The world lost two heroes last week. They were both national celebrities and they both stood the test of time. They both were recognizable by people of all ages, from all races, from all economic backgrounds, and everybody knew exactly what they stood for.

In a world that has a shortage of heroes, we lost two more last week.

One was a hero in every since of the word. He was a war hero; flying bombing missions in a B-17 defending our country against the Nazi regime.

When the war was over this All-American soldier came home to coach America’s team in the All-American sport of football.

For decades he lead the Dallas Cowboys to over 300 victories in the National Football League, and he won two NFL championships, and for twenty straight years, he led his team to winning seasons.

He paced the sidelines in his trademark tweed hat and stood as a symbol of leadership and Christian commitment. He was viewed as one of the good guys on the field and off. He was devoted to his players, his family, and his Methodist church.

He was a success in the military, on the football field, and at home.

Last week Tom Landry died at age 77 of leukemia.

Tom and all that he stood for will be greatly missed.

The other hero lived a different life. Since 1950 we have watched him struggle. We have seen all the trials and mishaps that he encountered during his life.

Every day we watched as his tried and tried to succeed, and everyday we watched him fail. Everyday we watched as he fell just a little short.

We watched as his friends laughed at his expense and exploited his shortcomings, and sometimes, we laughed at him too.

He was short, unathletic, and suffered insecurities

He was a failure in athletics, social situations, and in flying kites.

But despite all of his failures, he was loved by millions.

Last Sunday, we said goodbye to Charlie Brown and the rest of the Peanuts gang after fifty years of teaching us about life from the Funny Pages.

Charlie and all that he went through will be greatly missed.

We indeed lost two great heroes last week, and they will both be greatly missed. But if Tom Landry was the symbol of success, Charlie Brown was the symbol of failure.

Have you ever thought about the fact that Charlie failed at just about everything he did? Of the 50 years that he graced thousands of newspapers, can you remember one time that he was successful?

Charlie’s failures even made it into our daily speech. Whenever my father would mess up when he was doing something or he made a mistake, he would always say "Charlie Brown".

Can you remember just one time when Charlie was the hero and not the goat? Can you remember one time when Charlie told the joke instead of being the punch-line of one?

Our history is full of heroes, people who we have immortalized due to their amazing feats and accomplishments. People who we look up to and wish that we could be like them, but Charlie Brown does not fit the bill of the typical American hero.

He wasn’t a war hero or a famous sports figure like Tom Landry was. He didn’t find the cure for some disease or negotiate some peace in a far away land. He didn’t write a timeless novel or wear the white hat in a movie.

In fact, every quality that we associate with being a hero, Charlie Brown didn’t have.

In October of 1950, the world was introduced to Charlie Brown. Nine papers that day saw Lucy talking to friend as Charlie Brown started to walk toward them.

Lucy said, ‘here comes that Charlie Brown, good old Charlie Brown’, and as soon as Charlie walked by she said, ‘Oh, how I hate him’.

From day one we caught a glimpse of the problems that Charlie would face.

From that day on, things never seemed to go to well for our friend Charlie Brown.

No matter how hard he tried, he never seemed to be able to fly a kite. Even on a perfect day, with the perfect wind, the kite would always find its way into a tree.

He never seemed to be able to get the attention and win the heart of that mysterious red-headed girl that we heard so much about.

His dog Snoopy was more successful and loved by more people than Charlie was.

And it seemed every time the game was on the line, he would give up a homerun to lose the game or it would rain and he was left standing on the mound in defeat.

And he never, ever was able to kick the football before Lucy would pull it out from under him.

We would think that after 50 years, after half a century of trying and failing, he would give up.

We would think that after a while, he would figure it out, throw his hands up, and quit.

We think that because that is what we would do. Many times we throw our hands up in defeat after just five minutes, let alone 50 years.

If we kept flying our kite into the trees, we would stop flying kites all together.

If we kept losing baseball games, we would take up golf.

If we kept kicking air instead of the football we would kick Lucy.

If we never could get the attention of the red-headed girl, we would go after the blonde.

But Charlie Brown didn’t. Even though he failed again, and again he never gave up, he never threw his hands up in defeat, he was always back the next day giving it his best shot. Although the odds were always against him, he always drove forward.

