June 30

June 30, 2012

 

Every summer we are barraged with a plethora of blockbuster movies. One of the first to appear on the screen this year was "The Avengers." This movie is currently third on the all time box office grosses with 1.4 billion dollars. I can tell you the story line of this movie even without seeing it. All superhero movies basically have the same story line. The world is plunged into a crisis that threatens the very existence of the planet. The situation looks hopeless and the best of human efforts have failed. The police, the Army, the FBI and the Supreme Court can't stop the bad guys. Then, right at that moment, when all is about to be lost, suddenly from among the crowd some shouts, "Look up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's Superman!" The action figure changes in each movie but the outcome is the same. In the end hope is restored; the day is saved, and all of this happened in just the nick of time.  

 

In our reading of Isaiah earlier this week the news is terrible. The world is coming to an end for the nation of Israel. The Assyrians have come in and they are ravaging the land. The Assyrians make al-Qaeda look like a Baptist Sunday School picnic. They deliberately maimed and tortured their enemies. Just image living during this time and everything you have ever counted on for security is gone. Your family, your house, your job, your 401b plan, all of it is gone, forever. That is a hopeless situation.   

 

So how should a believer respond? Do we look up to the sky?  In Isaiah 11 we are told to look down, not up. In this case to look at the stump of the tree the Assyrians have just cut down. God is going to allow the bad guys to cut down the tree. But out of the stump God will send up a fresh new shoot to continue the life of the tree. This tender shoot will eventually grow to be a might branch. Notice the word "Branch" is capitalized. This is a clear picture of the coming superhero Messiah. Their superhero was predicted to come and rescue them. God told them to place their hope not in earthly governments but in Messiah and his eternal kingdom.

 

Just a few characteristics of the coming superhero "Messiah:"

 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him

The Spirit of wisdom and of understanding

The Spirit of counsel and of power

The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD…

with righteousness he will judge the needy; with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.

 

Even the untrained eye can see something significant in those verses. The "Spirit" is going to give the Messiah superhuman qualities. He will be able to establish justice in the universe, reverse the curse and defend the needs of the poor.

 

So what should we do as we see our world spiraling in a vortex of hopelessness? Invite the Messiah to live in our hearts, and then copy everything he did. This does not mean we become Messiahs, but that we "ACT" like our Messiah. In everything we do we invite the Holy Spirit to guide and empower us. We pursue justice. We defend the poor and perform acts of kindness for the weak. So don't wait for the bat signal to shine in the sky. Copy our superhero Messiah and become his representative today. Take 10 minutes right now and make a phone call, send a note of encouragement or send a message on Facebook. As we follow our true superhero, Messiah, we'll be committed to his mission.