Category: Pop. Culture & the Arts

by the Rev. Rich Heinz 

Warning: Spoilers follow. 

“You were much more… muchier. You’ve lost your muchness,” laments the Mad Hatter to Alice in the newest version of Lewis Carrol’s “Alice in Wonderland.”   The film briefly introduces Alice as a child, then skips over ten years to what is to be her engagement party.  Alice once again sees the White Rabbit from her “dreams” and again falls down the hole, drinks the bottle labeled “Drink me” to shrink, and eats the cake to grow large, encounters the “Red Queen” (Queen of Hearts), Knave of Hearts, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, and all the others from her childhood adventure. 

However, upon discovering that she will have to take the vorpal sword and slay the Jabberwocky, the grown Alice must dig deep inside and find the child that she was – the little girl who could indeed be muchier and defeat this monster, and therefore defeat the wicked queen.

Once she realizes she is not merely dreaming, the young adult Alice is convinced that killing the Jabberwocky is impossible.  “I don’t slay,” she maintains, before the caterpillar points out some obvious wisdom she already had, in her deep, “inner child.” 

A realization comes over her: “Sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”  And with her belief comes the strength, courage, and muchness that she needs to slay the monster. 

While the entire film celebrates that people have choices and can choose to believe – choose to be strong and slay their Jabberwockies.  Theologically, we call this mistaken notion “decision theology.”  This is the idea that you can actually choose to believe, receiving Jesus as your Savior.  We know from the Scriptures, that this is not true.  He has chosen us!  Luther rejoices over this in the Catechism: “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ my Lord, or come to Him.  But the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified, and kept me in the true faith” (Small Catechism, Creed, III.) 

You have the joy of being in amazing wonder that Jesus does call you to faith.  He gives you belief!  And not only does He give you faith, but He gives you the faith of a little child!   “Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it,”says our Savior (Luke 18:17 ESV.)   

Through Holy Baptism, His Spirit comes and makes us children of our Heavenly Father.  He gifts us with child-like faith and welcomes us into His kingdom.  As He plunged us into the mighty waters of the font, Christ Himself brought us into the Wonderland of His Kingdom.  Don’t worry that you don’t slay; on the cross He slew the dreaded Jabberwockies of sin and death, and rescued us from the clutches of the devil.  At the font, He delivered those gifts to us. 

The world thinks that the Bible is full of myths and fairy tales.  Many would say we are mad, and that the Scriptures fill our minds with impossible things.  To that, we reply with Alice, “Sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”  Yet we don’t even need six!  We have the joy that the Holy Spirit has placed the “impossible thing” of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection as the foundation for our faith.  

We also have the joy of continually gathering as His children at His Table.  But we do not gather for some mad tea party.  Instead, our Lord blesses us with the wonders of His Body and Blood, given and shed for us—and that drives the devil mad!  

Thanks be to God that He keeps you forever childlike in the faith.  Our crucified and risen Savior will preserve you from losing your muchness!  You haven’t lost your muchness at all!  Jesus gives you muchness in believing the “impossible things” that He has truly done – and given – for you! 

The Rev. Rich Heinz is Pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church & School in Chicago, Illinois.  Since the Heinz’s are huge Disney fans, he enjoyed going to Navy Pier’s IMAX and seeing “Alice in Wonderland” with his wife for her birthday!

by the Rev. Rich Heinz 

“Mr. Holmes, you must widen your gaze. I’m concerned you underestimate the gravity of coming events. For you and I are bound on a journey that will twist the very fabric of nature,” says Lord Blackwood, a nobleman imprisoned, thanks to Sherlock Holmes.  Lord Blackwood has engaged in murders – human sacrifices – to secure his power over others, enshrouded by the occult.  Blackwood has Londoners convinced that he is risen from the dead and can perform black magic, and in a Mason-like secret society, he attempts to gain control of the British Empire.  He repeatedly chides Holmes and others for their “unbelief.” 

Have you surfed the “Christian” blogoshpere lately?  It’s fascinating to see all sorts of people crying out against the movie because of its occult theme.  Pious (and Pietistic) commentators are urging Christians to not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. Ach!  Run away!  Don’t give the devil your ticket money!   

