12th Sunday after Pentecost
2nd Sunday in Heroic Faith: More than
Conquerors
August 11, 2013
“Iron Man” and Redemption
Luke 15:11-24; Psalm 51
Batteries Not Included
I have no brothers. The house I grew up in did not have comic
books. Still, I heard about
Superman. I knew about Spiderman because
he was in the comics in the newspaper. I
learned about Batman from the 1960s TV show with Adam West and Burt Ward. KAPOW!
But my first introduction to Iron Man was when the first movie came out
in 2008. In large part because that
movie was so well done, I was an instant fan.
The other part that impressed me was all the biblical references, many
of which are found in the biography sequence when Tony is presented with the
Apogee award. See how many you count:
[Or
watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUCfMDcTvHM
]
“Tony
Stark. Visionary. Genius. American patriot. Even from an early age, the son of
legendary weapons developer Howard Stark quickly stole the spotlight with his
brilliant and unique mind. At age four, he built his first circuit board. At
age six, his first engine. And at 17, he graduated summa cum laude from MIT. Then,
the passing of a titan. Howard Stark's lifelong friend and ally, Obadiah Stane,
steps in to help fill the gap left by the legendary founder, until, at age 21,
the prodigal son returns and is anointed the new CEO of Stark Industries. With
the keys to the kingdom, Tony ushers in a new era for his father's legacy, creating
smarter weapons, advanced robotics, satellite targeting. Today, Tony Stark has
changed the face of the weapons industry by ensuring freedom and protecting
America and her interests around the globe.”[1]
The
first one should have been easy, since it was one of our Scriptures this
morning. Tony is declared to be the
prodigal son, because he returned to run the family business when he turned 21. However, the movie itself is also a story
about redemption and a transformation in Tony’s life. He goes from simply creating weapons and
robotics to seeing how they’re actually being used. He goes from simply being a businessman and
inventor to humanitarian, philanthropist.
Like the prodigal son, who ends up eating pig slop because he’s so
hungry, “Tony ends up in a hell of his own making. The situation he finds
himself in is a direct result of his own negligence, arrogance, and
irresponsibility with the gifts and resources he's given.”[2] It’s only when Tony starts using those gifts
to help others that redemption occurs.
Just before Yinsen died, Yinsen being the fellow captive scientist who
first put together the electromagnet in Tony’s chest to keep the shrapnel from
reaching his heart, he told Tony, “Don’t waste it. Don’t waste your life, Stark.”[3] And Stark took that to heart and later tells
Pepper, his assistant, “I shouldn’t be alive, unless it was for a reason,” and
he knows what that reason is: “trying to protect the people I put in harm’s
way.”[4] Stark’s weapons weren’t just being sold to
the U.S. military; they were also being sold to the terrorists the U.S.
military was fighting, and whoever was willing to pay for them. Tony does a 180 and decides Stark Industries
is no longer going to make weapons. He
decides that he’s going to live his life to mean something, and not waste
it. Tony wants to atone for that past
negligence and the danger he put people in.
Even though he did so unknowingly, he recognizes that he is responsible for
it and he’s not going to pass the buck. So
he uses this new technology he created to save his life to save the lives of
others.
Tony
had never really thought about what happened to his creations after they were
sold, or even to whom all they were selling them. His eyes were opened and he knew that he had
to do something about it. Tony was using
his gifts all for his own pleasure, whatever he wanted. And you may say that was his right. However, we as Christians believe that every
good gift comes from God, it is not ours, it is all a gift and we are merely
stewards of our gifts. If we are
stewards, if we are taking care of these gifts for God, that puts it in
different perspective, doesn’t it? Your
finances, your house, your car, your family, your job, your skills and
abilities, those are all gifts from God for you to use and enjoy and bring
glory to his name. The old offering
liturgy quotes from 1 Chronicles 29:14 and says, “All things come of thee, O
Lord, and of thine own have we given thee.”
