a day to get there, the total would have only been 3 days. So even if Jesus had of dropped everything and rushed to the scene, it would not have made a difference as far as Lazarus’ death was concerned.
Notice that Jesus didn’t get defensive when Martha sort of blamed him for her brother’s death. He didn’t say " Martha, by time I got your message he was already dead." He didn’t tell her, "If only she would have had more faith this would not have happened." Notice also that even though Jesus loved this family, He didn’t stop all the hurt and problems that they experienced. Being a hero for Christ does not mean that you’re going to solve all the problems of all those around you. Sometimes you simply offer a word of faith to encourage. Sometimes you simply offer your presence.
Look at John 11:23-26 Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha answered, "I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"
Jesus is a hero that nothing can remove from the scene. Jesus is going to raise Lazarus from the dead. He is going to let us know, "you can stop your search right here." He is going to establish the claim that He is in a hero class all by himself. He said, "I am the resurrection." He proved it by calling back from the dead a man whose body was stinking and decomposing in the grave.
He said, "I am the life." He proved it by sending life into a body that had become stiff has a board. He said "Lazarus come out. Lazarus got up and walked out of the tomb. Now friends if a dead man whose brain has stopped functioning knows enough to get up and respond to the call of Christ, how much more should we be willing.
Jesus is ready to call you forward and make a change in your life if you’re willing to be changed Where is it that we are hurting others? Where is it that we are cheating ourselves. My friends if we were to get some life threatening illnesses, would the heroes we have chosen for our lives be able to help us? Would they even care? We’ll spend all kinds of dollars to wear clothes with our hero’s label, to buy discs and tapes with our hero’s voices, to see our hero’s play games and then turn around and throw pennies to the work of Jesus Christ.
Isn’t it about time we stopped searching for heroes and determined to be one in Jesus Christ? Shouldn’t we look to him as our role model. One who has loved us. One who has been courageous for us. One who was sacrificed himself for us. One who has a vision for our future. One who at this very moment, looks at us and sees a true hero in the making. It’s not to late to do what God wants you to do with the rest of your life. You’ve been call to stop looking and start being a hero by living for Christ.
