Saturday 7 November 2015

Avengers Assemble - Freedom, Faith and Friendship

The second film in our Film and Fatih series was Avengers Assemble. Here are some thoughts about some of the themes in the film. (Again, Spoiler Alert, obviously)

Not alone but part of something bigger

Individual Avengers only become effective as they learn to work together:
Loki: "What have I to fear?"
Tony Stark: "The Avengers. It's what we call ourselves, it's sort of like a team. Earth's mightiest heroes, that type of thing..."

Being a Christian means being part of an incredible team and learning to value and work with people who are different to us:
1 Corinthians 12: Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it... If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.



A God worth our worship

Loki demands submission but doesn’t deserve it:
Loki: Kneel before me. I said…KNEEL!!! [Scares the crowd into submission]
Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state? It is the unspoken truth of humanity that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power; for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel.
Old German Man: [stands up] Not to men like you.
Loki: There are no men like me.
Old German Man: There are always men like you.

Jesus deserves our worship because he has given himself for us:
Revelation 5:9: And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.

An unnecessary God?

The film suggests that humans are too complex and clever to be ruled. We don’t need gods:
The Other (in mid-credits scene): Humans. They are not the cowering wretches we were promised. They are unruly and therefore cannot be ruled. To challenge them…is to court death.

The bible tells us that our cleverness can sometimes blind us to our need for the real God:
Romans 1: For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images...

False gods and evil people can make us feel disillusioned but...
Romans 5:8: But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Natasha Romanoff: These guys come from legend. They're basically gods.

Steve Rogers: There's only one God, ma'am. And I'm pretty sure He doesn't dress like that.

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