Which superpower would you choose?

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,  where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.

The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.’

Jesus answered, ‘It is written: “Man shall not live on bread alone.”

The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.  And he said to him, ‘I will give you all their authority and splendour; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to.  If you worship me, it will all be yours.’

Jesus answered, ‘It is written: “Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.”

The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. ‘If you are the Son of God,’ he said, ‘throw yourself down from here. For it is written:

‘“He will command his angels concerning you
    to guard you carefully;
they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”

 Jesus answered, ‘It is said: “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”

When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.

Luke 4. 1-13 New International Version

One of my favourite children’s films is ‘The Incredibles’, a cartoon which tells the story of a family who all have superpowers, but who have to pretend to be ordinary to fit in with society. Mr Incredible has superhuman strength, mum - aka Elastigirl - is fantastically stretchy, Violet can make herself invisible, Dash runs fast and the baby, Jack-Jack, can shape-shift and occasionally bursts into flames.

Children and even adults long for superpowers which would help them to escape from the limitations of being human!

And this is exactly what the devil offers Jesus in this story: the ability to magically turn stones into bread; the power and glory of earthly authority; and finally the power of protection from physical danger - from the limitations of his earthly body.

With these superpowers, Jesus could surely not only save himself but also the world, in true superhero style. But this would have been a contradiction of everything that Jesus set out to do by coming to earth as a human baby. Jesus knew that truly saving the world cannot be accomplished in this way.

The storyline of The Incredibles and other superhero stories – Batman,  Spiderman, and all the others – depends on the use of violence and power to beat violence and power – and it is always only temporary. Sooner or later, the world needs saving again, as evil reappears in a different form.

It is necessary sometimes, to confront violence with violence, something we can see in the current war in Ukraine. But ultimate victory over evil and violence can only be accomplished by transcending the rules of this particular game.

Jesus saved the world for all time, through peaceful self-sacrifice, and defeated the ultimate power of death. The battle still continues, but future victory is assured.

And in our own lives, though we don’t have the superpowers we would love to have, let’s rejoice that it is through weakness and trust, not in strength and self-sufficiency, that God can work in and through us.                                                Rev Sally

 Touch the earth lightly

This Lent we are joining the Bristol Methodist Circuit to focus on our response to the climate crisis.

A good place to start is the book of Genesis:

Genesis 1.23-2.3 

Then God said, “Let the earth produce every sort of animal, each producing offspring of the same kind—livestock, small animals that scurry along the ground, and wild animals.” And that is what happened. God made all sorts of wild animals, livestock, and small animals, each able to produce offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good.

 Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”

So God created human beings in his own image.
    In the image of God he created them;
    male and female he created them.

Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”

Then God said, “Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food. And I have given every green plant as food for all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, and the small animals that scurry along the ground—everything that has life.” And that is what happened.

Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good!

And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day.

So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.

(New Living Translation)

The book of Genesis is full of deep meaning. It tells us that creation was made with a purpose and a plan, and that it started as something good. I was interested to see that in David Attenborough’s most recent documentary series, he also looks back to a time when the world was ‘perfect’. With all the world’s current imperfections, so many of them caused by humans, we still have a sense of how our world is meant to be.

One aspect of this story that has been misapplied over the centuries is the idea that humans were given the job of ‘reigning’ over the animals. We have taken it to mean we can use everything for our own benefit – but of course a good monarch’s first concern should be the welfare of his or her subjects. We have also forgotten that we are not only responsible for nature but also part of it, something that this passage makes clear. We too were created along with the world and the plants and the animals.

The principle of rest is also an essential part of creation – something it is easy to forget in a 24/7 society.

We have been given a beautiful world to look after, something we can see signs of as the spring is on its way, even in the dreary days of February. Let’s do everything we can to care for it. As God said, ‘It is good!’

Rev Sally