Sharing Our Heroes Super-Stories Series

It seems that the news media plays a role in the lives of many of our make-believe superheroes. From the Daily Planet from which the editor Perry White chronicles Superman’s latest exploits to the editorial pages of J. Jonah Jamieson who bitterly denounces the actions of Spiderman. Even on TV you have the Incredible Hulk, Bill Bixby, pursued by Jack McGee, an investigative reporter set on getting the real story.

Yet it seems that those who controlled what passed for media in the first century missed the coming of the greatest superhero of all time—our Amazing Emmanuel. Because of this God set up his own group of broadcast journalists and they were an unlikely group to be certain. That first group of reporters was none other than the shepherds to whom the angels announced the birth of Jesus.

Today things may be a little bit better. Comic strips like BC, removed from The Oregonian, and Bill Keane’s comic strip, Family Circus, are two unashamedly Christian comics. In one of Keane’s Christmas cartoons the children were setting up their nativity set, little Dolly held up the baby Jesus and declared, “Here’s the star of Bethlehem!” Yet each generation God raises up those who will be the sharers of His good news and it is usually, s the common person, the lowly, the unwashed, the unsavory. And that includes those of us, here today, who know Jesus.

It can be a daunting task to even think that you have been entrusted with the responsibility to tell others about Jesus but the fact is you have; and so have I. So let me take you to back to journalism 101 for a refresher course on good reporting. Do you remember the 5 W’s and H? “Who, What, Where, When, Why and How” these are the questions a reporter asks so let’s see what the answers can tell us about our Amazing Emmanuel.

Who—Who is it we’re talking about? Who do we tell the news to? Our first answer is Jesus. We’re talking about someone so amazing that there is no equal.

The obvious answer to the second part is “everyone” but that’s a stretch. You and I probably won’t meet even half of the people living in China, let alone all those in Southwest Portland so lets narrow down our answer to those who we know. Those with whom we have a relationship will be our starting place.

I understand the hesitancies that we need overcome to do this. Among them is the fear that those we tell this news too will think we are some sort of religious nut or fanatics. But the fact is, that many of these people know that you say you believe in Jesus and they are watching you anyway.

Here’s the starting for us. Jot down the name of those people whom you know need to hear the news that God loves them unconditionally.

What—What do we tell them? We tell them about God’s love. We tell them about the difference that Jesus has made in our personal lives. We tell them about the experiences we’ve had with Jesus that solidified God’s love for us in our hearts. A good place to start is with Christmas itself. You might hear the complaints about all the expense and stress and simply say, “I understand. I’m just glad I found a better reason to celebrate Christmas.” You might ask someone a question like, “Why do you suppose we’d celebrate the birth of baby who was born some 2000 years ago?”

Remember the quote President Kennedy uttered, “Ask not what your country can do for your but ask what you can do for your country”? Well to paraphrase it God might say, “Ask not what you can do for me, but ask what I’ve already accomplished for you.”

It was in December of 1903, that after many attempts, the Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, were successful in getting their “flying machine” off the ground and into the air at Kitty Hawk.

Thrilled over the accomplishment, they telegraphed this message to their sister Katherine: “We have actually flown 120 feet. Will be home for Christmas.” Katherine hurried to the editor of the local newspaper and showed him the message. He glanced at it and said, “How nice. The boys will be home for Christmas.” He totally missed the big news—for the first time in human history, man had flown! Don’t miss the news that we’re supposed to be telling others.

Where—the idea is to talk with people in the natural setting of everyday life. D.L. Moody, great evangelist, was led to the Lord in a shoe store. Others have found Christ on retreats, in prison and even in church. Bill Hull writes, “Christians must open their eyes to the opportunity of the harvest and the privilege of working in that harvest. We must stop putting off the harvest by arguing the tit is just around the corner.”