Sermon for January 11th, 2025

Luke 13:31-35 (NT p.77)

31At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” 32He said to them, “Go and tell that fox for me, ‘Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. 33Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.’ 34Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! 35See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’ ”

Faith & Film XIII: The Wild Robot

• Film Clip #1 - Trailer [2:24]

Three Minute Film Summary

The film opens in the aftermath of a storm, as a crate washes up on the shore of a remote island. The crate contains a robot: Universal Dynamics Rozzum Unit 7134, or "Roz" for short. Roz is programed to assist humans, but there are no humans on the island--only animals locked in a vicious, Darwinian struggle for survival. Roz explores the island, looking almost desperately for a task in order to fulfill her programming, but most of the animals shun her, calling her "the monster."

While trying to escape an angry bear, Roz accidentally destroys a goose nest, crushing all the goose eggs except one. When that egg hatches, the gosling imprints upon Roz, thinking the robot is its mother. Somewhat reluctantly, Roz accepts the task of raising the gosling, whom she names "Brightbill." She befriends the island's other outcast--a hungry fox named Fink. Together, the unlikely pair try to teach Brightbill how to swim and fly in time for migration season. To accomplish this, Fink must put aside his natural instinct to eat Brightbill, and Roz must override her core programming, learning patience, compassion, sacrifice and resilience--in short, learning to be a mother.

Slowly, the other animals in the forest come to respect this unconventional family and several even lend their individual talents to Brightbill's cause. When fall arrives, Brightbill demonstrates that he is ready, and flies south with the other geese, as Roz and the other animals settle in for winter. Winter on the island proves to be colder than usual, so Roz and Fink set out to rescue the other animals, gathering them together in Roz's shelter, where they must all cooperate and agree not to eat each other in order to survive the winter.

In the Spring, Brightbill returns to the island, now a respected leader among the geese. His reunion with Roz is short-lived, however, because a giant aircraft from Universal Dynamics has also arrived to reclaim (and reprogram) Roz, taking her away from her adopted home and starting a forest fire in the process. Brightbill and all the animals work together to rescue Roz and to put out the fire, but Roz now realizes that her friends will never be safe as long as she is with them. She decides to leave, but promises that when the time is right, she will find her way back.

In the Garden?

In the first minutes of the film, as brand new Roz wanders through the forest meeting animals and taking in her brand new environment, there is a definite Garden of Eden vibe. Roz is both Adam and Eve, the first humans, full of innocence and wide-eyed wonder:

• Film Clip #2 - Eden [2:36]

But of course, the animals in the forest, with their tendency toward violence and conflict, also remind us that this is a fallen, post-Eden world. Eden was perfect--animals did not eat each other, but all ate plants, according to Genesis 1:30. Violence and sin came into the world after the fall, and the Bible teaches that we are all tainted with that original sin. You might say that it's part of our inherited "programming."

• Film Clip #3 - Programming [2:15]
• Film Clip #4 - Haven [3:14]
• Film Clip #5 - Resurrection [1:23]
• Film Clip #6 - Harrowing [0:42]
• Film Clip #7 - Ascension [2:39]

More than Our Programming

• The Soul
• Conversion/Transformation

Mother Bird

• Jesus as mother hen

The Peaceful Kingdom

Isaiah 11:6-7: The wolf shall live with the lamb; the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the lion will feed together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

Christ Type

• Gathers disciples, sacrifice, ascension, second coming