With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility
Listening to God's Voice • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Back in 2006, comic-book creator, Stan Lee and company created a 6-week reality-based television series entitled, "Who Wants to be a Superhero?"
As a part of their initial search, they sent out nationwide notices stating that they were looking for folks who have never lost that inner drive to be a Superhero.
These folks arrived in droves to tryout for this show. They arrived decked out as their own custom Superhero...complete with capes, utility belts, and weapons!
This massive field was finally narrowed down to 12 "wanna’ be" Superheroes. It was actually only 11, since one of them was a villian in disguise!
Hmmm... Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
The 11 remaining were quickly reduced to 10, when the Superhero Levity was eliminated for greedy motives not becoming of a true superhero!
A show with morals, now that’s amazing!
But it was the next challenge that really caught my attention!
Here’s a quick superhero refresher course…
As everyone knows, most superheroes have their everyday normal identity, like mild-mannered Clark Kent! But when Clark sees a dangerous situation, he immediately locates a telephone booth and changes into Superman and then whisks off to save the day!
Remember? Good!
Prior to this 2nd challenge, all of the superheroes on the show were given their own personal communicators and told to dress in their normal street clothes. They were also told to bring their superhero costume with them.
After arriving in a semi-crowded public place, Stan Lee gave them their briefing instructions...He said that when he individually contacts them on their communicators, they were to quickly find a private place to change and then swiftly run to a designated goal area in true superhero style!
Feedback was the first one to get the call...
He quickly changed behind a nearby Port-a-Potty and ran like the wind! But near the end of the public course, the crew had placed a young girl who was crying for her mother and shouting that she was lost.
Feedback raced by her without stopping! Whoosh!
Later…Monkey-Woman, complete with bananas on her utility belt, also raced by her without stopping!
Major Victory, my favorite superhero of the group, stopped and said, "Where is the mother of this child?" After no response, he then asked her to climb into his arms…with great power, comes great responsibility.
As comic book nerds, they had to know the ins and outs of the comic book genre. In this setting, they had to obey the rules associated with their superhero calling. They also had a responsibility to teach others what it meant to be a superhero. With great power, comes great responsibility.
As Christians, we are to know the ins and outs of the law of the Lord. We are to obey those laws. We have a responsibility to teach these laws to this and the next generation. With great power, comes great responsibility.
That is exactly what Ezra did. Ezra was a priest and Prophet that was sent back to Jerusalem by King Artaxerxes after the the exile from Babylon to rebuild the city and the temple. There were several other prophets that were sent, but the reason we are focusing on Ezra is because he refocused the Israelites back to true worship of the Lord. Ezra is a book of spiritual restoration. It is important for God’s children to be separated from the world and remain pure in the matters of doctrine, ethics, and customs. Ezra may give us the best example of the power of God’s voice at work through the written Word. It is through His written Word that we hear God’s voice the loudest. It is God’s power through his Word that we have responsibilities. Let’s look at the verse for today.
Now Ezra had determined in his heart to study the law of the Lord, obey it, and teach its statutes and ordinances in Israel.
There are three responsibilities we see in this verse
Three Responsibilities
Study God’s Word
Obey God’s Word
Teach God’s Word
Before we get into these responsibilities, there is a word that stuck out to me in our verse for today.
That word is determined. What did it mean Ezra determined in his heart?
Determined
כּוּן
kun (koon)
to be firm, be stable, to set, be securely determined
So Ezra was saying I will set my heart determined to be firm in studying the law of God, to obey it and to teach it. What I am telling you today, it is your responsibility to determine in your heart to be firm in doing like Ezra. If you don’t you will never understand the power of God’s voice at work through the written Word. With great power, comes great responsibility.
Just a little fact about the book of Ezra, the books of Ezra and Nehemiah were a singular book in the Hebrew bible. They were separated by an early Christian theologian by the name of Origen, and Jerome followed suit when he wrote out the the Latin Vulgate. This is why we see Ezra continuing to do his work in the book of Nehemiah
Ezra opened the book in full view of all the people, since he was elevated above everyone. As he opened it, all the people stood up. Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and with their hands uplifted all the people said, “Amen, Amen!” Then they knelt low and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.
