Humility like Captain America

Hello everybody, my name is Larry, and I’m going to be your speaker for this week. Each night we are going to talk about Jesus and superheroes. Now, when I first heard that we were going to be talking about superheroes all week, my first thought was, I’ve got this in the bag! I absolutely love superheroes! I’ve been obsessed with superheroes ever since I can remember. I have watched like all the DC and Marvel movies and I’ve read more comic books than I can count. I have a ton of action figures, posters, legos, decorations, you name it. So, I’m sort of an expert when it comes to anything superhero related. This week, we’re going to look at 5 different superheroes and we’re also going to look at 5 different Bible heroes. We’re not just going to look at who the superheroes are, but we’re also going to discover the lessons from each hero and how they teach us something about us and Jesus. We’re going to have a blast!

But first, I heard that today, you guys were talking about a father and son named David and Absalom. Wow, what a crazy story! Absalom tries to take over his father David’s kingdom and there is an all-out civil war in the kingdom of Israel! Some people wanted to follow David and some people wanted to follow Absalom, and everyone was fighting someone else! Who here knows what a civil war is? Right, it means that a people get so divided over an issue that they fight each other from within. It’s not some outsider attacking them, they are fighting within themselves. You might’ve learned about the American Civil War in school where the North fought the South to release the slaves. The American Civil War was such a disaster that more Americans died from it than any other war. Basically, Civil Wars are messy. So, Absalom was the most handsome man in the kingdom, very muscular with long luscious hair. He was probably as good looking as Thor. Meanwhile, David was an older guy as the king and he probably wasn’t that good looking. But he was Absalom’s father. Does anyone know how the story ends? David’s army defeats Absalom’s army and the civil war is ended. And what happens to Absalom? His hair gets caught in a tree and David’s men kill him. What was the problem with Absalom? Why was he acting so badly toward his father? Because his heart was not in the right place. He was prideful, thinking that he was SO awesome and powerful and cool, when really, he wasn’t. He thought he was hot stuff, but really he wasn’t. He let all that power go to his head.

Before we get more into that story, let’s talk about our superhero for today. You may have heard of him before. He’s strong, he’s a living legend, he carries a shield, he’s the leader of the Avengers, Earth’s mightiest heroes. I’m talking about none other than the First Avenger himself, Steve Rodgers, a.k.a Captain America. I have to admit, growing up, Captain America was definitely one of my all-time favorite superheroes. He was strong, he knew what he was doing, and he just seemed like such a good guy. Has anyone here ever seen the first Captain America movie? Can anyone tell me a QUICK version of Captain America’s origin story? Right. You see, Captain America wasn’t always Captain America. His name is Steve Rogers, just a kid in Brooklyn. Growing up, Steve was really underweight and short. He was just a scrawny kid. He wasn’t even that good looking or handsome and he definitely did not have big muscles. He was actually the OPPOSITE of what you would think of when you think of a superhero. Steve was bullied for years as a kid because he was weaker than everyone else. He would try to stand up for what’s right, but he wasn’t strong enough to do anything about it.  More than anything, Steve Rogers just wanted to serve his country and go fight the evil Nazis during World War 2. He really didn’t like bullies, and the Nazis were bullies. Even though he was weak, on the inside, he was a good man with true integrity. Integrity means that he was truthful and always did what was right. But how could he, a small, tiny man like him, stand up against powerful people? No one allowed him to join the army because he wouldn’t be any help. But he just needed someone to give him a chance. A man named Dr. Erskine came and gave him that chance he was looking for. He let him into the army for basic training, but with a catch. Steve had to participate in a science experiment to hopefully make him the world’s first Super Soldier. He would be stronger, faster, and more agile than any man alive. Steve took the serum, and Captain America was born! Suddenly, he grew a foot, but on 100 pounds of muscle, and became much more handsome! Captain America joined the war, fought off the Nazis, and defended the freedom that we grew to know in America. Armed with his amazing, indestructible, red white and blue shield, he fought back evil. He gave up his life so that he could protect America and stop his arch enemy, the Red Skull. Later, he came back and has led the Avengers ever since, becoming a symbol of freedom to all mankind.

