I spent 2 days a couple of weeks ago working on 13 superhero capes for Jacob's 4th birthday party (the little boy I nannied last year). I bought the supplies (broad cloth, felt, thread, elastic) and brought them all into my apartment--nothing magical about those supplies sitting in the bag. I measured each cape, cut out the pieces, hemmed the edges, gathered the top, added the tie and attached the crest (complete with a lightening bolt, at Jacob's request). After they were all ironed I hung them on hangers and moved on to making the masks. I traced the pattern, stitched the layers together, attached the elastic and cut out the eyeholes. I hung the masks on the hangers as well and stood back staring at my completed project. While the material I brought into my house looked drastically different now, there was nothing inherently magical about it.
The day of his party I carried those ordinary capes into Bekki's house and when each child put them on, a transformation happened. I saw it! Broadcloth and thread suddenly made them faster. The mask gave them saving powers and the combination of the mask and the cape gave each child the ability to fight off the super-villain. Dressed all in black, he showed up dumping bombs (aka: black balloons) all over the birthday party. After the 13 superheroes screamed and scared him off, he returned with kryptonite rocks!! Ahhhhhh!! Fear not, faithful reader--lest you forget that we had 13 real-life, super-fast, all-powerful superheroes present who quickly took the kryptonite rocks and placed them safely into the hazardous waste container with tongs (translation: used kitchen tongs to put them in a bowl). Despite the best efforts put forth by the super-villain, the party was saved.
And to think, just a couple of hours before, sans capes and masks, these 13 kiddos would have been at the mercy of the super-villain and all his antics?!?! The party was a success and at the end of the day, the kids felt like they had saved the party simply because they ascribed power to some simple broadcloth and felt.
I often look at biblical characters as though they are superheroes. I read between the lines and know that each person must have had their own bat-cave. In this wonderfully top-secret cave, they must of had many audiences with God where he assured them of the plan. In addition to the bat-cave they must have had a super sensitive sixth sense so they just knew when they were being deceived by the enemy. And clearly they had a bat signal that went off every time Satan reared his ugly head! Let's talk about this super-villain for a moment. He looks like the Joker--you can pick him out in a crowd from a mile away. He has no real power, he's just a narcissist that perceives he has power...right?!?! WRONG!!
These biblical "characters" aren't characters at all. The bible is not a comic book where the bad guys are always dressed in black, the damsel in distress is a helpless woman in white, and the hero always knows the outcome before it begins. Nope, not even close. The bible is TRUTH; it is a true story about people who really walked the earth. These same people had hopes and dreams of falling in love, family, children, success, Heaven--hey, those are the same dreams I have?!?! These people battled Satan--not a super-villain dressed in black from head to toe--Satan. A fallen angel who twisted the truth ever so slightly to pervert the word of God, who used the good things God gave them as a means of taking them down, and who disguised himself to blend in with everyone so his attack would hurt that much more. Hey, these are the same tricks he uses today!
If the people in the bible are superheroes, then so am I. But if the people of the bible were real people living real lives, muddling through the mess that sin has made this world, then so am I. They didn't need superhero capes to give them power, they needed only one thing--and it's the same thing I need today: faith. "Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see." Hebrews 11:1
Faith doesn't require a cape, a mask or any special equipment. It requires trust. Trust that the bible is true, trust that the Lord has more planned than we can ever imagine, trust that He really knows what's best and trust that the super-villain never really has the upper hand. Don't get me wrong, Satan has power--but it pales in comparison to the power of Christ!
Faith is a touchy thing...to non-Christians (and truthfully to some fellow Christians), I look crazy when I take a leap of faith, make decisions simply because they "feel right", and/or do things I don't want to do because "the Lord told me to" (quitting a job with nothing in the wings, tithing when the math does not work, getting married after 98 days, pursuing a friend that seems hopeless, taking a particular job, reconciling a past wrong, forgiving someone who hurt me, etc). But the truth is, faith is just as personal as my relationship with Christ. God didn't write a comic book with thought bubbles so everyone could be omniscient. God is writing LIFE and he speaks to me directly and individually--he has given me wonderful tools to guide my steps (the bible, pastors, friends, etc) but when push comes to shove He speaks to me. And my faith provides the confidence and assurance to hear those words even when I cannot see.
And what's more--because this is not a comic book--it is not just available to the characters on the page. The guidance, love, peace and eternal life that come through faith in Christ is available to EVERYONE who wants to receive it. This, my friend, is better than any comic book, fairy tale or chick-flick I have ever seen!!
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