Heroes

Several weeks ago, the Sunday class I was leading, and I were walking through the book of Philippians (great read by the way). We got into a discussion about the difference between Celebrities (who we might have called Heroes when we were younger) and real Heroes. We discovered age has altered many things, including our perspective on Heroes.

The events of the last few weeks have led me to continue reflecting on some real, live, in the flesh, Heroes in my life that I have blessed me by "seeing how" they lived their lives.

You know my heroes as a kid were pretty cool....at the risk of dating myself I'll share a couple. One of my early favorites was SUPERMAN (the REAL Superman you know...faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, LOOK...up in the sky...its a bird, its a plane...its SUPERMAN!!!!....yeah, that one), Bob Gibson (still remember riding in the car and listening to that no hitter), Magic Johnson (the early years), Willis Reed (ok, I was a Knicks fan), and certainly I can't leave off the Lone Ranger (who was that masked man??). I dreamed about being a NBA basketball star, so many of those guys were, I thought, my heroes.

Well, a few years have passed...I'm a little older, a little wiser and a little grayer (why can't you get the wiser separate from the grayer...I really didn't want the combo pak). The lure of the NBA dream has long since faded...and besides, I really can't stand tattoos so I wouldn't have a chance. My heroes have transcended upwards, beyond the shallow outward trivialness of my youth, to people that have a "substance" beyond games or the big screen or the pursuits of folly that we sometimes find ourselves consumed by today.

Three weeks or so ago, we celebrated the going home of my Uncle Thurman. Uncle Thurman was a slight man, maybe 130 pounds soaking wet, with a great silver comb over (yep you can picture that can't you...not an imposing picture). But add a never ending infectous smile, a tremendous love for people and a passionate love for God and you get my Uncle Thurman. And, at his memorial service, hundreds and hundreds of people whose lives he had touched passed by...each changed by this man...each who would testify that Uncle Thurman was the "real deal". As one man said, "he went to the hardest and most difficult and just kept on loving them".

The week after was another celebration, not of the passing of a saint, but of the continuing life of a saint as we celebrated Grandpa Jack's 93rd birthday. As a little Baptist country preacher of 70+ years (and counting), his eye is dimmer, his steps are more feeble and his 5'6" frame is challenged each day to do the daily basics of life. But, the love of the Lord, the Word, family, and people still burns brightly...and his life is a testimony of service. Not service in great crusades or grand stadium events, but in little mission start ups, in homes, in hospitals, beside those who had lost loved ones, beside those who were struggling, beside those who just needed a word of encouragement. Always there, always pointing people in the Way.

This last weekend marked the 50th anniversary of my Mom and Dad. A Mom and Dad who have showed me what it means to be true to each other, to serve God faithfully, to do the right things in life, to cherish the things that are REALLY important. My Dad's favorite verse in the Bible has always been (long before you saw it at Lifeway) Joshua 24:15, "as for me and my house we will serve the LORD". And contrary to alot of folks that just put Joshua 24:15 on the mantle, they lived it...every day...every week.

I think that today, mixed in with the gray hairs, I have truly found my Real Heroes. Heroes...each of them...not overnight, not flash in the pan, not receiving great accolades or notoriety in this world...but "laying up treasures in Heaven", and providing life long examples for "future generations".

May we be Heroes such as these.

Blessed to be a blessing,

Tim