But why was Captain America chosen to be Captain America? What did that scrawny, weak kid from Brooklyn have to offer? It wasn’t what was on the outside that defined Captain America, but what was on the inside. It was about his heart. The serum could make him strong and fast, but it couldn’t make him good. He was a good man, and that’s what made him worthy to become Captain America. Has anyone in here seen Avengers Endgame? I have this shield I brought with me from home. It’s Captain America’s shield when he fights the biggest bid bad of all time, Thanos. Thanos defeats Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America all at the same time. Thanos strikes Captain America’s shield with his sword over and over again, finally breaking it, leaving him with only half a shield like this one. Cap is on the ground, beaten, cut up, broken, and a bloody mess. He’s at the end of his line. Using all his might left, Captain America manages to get up and faces Thanos along with his entire army. He knows that he doesn’t stand a chance against Thanos and his army, but he still stands to fight, because that’s just who he is. Captain America doesn’t get up by his own super soldier strength, he gets up because he can’t allow the bully Thanos win. He used to be bullies by other guys. Thanos is just another bully. It’s one of the coolest scenes of all marvel movies ever. For Captain America, its’ not about what’s on the outside, but what’s on the inside. Sure, Captain America was an awesome hero who looked great and was really strong and fast, but on the inside he was still that scrawny kid from Brooklyn.

You know, God says something similar in the Bible. Today, you guys were learning a lot about David and Absalom. We’ve talked a lot about Absalom and how he was handsome, but not a good man. Now let’s hear about David’s origin story. There was a king of Israel named Saul, and he was a bad king. He did not love God with all his heart. So, God decided that someone else would be king over Israel. God sent Samuel to go to a man named Jesse’s house to see one of his sons who would be king. Samuel looks at all the sons of Jesse to see which one of them would be the new, good king of Israel. He sees the oldest son who looks just like a king should. He’s tall, handsome, muscular, and looks like he would be perfect to lead the nation of Israel. But what does God say about him? God doesn’t look at outward appearances, but he looks at the heart. This man was not the one God had chosen. Samuel saw all the other sons of Jesse, but God had not chosen any of them. But there was one more son, the youngest named David who was busy taking care of the sheep. God saw David’s heart and he knew that David loved him with everything he had. This young man would be the new king of Israel. What’s the first thing David does? He goes and he fights Goliath. David, this small teenager, not much older than any of you guys, takes one a massive beast of a man. Yet he took him on and defeated him not because of how strong HE was, but because of how strong his God was. He trusted that if God wanted Goliath defeated, then God would use David to defeat Goliath. Like Captain America, David wasn’t a great man and king because he was strong, fast, or good-looking, but because of deep down, he just wanted to do the right thing. Deep down, he was just some guy who loved God with everything that he had.

Play Dough Object Lesson: I took two containers of play dough, but I left one sit out for a few days. What happened? It got hard and you couldn’t do anything with it anymore. It’s as useful as a rock. But this other one, the possibilities are endless. You can make anything that you put your mind to with this one. I use this play dough as an example of what your life could look like. You can be like the red play dough and be so hard that you aren’t able to be molded anymore. Or you can be like the blue playdough and still be able to be shaped

We’ve talked about Absalom, we’ve talked about Captain America, and we’ve talked about David. But what about you? Each one of you has a choice. You can be like Absalom, or you can be like David. You can become prideful like the red clay, and you can think that you’ve got your whole life set out before you. But in the end, where does that lead you to? Nowhere. Or you can be humble like the blue clay. Know that it’s not about how pretty you are, how fit or good-looking you are, how skinny or fat you are, or anything else. Because to God, it doesn’t matter about your outward appearances. He cares about who you are on the inside, like Captain America. God wants you to not be a person who is prideful like Absalom, but humble like David. Don’t be like the red clay, be like the blue clay. God wants you to be a person of integrity, he wants you to do the right thing. That matters so much more to God than anything about how you look on the outside. And guess what? The best part is that Go wants to help make you beautiful on the inside. He wants to spend time with you and have a relationship with you so that you can live a better life. God wants to help you become a person like Captain America, always doing the right thing. And he’s going to get you there. You just have to let him in.