But are their urgings and protests for the right reasons? 

SPOILER ALERT.  If you will be annoyed by reading more about the plot, stop, see the film, and return to your computer.  Then log onto HT and pick up here where you left off. 

The “powers” of Lord Blackwood, in the end, are discovered to be technological and psychological – not diabolical.  While an evil man, and a wicked, murderous criminal, Lord Blackwood’s “magic” is explained away by the Detective from 221b Baker Street. 

Yet, is this not also a danger?  Explaining away evil, and dismissing the spiritual as superstitious is a threat to the Church.  The “believers” in Blackwood’s abilities were seen as the spiritual ones in the film, yet they were also the simple-minded fools who were not thinking for themselves.  Those who did not “believe” were seen as the more rational and mature ones. 

Sherlock Holmes (at least in this film, I cannot recall more references in the literary works) has little regard for things spiritual.  He takes pride in human wisdom, observation, deduction, and other capabilities, whilst God “takes a back seat.”  When “the game’s afoot,” it is not the wisdom of God or His mercy and work that are central, but the abilities of man – namely the man, Sherlock Holmes. 

Is there a first commandment issue in the film?  Perhaps, but not in a “Wow!  It’d be cool to be like Blackwood and control people with black magic from the devil!”  Rather, the danger is a fear, love, and trust in one’s self (along with one’s wisdom, critical thinking and deduction, etc.) above all things. 

Should Holmes’ gaze be widened, as the imprisoned Blackwood asserts?  Yes.  Again, his gaze should not be widened to the submission to any secret apron-wearing, secret handshake giving nonsense, or even to the dark deeds and words of the occult.  Holmes’ gaze should be widened to fix his eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith! 

Bottom line: is it wrong to see Sherlock Holmes?  Only if your parents tell you “no.”  (It then becomes a 4^th Commandment issue.) 

Skepticism, scrutiny, and unbelief face the Church every day.  Your $8.50 will not be promoting devil worship; actually, this film mocks that.  Theologically, the worst aspect of the film is Holmes’ self-worship.  And when it comes down to it, that is the heart of Old Adam, who is a part of our daily struggle.  We have the same sin as this fictional character, with a pretty big log to pull out before we get the speck out of his fictitious eye. 

Yes, dear baptized friends, your gaze does need to be widened.  Not to succumb to evil, not to debate over movies.  When your human frailty cannot see from the darkness of this world, the Holy Spirit widens your gaze to behold the King of Kings – Wisdom enfleshed – the Light of Light – who reveals Himself to you.  

The Rev. Rich Heinz is Pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church & School in Chicago, Illinois.  He is the Chaplain for this summer’s Given in Memphis, TN.  He is also a fan of the Sherlock Holmes legend, and enjoyed this fast-paced reinvention of this detective.

by The Rev. Rich Heinz  

The theme is a common one from literature and television: take a rag-tag bunch of misfits, bring them together, and when working together, the greatest of odds can be overcome.  This is at the heart of Glee, running its first season on Fox, Wednesdays at 9 PM EST. 

There are a number of roles and situations on Glee that the Christian would find troubling.  Of course, every human is sinful, and we will not look at every single character.  Still, it’s a good thing to look at a few examples. 

Kurt Hummel is a sweet boy.  He is a loyal friend.  He has a good voice.  He loves fashion.  And he has a bit of a crush on star quarterback Finn Hudson.  Yes, Kurt is a stereotypical, flamboyant homosexual. 

Sue Sylvester is downright mean.  This cheerleading coach is the embodiment of evil, cunningly cutting down kids’ egos, manipulating and destroying what she sees fit, literally pushing people down stairs, and trying to sabotage the Glee Club. 

Noah “Puck” Puckerman has fathered the pre-born child of Quinn Fabray, cheerleader and president of the celibacy club.  Quinn is also the girlfriend of Finn Hudson, and has convinced him that although they have not had sexual relations, he is the father. 

But perhaps the most disturbing scenario of the entire series (and yet the one we are drawn to accept and enjoy) is the relationship of Will Schuester and Emma Pilsbury.  Will and Emma were high school friends at the same school where he now teaches and she is guidance counselor.  Will is now in a very unhappy marriage, in which his wife, Terri, is completely self-absorbed—to the point it is plainly idolatry.  She shows no care or concern for him, is extremely demanding and manipulative, and has led them to the brink of financial ruin. 

