March 26, 2012 - Be a Hero!

Here we are in the midst of March Madness; the Big Dance is down to the Final Four. It is an incredibly exciting time. There have been the upsets and the expected blowouts. There have been teams that have played up to expectations and those that failed to do so.

Yet I think there is another reality that shows up during March Madness. During these incredibly intense, high-adrenaline games there is usually a player that steps to the forefront and let’s his team know that he will be the one to take them to victory. (It reminds me of the scene in Hoosiers where Jimmy looks at the coach and simply says, “I’ll make the shot.”)

I believe that every championship team needs that player that when other things are going poorly will still step and say, “Give me the ball!” Every team needs that player that will want to shoot the game-winning free throws or take that last second three… Every team needs a hero!

As I was preaching yesterday I referred to the Word of God as a mirror. I asked what a mirror is for and the obvious response was to check and make adjustments. The Word of God says that it is useful as such. James 1:23 talks about the man that looks into the “mirror” and walks away unchanged. It says that man is “deceiving” himself and will not be blessed.

The unfortunate reality is that we hear and see the amazing needs that are present in our world; we hear the Biblical pleas to be the one to make a difference. And instead of looking at ourselves in the mirror, we look over our shoulders and try to analyze everyone else. We see needs and ask why the church is not doing something about it, forgetting we are the church.

When a hero steps up to hit the winning shot in a game, who wins? The team wins! The hero was just doing his part!

I recently heard Rick Warren share a story of a lady that had helped someone that was down on his luck. She then talked to Pastor Warren and said, “I think the church should do something to help folks like this.” Pastor Warren responded by reminding her that the church did do something…

I gave this deep philosophy: “If you know someone that is hungry, feed him!”

In other words take the shot – be the hero! Can the team count on you to represent Christ by serving others? Will you be the one?

1 John 3:¹⁷ But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?

Or in the paraphrase from the Message Bible: “If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God's love? It disappears. And you made it disappear.”

Proverbs 29: ⁷ The righteous considers the cause of the poor,
But the wicked does not understand such knowledge.