Monday, February 22, 2010

It Only Takes A Moment

I didn’t like the movie, Wall-E. Don’t want to talk about all the reasons why, today. Instead, I want to talk about what I LIKE about the film. And I promise, it will only take a moment.

In Wall-E, the main character, a robot, longs for love and affection. The plot line runs on the theme of his finding first love in a robot, Eve. He finds her, he meets her, he pursues her. He longs for connection in a barren wasteland of garbage. She represents hope; she represents the intimacy he needs.

You see Wall-E, a merely-functional, garbage-collecting, rust-laden servant of the planet, understands the matters of the heart. Like the proverbial Tin Man of Oz, he may be made of metal but his bosom is alive with passion, sympathy and spirit. Wall-E watches excerpts of Hello Dolly with the best Cornelius ever, Michael Crawford, and his heart melts. He swoons with the schmaltzy sentiment of the lyrics.....

“It only takes a moment
For your eyes to meet and then
Your heart knows in a moment
You will never be alone again”

Wall-E longs to never be alone. Do you know what that’s like? Do you remember it? Do you long for that even now?

“It only takes a moment
To be loved a whole life long...”

Do you think that’s true? I do! People who are looking for that kind of love show up at church. They do. Sometimes in the midst of the emptiness, the leftovers of life gone awry, they go seeking.... and WE are to be the hands and feet of Jesus to them.

It is so important that we not remove relationship from our midst. It is the only way Jesus works. And it only takes a moment. Take a moment with Jesus each day. Receive the fullness of His love for you. Take a moment to touch the hem of His cloak. Receive His healing. Then, eyeball to eyeball, ear to ear share that good news with others. We meet needs by touching others, hearing them and holding them up when the storm comes. Are you like that? Are you in a church like that? Do you know what that is?

I mourn the day that we have synthesized our faith to such an extent that we can no longer take a moment to dwell with others. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, isn’t it the least we can do? I mourn the loss the Body of Christ suffers when we amputate the voice of God with a substitute. Are we approaching the days when mankind will be so plugged-in they can not reach out and touch someone? My friend shares her thoughts on this topic here and if you can’t track with me, watch Wall-E and you’ll understand what I DON'T like about the movie.

It only takes a moment to pray for your pastor, your church and your believing friends. Pray that we would not miss life-giving opportunities in our tin can lives in our tin can world. I’ll close with a line from movie I love, “Now I know I have a heart, ‘cause it’s breaking....”

4 comments:

Unknown said...

And while we pray that we would not miss life-giving opportunities, pray also that we WOULD miss REAL connections between believers!

I SO get this!!

Michelle said...

Hi Shirin! How are you?

This particular movie didn't pique my interest either, so I haven't watched it to this day. I can't, therefore, comment on the movie and how it relates to the topic on your post; but I was quite intrigued to learn about a growing trend (according to Yuen Den) where churches use gymnasiums to broadcast the sermon. Personally speaking, church is so much more than that. The church we're attending now is rather humble in appearance, devoid of high-tech gadgets, but it's the people who come together each week that make it truly a place of worship. Not to mention a very devoted priest who works tirelessly to serve his flock.

This is the first time I've heard about church(es) broadcasting televised sermons. Out of curiousity, where is this happening?

Shirin said...

Hi Michelle,

Here are 2 churches that use this model of "doing church".

http://thewellcommunity.org/campuses

http://www.woodmenvalley.org/index.cfm/PageID/859/index.html

In theory, it seems like it would enable the Body of Christ to focus on each other on any given Sunday, but instead it feels like you are going to a show. You can turn on TV for that. And some people do. I've heard of people doing Bible studies on-line, not unlike taking a distance learning course as you might for college. Not altogether a bad thing, but it can become a substitute for community and lead to isolation.

In Catholicism your elevation of the priest as a conduit of Christ in community should prevent any such trend occurring. At least I hope so.

Unknown said...

We have a friend who told us that also there is a growing trend to watch the pastors' sermons in a theatre! Like watching a MOVIE!