Viewers are not supposed to like Terri at all.  Conversely, Emma is quirky, but as nice and sweet as can be, and you end up wanting Will and Emma to get together!  Will and Emma both show care for people, and put others ahead of themselves. 

Those of us who are committed to what the Lord teaches about the sanctity of Holy Marriage can be easily led down this (albeit fictitious) path of approving their repressed romance.  Granted, Will and Emma have not gotten to the point of sexual infidelity – or have they?  Tension-filled hugs and staring into one another’s eyes might not be “going all the way,” but there certainly is desire that transgresses the 6^th commandment. 

On the other hand, in spite of all these troubles, is there anything worth noting?  I would suggest there is.   

Glee is full of love and friendship.  Students that didn’t find a niche in the school have become a group of loyal friends, truly caring for one another.  When others fail them, the Glee kids come to realize that these new friends have accepted them, “no strings attached.” 

Glee shows forgiveness.  Yes, I realize it is not flowing from Christ through His Gifts, but the Glee students, along with Will and his friends, demonstrate a human forgiveness and an allowing of new beginnings for each other.  Quinn is shunned by her cheerleader “friends” when they discover she is pregnant.  She is also kicked off the squad.  But the Glee friends voice their care for her.   And when Finn has been pressured by the football team to back off from Glee and even torment them, Kurt takes a slushy out of Finn’s hand and tosses it on himself.  Kurt “took one for the [Glee] team,” so the quarterback did not have the guilt of doing this to a friend, yet he could maintain a “cool” reputation on the football team.  When all is said and done, Finn is welcomed back to Glee.   

So where does that leave you, the Christian viewer?  How should you feel about Glee?  I propose that the answer is similar to how you should feel about the people in your real life – the students and faculty of your own school, the friends in your own circles, even the people in the pews of your church. 

Every one of us is a poor, miserable sinner.  This does not excuse our actions or words or thoughts in the least.  However, we live in a recognition that in faith we will not approve of every behavior, every day. 

Yes, Glee has some sinful characters and sinful scenarios.  Still, there are moments of (humanly speaking) goodness, kindness, and friendship.  Being familiar with a show like Glee that so many are watching, may provide opportunities for you to engage in discussions that would otherwise be unavailable.  Perhaps the Lord might end up using you to be His witness, speaking the truth in love.  He may lead you to show what was good and supportive of the faith in a given episode, and what was not. 

In the end, you already know the one and only Source of your Glee: Jesus Christ!  Our Savior has taken on human flesh and was born, announced with the Glee of singing angels.  At His Baptism, the Father announced from heaven His Glee in His Son, in whom He is well pleased.  With Jesus’ triumph on the cross and His joyous resurrection, God demonstrated His Glee once again, in the ultimate, first Easter. 

Jesus is the greatest, truest, and everlasting Glee for His Church!  Living in Him, we await the Day when our Glee will be complete, and He gathers us all into the eternal kingdom He has GIVEN. 

The Rev. Rich Heinz is Pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church & School, Chicago, IL.  Pastor Heinz appeared in a number of theatrical productions, including musicals such as Hello, Dolly!, Bye Bye Birdie, and Little Shop of Horrors.  But he never was in Glee club.

Two years ago Transformers came out and swept the box offices raking in millions of dollars and reintroducing a Hasbro toy from the generation before to today’s kids.  The movie was nothing short of fantastic, taking the characters we’d come to love from the toy aisle and memorable cartoon and spicing them up with flashy CGI graphics.  Additionally our hero was your every day run of the mill geek, nothing too spectacular in Sam Witwike and yet everything spectacular.  In the end the Autobots prevailed, Megatron died and then was buried in the depths of the sea.  Supposedly condemned to an icy grave, the credits rolled and we catch a glimpse of Megatron’s second in command, Star Scream zipping off into the sky.

When I saw the first movie I knew there would be more to come by the way it ended.  In the cartoon Megatron and the other Decepticons built a base in the depths of the sea and it was from there that they conducted their campaign against humanity, so this seemed to me the perfect setup for a sequel.

