NEEDED: HEROES

NEEDED: HEROES Proverbs 1:8 Deuteronomy. 32:7 1 Thessalonians 2:9-12 With grateful acknowledgement of these sources of direction and inspiration: the Holy Spirit; the Word of God; Ken R. Canfield, Fourteen Keys to Successful Fathering; Patrick Morley, The Seven Seasons of a Man’s Life; Stu Weber, Locking Arms; Jim Weidmann, “Building a Heritage” June 19, 2005 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] Introduction Show film clip from Spiderman (1:21-to-1:25:58). Who are heroes? Maybe it’s better to ask, Where are the heroes? Are they the people who run into burning buildings and rescue others’ lives? Certainly we honor such brave individuals and agree their behavior is heroic. We have such heroic acts detailed for us every day in news broadcasts and headlines, and we’ve come to know there are many who have behaved heroically on behalf of others. But we don’t know them well enough to emulate them. They inspire us and encourage us, but are they our heroes? What about the truly great people in history—are they heroes? What about Alexander the Great, Napoleon, George Washington, Albert Schweitzer, Florence Nightingale, John F. Kennedy, Winston Churchill, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Jr., Pat Tillman? Heroes? Sure they are. They are heroes. But they are dead now. We honor their memories and their accomplishments and to some degree they serve as heroes to us. Are such as these your heroes? Fictional characters vie for our attention as real heroes—after all, with a mere stroke of the pen or additional movie scene, we can make them anything we want them to be. But are they really heroes? What do the likes of Hercules and Hamlet, Don Juan and Don Quixote, Superman and Sherlock Holmes have to offer us as heroes. Literary figures act out the nobilities of their authors’ best intentions, but will anything short of a real life, flesh and blood person ever satisfy our need for a hero? If you had asked me 50 years ago who was a real hero, I could have easily told you—Sky King, Roy Rogers and Bozo the clown! But could they really be my heroes if I couldn’t model my life after theirs? After all, I didn’t have a plane or a horse named Silver or a bulbous red nose, orange hair and oversized shoes. I didn’t really know them—how could they be my heroes? But they were. Dozens of them: the Cisco Kid, Captain Kangaroo, Little Joe Cartwright, John Wayne and Perry Mason. Today, even the fictional and the film stars don’t demonstrate for us much character or integrity, honesty or righteousness. In fact, it is as if having character doesn’t mean anything any more. Do you know who today’s heroes are for young people? You guessed it: Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, P. Diddy, Eminem, and any other well-publicized singer, performer, actor or professional athlete. The other pools where we find heroes in our day are supermodels and criminals. Generally speaking, if you are rich, famous and get publicity you’re hero material. Scriptural Heroes But the Bible takes us in another direction when we look for heroes. The Bible is too practical to settle for fictional heroes. There’s a good deal more depth in the biblical image of a hero. Celebrities are never cast as automatic heroes for the young—they’re rarely even mentioned—though godly people are celebrated. And the scriptures don’t idolize heroes of the past. Rather, all their sins and short-comings are detailed. Biblical heroes were the wise, available fathers and elders. No, the Holy Spirit is to wise to let us superficially grab onto any famous person as a hero. The Bible consistently says to lift our eyes to the Lord for our model of life and godliness. As we look to Him and nourish ourselves on His Word—true wisdom—then, and then alone will we also find real heroes. It is in our meditating on the characteristics of God that we begin to recognize those around us who live out godly character in their admittedly imperfect human lives. Wisdom comes to those who meditate on the Word and the Wonder of God. As we grow in our understanding of who God is we simultaneously become wiser. As we get spiritually wiser, our discernment sharpens and we see the facades of fame and fortune in the lives of our would-be heroes. We see with clarity what Solomon saw—that all such things are vanity. But we not only are enabled to recognize ungodliness and deception in others; we also begin to recognize true, godly qualities in the lives of others. I was reading in Deuteronomy not long ago. The closing chapters of this great, long sermon of Moses represents his final words to the people Israel before his death and the commencement of Joshua’s leadership as they entered the promised land. In the 32nd chapter, the aged and honorable patriarch praises God with what has come to be called the Song of Moses. In the seventh verse He tells the people how to gain a wisdom about God’s dealings with them. He says, Remember the days of old; consider the generations long past. Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders, and they will explain to you. Ask your father…ask your elders… The fathers of the families and the elders of the people were the ones charged with giving spiritual counsel and direction to the nation of nomads-come-conquerors. Here’s a hint about the heroes God has placed among His people in this world. The book of Proverbs is unarguably the greatest book ever written on the topic of wisdom. And rightly so, after all, its author is the Spirit of God who moved Solomon and others to write, gather and publish these hundreds of wise comments. The theme of Proverbs is in 1:7 – The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. Just following those words we read in verse 8: Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. They will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck. The whole thrust of the first few chapters of Proverbs is that the reader/hearer should get wisdom (4:5, 7). And where was the place to get that godly wisdom? Fathers. It was (and is) the responsibility of godly fathers to know and grow in the Word and wisdom of God, so that they were/are equipped to teach it and explain wise precepts and concepts to the children as well as the rest of the community of faith. Fathers and elders. I add elders for two reasons. First the scriptures continually refer to the teaching and faith modeling role of elders—both under the Old and new Covenants. Secondly, and this is biblically substantiated, too, there are many who did not have fathers for whatever reasons, or whose fathers were not part of the community of the faith. They needed spiritual direction as well and the Lord in His wisdom provided elders, presbyters, pastors, bishops to shepherd them. Let me say just a couple things about this topic along the way. First, you should get as close as you can under the instruction and tutelage of your father and your elders. There is wisdom and resource there for you. God wants to grow you to the point where you can model and teach His truth with accuracy and power. You need the instruction of the fathers and the elders. There are two kinds of elders, biblically speaking. Some are in the office of elder. Others are unofficial elders—those who are mature in their faith and their understanding of the Word of God, but who, for whatever reasons, are not in the official position of elder. The second thing I would like to say is an exhortation. Men, in your home and in your church, you must begin to be leaders, teachers, models of godly life. You must be this next generation’s heroes! If you are saying to yourself, “I can’t—I’m just not a good enough Christian,” then you are playing right into the hands of the enemy who is the accuser of the brethren. If you don’t think you’re living up to your responsibilities as a Christian, Change! Grow up! Get a move on! You are as close to God and as mature in your faith as you want to be. Go after God; go after wisdom; be a hero to others for God! Young people, especially young men: there is no higher, more privileged role in all the earth than to be an elder in the Lord’s church. Make it your goal—whether you will preach and teach as a pastor, administrate as a presbyter or oversee the spiritual life of the congregation as an Episcopal style bishop, start now to cultivate a life of godliness and spiritual character, so others have a spiritual hero in the days to come. Start now to become as proficient in your understanding of the Word of God and eager and able to teach its truths as you possibly can. God wants to use you. Do you want to be a spiritual leader of others or do you want to be a limp-wristed also-ran? I exhort you with the words of the great hymn: Rise up, O men of God! Have done with lesser things. Give heart and mind and soul and strength to serve the King of kings! Let me ask you another way: What better thing do you have to do with the rest of your life than to serve the Christ who saved you for eternity? Men, get with it! Your kids need you as a spiritual leader; your wives need you as a spiritual leader; your church and community need you as a spiritual leader. Get wise, get taught, get mentored, get busy and get prepared to serve the Lord by serving others. While I’m at it, and while I already have you either or excited or enraged, let me make a suggestion about a great place to start in your servant leadership. Why don’t you teach the children? Get into the program with Kid City and help in whatever way you can. I love the ministry of the ladies in this church, and especially those in leadership roles, but I tell you as sure as I am standing here, those children need men in their lives. They deserve to see the biblical model lived out in front of them. There’s a dozen or more 2 year olds to 5 year olds who could use the sound of a loving baritone sharing the Word of God. What a blessing it would be to them if a half a dozen of you would humbly and unselfishly get down on your hands and knees and help them act out Bible stories two or three times a month. Or, how about the nursery? I tell you, you will make a tremendous