Heroes are a part of the human experience. They motivate, stimulate, encourage, and provide role models. There's something about looking up to the one who did something that is so far beyond most everyone's reach or ability. "Wow! I could never do that!" we say.

All through the Olympics my wife and I joked about what we would look like if we tried to jump off the ski jump or leap into the air with skates on! It's remarkable what some people are able to do, and do it with grace and apparent ease. Can you do a back flip on a narrow beam of wood and leather? I still say it's impossible, even though I've seen it with my own eyes.

Some of that hero stuff was going on in the story we heard read this morning. Here's Moses, who's already a hero from leading the Hebrews out of Egypt. Now we see him, …