HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO
“Search for the Hero”
As we begin this series on superheroes, I thought it appropriate to examine a recent film that looked at the idea of a superhero in an entertaining and innovative way.
The film is called “Unbreakable,” and it stars Bruce Willis as David Dunn, an seemingly average, everyday guy who, over the course of the film, discovers his not-so-average, not-so-everyday calling.
David Dunn is a hero. Not in the sense of a fireman or a policeman…but a superhero.
“Unbreakable” asks the question, what if superheroes were real? What if someone discovered they had powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men, someone who lived in the real world, not the fictional world of Metropolis or Gotham City.
It’s a fascinating idea.
And it starts…with a train crash. A train crash from which David emerges completely unscathed…the sole survivor.
That train crash sets David on a journey of self-discovery, a journey that changes him from an everyday guy…to a hero.
Until that moment, his life was normal…common…ordinary.
He had marriage difficulties.
He was looking for a new job and a fresh start in life.
He had no reason to suspect that he was any different from anyone else.
He was just another face in the crowd.
Kinda like another David we heard about during our time with the children earlier.
You heard the story as Ann related it to the kids, now I’d like to read it to you as it appears in the Old Testament book of 1 Samuel.
(READ 1 Samuel 16)
Picture the scene.
God is looking for someone to be the leader of his people, the king.
So he sends Samuel to a family in Bethlehem of all places, a backwater town in the middle of nowhere.
Still, Samuel goes. After all, God knows what he’s doing, right?
So he comes to the family of a man called Jesse.
And out come seven big, strapping boys. Soldier material. Born leaders, it seems.
Maybe Samuel thinks, “Hmm…God really does know what he’s doing. These guys are incredible!”
He walks up to the oldest son.
Piercing eyes,
Six feet 4
Bulging muscles,
The look of leadership oozing out of every pore…
“This has got to be God’s man!” thinks Samuel.
But just as he’s about to slap the crown on Eliab’s head and call it a day, God speaks to him…
“Hold on, there, Samuel,” God says, “He may look the part, but don’t let that sway you. He’s not the one I’ve chosen, because while you may judge by appearances, I look into a person’s heart.”
And for the other six boys Samuel sees, the story is the same. They may have the looks, but it’s obvious God is looking for something else.
In no time at all, Samuel has checked all seven of them out, but God’s chosen isn’t among them.
So he turns to Jesse.
“This all you got?”
I can see Jesse drawing back, looking sheepish,
“Well…there’s David. My youngest. Nice kid, but well, you know…he’s a kid. He’s out in the fields watching over the sheep.”
Next thing you know Samuel is threatening a hunger strike until David is brought before him.
And the second David shows up, Samuel hears God:
“Yep, that’s him alright.”
Immediately Samuel anoints David’s head with oil, a beautiful and symbolic act that showed he was set apart for special service.
Until that moment, his life was normal…common…ordinary.
He was just another face in the crowd.
But with that act, he begins that journey from being an everyday guy to being…a hero…a king, no less.
You know, in the movies and on TV, it’s usually pretty easy to spot the hero.
He’s the guy in the bright-coloured tights.
The one with Schwarzenegger’s muscles, Stallone’s intensity, 007’s charisma…
But here in the story of David we have a crystal-clear example that, in God’s eyes, all that means, as we say in the States, diddly.
Listen to God’s words to Samuel again:
“The LORD doesn’t make decisions the way you do! People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at a person’s thoughts and intentions.”
God looked into David’s heart, and saw the qualities he wanted in a leader, a king, a hero for his people.
So just what did he see, anyway?
If God’s criteria is different than the world’s, then what was it in David’s heart that showed God he was the man for the job?
How did God know he would be getting a hero the calibre of James Bond…instead of Austin Powers?
As we look at the person of David, and seek to find out about his “thoughts and intentions,” we’re helped by the simple fact that we know David better, more intimately, than just about any other character in the Old Testament.
David, it seems, kept a journal.
He wrote songs and prayers, and we find many of them in the book we refer to as Psalms.
If you’re so inclined, I’d encourage you to get a hold of a Bible, and over the next few weeks as we explore the person of David, perhaps you might want to crawl into his mind and his heart a bit by reading these incredibly revealing, personal pieces of poetry.