difference in some lives. You’ll help some of them into the faith and you’ll help some of them into heaven, I guarantee it. It’s time for men to stop standing around like Ray Romano, acting like you don’t know anything about wives and children and kingdom and godly living. You’re better than that! God made you to be leaders; and God made you to be heroes. A Hero Model I would like for us to look at an interesting passage of scripture that, frankly, doesn’t get enough press among us. 1 Thessalonians 2:9-12 – Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you. You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging each of you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory. Here is the great apostle Paul recounting to the believers in Thessalonica about the kind of ministry he engaged in while he was there with them. One of the key descriptions has to do with his comment, we dealt with each you as a father deals with his own children. To briefly unpack the context, Paul and his apostolic group earned their own support while they ministered in that city, so that they would not be a burden on the young church. That meant they spent daylight hours earning a living and evening hours ministering the Word of God among the people. That gets old real quick. But Paul’s team was willing to do what it takes to serve the needs of church. That’s fatherly. That’s godly. That’s leadership. That’s heroic. What exactly did they do while they ministered? Verse 12 gives the resume: encouraging … comforting … and urging each of you to live lives worthy of God. Brothers in Christ, there is a job description for fatherhood. What kind of a difference would God make in your home, your neighborhood, your church family, if you began today to devote yourself to being a man, as outlined here? You’re made for it. God hard-wired you for leadership. You are called by God to be a hero to others in your life whom God has given you. When most of us think of being a hero, we fall back into the mentality of some great moment of glory, a life of riches and fame, but here’s how God sees heroism: you accepting the calling of being a man of God, a good husband, a good dad, a good employer or employee and a good leader of others. “But, pastor, that’s so hard to do!” Of course it’s hard to do—that’s why God is counting on you. He knows you can do it. Of course it will take dedicated effort—doesn’t everything that’s worthwhile? Of course it has everything to do with you humbling yourself before the Lord and doing what He asks you to do, no matter how lowly. If you want to be great in God’s kingdom, learn to be the servant of all. The late, great tennis star and devoted Christian, Arthur Ashe, once said, “True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.” Where do we start? In the kingdom of heaven, you always begin wherever you are. For some in this room, this Father’s Day might mean that you will recommit yourself to serving your children. If God gave you children, then He charges you with the stewardship of their young lives. If there’s any man in this room today who is flirting with the idea of walking out on your wife and kids, for whatever reason, I charge you in the name of the Lord Christ, don’t do it. There is a way to fix whatever’s wrong, and you need to trust the Lord to lead you and empower you through it. Get godly counsel, recommit your life to Christ and start today in His grace and power to turn your mess of a family into a miracle of faith. In America today, less than 25% of the households with children have both a mother and a father. That’s worse than a shame. Men, God did not intend for you to just be an irresponsible sperm donor—He called you to spiritual leadership. If you’re involved in dumping your kids on a wounded spouse and government welfare, you’re not a man. You’re a louse. Today in America nearly half of all children born come into this world to unmarried parents, and statistically over half of them are not together or will not be together by the time the children are a year old. That defies the will of God who said to men, Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. (Ephesians 6:4) In case you hadn’t yet figured it out, do not exasperate includes do not abdicate, do not vacate, do not ruinate and do not obfuscate in any way this awesome calling of shepherding the young lives he has given you. You are the leader, teacher and hero of those kids by God’s design. 