Unbreakable and Comic Book Heroes

This morning as I was getting ready for the day, I got to watch a part of the movie Unbreakable. Released in 2000, it stars Bruce Willis who discovers that he has been given a gift of physical strength, and amazing sense of survival from tragedy, and intuition of evil lurking. He ends up embracing is role as a "comic book superhero" security guard. There is a lot more to the movie that I would suggest you see.

It kind of hit me this morning as I watched Bruce Willis' character coming to that realization that it was realized with humility. You ask anyone about their favorite comic book hero or what super power they would like to have and such a conversation or question is an invitation to be something beyond what we are. "Super powers" represent a desire for power or to be somebody we are not. Invincibility, strength, power ... what are we going to do with that other than separate ourselves from the rest of the pack?

How many of our comic book heroes embraced that life? I am not a fan of the comic book, but love the movies and in many of those movies, the characters felt burdened by such power, rejected for such ability, or unwillingly separated from community. Batman felt haunted. Superman wanted to lose his power to get married. The X-Men were considered mutant rejects. But beyond even that and those feelings ... they didn't ask for it. Even in the Bible, those we glorify as heroes never asked for it. What I appreciated in Bruce Willis' character was the humility of being the unbreakable man.

My point, or better yet question, is this: do we find our true strength and giftedness in God when we humble ourselves before God and embrace being the person we were created to be? What enables us to love our enemies, forgive those who have betrayed us, or serve those who may not believe in us? Humilty? Perhaps.

St. Bernard, the monk, not the dog, suggests that humility is “the virtue by which a man knowing himself as he truly is, abases himself.” To have the kind of self-confidence in who we are and integrity for what we are called to, humility is that characteristic that helps us temper our emotion and action toward another. but yet it also guides us in a path of living in a way that is even closer to God and the humanity that we live within. What's the possibility of being a hero right here where we are and as who we are?

He Is Not Here...

They saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed all in white. They were completely taken aback, astonished. He said, "Don't be afraid. I know you're looking for Jesus the Nazarene, the One they nailed on the cross. He's been raised up; he's here no longer. You can see for yourselves that the place is empty. Now--on your way. Tell his disciples and Peter that he is going on ahead of you to Galilee. You'll see him there, exactly as he said." (Mark 16:5-7)

He is in Galilee? Why would this be the first place Jesus went after his resurrection? Why, on the first day of his eternal life, did Jesus go first to Galilee? I am not sure what each of would have expected to hear if we went to the tomb that Easter morning. Though Jesus promised that death could not contain him, the message is he is not here. One might have thought that, upon being raised from the dead, Jesus would stride triumphantly back to Jerusalem. Imagine what a stirring sight that would have been!

"Pilate, you made a very big mistake," the risen Christ might have said as he strode triumphantly into the palace and confronted all of the important, political people. You know, like an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie as the buff Jesus is back. Or, he might have stood on the steps of the temple, addressing the crowd, chiding them for their fickleness and betrayal, showing himself to the multitudes. Jesus did none of that. Rather, he went on ahead of his own disciples, promising to meet them back in Galilee where Jesus’ story began: Galilee.

When we read our Bibles, we have to understand that names of people and names of places are not just titles, they have meaning for us. The very name of Jesus, also known as Joshua, has ties way back in our faith history and the name means “He will save his people.”

And same goes for location names. On the first day of the rest of eternity, on this first day of Easter making our lives, our connection to heaven, our connection to heaven forever real, the messenger says … he is not here … he is where? In Galilee, also known as Galil. Translated simply, “the region of the nations.” It was a place of great ethnic and racial diversity, but it was nothing until Jesus showed up. Jesus story begins there and almost his entire career lay within the bounds of this tiny region of the nations. It was a dusty, out of the way sort of place. Then Jesus came to Galilee, calling disciples. People began leaving their homes, walking off good paying jobs, trying to act like disciples. Jesus shook things up out in Galilee. About four-fifths of Jesus' ministry occurred out in Galilee. His ministry began, and now begins again, in Galilee.

And now he will meet them (his disciples) again in a rather ordinary place, a place where their discipleship began. Jesus had come out to where they lived, out to Galilee. They had met Jesus in Galilee. He had called them first to follow him in Galilee. They had attempted to be disciples mostly in Galilee. In Jerusalem, they had betrayed and deserted him. Now, back in Galilee, they must meet him again. What will he say to them about their betrayal? They won't know until they go back home, back to Galilee, until the risen Christ, who had gone on ahead of them, meets them.

The point of the Galilee name is that it speaks to us ... in our discipleship. Jesus is on the loose in these post Easter days and he is meeting us in the Galilee places ... regardless nationality or background ... in all of our ordinary places that we call home. He meets us, intersecting with our lives, with the opportunity for us to accept who we are (as he accepts us) and to tell others of his Resurrection in our lives.

That's My King

This Video was played yesterday at the fusion Easter service. There were some folks who wanted to see this again, please enjoy.

It's Spring Again!

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” (1 Peter 1:3, TNIV)

It is spring! Which means Easter (which we greatly anticipate this weekend), flowers (how beautiful they are this time of year), warmer weather (at least we hope in Illinois), butterflies (which we are raising in the education wing), and baseball! Funny thing is, I write this today on opening day in Major League Baseball yet I look out my window at the snow.

While I anticipate the sound of the cracking of bats and the pounding of gloves in anticipation that “next year is here” for the Chicago Cubs, baseball will consume my family this year. Andrew moves up to Farm League, Jacob continues Peanut League, and I will be coaching one league and volunteering in the other. The anticipation is high for both kids as they have been anticipating their first practices, planning their positions, and using every warm day since January to play out in the yard. I can’t help but have a little pride in them; after all I see my own competitiveness in them. But my hope every year that their own growth into becoming fundamentally sound ball players is victory enough.

Yet, it is spring and whether we are Cub fans or not, the newness of spring brings hope. Please know that when we talk about hope, especially that which comes from our faith in the resurrection, it is not an over-hyped, power-of-positive thinking kind of hope. But it is a hope that moves us to action and growth in our personal faith and witness. It is a hope that not only sustains in our hardest times and offers a new way from shame or regret, but it then leads us through the door of new life and into the lives of others. It is a living hope, I Peter tells us, suggesting that our hope is one that is at work in us daily where rebirth and renewal are moving us new ways of love and righteousness.

We all have flawed assumptions about the future. In a black and white world (win or lose world) there are flawed assumptions we make about relationships, family, careers, and even in our faith. Yet, when they do not work out we are left with regret, shame, or struggling with the notion of failure and begin to abandon a rose-colored vision for our future. But a living hope, picks us up and helps us move forward, seeing a set-back as growth or seeing a loss as a gain. We are never done growing! Though the cross may be seen as a loss or failure, the word “hope” appears 70 times in the New Testament after the resurrection. Did the people lose hope? No, they built a Church… they built a faith.

We will lose a lot of baseball games, we will have relationship struggles, we will make bad investments, but are we allowing hope to help us grow into another day or opportunity tomorrow? After all, I am a Cub fan and next year is here (though we have been saying that for 101 years)!