The Gospel According to Marvel

I have spoken quite often about my fascination with movies, and other types of media, for their ability to put into words and images the things that we know to be true, either about ourselves or the world we live in.

I give these artists a ton of credit, because so many times as I have been watching a movie or listening to a song, I have found myself just overcome with emotion, and sometimes it has absolutely nothing to do with what is going on in the movie. Sometimes, I’ll just be watching a film and just cry for the heck of it. It’s like it just opens up the emotional floodgates, and we’re off to the races.

That being said, while Rodney is gone for the week he has invited me to come and launch our newest sermon series for the month of July, Reel Truth, in which we will be taking a look at some popular films from a theological perspective. July is the perfect month to do this, because there are so many great films coming out right now.

I was just at the movies yesterday watching the new Spider-Man film, because if you didn’t know, Spider-Man is my favorite. But while I was there I was amazed because I felt like I was back in the ‘90s for a minute there. They were promoting movies like Toy Story, Men In Black, Alladin, Child’s Play, and of course, here in a couple of weeks Emily and I are going to take our daughter Adeline to go and the new Lion King adaptation, because you know she was too young to go see Spider-Man but were about to traumatize her with the death of Mufasa.

Anyway, specifically, our Senior Pastor Rodney Frieden approached me a couple of months ago and said I want you to preach on fourth of July weekend, and I already have the topic picked out for you, and I was like, “Oh, cool, what is it?” There are a million and one things Rodney could have asked me to touch on today, but for some odd reason, what he really wanted me to talk to you about is the vastly popular, generational film Avengers: Endgame.

There has been a lot of hype built around this movie, and I was fortunate enough to go and watch it with several of our youth opening weekend. And I have to say that it was worth every bit of hype. And for those of you who could care less about a bunch of men and women in tights with super powers, I want to help you understand what I mean by saying that it is a generational film.

This film is the dramatic conclusion to nearly eleven years of films which started all the way back in 2008 with the first Iron Man movie. To put that into perspective for you, when this whole shin-dig started, I was eighteen days away from becoming a teenager. That’s right when this whole storyline started, I was twelve years old!

Similar to the way in which this film, and it’s immediate predecessor Infinity War, which came out last year, is the climax to this eleven year old storyline, so the various Gospels written about Jesus were the climax to the Biblical Story.

That’s why today, by taking a look at these past two films, I am going to be presenting you with the Gospel According to Marvel.

Any sort of presentation of ‘good news’ has to begin with an understanding of why one might need ‘good news’ in the first place. In the Christian life, it begins with the understanding that there are forces in this world whose sole desire is to destroy us by attempting to turn us away from the love of God.

In the world of the Avengers, these forces are collective in the person of the big, purple baddie named Thanos. For those of you who are unfamiliar, Thanos comes from another planet that was destroyed by overpopulation. His sole desire is to be able to look out on a “grateful universe” after he saves them from suffering the same fate that his people did. What exactly is his plan to “save” the universe, you may be asking?

Well, Thanos is planning on finding 6 magical stones called “Infinity Stones” which, when used together, allow him to do virtually anything his heart desires with the snap of a finger. Thanos plans to use these stones and, at random, make half of the universes population disappear as if they had never existed at all. In other words, Thanos wants to play God and receive the glory that God alone deserves.

This is the story of our universe as well, as the chief sin of the great enemy of God, what the biblical narrative refers to as ‘the satan,’ or Satan (which just means ‘adversary’ by the way), the chief sin of this great enemy is an attempt to be God.

Little did Thanos know about earth’s mightiest heroes, the Avengers, who were willing to do whatever it takes to spoil his plan, the stories of whom we had been learning about for more than a decade through previous films. This is in alignment with the story of God as well, as we read throughout the Old Testament the stories of the heroes of the faith who carried forth God’s plan and purpose.

(Explanation of Problem)

Now, in the films, just like in real life, it came to the point in which evil appeared to have the upper hand. It seemed as if the breath of hope had been squeezed out of the world. At that point, a crucial moment in the films occur, and it is one of my very favorites, let’s take a look:

(Show Clip of Doctor Strange ‘One’)

If you didn’t catch that, Doctor Strange, the one with the strange green orb around his neck glanced into the future at all possible outcomes in their battles with Thanos. He looked at over 14 million possible outcomes, and how many do we win? One.

This is consistent with the character of God as revealed to us through Scripture, says:

Isaiah 40:28 CSB

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the whole earth. He never becomes faint or weary; there is no limit to his understanding.

Isaiah 40:2

Whenever the Bible talks about God’s understanding, they use a word which means to have an intimate knowledge of something. The knowledge that is equivalent with actually being there. And this verse says that there is no limit to God’s understanding.

