To Be A Hero
* Credit to Kenneth Sauer, this is an adaptation from his notes
* Def. of a Hero - a person of great strength & courage who is regarded by others as an ideal or model
* People have many ideas of what a hero is
o Pro Athlete, Business Tycoon, etc
* The concept of hero was better defined during the tragic attacks on 9/11/01
* We began to realize there is a difference in someone who is good at something and someone who puts their life in jeopardy to save others
o Firefighters & Police
o Soldiers
o The 3 men who attacked the high-jackers
* This waking up of America and re-defining of what we call a hero, points us to the ultimate hero - Jesus
* He gave His life for more than a plane full, or a battalion, or a community - for all of mankind
Luke 9:22-26
22 saying, "The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day."
* Make no mistake, Jesus suffered greatly
* Isa 53 talks in great detail about His suffering
o Despised & rejected by men
o Wounded for our transgressions
o Bruised for our iniquities
o Chastised for our peace
o By His stripes we are healed
o His visage was marred more than any man
* He died traumatic death - not by accident, not for a worthless cause, not for a family member or friend
* But for the whole world and even those who reject Him
* He is the Ultimate Hero
23 Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
* Jesus proclaims, if we want to consider ourselves a disciple, than we must become Heroes also
* Last week, we examined the ministry of Christ and why the anointing is poured out
* John 14 "He who believes... greater works."
* This week we are seeing the burden of the cross that we are called to bear
* Heb 13:13 Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach.
* To be a hero - you must bear the burden of a hero
24 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.
* You’ve heard it said that, "you can’t take it with you"
* But I would say to you that you have to let it go now
* Let what go? - everything
* To be a hero - your focus must be on the objective, not on personal comfort or gain
* Our objective is the will of God
* When we allow worldly comforts to become our objective - we are losers
* But when we give up our lives, He gives us so much more than we ever expect or think (exceedingly, abundantly)
* ...in this life and even more in the next
* Gal 6:14 But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
* 2 Cor 12:10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
25 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?
* What does it all mean?
* When it’s all said and done; was the pursuit of creature comforts worth it?
* Was the pursuit of wealth instead of the will of God worth it?
* Jerry Sillcocks is a New York firefighter and a Christian who helped search for survivors at "ground zero."
* He writes that he and his co-workers called this place the "pit."
* "Almost everywhere I looked, mighty columns of steel were twisted into sad, pointless sculptures, towering over the tragic scene as we worked to find survivors...gray smoke was everywhere...I’m no theologian-I’m a New York firefighter-but I can’t imagine Hell being much worse than the ’pit."
* "I have no idea what Hell is truly like..." "But I’ve seen a place so bad that I want to do everything I can to make sure my friends, family, and neighbors know Jesus and will spend eternity with Him."
* To be a hero we must be selfless - not selfish
26 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels.
* 1 Pet 4:14 If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters. 16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter.
* 2 Tim 2:12 If we endure, we shall also reign with Him. if we deny Him, He also will deny us.
* Matt 7:22 Many will say to Me in that day, ’Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 "And then I will declare to them, ’I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
A Story from 9/11 (told by Rev Kenneth Sauer)
On the morning of September 11, Jeannie Braca switched on the television to check the weather report, only to hear that a plane had just hit the World Trade Center.
Jeannie’s husband, Al, worked as a corporate bond trader for Cantor Fitzgerald. His office was on the 105th floor of Tower One. Al had gone to work as he normally did that morning. Al had survived the World Trade Center bombing in 1993....he had even helped a woman with asthma escape from the building.
Jeannie knew that Al would do the same thing this time, "I knew he would stop to help and minister to people," she said, "but I never thought for a minute that he wouldn’t be coming home!" Sometimes the cost of being a hero is our very lives. "What good is it" asks Jesus, "for a person to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?"
Like so many others who were in that building...a week later, Al’s body was found in the rubble. Al’s wife-Jeannie and his son--Christopher were devastated!
Then...then...the reports began to trickle in from friends and acquaintances. Some people on the 105th floor had made a ’last call’ or sent a ’final e-mail’ to a loved one saying that "a man" was leading people in prayer. A few referred to Al by name.
Al’s family learned that Al had indeed been ministering to people during the attack! When Al realized that they were all trapped in the building and would not be able to escape, Al shared the gospel with a group of 50 co-workers and led them in prayer.
This news came as no surprise to Al’s wife-Jeannie....for years, she and Al had been praying for the salvation of these men and women. According to Jeannie, Al hated his job...he couldn’t stand the environment. It was a world so out of touch with his Christian values...but he wouldn’t quit.
Al was convinced that God wanted him to stay there, to be a light in the darkness...and although Al would not have put it this way...to be a hero!
Al was not ashamed of Christ and Christ’s words...and he paid the price of taking up his cross daily. Al shared his faith with his co-workers....many of whom sarcastically nicknamed him "The Rev."
The Bible teaches us that those who choose the world and its things and pleasures over Christ are embarrassed and ashamed by such things as:
....being known as a true believer
....following and obeying Christ completely
...witnessing and standing up for Christ and morality
...having less because of giving so much
...not compromising and going along with the crowd
...not joining in when others are gossiping and stabbing others in the back
...and the list could go on and on.
Jesus says: "If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him or her when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels."
Simply stated: the person who loves the acceptance and recognition of society, and the pleasures of the world too much to give it all up in order to bear the reproach of Christ is missing the mark! Life on this earth is but a flash in the pan compared to eternal life with God!
The people with whom Al Braca worked mocked him because of his faith, but when horrible things happened in their lives, they always asked Al for prayer.
Obviously, deep down, they must have thought of Al as a hero. Al would pray with his co-workers and share the importance of having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
And on that fateful day...on September 11, in the midst of the chaos, Al’s co-workers looked to him-and Al delivered! At the same time, Al too tried to get a phone call through to his family. Al asked an MCI operator to contact his family. "Tell them that I love them," he said. It took the operator more than a month to reach the Bracas, but the message brought them much-needed comfort.
"The last thing my dad did involved the two things most important to him-God and his family," his son Christopher told a writer for Focus on The Family. "He loved to lead people to Christ. That takes away a lot of the hurt and the pain."
CONCLUSION:
* The concept of taking up our cross is found in all 4 Gospels - Mt 10, Mk 8 & Jn 12
* In two Gospels, Jesus says it more than once.
* No other teaching of Jesus is given this much emphasis!
* To "forfeit" means to lose what is of greatest value.
* And that which is of greatest value is eternal life with God forever!
* Yet, how many of us forfeit this greatest of all gifts...this greatest of all treasures through the pursuit of wealth, honor, privilege, and carnal satisfaction?
* It just doesn’t make any sense!!!
* A few things we have learned from 9/11
o We never know how much time we have
o We will never fully understand the value of our salvation in Christ until we meet Him in glory
o There is a hero is inside each of us
o Not by our strength but Christ in us
o We are called... to be a hero
