Superheroes!

 THOR     Batman     Ironman   The Hulk

   Wonder Woman   Superman        The Flash

Superheroes. Movies are made about them. Comic books about them are collected and saved and sold for obscene amounts of money. As kids, we all had our favorites. They do the impossible. They have powers we mere mortals don't have. X-ray vision. Super strength. The ability to fly. Capes. And to make them even more amazing, they have the coolest gadgets!

We have other kinds of superheroes that we look up to. Sports figures. Actors. Who doesn't want to play ball like Derek Jeter or look like Angelina Jolie? Who doesn't want to get paid their salaries? They also seem to do the impossible. They jump higher and run faster and appear on movie screens, saving the world. We mere mortals don't see how we can rise to that kind of excellence.

The thing is that each of us is called to excellence. We are all put together in a special way, each with our own gifts and talents and opportunities, unique to us. We are expected to use those gifts and talents and opportunities in excellence.

“For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Eph. 2:10

We have been created to do good works. God crafted us to be his hands and feet, to live his heart. Too often we go through our day, watching the news or reading the newspaper, thinking about how tragic situations are and then going back to our ball games and our entertainment without giving it a second thought. If we do think about it, it is to tell ourselves that we can't do anything about it.

What if we didn't? What if, each time we thought about how awful things are, we asked ourselves what part we might play in making things better? What if we thought about how to help children in that abusive home, or how to help restore some social justice, or how to comfort the hurting, and then we went and did it? What difference could we make in the world around us? What if we became the superheroes God created us to be?

Some of you are doing exactly this. One teacher friend of mine rocks babies in an orphanage in Haiti during her summer break. Another friend volunteers to help abused women understand the court system. Often she spends hours just listening to the hurts these women pour out. Some of you have garage sales to benefit those with nothing, and others mow lawns for elderly people who are struggling to keep and stay in their homes. Some of you see the need, and reach beyond your comfort zone to meet that need, all with the heart and love of Jesus.

Those of you who are doing these things are my heroes. You are living into the reality of who God created you to be, and what he created you for. You know the importance of prayer, but also the importance of action.

God knows you. He knows your limitations and your weaknesses and your financial situation. He knows what he created you to do. Shutting your eyes to the needs around you isn't it. Be a superhero. Be who you were created to be.