Monthly Archives: May 2017

Walking in Your Hero’s Footsteps (Philippians 3)

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When I was a little boy, I had a hero – my brother-in-law – who had just married one of my much older sisters.  He was, and still is, a real gem of a guy. My grandmother was aware of my veneration for this new addition to our family, and like the great matriarch that she was, she took him aside one day and said, “That little boy idolizes you, so you’d better watch everything you say and do in front of him.”  I know my brother-in-law is a sinner theologically speaking, but I can’t quite picture it actually happening! I wanted to grow up to be like him. I didn’t quite make it… I could never be that nice of a person.

Did you have a hero when you were growing up? It is rather quite common to look up to someone and wish to be like him or her.

Paul said to the readers of the first letter to the Corinthians, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ” (11:1). He told the Ephesians, “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (5:1-2).  The word for “imitators” is the same word from which we derive “mimic” in English. Look to God and mimic what you see. But, you can’t see God! True! But you can gain a picture of Jesus Christ that is quite detailed. He is the exact representation of God (Colossians 1:15).  He is the visible explanation of God (“explanation / made known” is the word from which we derive “exegesis”… which is a detailed examination and explanation of the meaning of something)… John 1:18 – “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.”

How well do you follow the example of Jesus Christ and walk in His footsteps? Do you do it well enough that someone else may see it in you and make you a part of the pattern for their walk? You do have influence. Others do look at you. There will be people, probably in younger generations than you, who will look to you and walk as you do.  Will they look like Christ?

PHP 3:7 But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ–the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. 10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead… PHP 3:17 Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.

The Greatest Hero Ever (Luke 22:24-27)

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Presidential Election Day. This is not a day for the humble of the world to be recognized, though someone may be humiliated and have to concede, making warm statements about their opponent that they do not truly believe in their heart. The candidates attempt to portray themselves as ordinary Americans… folks who hunt geese, eat McDonalds hamburgers, and have such a soft spot for children that it drives them to have to kiss every baby they see (kinda gross!).

But the fact is that any thoughtful person knows neither of these individuals is ever very ordinary. An incumbent president probably has not opened a door for himself or driven a vehicle in many years; and honestly, we really don’t see many financially ordinary folks who make it to this level.

I really do not begrudge a wealthy guy being my president. In fact, it is really a good thing that someone who has had to shuffle vast amounts of money and fight nasty business battles be the one to run our country, versus a peon like me.

Jesus is a walking, visible definition of power and strength. But what makes our hero the greatest is His new definition of what is true greatness. He told the disciples one day after hearing them argue over who among them was foremost, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.” (Mark 9:35)  The Gospel of Luke records the account this way…

LK 22:24 Also a dispute arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. 25 Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. 26 But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. 27 For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.

There is something so very compelling about a leader who yields his rights and instead takes a lower place. An excellent book on World War 1 naval conflict called “Castles of Steel” talks about the Commander in Chief of the British Grand Fleet – Admiral John Jellicoe. He was universally loved by all who served with him because of his caring ways and his personal knowledge of the name of every last seaman on his flagship – the Iron Duke.

There were occasions in our home over the years when the boys degenerated into an argument about who should be taking a turn this time to fold the laundry or empty the dishwasher. A couple of times I did not intervene in the conflict but simply rather got up and started doing it myself … which quickly sent a message to each boy and usually solicited universal assistance.

John 13:1 It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love. 2 The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

Compelling leadership!  We do not serve a master who is unable to understand us.  He came to live with us, and be one of us.

HEB 2:14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death–that is, the devil– 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. … 17 For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Looking at the leadership at the top levels of authority in our country and world, I am going to keep Jesus Christ as my hero. He is the greatest! I can relate to Him with a sense that He will understand me and my struggles a whole lot more than some guy on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, the United Nations in New York, or at NATO headquarters in Belgium! Jesus is the greatest hero!

Heroes Are As Old As Dirt (Colossians 1:13-20)

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It is true to say that heroes are as old as dirt. The earliest remaining stories from human antiquity are of heroic figures (Greek mythology, etc.)

A man named Joseph Campbell has written a book on this subject that talks about the concept of the “monomyth,” defined as the general framework providing a description of the significant elements of the world’s mythology. In a single sentence from his book “The Hero With A Thousand Faces” he says, “The hero ventures forth from the world of the common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.” (p. 30)

Do you see what Campbell is saying? He is postulating that all stories have the same common framework or elements, particularly as regards the “hero” figure. Though I’ve not read more than excerpts from his book, I’d bet that he would say the story of the Bible is just another similar mythical story of antiquity… only the names and faces are different.  Here is another paragraph…

“The mythological hero, setting forth from his common day hut or castle, is lured, carried away, or else voluntarily proceeds, to the threshold of adventure. There he encounters a shadowy presence that guards the passage. The hero may defeat or conciliate this power and go alive into the kingdom of the dark (brother-battle, dragon-battle; offering, charm), or be slain by the Opponent and descend in death (dismemberment, crucifixion). Beyond the threshold, then, the hero journeys through a world of unfamiliar yet strangely intimate forces, some of which severely threaten him (tests), some of which give magical aid (helpers). When he arrives at the nadir of the mythological round, he undergoes a supreme ordeal and gains his reward. …  The final work is that of the return. If the powers have blessed the hero, he now sets forth under their protection (emissary); if not, he flees and is pursued (transformation flight, obstacle flight). At the return threshold the transcendental powers must remain behind; the hero re-emerges from the kingdom of dread (return, resurrection). The boon that he brings restores the world (elixir).”

As we have often shared in varied sermon series about the overarching story of the Bible, there indeed is a common thread between all grand stories. And there is a good reason for that thread – all stories borrow from THE STORY that God is writing … a story that features Jesus Christ as The Hero. The biblical story is not just another tale, nor even just the greatest of tales; it is THE story of stories from which all others borrow without realization.

So, who has the best hero? We could talk a lot about Zeus or Hercules or whomever. But that is not what we are about. And besides that, when they get set alongside Jesus Christ, they really are a bunch of little “girlie-guys.” Look at how Paul talks about a real hero…

COL 1:13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

While looking at this passage, we may by observation note the following list of statements about Jesus Christ…

  1. He is the one who has made possible the redemption of all people from the death sentence of sin.
  2. When you look at Jesus, you see a visible representation of the invisible person of God.
  3. He is supreme over all creation in authority and importance (that is the idea of firstborn – it is a word of rank, not order of accomplishment).
  4. He is the creator! He made all things and all powers wherever they be, or however impressed they are with themselves.
  5. He is before, above, and beyond all things… and is the glue that holds all things together.
  6. He is the head of the church… the body of those who inherit everything with him.
  7. He is the first to rise from death and claim that victory for himself and others.
  8. God is very happy to have the sum fullness of all that defines God to exist in Christ in bodily form.
  9. It is through Jesus and His accomplishments on the cross that all the craziness ruining a perfect, created order is reconciled again forevermore.

Case closed!  No other hero is in the same league!

Romans 16:25 Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, 26 but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him– 27 to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ!  Amen.