Shock and Wonder Series – Christmas 2012 @ Life Church
Sunday 23rd December, morning services.
When the world needs to be saved, who do you call on? You call on a superhero. Superheroes are in the business of saving the world.
When I was a young lad I’d always associate Christmas with a regular stocking filler, that years Spider-man annual; I’d devour it in the day. The adventures seemed to plausible to me and, yes, I wanted to grow up to be just like him.
When we think of superheroes we think those characters that are larger than life. They leap tall buildings in a single bound. They can be invisible. They can fly. Criminals are terrorised by their presence. They seem to be indestructible. When we think of superheroes, we want someone who is powerful and dynamic to save the world.
With the world in such desperate shape, you would think that God would send a superhero to save it; that God would choose to save the world through a powerful, charismatic leader who could wield power wisely and crush God’s enemies.
But God doesn’t work the way we do. God’s ways are not the same as our ways and we don’t always understand His methods.
Rather than send a powerful hero into the world, He sent a defenceless baby. But God always has done things differently to the way we would.
1 Corinthians 1:27-1:31: But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”
God alone made it possible for you to be in Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made Christ to be wisdom itself. He is the one who made us acceptable to God. He made us pure and holy, and he gave himself to purchase our freedom. As the Scriptures say, "The person who wishes to boast should boast only of what the Lord has done." I Corinthians 1:27-31 (NLT).
Let’s consider why God chose to send Jesus as a baby rather than a superhero to save the world.
1. Superheroes are larger than life; Jesus is Humble
When we think of a superhero we think of someone who is larger than life. They fill the room with their presence.
When Batman shows up, you know he’s there. The cool suit with the cape, the Bat-mobile roaring down the street, windows breaking, bad guys getting tossed all over the place, and then there’s the Bat-signal; let’s face it, Batman is larger than life. You can’t miss him.
But God chose not to send a hero who was larger than life. God doesn’t operate the way we would. God knew a larger than life hero couldn’t get the job done. So, instead, he sent a baby. That’s right. God sent a baby, not a superhero to save the world.
Not only did he send a baby, but he sent a baby to a family so poor, so unassuming, a family in such humble circumstances that they couldn’t even find a room in a local motel for the baby to be born.
Luke 2:4-7: So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
God’s way of saving the world didn’t involve a superhero who was larger than life. God’s plan, strange as it may seem, involved a baby born in a cave-stable and laid to rest in a feeding trough.
He didn’t enter the world as a larger than life hero. Jesus was humble in nature. Jesus entered the world through humble circumstances and He lived his life in humility.
Jesus declares to us in Matthew 11: 29: Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Jesus was humble. He did nothing to draw the world’s attention to Him, but He did everything to draw the world’s attention to his Father. And He calls us to do the same.
2. Superheroes are intimidating; Jesus is Gentle
If you shoot at Superman the bullets just bounce off. Then he takes the gun and screws it up like a little piece of paper. Superman can bend the rails of a railroad track to save the train or to catch the bad guys. Superman has the power to weld steel with his eyes or to see through the side of a building. Let’s be honest; Superman is intimidating.
You’d think that when God decided to save the world He’d send a hero who was intimidating.
Sin is a powerful thing. It has destroyed so many lives. We, in and of ourselves, are powerless against sin. We don’t have the power it takes to defeat sin, so you’d think that God would send a hero that was overpowering and intimidating.
But God chose not to send a hero that was overpowering. God chose to send us Jesus, who is humble and gentle.
Look at Matthew 11 with me again. Matthew 11: 29: Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
When Jesus enters Jerusalem the week before He is crucified, the Triumphal Entry, He is identified as Israel’s Messiah through this verse:
Matthew 21:5: Say to Daughter Zion, “See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
Jesus was the perfect example of gentleness. His response to a broken and sinful world was to gently restore that which was broken.
Often we misunderstand gentleness. We have a tendency to associate gentleness with weakness. We often believe that if someone is gentle, then they are weak. Christ was gentle, but I assure you He was not weak.
Meekness is not weakness but absolute power under perfect control (Matt. 5:5).
Jesus was powerful, not weak, but He knew how to wield that power with a gentle touch. Super heroes overpower their enemies, but Jesus saves the world through true gentleness.
The world needed saving, but rather than send a hero who was overpowering, God sent His son, the gentle One to lead us and guide us into salvation.
3. Superheroes are characterised by their powers; Jesus by His Love
Spiderman can shoot webs out of his hands. He swings over the city at breakneck speed. He can climb up the sides of buildings. He’s strong enough to bend steel. His spider sense tells him when something’s about to happen. There’s no question that Spiderman can display mighty acts.
You’d think that when the world needed saving, God would send a superhero who could display mighty powers. But God chose to send His Son who, though He could display mighty acts (and did), instead became known for His compassion.
Every miracle Jesus did was a powerful act, but each time it was done in order to display His love. Time and time again Jesus was moved by love and compassion to heal the sick.
Matthew 9:36: When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Matthew 20:34: Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.
Mark 1:41: Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man.
His miracles were acts of love for the world He came to save.
Probably the most well-known verse in the Bible tells us of God’s love.
John 3:16: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
The ultimate display of his love for us is His death upon the cross. That death is what saved the world, defeating sin and bridging the gap between God and man.
Superheroes might show their mighty powers but God did better. He displayed the most powerful act of all, an act of absolute power, absolute love, the act of allowing his Son to die in our place to pay for our sins.
4. Superheroes offer retribution; Jesus offers Forgiveness
Most superheroes offer retribution and punishment to evil doers. They hunt down the bad guys, they fight the bad guys, they capture the bad guys and they punish them or at least they let the authorities’ punish. One of the primary themes that run under the surface of our favourite superhero stories is the theme of crime and punishment. Superheroes offer retribution.
You’d think that when God wanted to save the world he’d send a hero who would punish those who were doing wrong. He’d want someone who could offer the severest punishment and judgment possible so that they could pay for ruining his beautiful world. But instead God offered forgiveness.
John 3:17: For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him
Somewhere along the line we have developed the idea that God sent Jesus to punish the sinners of the world. But God sent Jesus to save the world, not to condemn it. Jesus didn’t come to offer punishment, He came to offer forgiveness.
God does punish, no question; He will do this at the final judgement and there will be those who reject Him and the love offered at Christmas, who are destined to an eternity without Him.
But Jesus didn’t come to bring punishment, He came to offer forgiveness to each and every one of us; He still does.
The world needed saving, but rather than send a hero who would offer punishment, God sent his Son, who offers us forgiveness.
Wrapping it up:
There’s little question that, due to sin, the world needed saving. And God in His infinite love and mercy chose to save the world rather than destroy it.
If it were up to most of us to save the world, we’d send a superhero who was larger than life, who was overpowering, who displayed powers and who would offer true retribution to those deserving it. That’s what superheroes do to save the world.
But God had a better plan. He sent his only son to humbly and gently love us and forgive us.
This message ends wih a video clip from the Skit Guys, called Sticky Jesus, available at sermonspice.com
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