It’s not hard to do—just pick up a Bible, let it fall open halfway, and chances are you’re in the book of Psalms.
And most Bibles will indicate which of the Psalms were written by David.
And I think that in these poems and songs we find out a good deal about what was in David’s heart, what his “thoughts and intentions” were that God saw when he chose David.
We find out just what qualities he possessed that took this ordinary shepherd boy and made him a king.
And as we explore just what it means to be a hero in God’s eyes, I’d like to look at just a few of these qualities.
The first one…is humility.
There’s a great line in the first “Superman” movie when Perry White says to Clark Kent, “You’ve got bags of humility.”
It’s easy to portray humility when you’re taking on the part of a mild-mannered reporter, but in real life, humility isn’t so plentiful.
I remember a friend of mine who always said he would one day right a book entitled: “Perfect Humilty and How I Gloriously Achieved It.”
Or there’s that great quote by media mogul Ted Turner, who said, “If only I were humble…then I’d be perfect.”
What does it mean to be humble?
I think too often today we have what I would call, “Affected humility.”
In other words, we like to show ourselves as humble, because we think it portrays us in a better light.
But that completely goes against the grain of what humility really is.
Humility is not about making ourselves look better, but about taking the focus off of ourselves entirely.
David understood this, when he wrote Psalm 131
Listen…
“Lord, my heart is not proud, my eyes are not haughty…”
Now you might think he’s bragging here, but you have to remember this is directed at God, not other people. And what he goes on to say shows that what he says here at the beginning is completely true…
“I don’t concern myself with matters too great or awesome for me.”
What a great definition of humility.
In other words, “I know my place, Lord.”
I’m not going to overextend my grasp, I’m not going to try to be something I’m not, but I’m simply going to acknowledge my place and be content in it.
I don’t concern myself with matters too great or awesome for me.
Now take that statement and flip it around a bit, and watch how it perfectly illustrates the opposite of humility.
Because how many times have you heard, or how many times have you thought…
“I don’t concern myself with matters too petty or beneath me.”
What David says illustrates humility, but what we often say and live out illustrates nothing but our pride.
A few years ago there were two politicians in America,
Senator John Stennis, Democrat from Mississippi, and Senator Mark Hatfield, Republican from Oregon.
You couldn’t have asked for two more different people.
At opposite ends of the political spectrum, the two men clashed often and quite sharply.
John Stennis was chair of the Armed Services Committee, and in a country just recovering from the war in Vietnam, he sought to rebuild confidence in the armed forces and prove that might CAN make right.
Hatfield was a pacifist, an outspoken critic of the war who believed every world conflict could find peaceful, non-violent solution, and he strongly opposed any buildup of the armed forces.
Needless to say, they were polar opposites, and their Senate debates were lively to say the least.
One cold, January night, John Stennis returned home about 8:00 after a long day at the office.
Suddenly, two young men jumped out of the bushes and proceeded to rob the Senator, one of them brandishing a .22 caliber pistol.
Stennis didn’t have much on him, just 25 cents and an inexpensive wristwatch.
The thieves were outraged. They expected more, and they started taking out their anger on the Senator.
They argued, and in a moment of panic one of the young men shot John Stennis twice, then they ran.
Seriously injured, the Senator barely made it into his home to call for help.
He was rushed to the hospital, where for 6 and a half hours the doctors struggled to save his life.
Just after 9:15 in the evening, while confusion reigned at the hospital as friends, colleagues, and reporters clamoured for information, the hospital phone operators were at the end of their ropes.
Then, in the midst of all the chaos, a quiet, unassuming man sat down at an unattended switchboard, mumbled, “I know how to work these things,” andset about helping answer calls.
He did it all night. Never said a word to the others, never introduced himself, he just answered calls for hours on end without a break.
In the morning, when the situation was looking up, he stood up, put on his coat, and said quietly,
“Name’s Hatfield. Happy to help out on behalf of a man I deeply respect.”
Mark Hatfield showed humility.
A humility that said, “I may be one of the most powerful people in the country, but I’m willing to sit down and answer a phone for 9 hours if it’s needed.”
