May 6, 2018
Like many people, I have been watching the Marvel superhero movies in preparation for the release of The Avengers: Infinity War that came out this week. Anyone else?
If you’re a fan of superhero movies, you probably see the parallel story lines—the plot lines that these movies tend to follow. They’re great, but they follow the same basic storyline. If you’re not a superhero movie fan, let me sum it up for you the way someone on Facebook did this week:
There were people, and stuff, and things. And the people did stuff, with the things and the stuff. Oh, and there was peril…so much peril.
Does it make you want to go see them?
But seriously, as I’ve been watching these movies, I’m more and more struck by what they say about life, love, community and salvation. These are themes we in the church are interested in, so I’m always intrigued to see how movies speak to these themes.
Let me just give you one example. In the Guardians of the Galaxies movies, there’s a tree named Groot. Groot is a superhero tree because he can make his branches and limbs do whatever needs to be done to fight the bad guys and save the good guys. But Groot doesn’t say much. He really only ever says, “I am Groot.”
So Groot and his community discover that they have been especially called and equipped to show up in the world for the sake of justice. They work together to rescue the oppressed and take down the systems of power and evil that are harming innocent people. And all along, all Groot says is, “I am Groot.”
Now—if you know movies, you know that the story arcs towards a crisis that is the turning point, and then moves toward resolution. And at the height of this crisis, it seems like the bad guy might win.
Groot’s story is no different. The Guardians are in a ship that has been destroyed and they’re plummeting towards a planet—surely about to die. And there’s this moment where Groot looks around at his friends and a light of revelation goes on in his eyes. As he extends his branches around his team to form a protective nest, he says, “WE are Groot.” This nest he builds protects them, but destroys him. And that moment—when a character is willing to put his or her own life on the line for the sake of others—that moment is what changes the story. That moment is what makes them heroes. That moment is a moment of revelation for both the characters and the audience.
So you can see how, as I have been watching these movies, our Gospel readings from John have been taking on interesting depth. Last week we read about Jesus telling his disciples to abide in him, using imagery of vines and branches. Abiding means staying connected to the vine. It means allowing the Tree of Life to envelope you so you are safe when your ship is plummeting toward destruction. But we also heard that abiding is not an action to be done in isolation. We together, who have been called, gathered and sent by the Holy Spirit into the world with the good news of Jesus, are told to abide TOGETHER. That’s what is so powerful about Groot’s language going from “I am Groot” to “We are Groot.” This intense expression of love and self-sacrifice has to do with shifting from an ‘I’ to a ‘we.’ He does not exist in isolation, and he will give up his life for the sake of his community.
And then in today’s gospel reading we hear Jesus give a commandment to love one another. But he doesn’t stop there. He goes on to say what loving one another looks like: No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Jesus has said this to the disciples before. At the Last Supper, right after he washes their feet, Jesus says, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.” What is new about this commandment? The laws in Exodus include this commandment to love God and love neighbor. That’s not new. What’s new is what that love looks like…lay down your life for your friends. That wasn’t in the Law of Moses. So Jesus is saying something new here. Love the way he is talking about isn’t just kindness, respect, loyalty and honor. Love the way Jesus is talking is moving from an “I” priority to a “we” priority—being willing to lose the “I” for the sake of the “we.”
Now, some of you may hear that and say, “sure. Lay down your life for the sake of people who like you, who have your back and will face the fire with you. Done. Check.” But let’s keep reading. Who did Jesus refer to as friend? His disciples—who betrayed and abandoned him and really didn’t understand him most of the time. Who did Jesus refer to as friend? Who did he lay down his life for? The women and children pushed aside by society, the leper and those with crippling disease. Who did Jesus refer to as friend and lay down his life for? The centurion soldier who pierced his side and shoved a crown of thorns on his head and the criminals who deserved capital punishment. For Jesus, friends aren’t the people you like, who like you. “You are my friends if you do what I command you,” he says. And what did he command—remain in me. Remain in love.
Jesus’ followers were often the religious people. They were faithfully trying to live in obedience to the Law of Moses. But it seems clear that based on their understanding of the law and because of their deep communal memory of being slaves to various political powers through the years, they saw themselves as servants to God. “We’ll do what you tell us.” “We are not worthy.” “We grovel in your presence and beg for your mercy.” That’s servant/slave talk. And Jesus challenges that by saying, “I do not call you servants. I call you friends.” Why? Because a servant does not know what the master is doing.
We are friends because we know what God is doing. We know what God is doing—inviting us and all creation to abide in him as the psalmist today describes. We know what God is doing—healing pain, lifting up the down-trodden, expanding the vision of the beloved community like in Acts. We are not servants—blindly following orders. We are friends who know what it’s like to have someone lay down their life for us, because that is what Christ did for us on the cross.
In the Marvel Superhero movies, the band of heroes is not perfect. They hurt each other’s feelings, make mistakes, and struggle with their own insecurities. But often the difference between the good guys and bad guys is that the bad guys are following the rules of a supreme leader who has no grander vision than self-interest and self-protection. The good guys may not always get it right, but they fight side by side for the sake of a world beyond themselves. And they fight as equals, regardless of their differences.
Now, please hear me—I am not saying we should live like superheroes and I’m not saying superhero movies are as authoritative as the Bible. But I am saying that these stories that are connecting with so many people around the world are wrestling with these deep themes about humanity, good, evil, love and power that Jesus has something to say about. So they’re worth our reflection.
We as followers of Jesus may not be like Groot and be able to sacrifice our limbs and branches for the sake of others. But we can choose to lay down our right to be right and listen to the opinions of others without destroying them. We can lay down our thirst for power and privilege for the sake of equality. We can lay down our obsession with self-interest and self-protection for the sake of relationship and community.
In the reading from Acts, the Holy Spirit comes down on the Gentiles, and the Jewish faith community is faced with expanding their previously held convictions about who the ‘anointed’ or ‘chosen people’ are. They’re faced with laying down their lives—their right to be the exclusive chosen people of God—for the sake of others who have also experienced the Holy Spirit. Until that point they had been saying, “I am the chosen people of God,” and in that moment they are able to say “we are the chosen people of God.” In the reading from 1 John we read about the connection between obedience and faith, and that draws us back to the commandment from Jesus to love another as he has loved us. And how has he loved us? By expanding boundaries and embracing ALL people. How has he loved us? By calling us friends and by letting us in on the heart and desire of God. How has he loved us? By laying his life down for us.
Jesus showed us this kind of love not so that we would have great stories to share with each other, but so that we could show that kind of love to the world. This kind of love keeps us connected to one another in relationships that are mutually nourishing and life-giving. But it doesn’t stop there. When we are loving others the way Jesus loves and the way we’ve been loved, we will have opportunity to give our life for the sake of others. In big and small ways, we will see pain and respond to it. In big and small ways we will see injustice and respond to it. In big and small ways we will celebrate the way the Holy Spirit is transforming lives of even those not in our community and tradition, and we will expand our perspective to be open and welcoming. When we love others the way Jesus loves us, we abide in relationships and are deeply nourished by community.
So as you abide in Christ’s love, I pray that you will reach your arms around those who are struggling, whose ships are destroyed and worlds seem to be falling apart. I pray that we together will lay our lives down for the sake of the last, the lost, the least. And I pray that in response to God’s abounding love for us, we have the strength of character to lay our lives down to expand our sense of self from an “I am” to “We are.”
Amen.