Spiritual Superheroes

I. OPEN: Spiritual Superheroes, even though we don’t always feel like it

A. Do you like Superman? “Faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.” Whenever Lois Lane, or a careless child, was in danger, and there was seemingly no hope. “Look! Up in the sky. It’s a bird. It’s a plane. No! It’s Superman!”

B. I love Superman. If a girl was stuck high up on a building, he could simply fly up and bring her down to safety. If a man was pinned beneath a heavy truck, he could easily pick up the car and pull him out. If two boys were trapped inside a bank vault, he could shoot heat beams from his eyes and cut through the steel and rescue them.

C. All these super-powers make Superman a great superhero.

D. These super-powers are beyond normal human ability, and have inspired our imagination.

E. But if you were Superman, they would simply be normal, part of who you are. They would be no more remarkable than our ability to turn a doorknob, or to figure out than 2 plus 2 equals 4.

II. BODY

A. God has given us “incomparably great power.”

1. And that means that we’ve been given even greater ability than Superman.

2. We’ve been given power like “the working of [God’s] mighty strength which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms.”

3. Sure, when I feel overwhelmed with all the things I have to do for work, and for school, I remember that God has given me power to do all things through he who strengthens me.

4. But the power God gave is far more amazing. When we are confronted with situations where we find it hard to be “real” Christians, the Holy Spirit will teach us what to do in those circumstances.

5. God always wants us to acknowledge him; he would never leave us powerless to do what he wants us to do.

B. We don’t instantly or naturally realize that we have this power; St. Paul prays for the saints in Ephesus that “the eyes of [their] hearts may be enlightened” in order that they might know that they have this power.

C. When we use the power which God has given to us, the world will be amazed at what we accomplish.

1. Consider how the world, even how we Christians, view Mother Theresa.

2. She was a great woman, and did more good than I can ever imagine being able to do.

3. But would she have considered her deeds remarkable? No.

4. Rather she would consider what she did as merely being true to herself.

5. She lived the gospel of Christ, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, caring for the sick, looking after the orphans.

6. And this is the same calling to which each and every one of is is summoned.

D. Moses, when he ascended the burning, quaking Mount Sinai, on which was shrouded the glory of God, talked to God and looked upon his glory.

1. When he came down the mountain, his face shined brightly.

2. The Israelites were afraid. But Moses didn’t seem to notice.

3. His face was glowing, but he did not notice it because he was being who he was.

III. CLOSING

A. How do we live our life in the power of God?

B. We do so by being who we really are. By being who God created us to be.

C. God made us to be members of the Body of Christ.

D. Therefore, we must seek to fulfill our role in the body. And that role can and does change over time.

1. If we are called to teach Sunday School, then we must teach in Christ’s place, standing in his place, teaching people as Jesus taught, with compassion.

2. If we are called to be a student, we must sit and listen, learn and ask questions, just like Jesus did with the doctors of the Law.

3. We must bring Jesus to the world, and bring the world to Jesus.

4. God made us to be a kingdom of priests, to pray for the world, to be a blessing to the world, and to live out the sacrifice that Jesus made when he died on the cross.