And that is why he is a hero.

That is why we are sad to see him go.

Saint Paul and Charlie Brown had a lot in common. Now I don’t mean that they both wore yellow t-shirts with a black zig zag on it, or that they both owned a dog that thought he was the red baron, and I don’t mean that Saint Paul had a crush on a red-headed girl, but they both handled their struggles in the same manner.

And the more I think about it, we all have something in common with Charlie Brown and Saint Paul!

Saint Paul never hid from us the fact that he wasn’t perfect. In fact, on one occasion he described himself as the ‘chief of all sinners’!

He wrote in his letters the struggles that he had with sin, and how they plagued him so much. He writes how he tries to do what is right and live the life that God wants him to live, but that sometimes he just misses the mark.

Much like Charlie Brown missing the football and flying his kite into the trees.

Just like us, many times missing the mark, flying our kites into the trees, having our ball pulled out from under us; failing to love one another, failing to live the life that we know is pleasing to God.

Saint Paul wrote to the church at Phillipi and expressed how much he wanted to know X and the power the his resurrection,

Much like how Charlie Brown wanted to kick the ball, pitch the perfect game, and get the girl, he wanted it so badly.

Much like how we want to do everything right, just like how we want be successful, exactly like how we desire to know God.

But Saint Paul knew that he had yet to fully know X and the power of the resurrection and he knew that he wasn’t perfect and that he struggled daily with all kinds of sin.

Much like how Charlie Brown knew that he had yet to do all the things he wanted to do.

Just like how we have yet to achieve our goals, especially our spiritual goals, where we desire to see God, to hear God, to feel God, and to know God.

Even though he tried and tried and still came up short, Saint Paul knew that the only way to get where he wanted to go, was to keep striving for it.

He knew that the only way to obtain his goal was to forget all the times that he had failed and keep his eye on the prize and never stop.

Because he knew that if he gave up then and threw his hands up in defeat, he would never fully know X and the power of his resurrection.

He knew that if he kept dwelling on all those times in which he failed and came up short, all of those times where his weaknesses and insecurities shined through that he would never, ever achieve the prize that he desperately wanted.

Charlie Brown knew this, he knew that the only way to kick the football was to go out there and try it.

He knew that the only way to keep the kite out of the trees was to try to fly it straight.

He knew that only way to get the attention of the red-headed girl was to make an attempt.

He knew that in order for him to win the game, he would have to risk defeat, and chants of "blockhead" and throw the ball.

We will have to do the same thing.

Although we may fail time and time again and continue to fall up short, we will never claim our prize if we give up, if we quit.

Whatever our goals may be, whether it’s spending more time in prayer, service to the church, a successful marriage, being good parents or grandparents, or simply facing each day, we can do it.

It will not be easy, we will be attacked by our shortcomings and weaknesses, but we must press on.

We must make a decision to strive forward and forget the past. We must forget all the times we failed or all the wrongs we have done and instead keep our eyes of the prize, the heavenward call of Christ Jesus.

When I played football, the one phrase that I can still hear ringing in my ears, is "sky your eyes, sky your eyes".

The coaches would tell us this every single day, because the only to keep from breaking your neck in the contact of football is to keep your head up.

The worst injuries due to football contact occur when the player’s head is down.

So for us to survive, literally, we had to sky our eyes, to keep looking up.

The only way for us to survive, to make it through each day is to sky our eyes, to keep looking at the goal, and no matter how many times we fall, we must pick ourselves up and go for it again.

We aren’t in this by ourselves. God is with us each step of the way, helping us to move forward, comforting us when we fail, encouraging us to move heavenward as he did with Saint Paul.

In the final comic strip of Peanuts, many people were disappointed. For you see, Charlie Brown didn’t get to kick the ball, his kite didn’t escape the trees, the girl still doesn’t know his name, and the sun didn’t shine on the pitcher’s mound.

But it didn’t have to. Because the victory is in perseverance, the victory is in faith, the victory is forgetting what is behind and straining to what is ahead; the prize for which God has called us heavenward in Christ Jesus.

You’re a good man Charlie Brown.

You’re a good man.

In the name of the Father,

And the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.