The sequel, Revenge of the Fallen, is undoubtedly good, though perhaps I would say that about any movie which animated my favorite childhood toys.  Yet the movie does deserve some criticism.  Unfortunately the  amount of foul language in this installment is excessive.  When the writing seems to be missing something in terms of substance, they try to make up for it with crass jokes, sexual innuendos or downright tasteless language.  That takes what could be a family friendly movie and instead earns a PG-13 rating.  If you’re a parent or youth group leader thinking about taking your kids to see Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen be warned, it’s not the cleanest flick at the box office this summer. Now onto the movie itself…

Spoilers to follow…

Revenge of the Fallen opens with the Autobots having formed an alliance with the humans and battling a league of Decepticons which continue to ravage the earth in a last ditch effort to claim the fragment of the Allspark and enslave all of humanity.  This alliance is kept under the radar though, with apparent doubt from the current presidential administration at its success when a Decepticon is stopped in Shanghai and the coverup is less than clean.  

Meanwhile our hero, Sam Witwike is getting ready to go off to college and leave his faithful Camaro Bumblebee behind.  His parents are struggling with the departure–maybe it’s just his mother–and his girlfriend is battling the difficulty of maintaining a long-distance relationship.  Just before Sam leaves he finds a fragment of the Allspark on the t-shirt he wore on that fateful day when he defeated Megatron.  Havoc breaks lose, and the Witwike’s get a wonderful opportunity to remodel their home!

While Sam is at college the Decepticons are out to get him, knowing what Sam does not know, that when the Aallspark was destroyed it imprinted upon his brain special information for the location of some sort of star-eater which is capable of extracting energy to help make new transformers.  The Decepticons bring Megatron back from his watery grave and he goes to battle Optimus Prime in order to seize Sam and claim the star-eater for himself.  A fight ensues and with Optimus Prime out numbered it appears that he does not stand a chance.  Optimus sacrifices himself to overcome the Decepticons and is finally  murdered by Megatron providing opportunity for Sam to narrowly escape.

With Optimus Prime dead, hope seems to be lost, the Autobots are banished to their secret island military base, and Sam goes into hiding.  While in hiding Sam learns about the Allspark’s mark on his brain and begins to put together the puzzle pieces of what is going on around him.
With the final descendant of the Primes dead (that would be Optimus) Megatron’s master leaves Cybertron to take charge of the effort to claim the star-eater machine which has been hidden somewhere on planet Earth.  Sam eventually learns the whole of Megatron’s plans and sets out in search of the key which unlocks the star-eater in order to bring back Optimus Prime from death.
Great tribulation presents itself to Sam who eventually finds the key, only to die himself in a bloody battle between the humans and Autobots on one side and the Decepticons on the other.  The story doesn’t end there though because the key seems to resurrect Sam who then resurrects Optimus Prime and with the added help of an elder Autobot super-powers his transformer self for a final battle against Megatron’s Master.  Optimus Prime slays Megatron’s Master and Megatron disappears into hiding and thus only through Optimus Prime’s death and resurrection is humanity delivered from “the Fallen”.

In the movie “the Fallen” refers to Megatron’s Master an ancient transformer who was part of an elite seven given to govern over the rest of the transformers.  This particular transformer went sour though and decided to use his power for evil instead of good.  The remaining “Primes” end up sacrificing themselves to prevent the Fallen from doing harm, and thus begins a great and long period of silence in the Autobot history.  

The Fallen is Satan, someone close enough to the throne of God at one point to have been numbered as an angel.  Optimus Prime is a picture of Christ, being the hero of the day and ultimately having to die in order to deliver humanity.  As Optimus Prime is slain by Megatron, who is really nothing more than a pawn in the Fallen’s game, the Fallen believes he has achieved victory.  Just like Satan was fooled by our Lord’s crucifixion.  The story doesn’t end there though. Optimus Prime – like Jesus, is raised from the dead and in so doing overcomes sin, death and the devil (the Fallen).  Only by the grace of God and in the resurrected flesh of Christ are the chains of the Fallen’s hold on this world – death – broken free from humanity so that they might live in peace.
Our Lord Jesus Christ took on lowly flesh, our flesh and descended for life apart from His home to dwell amongst us humans.  The Godhead joined flesh in order that He might deliver us from our own iniquity.  Through His death and resurrection He freed us from the snare of the devil and set us free to walk in newness and live in Him.

Only by death could Jesus free us from death.  Jesus likes to turn things upside down and do them better.  He takes things which make no sense to us and uses them to deliver the forgiveness of sins to poor miserable sinners like us.  He takes water and uses it as a medium to deliver righteousness.  He takes every day ordinary bread and wine and makes them vessel of His own life giving body and blood.  He takes human flesh and conceals within it all the power of the Godhead in order to deliver humanity from its own sinfulness.  He takes the sinfulness of death, even death by crucifixion and He flips it around in order to save all of humanity.  He saves by dying.  God the all-knowing all-being ever-present, almighty and immortal dies, so that the fragile mortal bodies of men might be raised up to life on the last day to walk with Him in righteousness. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, like all stories, ultimately shows bits and pieces of the Truest Story, the saving of sinners by the Son of God.

Going Further
Bible Study Discussion Questions

1. In Transformers the battle against humanity is at first a hidden battle. Against whom does St. Paul say that our battle is in Ephesians 6:12.

2. How is Satan’s kingdom brought down in the world today? See Luke 10:1-20. What does the Lord send his disciples to do? 

3. The idea of a person laying down their life to help others is common in many stories. By laying down their life, a person is usually able to save someone else. Read John 10:11-17,27-29. Why does Jesus lay down His life? What does it mean for us that He does so? 

4. The Transformers are a race of beings from long ago and far away. Is Jesus just one more angel who saves us from the evil angels? Read Hebrews 1:1-6 for the answer. 

5. Sometimes it seems as if the powers of good and evil are equal. How do we know that Christ is stronger than the Devil and truly wins the final victory? See Ephesians 1:18-23.  

by The Rev. Rich Heinz

This weekend, my family saw Up, the latest Disney/Pixar film. Once again, the great minds (and computers) at Pixar have proven that they cannot produce a bad or even mediochre film…every Disney/Pixar is a great film!

Up is a touching film, which I highly recommend. It also has some beautiful, if not subtle, applications to our lives.

by the Rev. Rich Heinz

“Are you hot?” asks a certain Facebook application.  Magazine covers, TV commercials, and movie producers constantly flash images before our eyes of people who are beautiful by their standards.  The unspoken message is that these should be our standards as well.

Throw Ashton Kutcher and Tyra Banks into the mix as producers, and True Beauty emerges.  True Beauty is a television show (Monday nights on ABC) full of “beautiful people” – but with a twist!  There is an underlying message: true beauty is not only about physical looks and bodily perfection.  True beauty relies on inner beauty: compassion, honesty, trust, and more. 

The contestants think that this is a contest about looks and bodily perfection.  Yet one by one they are eliminated for failures of “inner beauty.”  Only when they are eliminated are they shown a video montage of how “ugly” they have been toward others.

At first, this seems like a good message.  But think about it for a moment.  Is there such a thing as “inner beauty?”  After the Fall in the Garden, and the shattering of the image of God?  The answer is, “No!”

Jesus says: “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person”  (Matthew 15:19-20a ESV.)  So much for inner beauty!  Human “inner beauty” was dashed to pieces when our first parents rebelled against God.  They knew perfect, wondrous, holy beauty, and lost it all.

The lesson is: true beauty actually is external.  What?!!!  Yes, true beauty is external.  However, it is not our own.

As we recently celebrated, our dear Lord was baptized for us.  Jesus’ Great Reversal took all our sin, sickness, evil, and death and latched on to Him in those waters.  Like a sponge in dirty water that miraculously soaked up all the dirt, Jesus took our corruption and placed it on Himself.  He who is truly beautiful became ugly as sin for us!

Having paid for that sin in His death, and having published that victory through His resurrection, Jesus now continues the Great Reversal: He gives us His perfection and holiness.  “For as many of us as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:27 ESV.)  In Holy Baptism, our Savior covered you with Himself.  You are clothed with Christ!  He is the ultimate in perfect clothes and flawless make-up, covering every blemish and flaw.  But He does not engage in a mere “cover-up.”  He removes that stain of sin.  He transforms us as He covers us, so we are no longer ugly to God.

Yes, true beauty is external!  But it is not our own.  The true beauty of Christ covers us at Baptism!  True beauty is experienced in the Divine Service, as we receive His Holy Gifts.  And true beauty will be fully revealed and understood as we dwell in the perfect beauty of His heavenly courts for eternity!

The Rev. Rich Heinz is pastor of Saint John’s Ev. Lutheran Church & School in Lanesville, Indiana.  For some reason, he and his wife don’t follow many “popular” reality shows, and get hooked on the “off-the-wall” ones!

by The Rev. Rich Heinz 

Throughout the month of December, a beautiful Candlelight Processional  is held in the evening at EPCOT.  A large choir from various churches and schools sing various Christmas hymns.  Yes!  Not secular carols.  No “Winter Wonderland” or “Jingle Bells.”  The songs are about Jesus’ birth.

Selections from the Scriptures are also read, by guest celebrities.  The night my family and I saw it, Broadway star Chita Rivera was the reader.  What was spoken and sung was a beautiful witness to Jesus.  But what exactly did it witness?

As I pondered more closely what was read, I noticed tiny omissions that had great importance.  One reading concluded: “You shall call His name ‘Jesus.’”  Hmm…do you remember what follows in the Gospel?  He is the Son of the Most High.  He will save His people from their sins.

Yes, Jesus was THE reason for this event.  That was clear.  But why was Jesus being celebrated?  Was it simply that He was a great prophet?  That He taught love and mercy?  Where was the clear and simple statement that Jesus IS God Incarnate, the one and only Savior from sin?

You see, without the purpose of rescuing us from sin, death, and the devil, Jesus simply is reduced to another world religious leader.  And then “peace on earth” becomes reduced to a slogan that deals with politics and national relations, rather than the true and lasting peace of a restored relationship with our Father in heaven.

Don’t get me wrong.  It was a lovely sacred concert.  Nothing was wrong with what was spoken.  The failure was in what remained unspoken.

If there is no purpose in the birth of Jesus – no expressly stated delivery from sin and death, then His birth was in vain.  Jesus was born to save you from your sin!  And He has!  And He now delivers that release from sin with every baptism, absolution, preaching, and celebration of the Lord’s Supper.  These are part and parcel of the greatest Gift ever given – the Gift of the Newborn Savior in Bethlehem!

Without the rescue from sin, then this is not a unique and life-changing event, it is just another “holiday.”  “Happy Holidays!” is the greeting given by employees in most places, including most Disney “cast members.”  Only after a guest or customer says, “Merry Christmas!” can most people respond in kind.

Happy Holidays, indeed!  “Holiday” comes from shortening the English words “holy” and “day.”  Yes.  The Twelve Days of Christmas (December 25th through January 5th) are Holy Days for Christians.  But given most people’s lack of knowledge about this, we boldly proclaim, “Merry Christmas!”

God bless you richly as you celebrate more than the birth of a man who changed the world.  The Lord will bless you as you rejoice a great joy, celebrating the birth of the Only-begotten Son of God, our Savior Jesus, Christ, the LORD!

Happy Holy Days!  Merry Christmas!

The Rev. Rich Heinz is pastor of Saint John’s Ev. Lutheran Church & School in Lanesville, Indiana.  He and his family are avid Disney fanatics, and absolutely love Christmas.  They have just returned from a four-day trip to “the World.”

by The Rev. Mark Buetow

Warning: This review contains movie plot spoilers!

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” (Genesis 1:26)

“If the earth dies, humans die. If humans die, the earth will live.” –Klaatu, from “The Day the Earth Stood Still.”

It’s pretty irritating to go to a movie that you think is going to be a good sci-fi flick with lots of action, only to be hounded with a message of morality, especially one about something as ridiculous as global warming and the environment. I’ll admit, I had a hint of that before I saw “The Day the Earth Stood Still (TDTESS)” but I went anyway because we live in a small town and movies are pretty inexpensive here.