In modern English, that is: “Everything comes from you, God, and of your
own have we given you.” Or in Eugene
Peterson’s The Message: “Everything
comes from you; all we’re doing is giving back what we’ve been given from your
generous hand.” In the offering, we give
God what is already his. Yes, it goes to
pay the light bill and it goes to pay those of us on staff and it goes to pay
all kinds of things, but all those things should be about God’s work. You’re not giving to the church, you’re
giving to God. The Church happens to be
God’s primary institution on earth to accomplish his work. And if the electricity doesn’t go towards
furthering God’s kingdom and if we staff don’t work towards furthering God’s
kingdom, and all the other things that get listed in our budget, then we need
to re-evaluate them. Tony decided to use
his gifts not just for his own personal pleasure, but to help other people. Are you doing the same?
Now,
part of what makes Tony Stark so likable is his charisma. I think Robert Downey, Jr. was born to play
this role. But the other part is that he
is a deeply flawed character. He is a
womanizer. He’s a war monger. He doesn’t “play well with others.” And although the movies downplay this, in the
comics, he’s also a raging alcoholic.
There’s a whole story arc that ran for nine issues called “Demon in a
Bottle.” Tony Stark is not really a
positive role model. He’s a super-smart
spoiled brat. A friend of Lee’s and mine
couldn’t believe I was preaching on him.
Tony Stark is no better than you or I.
And his superpowers aren’t innate like Superman’s or because of a spider
bite like Spiderman. His superpower comes
from his suit, something anyone can put on, like Colonel Rhodes or Ivan Vanko, the
bad guy in the second Iron Man movie.
But like King David being confronted with the sin of adultery and then
writing the 51st psalm, Tony also goes through a change of
heart. “Create in me a clean heart, O
Lord, and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence and take not your Holy Spirit from
me. Restore unto me the joy of your
salvation and renew a right spirit within me.”[5] Psalm 51 is a standard reading for Ash
Wednesday, a day that marks the beginning of the season of Lent and a time of repentance. We focus in particular on confession and
forgiveness during that time, but it is not exclusive to that season of the
church year. There are other times we
need renewal as well, other times we need to be made right with God, other
times we need reminding that we are dust, and to dust we shall return.
There
is a Faith and Leadership blog from Leadership Education at Duke Divinity
School and a recent entry was from Sam Wells, the former Dean of Duke Chapel,
before he was recalled back to his native England. The post was a sermon he preached at
Virginia’s Annual Conference this year and it was about dust. Dean Wells said that “When we reject God, by
hostility or indifference, we make dust -- we make death, we become the dust of
the earth -- to dust we return. And what
does God do? God makes us anew from the dust of the earth. God makes something
beautiful out of our dust and ashes.”[6] We make dust sometimes, when we act like pre-Iron
Man Tony Stark, when we act like the prodigal son at the beginning of the
parable, when we refuse God and live for ourselves. And God makes us anew, God makes us again, God
renews us, and gives us life once again.
I
don’t know if you’re in need of renewal today.
Many of us probably are. So, let
God renew you again, or for the first time.
Let his grace and love and mercy wash over you. Let him create in you a clean heart, one not
full of misery and greed and deception and a hunger for power. Tony’s change of heart comes with a fancy
suit powered by an arc reactor, which itself is nothing more than a fancy,
high-tech battery. Our friend pointed
out that Tony is godless. And he
is. He’s a lousy role model. But Tony’s transformation into Iron Man and
what he does as Iron Man, goes against his selfish egotistical nature and redeems
him. Iron Man becomes a team player in The Avengers. He becomes someone concerned with the welfare
of others. And not only that, he becomes
someone who is willing to do something about it, and use his gifts in the
service of others and not just himself.
What
is the difference between Iron Man and us?
Iron Man needs batteries. We have
the power of the Holy Spirit. And unlike
batteries of any kind, including the mighty arc reactor, the Holy Spirit will
never fail us and never needs recharging.
The Holy Spirit can redeem the dust we’ve made and renew and refresh
us. Batteries not included? Not a problem. Thanks be to God. Amen.