We see here that what Ezra had determined in his heart is reestablishing the law and sacrificial worship in Israel is coming to pass. So how did he do this.
Three Responsibilities
Study God’s Word
God’s Word is the supreme authority because it comes from the Creator of the universe. God’s voice comes from his Word. God has something to say to His children and it comes to us through his Word. Ezra was determined to know the law of the Lord through and through. To first reestablish the law of the Lord and the sacrificial worship, he had to know God’s Word.
I have treasured your word in my heart
so that I may not sin against you.
As Disciples in the modern church age, our study becomes even more important. We must know the Word because we are warned of the false prophets and teachers that will be among us.
There were indeed false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, and will bring swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved ways, and the way of truth will be maligned because of them. They will exploit you in their greed with made-up stories. Their condemnation, pronounced long ago, is not idle, and their destruction does not sleep.
I have said many times before, your pastor is human, I will make mistakes. It is your responsibility to go back and read these verse for yourself. To read your bible. I made a mistake last week. I mentioned that Moses threw down the tablets and that the ground swallowed up the distracted. That does not happen till later in the story of the Israelites exodus. It was the Levites that took swords and killed those who worshipped the golden calf. I was wrong in how I presented the story. I apologize for my mistake. But you would not know that unless you studied God’s Word for yourself. Now I will never intentionally give you wrong biblical knowledge, but I do go fast sometimes, and speak before my brain catches up.
It is said that 90% of professing Christians do not read their bible on a regular bases. Meaning they do not read it more than twice a week. In the United States, only 5% of professing Christians have read the entire bible. This is why it is so easy for false prophets and false teachers to deceive the modern american church. They can use the bible as a weapon for the enemy as they promote greed, envy, malice and fear to push out their man made agendas. God’s Word does not promote such things. God’s voice promotes this...
May grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.
It is this sound judgement that leads us nicely to our next point.
Three Responsibilities
Study God’s Word
Obey God’s Word
The verse today says Ezra determined to obey God’s law. Just knowing God’s law is failing in its objective. It should affect our beliefs, our character, and our actions. God wants his Word to guide our lives, our decision-making, and set his Agenda in our exsistance. Just knowing is insufficient; we must live in obedience to that knowledge. Ezra knew that to get Israel back on track they had to not only know God’s law, but had to put it into practice.
Today’s church needs to get back to that. We need to know Christ and his commands and do what they say.
“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and don’t do the things I say?
He said, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.”
Jesus answered, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
We all want to hear God’s voice. Yet, we want to do what we want, and then when it gets bad, that is when we want a fresh Word from God. Why would God want to give us a fresh word when we don’t follow the ones He has already given us. We must read his Word and obey the commands that have been laid before us.
Now this is his command: that we believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another as he commanded us. The one who keeps his commands remains in him, and he in him. And the way we know that he remains in us is from the Spirit he has given us.
Study and obey, now the third and finally responsibility is
Three Responsibilities
Study God’s Word
Obey God’s Word
Teach God’s Word
Ezra was a teacher of the law. Ezra knew that personal study and obedience were necessary, but the reason Israel was in such dire straits was because the law was not passed down from generation to generation. He knew that the truth of God must be passed down.
But you are to proclaim things consistent with sound teaching.
We must become teachers of Christ’s commands. Three in 10 Americans say they attend religious services every week (21%) or almost every week (9%), while 11% report attending about once a month and 56% seldom (25%) or never (31%) attend. It is when we stop making being taught the Word a priority is when we see a decline in our families, our communities and our churches.
I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge the living and the dead, and because of his appearing and his kingdom: Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience and teaching. For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, will multiply teachers for themselves because they have an itch to hear what they want to hear. They will turn away from hearing the truth and will turn aside to myths.
Let me make this very clear. You must study God’s Word and obey it, before you start to teach it. Teaching comes with a warning.
Not many should become teachers, my brothers, because you know that we will receive a stricter judgment.
Ezra is an example of the need for godly leadership. Spiritual leadership today comes with the responsibility of advancing God’s kingdom, not man made agendas. A leader/teacher is someone who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way.
How, then, can they call on him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about him? And how can they hear without a preacher? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news. But not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our message? So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ.