Sermon for January 8th, 2023
Contents
Deuteronomy 6:1-7
1 “Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the ordinances—that the Lord your God charged me to teach you to observe in the land that you are about to cross into and occupy, 2 so that you and your children and your children’s children may fear the Lord your God all the days of your life and keep all his decrees and his commandments that I am commanding you, so that your days may be long. 3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe them diligently, so that it may go well with you and so that you may multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised you. 4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. 7 Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise.
Jonah 2:3-7
3 You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me. 4 Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight; how shall I look again upon your holy temple?’ 5 The waters closed in over me; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped around my head 6 at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the Pit, O Lord my God. 7 As my life was ebbing away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple.
- Film Clip #1: Trailer
Three-Minute Film Summary
For those of you who are new to our annual Faith & Film sermon series, I like to begin each sermon with a summary of the film (minimal spoilers) so that everyone, including those who haven't seen the movie yet, can be more or less on the same page as we discuss its themes. Avatar: The Way of Water is a three-hour long complex film, which is a sequel to the original 2009 Avatar movie, also three hours long. Summarizing the overall story in three minutes is...well, a challenge. But bear with me!
Both films take place in the not-too-distant future, on the fictional world of Pandora. Humans have traveled to Pandora to mine its rich resources, and also in hopes of eventually colonizing it. Pandora is inhabited by a primitive but sentient race called the Na'vi. In the first movie, a former marine named Jake Sully is part of an experiment that puts his mind and consciousness inside a Na'vi body (or avatar) in order to infiltrate and ultimately defeat them. But he falls in love with Pandora, it's culture and people, and with a female Na'vi named Neytiri. He ends up leading the Na'vi to repulse the human invasion force.
In the second film, Jake Sully, now fully Na'vi, is raising a family with Neytiri, when the humans return and renew their attempts to invade and mine Pandora. Fearing for their safety, Jake and his family flee their forest home, and take refuge among a tribe of water-dwelling Na'vi called the Omaticaya. Much of the second film centers on their attempts to learn the ways of a new people in a new home. Eventually he human invaders find Jake and his family, and along with the Omaticaya tribe, they must once again fight for their survival, for their way of life, and for their world. The result is a spectacular film with stunning imagery, a compelling and poignant story, and of course, some very recognizable themes to those who are familiar with the Bible and the Christian message.
So, with all that established, let's dive in to the deep waters!
Inventing a Religion
I'm not going to pretend that James Cameron, the writer and director of the Avatar movies, is a Christian or is somehow trying to tell a Christian story. I will say, however, that the Christian story and Christian Bible is so prevalent in our world, our history, our literature and art, and so deeply engrained in our collective psyche, that's it's almost impossible to tell any kind of spiritual, religious story without being heavily influenced by it. And Avatar: The Way of Water is possibly one of the most spiritual films made in recent years.
The The Na'vi people in the film are deeply religious. Like us, they are monotheistic. Their sole deity is named Eywa. Interestingly, if you rearrange the letters of Eywa's name just a bit, you get Yahweh, the name of the Judeo Christian God. Eywa is represented as a female or "mother" God, while Yahweh is represented as a male, or "father" God. In the Christian tradition, while we often refer to God as "He" or "Father" we believe that God actually transcends all gender, and I suspect the Na'vi could say the same of Eywa. In any case, both use the metaphor of God as the "divine parent" of us all.
The Na'vi pray to Eywa, they gather together on a regular basis for worship at sacred places led by a spiritual leader, and they even engage in rituals like "first communion" for their young ones. They believe that when someone dies, their body returns to the elements, but their spirit or soul lives on in eternity. I have to admit, in an era where Hollywood films often belittle and demean people of any religious faith, it's refreshing to see a film that elevates not just spirituality, but the actual practice of religion, prayer, and the possibility of divine intervention.
The Na'vi are near perfect models of what Deuteronomy teaches: "The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might." Also in the spirit of the scriptures, we see them teaching these things to their children.
Flight from Home
Near the beginning of the film, Jake Sully gathers his family together, and, pursued by ruthless enemies, they flee to a new land among a new people. This echoes the flight of Moses and the children of Israel from Egypt, and their journey into the promised land; also the flight of Joseph, Mary, and young Jesus into Egypt to escape from King Herod. It's also the story of Ruth, who follows her mother-in-law Naomi as they flee from famine and death, and who tells Naomi that "Where you go, I will go, and where you live I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God, my God."
In the Belly of the Whale
In the course of the film, one of Jake Sully's children (named Lo'ak) is drowning in deep waters, when he is rescued by a giant, whale-like creature (called a Tulkun). Lo'ak (who is an outcast among his peers) befriends the Tulkun, and at one point even swims into the belly of the animal, then emerges transformed, with a new calling and a new sense of purpose. That should seem familiar to anyone who knows the Biblical story of Jonah and the Whale. But there's more! In the climax of the film, another character (Lo'ak's mother, Neytiri) is trapped inside the belly of a sinking ship, and as the ship plummets to the sea floor, she cries out in prayer for Eywa to deliver her, in a way that is highly reminiscent of Jonah's prayer to God from the belly of the whale. I won't go into detail about what happens next, but just about the only word to describe it is...miraculous.
Fathers & Sons
Every year that I've done this sermon series, common themes seem to emerge across all the films, and they often tell us a lot about what's going on in our society, in our collective minds and thoughts. In all six of our films this year, challenging Father-Son relationships take center stage, along with (and thank you to Diana Stone for pointing this out to me) men of all ages struggling to find identity and purpose in a changing world. Avatar: The Way of Water is no exception. Don't get me wrong--there are certainly strong female characters in the film (more on that later). But throughout this film, we see sons asking questions like, How do I live up to my father's reputation--or in some cases, How do I escape from it? And we see Fathers (good ones and bad ones) trying to teach, mold, and protect their children, sometimes successfully, and sometimes disastrously. At the very beginning of the film and also at the very end, like a mantra, we hear the main character say, "A Father protects. It's what gives him meaning."
If you need some biblical parallels for this theme, look no further than the stories of Abraham and Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, David and Solomon, David and Absalom, the parable of the Prodigal Son, and Jesus, who once cried out to his heavenly father, "Why have you forsaken me?"
Christ Type
The greatest story ever told is the story of how God sent his son into the world to lead and to save the people--the story of Jesus Christ. And in every year we've done this series, we've seen countless Christ-types in film who echo this powerful story. I should remind you, a "Christ-type" doesn't have to mirror Jesus Christ in every aspect, but when we see a few key features, we should at least recognize them for what they are.
In Avatar: the Way of Water, there is a clear Christ-type. And since the God of the Na'vi is Eywa, a mother deity, it makes sense that the Christ type is also female: It is Jake and Neytiri's adopted daughter, Kiri. Early in the film, we are told that Kiri has been born through an immaculate conception (ding ding ding! That's clue #1). Kiri's mother was a human scientist named Grace Augustine (by the way--could you pick a more Christian name?) but her other parent is a mystery, though hinted to be none other than the divine spirit of Eywa. At one point in her childhood, little white luminescent flowery creatures called "atokirina" descend from the sky and alight on Kiri--you may remember from the first movie that the Na'vi believe this is a sign that Eywa has chosen the individual for a purpose -- Not unlike the white dove that descends from the sky at the baptism of Jesus in the gospel of Matthew.
As the movie progresses, Kiri's connection to Eywa grows stronger, and she tells her adoptive father that she can "feel Eywa's heartbeat" and that it sounds "mighty." She is shown to have power to control the elements and creatures in the sea around her, reminding us of those who said about Jesus, "Who is this that even the wind and the waves obey him?" Kiri is still a child at the end of the film, but I suspect that in the next sequel installments, you'll see her taking a larger role--a savior role, and perhaps even sacrificing herself to save her people and her world. That's not a spoiler, it's a prediction!
Wrapping it All Up
Why do we do this each year? I believe that film is the great storytelling medium of our time. I believe that the films that we write, create, and watch are both a mirror and a lens. Like a mirror, they reflect our current hopes, dreams, and fears, the things we wish for and the things we wrestle with. Like a lens, they help us to focus on what it means to be human, what it means to be fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, brothers, sisters, neighbors, and caretakers of the world God has given us.
And since we are created in God's image, no matter how hard we try, we can't get away from God's story. God's fingerprints are on everything we touch. If you look long enough, you'll begin to see them--not just in our films and stories, but in the core of our being, in our ways of thinking and interacting with each other. Yes, sometimes the image is blurred or stained by our pride, our brokenness, and our cruelty. But if you can go to a movie and see the CGI crafted digital beauty in a world like Pandora, and a story like this one...then know that it is simply a reflection, and a dim one at that, of the beauty that God created for us, around us, and within us. Look for it, watch for it, work for it. Knock and the door will be open for you. Seek and you shall find.