In other words, God intimately knows everything that you have ever done, thought, or said, and everything that you might ever think, do, or say and He still chooses to love you anyway. The Scriptures say that God has a plan for our lives, and I think a lot of times when we hear that it can go one of two ways. Either we are really hopeful that the next chapter of our life is going to be our best chapter, or we are really distraught because we think that whatever terrible things that might have happened or are going to happen to us were known by God. But I think this scene from the Avengers really can help us understand what God is like, because God acts in very much the same manner. God can see every possible outcome, and He knows which ones lead to the ultimate plan that He has for us, which is close intimate relationship with Him, and He knows that there are how many ways to get there?

How many do we “win?” One.

And that is through the victory that comes in Christ Jesus.

Therefore, our first stop in the Gospel According to Marvel is coming to the acknowledgment that God knows every possible outcome, and there is only one way to “win.”

But that doesn’t stop us from seeking alternative ways to “win,” does it?

Listen, I don’t know whose toes I’m about to step on here, but don’t blame me, blame the Holy Spirit because He is telling me that somebody here is trying way to hard to play the hero for themselves or their families by attempting to sacrifice themselves on the altar of work, of doing more, of being more because they are afraid that there just isn’t enough, that they just aren’t enough, but God sees you, He knows you, He wants you to know that you are enough, and that there is only one way to win, and it ain’t because of you. This world keeps on moving even if you cease to.

Alright, that brings us back into the story of the Avengers, because in many ways that is the same exact thing that so many of them try to do. Several of them believe that sacrificing themselves is the only way that they can truly save the world, but every single time they tried, they failed, miserably.

The most notable of which coming when one of the Avengers, named the Vision, decided that he would be willing to remove the stone from his forehead, one of the stones that Thanos was looking for I might add, which is the source of all his power, to keep Thanos from getting it. This would, in turn kill him, but that was a sacrifice he was willing to make.

Of course, Thanos shows up, takes the stone anyway and then had everything that he needed to fulfill his great plan of eradicating half of all living creatures.

And so he does it. In a single snap. Half of the worlds population vanishes. You can call it whatever you want, ‘Snap Friday,’ the ‘Snapture,’ but the point is that this moment in cinematic history holds the heaviness of the day in which Christ our Lord was crucified. In that moment, it was if time had stood still, and it seemed like darkness had finally won.

This is precisely how last years film ended, and therefore we were left to wait for an entire year to see what, if anything, the remaining Avengers could do.

And so, the film ends with a disturbing sense of incompleteness that echoes our souls deep longing for resolve.  The reason why this blockbuster resonated (and infuriated) so many people is because it brings to the surface our own unmet desire for there to be resolution in our world.  We long for the wrongs to be made right.  We long for justice to triumph and mercy to reign.  We hesitantly but truthfully realize that no matter how strong or heroic we are, we are not capable of solving the world’s problems (or even our own problems) alone.  We need a savior who is both willing and worthy to give of their own lives to defeat evil and secure peace and freedom.

In the moment of waiting for the next film to roll around, some Marvel fans remembered a statement that was made earlier in the film just after Doctor Strange had said there was only one way we could win, the statement was as simple as this: “this is the only way.”

And that’s because there is only one who can save us.

In the Marvel Universe, this one is Tony Stark, or as he is better known, Iron Man. Upon a moment of resurrection for those who had vanished at the end of the first film the second film ends with a nearly one hour long battle which culminates in Iron Man stealing the six magical stones away from Thanos and with a snap destroying the forces of evil. In turn, the power of these six stones also killed Tony, the only way was for the man who was worthy and willing to sacrifice his life to defeat evil and darkness.

In our lives, this is where Jesus enters the scene.  As a being who is fully God and fully man who lived a sinless life, He alone is exempt from the death and separation from God which are the consequences of sin.  This makes him uniquely qualified as the only person who is worthy to sacrifice himself and trade his life for the lives of others.  However, worthiness is not the only requirement to trade your life for others.  You also must be willing.

Thankfully, Jesus is willing.  He surrenders himself and He willingly gives up His life.  It is not forced from Him or taken from Him, it is given.  Jesus could have commanded angels to come and rescue Him from the cross or He could have used His power to destroy His enemies and save Himself, but He did not.  He willingly gave of His life so that every human being who ever lived would have possible access to freedom and true life.

In the book of Romans chapter 5, the Apostle Paul talks about the fact that the obedience and grace of the “one man” Jesus Christ is able to make all people righteous because of His worthy and willing sacrifice. He states, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly” ().  He traded his own life for ours.

And friends, that is the good news of the Gospel, as revealed by Marvel, as revealed by our Holy Scriptures, the Greatest Story Ever Told.

So, let this comic book film (which I obviously take way too seriously) be an inspiration for you to embrace the life that you live and hold on to hope.  All may look lost but the story isn’t over yet.  There is a hero who is worthy and willing to redeem us all. I do not know how the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is going to play out, but I do know how our story ends. There is victory, hope and triumph.  And I pray that you might hold on to that hope in the one true hero and allow even comic book, movie film theology to point you towards ultimate truth.

I do not know how the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is going to play out, but I do know how our story ends.

So, in the words of Stan Lee, the creator of the Marvel Universe, Exelsior, and in the words of the church, Amen.

Let’s pray.