Ultimate Sci-fi Fan

In 1902, a French illusionist and actor by the name of Georges Melias put together one of the most ambitious and imaginative works in the 20th century. The ability to capture moving images of people on film was quite young… most film historians point to 1892 as the year that the first real motion picture with the ability to view it as an audience as the time when film was created. And Melias, this French Illusionist, had been ensnared by what this new technology had to offer.

With innovative and creative concepts such as film splicing, time-lapse, and even hand-painted frames on the film… Melias brought a dream of an illusion to life, “Le Voyage dans la lune” (Voyage to the moon.) It was the first sci-fi movie of all time… and it was an international success. Even by the end of the century, this 1902 film was included in the top 100 films of the 20thcentury.

While the length of the film and the remarkable illusions that Melias had incorporated to bring his audience from earth to the lunar service were impressive… what caught the attention of the international community as much as anything was that this film was a dream about space suddenly realized before their eyes. For eons, humankind has looked up into the stars and have wondered what it might hold… but with this film, suddenly something that previously could only be imagined seemed like a possibility. Humankind… landing on the moon… exploring that lunar terrain… encountering the bizarre species on the moon. It was a dream… but that the world could suddenly have together.

64 years later, Star Trek leaned into that dream once more. In the height of the Cold War, Star Trek offered the dream not only of space… but of a starship crewed by Americans and Russians alike. In the height Civil Rights era, Star Trek offered the dream not only of space… but of a starship crewed by people of many differently hued skins.

When we look to space, we dream of what might be. We dream of the horizons beyond the places we are in… beyond the scope of the realities that we face. And in those horizons, we can see possibility for both challenge and significant hope.

In our reading from Genesis, God pulls Abram aside and has him look to the stars; look to the horizons beyond where he was. As Abram heard the promise from God that God would create many nations from him and his old wife… he just can’t fathom that possibility becoming reality.

He looked at himself and he saw aged flesh… 100 years old scriptures tells us… that’s a bit beyond the standard age for child rearing. And Sarai… well… she’s no spring chick either. She had walked the earth for 90 years by the time God gave this promise. As Abram looks around… he sees all the reasons why God’s promise is impossible to be fulfilled. Abram is so convinced that he and Sarai are beyond the child-rearing age that Abram even tries to give God a way out on this promise. “Just in case you didn’t notice, God… I don’t actually have any kids of my own. But maybe you can still fulfill that promise through one of the servants in my household.”

And again God adds emphasis to his promise… “No Abram, I’m not fulfilling my promise through your servant. I’m fulfilling it through your own flesh.” And before Abram can respond, God points him to the stars and tells him to imagine beyond what he can see… he tells Abram to imagine beyond what he thinks he knows.

Now, I don’t think, as God points Abram to the stars, that God expects the vision that Abram has will be spot on correct. To be honest, I don’t think it matters if Abram gets it right. God’s fulfillment of God’s promise doesn’t hinge on whether or not Abram gets all the details right. In fact, I would argue that the fulfillment of God’s promise doesn’t hinge on whether or not Abram even believes that promise is possible. Whether or not Abram buys into the whole deal, God can still make it happen. And yet, even though it doesn’t hinge on Abram… God still works to inspire the possibility for the future in that old, weathered man. God still points him to the stars and tells him to dream.

I like to think of God as the first Sci-fi fan. I suspect that this is in part because I’m a sci-fi fan myself… but I still think its true. God points us to the unknown and tells us to dream of what is beyond our current predicaments. God calls us, amid sorrow and frustration… doubt and despair… to look to the future with an optimistic perspective. God beckons us to imagine a creation where the woes of today are no more. And it’s not that we have to get all the details right. Nor do we even need to buy into the possibility of it all coming to pass. But looking to the future where God’s work of transforming the impossibilities of life today into something that is possible… that’s significant.

In 1902, the world dreamed together through a 15-minute film that told the story of 5 people travelling to space in a rocket ship and landing on the moon. In 1969, Neil Armstrong took one small step for man and one giant leap for humankind.

If we can do that… imagine what God can do.

2,000 years before Christ, Abram and Sarai were told from them many nations would be formed. Today, there are approximately 15 million Jews, 2.2 billion Christians, and 1.8 billion Muslims… all of whom look to Abram and Sarai within our traditions.

It’s time to dream together. It’s time to look to what God might make possible… even when we can’t see how it could ever happen. Let us dream. And let us lean into those dreams. Questions: Have you ever had the experience of looking up at a sky full of stars? What was it like? What thoughts or feelings did it evoke?

What do you notice in this image? What thoughts or feelings does it evoke?

What would your dream be for our world?

What would your dream be for our church?

How might we lean into those dreams?