A humility that said, “I may disagree strongly with someone, but that won’t stop me from serving them in their time of need.”
Hatfield never said, “That’s beneath me,” he just did it.
But how many times are we unable to “just do it,” because we think we’re above that kind of service?
We want the higher call, we want to deal only with the big matters, the awesome responsibilities.
But David said, “I don’t concern myself with matters too great or awesome for me. But I have stilled and quieted myself just as a small child is quiet with its mother.”
David had the humility to say, “I may be a king and a great leader, but when I’m with you Lord, I’m a child.”
I think God saw that humility, evident even in a young boy who tended sheep in the field while his brothers were paraded before Samuel as potential kings.
Humility…one of the qualities God looks for when he searches for a hero.
Another quality I think God saw in David…was passion.
Listen to these words from Psalm 63:
“O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for You. My soul thirsts for you, my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water…Your unfailing love is better to me than life itself, how I praise you! I will honor you as long as I live…”
David had what author Max Lucado would call a “God intoxicated heart.”
A heart that wanted nothing more than to love and serve his Creator.
I firmly believe that all of us, even those who claim to be atheists, have a religion:
We all have a guiding force in our lives.
As Bob Dylan said, “We all gotta serve somebody.”
We all have passions, we all have forces that drive us to live the lives we lead.
That passion might be money, or success, or fame…
It might be a passion to be a wife, or a husband, or a parent…
Whatever it is, it drives who we are.
For David, that passion was God.
Now I don’t know what you think it means to be a Christian.
A common belief is that being a Christian means making God “Number One” in your life.
But I think we miss the boat on this one.
I think being a Christian is more than making God “Number One,”
I think it means making God the “Only One.”
He doesn’t want to be at the top of our list, he wants to be at the centre of our lives.
Permeating every aspect.
Enhancing every moment.
Infusing each second with purpose and meaning.
Because when God becomes your only Passion…only then do you discover the life he has for you.
This doesn’t mean we’re not allowed to love our friends, our families…
…it doesn’t mean everything else in our lives becomes unimportant…
It means that we never allow their importance to supercede God’s place in our lives.
That’s the kind of passion David writes about here.
“Your love is better than life itself.”
Can we actually say that? Or do we treat some aspects of our lives as though they are better, more important, to us than God?
Passion…another quality God looks for when he searches for a hero.
There’s one last quality I’d like to look at this morning.
It comes out of the most famous of David’s psalms, number 23.
Listen…
“The LORD is my shepherd, I have everything I need. He lets me rest in green meadows, he leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honour to his name. Even when I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.”
You know what quality I see in those words?
Trust.
Complete and perfect trust.
The kind of trust a sheep would have in its shepherd.
David is being kinda tricky here. He’s being more precise than you and I might first think.
“The Valley of the Shadow of Death” is a real place. It’s a narrow, dangerous, and terrifying passage among the mountains between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea.
And it takes a shepherd of incredible knowledge and skill to lead his flock safely through this valley.
It takes someone who is trustworthy.
And so for David to say “Even if I’m taken to the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I will not be afraid,” is a statement of perfect trust.
He’s saying, “You can take me down the most dangerous path there is, where one wrong step can lead to certain death, but I will not fear because you’re with me...Your rod and staff will comfort me.”
It’s the same kind of trust you see…in a child.
As children of God, we’re called to place our trust fully in Him, to place our hand in his and know that his plan is good, his ways are right, and his love is perfect.
David trusted God…he had an all-consuming passion for God…and he approached God in humility…
And he became a hero.
I don’t know where you are this morning.
Maybe you feel you’re nobody. Everyone else gets all the attention, God would never want anything to do with you.
Maybe you struggle with pride, maybe you find yourself concerned with matters “too great or awesome for you.”
Maybe you feel you have no passion. Maybe you struggle to make God the center of your life…
Maybe you have a hard time trusting God. You see that valley ahead of you, and you’re not sure he can get you through it.
Whatever your struggle this morning, take a page from David’s journal.
A shepherd boy, who became a king.
An everyday guy…who became a hero.
(PRAY)