70% of men under age forty in American prisons today grew up without a dad in their home. That is a frightening statistic. How will boys ever learn to be godly men without dads? They just won’t, unless they get connected to other godly men through the church. Fatherless children are statistically doomed. They are five times more likely to be poor and 10 times more likely to be extremely poor. 75% of them will experience poverty before age 11. They are at a dramatically higher risk of drug and alcohol abuse. They are three times more likely to have emotional, mental and behavioral problems. Concluding Thoughts I want to close simply by challenging men to step up to the plate and be men. God made you to be leaders and heroes to at least a few others in your life—your children, your wife, and those you influence in Christ. What I gather from the blend of biblical imagery concerning men as heroes is that they ought to be positive people. We Christian men who have the promise of eternal glory waiting for us should be men of positive outlook. We ought to spread light wherever we go. Michael Dorris wrote: “Being positive is part of being a hero—maybe the hardest part, because if you are a hero, you’re probably smart enough to know all the reasons why you should be discouraged.” Christian men ought to be heroes because we have the instructions on what real heroism is. It’s not a spur of the moment decision to risk it all to help someone else, as good as that is. And it’s not fame, fortune or celebrity. Being a hero is about living a life of integrity and generosity and blessing to others in Christ’s name. It’s a steady, day in and day out series of decisions to remain true to the promises you’ve made to God, to your spouse and to your kids. It is about being there, through the good and bad, dealing with whatever you have to deal with in order to encourage and teach and comfort and live lives worthy of God. Heroes, real heroes, are in it for the long haul. Celebrities come and go. Genuine heroes are those who stay with the calling God has given them, knowing that even if they influence only a couple lives for the kingdom of God, they’ve done what was asked of them. Author and actor Ben Stein has been writing a column published by E!Online for nearly eight years. Titled "Monday Night at Morton's," the column detailed his encounters with the rich and famous. He's not writing it anymore. Stein explained why in his final column on December 20, 2003. Real stars are not riding around in the backs of limousines or in Porsches or getting trained in yoga or Pilates and eating raw fruit while they have Vietnamese girls do their nails…. A real star, the kind who haunts my memory night and day, is the U.S. soldier in Baghdad who saw a little girl playing with a piece of unexploded ordinance. He pushed her aside and threw himself on it just as it exploded…. I am no longer comfortable being a part of the system that has such poor values, and I do not want to perpetuate those values by pretending that who is eating at Morton's is a big subject…. Last column, I told you a few of the rules I had learned to keep my sanity. Well, here is a final one to help you keep your sanity and keep you in the running for stardom: We are puny, insignificant creatures. We are not responsible for the operation of the universe, and what happens to us is not terribly important. God is real, not a fiction, and when we turn over our lives to him, he takes far better care of us than we could ever do for ourselves. In a word, we make ourselves sane when we fire ourselves as the directors of the movie of our lives and turn the power over to him. I can put it another way. Years ago, I realized I could never be as great an actor as Olivier or as good a comic as Steve Martin—or Martin Mull or Fred Willard—or as good an economist as Samuelson or Friedman or as good a writer as Fitzgerald. Or even remotely close to any of them. But I could be a devoted father to my son, husband to my wife and, above all, a good son to the parents who had done so much for me. This came to be my main task in life…. I came to realize, that life lived to help others is the only one that matters and that it is my duty, in return for the lavish life God has devolved upon me, to help others he has placed in my path. Are you ready to be a hero? Is it enough for you to serve Jesus Christ faithfully—and to do so even if you have to forfeit the world’s riches and applause, even if to the world you look like a fool? A few years ago at a high school, three military recruiters showed up to address some high school seniors. Graduation was only a few months away, and the military men were there for the obvious--to articulate to these graduating young men and women some of the options that military service would provide them. The meeting was to last forty-five minutes. Each recruiter--representing Army, Navy, and Marine Corps--was to have fifteen minutes. Well, the Army and Navy recruiters got carried away. When it came time for the Marine to speak, he had two minutes. So he walked up with two minutes to make his pitch. He stood utterly silent for a full sixty seconds--half of his time. Then he said this: "I doubt whether there are two or three of you in this room who could even cut it in the Marine Corps. I want to see those two or three immediately in the dining hall when we are dismissed." He turned smartly and sat down. When he arrived in the dining hall, those students interested in the Marines were a mob. They acted without delay. He appealed to the heroic dimension in every heart. The Marines aren’t the only ones looking for a few good men. So is God.   [Back to Top]