PURPOSE:  6A HEROES OF THE FAITH

This week I unwound between jobs by watching a few hours of evening TV.  In the past, four days; I clicked through 2 graphic lesbian scenes, multiple murders, a number of comedies based on promiscuity, and a couple of ‘reality’ shows celebrating superficial and prostituted values.  And this was mainstream TV!  This is what our culture consumes as entertainment.  If we ever needed moral heroes, we need them now.

¨       This morning; we’re talking heroes.  What exactly is a hero? 

The Columbia Dictionary defines a hero like this:

1.         A person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life

2.         A person noted for special achievement in a particular field

Getting on to our topic this morning- if that is a hero, then what is a hero of the faith?  Even better, how does God describe this kind of person?

2 Tim 4:7-8

7          I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

8          Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--

(NIV)

And now it’s your part in the message today.  Within this room, or somewhere in history-

¨       Who is a ‘hero of the faith’ for you?  And why?

…..

DISCUSSION

DEFINING THE HERO

From our official definition, and by your personal descriptions- there is something interesting about heroes.  No one is a hero for what they know, or what they believe, or even for their purpose- they are heroes for what they have done with that knowledge, that belief, and that purpose.  They are heroes for what they’ve become, and the fruit of that character. That is what makes a hero.

But here’s the thing; all purposes are not good- some are a tragic waste of time, some are even evil.  So what kind of purposes build a spiritual hero?

Last week we talked about 5 purposes summed up in the Great Commission and the Great Command.  Now, these ‘great instructions’ can be viewed from a variety of angles.  So for ease of memory- today, let’s think of them as ‘the five great M’s.’ 

1.       Membership

2.       Maturity

3.       Ministry

4.       Mission

5.       Magnification

Perhaps you might even want to write them in the front of your bible, because these five M’s are the backbone of what it means to be a Christian.  Now let’s put a little flesh on those bones.  Let’s quickly look at the meaning of each.

Membership

Love the Lord, born into the family of God, love your neighbor- Scripture teaches us we are a member of a number of families: the human family, our domestic families, and if you are alive in Christ, members of God’s family.  To be part of a family means we share in the benefits and the responsibilities.  And Scripture weaves all these families together- which means we share a burden for the entire race, our natural families, and especially, God’s family.

I Jn 4:20

20         If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.

(NIV)

Membership means real, ‘what you can see’-  relationship.

Maturity

Listen to this tongue lashing- Heb 5:12-14

12         In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!

13         Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.

14         But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

(NIV)

Maturing in faith is not a suggestion from God.  It is not something extra.  We are expected to grow.  Without maturity, there is no union, no stability, no power, and no protection in a very nasty spiritual war. 

In verse 14, there are two terms we should really take to heart; ‘constant use’, and ‘trained themselves.’  Just like athletes- there are things that must become second nature… things that don’t come naturally at all.  There are things that go rusty if not constantly used.  I wonder how many Indy or NASCAR drivers would win without constant training… how many athletes would win the Olympic crown- do we think we can really do less for God’s eternal crown? Maturity is not a part-time occupation. 

Ministry

2 Cor 3:6

6          He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant-- not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

(NIV)

God’s design is not that the person in the pulpit is the minister- it is everyone in Christ- and not only ministers, but a ‘competent ministers.’  And as ministers we discover the most curious thing.  When we pour ourselves out to others through Christ- we don’t end up with less life, we end up with more.  In fact, that is real life!

Matt 16:25-26

25         For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.

26         What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

(NIV)

As ministers, do we understand this?  We must ‘lose’ in order to gain!  Ministry gives a human face to the service of God.

Missions

If ministry gives the face of need, missions gives without even seeing the face.  It is the size of obedience we to which we are called.

Mark 16:15

"Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.

(NIV)

Once again, missions isn’t an extracurricular suggestion.  It is where our membership in God’s family bridges our membership in the human family.

Magnification

Psalms 34

 1.  I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

 2.  My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; The humble shall hear of it and be glad.

 3.  Oh, magnify the Lord with me, And let us exalt His name together.

 4.  I sought the Lord, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my fears.

 5.  They looked to Him and were radiant, And their faces were not ashamed.

 …

 7.  The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them.

8.       Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!

When David said ‘magnify,’ what did he mean?  In the Hebrew, the word is:

gadol   -gaw-dole' 

Meaning:  …of power … of value, setting forth a [new] condition Ex.  Mal. 1:5 "The Lord is magnified beyond the borders of Israel." –OR-  …information [that] was known previously, but recent divine acts have made it to be experienced anew. **The emphasis is on the freshness of the experience.

To magnify God means a fresh experience all over again.  It is to have God expand His borders in our lives.  It is powerful things remembered in ever- deeper ways.

Those are the ‘5 M’s’… the five purposes that makes a hero of the faith.  But purposes are a tool… they are a compass.

DISCUSSION

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©2007 Kevin Thompson, pastor,

Canaan Community Church

Coatesville, IN