When I was growing up, my favorite comic book hero was Superman. I dreamed a lot and thought that if were a superhero, I would want to be the Man of Steel. Why? For me it was because Superman could fly. I just think that would be the best superpower! Imagine not having to stand in an airport line ever again! If you want to travel far away, you just leap into the air and fly off. Not bad!

And of course, flying is just the start. There’s also incredible strength, invulnerability, x-ray vision, super breath, and super hearing, Am I forgetting anything? Powerwise, Supes had it all. Imagine being able to fight evil by flying to the rescue with every superpower in the arsenal like Superman. 

Plus only one weakness: kryptonite! 

Well, needless to say my daydreams didn’t pan out. As a grownup, I wear glasses—so I kind of resemble Clark Kent. But my lack of hair makes me more like Lex Luther than Superman (with his immaculate spit curl). Either way, I can’t fly and my powers are pretty ordinary.

Yet one thing you should know about your pastor is that I haven’t given up on heroes. Nowadays if I look for an action hero, I am liable to find one in the Bible. And if I were an action hero of the Bible, I would want to be David!

David couldn’t fly, and while he proved pretty handy with a sling, there was nothing about David that screamed “superhero.” His family didn’t think much of him, neither did the leaders of his community, and even Samuel the prophet regarded him as a runt. Yet young David stood up to the giant Goliath, who DID look like he had superpowers, and David won.

Did David have a superpower? He seemed the least among his brothers and a very ordinary young man. While David became a victorious military leader, a loyal supporter of King Saul, and a good friend to Jonathan (all of which are good Old Testament virtues), these were not superpowers.

The superpower that David did have is one that I resonate with: it was his strong relationship with God. David was “a man after God’s own heart.” THAT is an amazing superpower.

David’s faith in God (and God’s love for David) allowed David to accomplish extraordinary feats. He went from mild-mannered shepherd boy to king of Israel! That’s amazing, incredible, uncanny, and fantastic…but it’s probably not even the greatest thing that David accomplished. David ALSO wrote many of the psalms. He expressed his devotion to God in lyrics that have outlasted the music to which they were set; they have outlasted kingdoms and empires. David’s psalms preserve his action hero faith so that it still deepens and enriches prayer life and worship in our day! That’s what I call super faith!

It’s fun to imagine the figures represented in Scripture as contemporary action heroes. But it’s more than fun, it’s a fact. Their actions changed human history for the better and continue to inspire faith today. They show us what we really believe at Galilee: that ordinary people can be endowed with an extraordinary purpose—God’s purpose.

The best part about David’s superpower is that it can be our power, too, if we follow Christ and love God and our neighbors. I hope you take flight with that idea. I know I do. Up, up, and away!