Dear friends in Christ: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Prepare our hearts, Lord, to receive your Word. Silence in us any voice but your own that in hearing we may believe and in believing we may obey your will revealed to us in Jesus Christ. Amen.
Depending on who and what you read, the two most recognizable symbols in the world are the cross of Jesus…and the S on Superman’s chest. I’ve also learned that, as it has been with The Son of Man, so it is with The Man of Steel—university courses are being taught, and doctoral theses are being defended about this comic-book-caped crusader!
So here’s a little “knowledge test” for you.
Test question #1: Does anyone know what inspired the Superman story?
Superman’s creator, Jerry Siegel, was young when his father, Mitchell Siegel, was murdered in a robbery attempt at his New York City clothing store in 1932. Many people speculate that Jerry created the superhero crime fighter as a result of the pain that he felt from that tragic incident.
Test question #2: What special powers does Superman have?
▪ Faster than a speeding bullet
▪ Stronger than a locomotive
▪ Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound
▪ X-ray vision…
Now here’s a bonus question to take it a step further:
Do you see any similarities between Superman/Clark Kent…and Jesus?
▪ they always fight for the underdog
▪ they help people who are in need
▪ they are pure of heart
▪ they are modest and honest
▪ they are brave and true blue
Plus…they both have that x-ray vision thing working: the unnerving ability to look right through an assortment of barriers and see the truth that is hidden away. The difference is that Superman can only see through physical barriers, while Jesus can see into the very heart of a person.
Don’t take my word for it…in our lesson from Hebrews we’re told that God’s Word is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart (4:12). And not only that, but the very next verse makes it that much more concrete—before God, no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the One to whom we must render an account (Hebrews 4:13).
Wow! That evokes images of the whole Garden of Eden experience. In the beginning, the man and woman are at peace in the presence of God, content with life, and untroubled with being naked to the world spiritually and physically. But after they rebel against God’s will; their eyes are opened; their innocence is gone; and their nakedness is revealed… spiritually and physically. They quickly do two things to hide their sin:
Both are tragically beautiful displays of our continued frail attempts to cover our sin and hide from God.
Now let’s turn to the Gospel lesson to see how Jesus puts his x-ray vision to work on a rich man who is truly searching for God’s promise. He asks the Lord, How can I be assured of my salvation? That’s easy, says Jesus, you know the commandments…and then he lists off a few.
But that doesn’t help, because the man is sure that he’s been living by God’s Word since he was a child. Now, I’m guessing, but I think Jesus believed him—you know how quick the Lord was to skewer those with a false piety—but here we’re told that Jesus, looking at the man, loved him…(21). He turned his x-ray vision on this child of God, examined his heart, and saw there a kindred spirit who truly was seeking first the kingdom of God.
…unfortunately, Jesus also saw that the man had a problem with his heart—something was blocking the flow of life-blood, or love, to and through his heart, to and through the man’s spirit. It was a life-threatening condition that was slowly hardening his heart, steadily killing his spirit, and persistently preventing him from perceiving a pure sense of peace.
Guided by his x-ray vision, Jesus opens his mouth and speaks just a few words of truth…that cut through the man’s chest and directly to his heart. Sharper than any two-edged sword, than any finely honed razor, than any surgeon’s scalpel, Jesus’ words (v. 21) isolate the man’s heart disease…and promise him a brand-new lease on life—an end to his anguish, a stop to his searching, a way for him to live in God’s peace and love and hope.
Sell what you own, and give the money to the poor…
then you will have treasure in heaven…and come, follow me!
So, what was it that was causing this man’s heart condition?
The truth is that his great wealth…was his god. It’s no accident that the very first commandment God gave to us directly addresses the treasure that we hold most dear in our hearts. Says the Holy One of Heaven: I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods!
The author C. S. Lewis wrote a fantasy series entitled The Chronicles of Narnia. In it, animals talk, magic abounds, and a Christ-figure blesses their world in the form of a wise and noble lion named Aslan.
In his book, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, we meet a not-very-likeable boy named Eustace, who one day finds himself in a terrible predicament. Foolishly wandering off alone on a strange island, Eustace comes across a dead dragon and its abandoned cave.
Do any of you young people know what he found inside? Treasure! Piles of gold, and silver, and jewels! And with no dragon to fight for it, Eustace claims it for himself!
But then, he gets in terrible trouble…Who can explain what happens?
Because of his greed, Eustace, himself, turns into a dragon…and he quickly discovers that, even though he’s filthy rich in treasure, he’s terribly poor in friends…Worse yet, there’s nothing he can do to escape from his sad, scaly, suffering sentence. In fact, NOTHING can save him…nothing but the surgically sharp claws of that Christ-like lion called Aslan.
When the two finally meet, Aslan bares his claw and repeatedly scrapes down the scaly skin of this dragon-who-only-wants-to-be-a-boy. Layer after layer of his snake-like skin is painfully peeled away…it hurts, but the boy persists. Finally, when his scales of greed are gone for good, the lion carries the boy to a crystal clear pool of water, plunges him into its cold, clean depths… then pulls him out…to a brand-new start in life.
The Lion is not a judge who finds fault with our failures, nor does he condemn us for constantly craving what we can never control. Instead—and miracle of miracles—he is, says the Apostle Paul, a High Priest who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses.
This is the Good News: Jesus looks at all of us with his x-ray vision—SEES us as we truly are, exposed in all our sin—and LOVES us, FORGIVES us, and GIVES us new life...again, and again, and again! Thanks be to God. Amen.
Pastor Scott Fuller