If you ever saw the original “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” you know that the human race was going to be destroyed unless they stopped developing atomic weapons. Since the original was released in 1951, you can definitely see the “Cold War” concerns of people at the time. Well, it’s 2008 so now “TDTESS” does the same thing, except instead of nuclear weapons the big concern is the environment.

Now, here is one way to review this movie. Aliens come to earth to punish us for destroying the earth. In the end, however, mankind promises to change and do better and the alien, Klaatu, is persuaded to call off the destruction of the earth. Of course, the consequence is a big change to our technological way of life. The problem with this way of thinking is that the creation becomes our god and instead of answering to our Creator, we must answer to some outside alien for what we’ve done. In this way of looking at it, “TDTESS” is really a bad movie theologically, because it confuses the Creator with the creation and makes “global warming” something more dire than it is at all.

That’s one way to look at the movie. But there’s a better way. How about this? An alien takes a human form, comes to earth to warn us and then judge us and in the end sacrifices himself to save us! Sounds a little bit like the Gospel, doesn’t it? Of course, Jesus is God in the flesh, not an alien. And our real problem is not “the environment” but sin. Still, it just goes to show that even in a movie that is probably thought of as completely “secular” can’t get away from a storyline that mimics the Gospel story of the Son of God coming in the flesh to save us from the very judgment He Himself brings!

So I left “TDTESS” a little bit annoyed that a sci-fi movie had to be “ruined” by a moralistic message about how we hurt our planet. But as I thought about it, I had to smile that even a movie like that can’t get away from teaching or picturing the Greatest Story—our salvation—even if it’s just in some similar ideas. Humanity’s ability to change and do better seems to overcome our destruction in the movie. But in the end, even a silly plot line like that is overcome and overshadowed by the Gospel of our salvation in Jesus. And the giant robot in the movie does some cool stuff, too!

The Rev. Mark Buetow is pastor of Bethel Lutheran Church in Du Quoin, IL. He is also the Internet Services Executive, which means he gets to tell Stan what to do!

by Johannah Miesner

When I first read The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, I was intrigued by the dedication of four girls to each other – and a pair of pants. I have to admit that I am by nature a person who always prefers the book to the movie. Therefore, I was quite dubious of the idea of these well-crafted books being made into two hours of excitement worthy of the big screen. I was pleasantly surprised by the first movie, as long as I thought of it separately from the book. However, when I heard that there was to be a second one and I heard the storyline, I was confused how the girls got to the point in their lives where the movie started. In the end, I discovered that those in charge of the movie decided to put three books into one movie, perhaps fearful that there would not be the same excitement in a third or fourth movie about a pair, of what can only be described as most likely extremely smelly after their four years of cross-continental traveling, pants.

As you may have deduced from the first paragraph, this movie is the story of four girls, all friends from childhood, who discover a pair of magical pants, a pair that can fit all of them, despite their different body types. They decide, as they head off into a summer filled with travels, that they will mail the pants in a rotation so that all the girls can use the pants to help them make friends, become successful, find love, and have an enjoyable summer as they all head off in different directions.

In this movie, the girls have been separated by more than a summer, as they are all finishing their first years at college. The connection between the girls seems to be unraveling, though the denim fibers of the pants are just as intact as they were four years ago. After dealing with new and old loves, finding unknown talents, and a theft of a younger sister, the sisterhood must face their biggest problem – the traveling pants have traveled right out of the movie. In the end, the girls renew their friendship as they head to Greece to find the pants. They thank the pants for bringing them to a place, yet again, back together.

In this movie, the girls end up where they started, just four girls who have known each other all their lives. They have survived what life has given them and have grown stronger through their tribulations, because of the pants.

I will go to what might seem to be a bit of a stretch and ask, is the Lord not like those pants? The pants are a reminder of our loving Lord. First, He “fits” us all – or, rather, He makes us “fit” Him in the righteousness He gives through Christ.

He also reminds us of the wonderful gifts we have been given. In truth, we know that the pants could not give anything. But our gracious Savior never stops giving Himself in His Gospel and Sacraments!

Our “Better-than-Pants” Savior promises a long future with Him (though He will not get lost in Greece, making our future with Him much longer than the girls with the pants!) Even when it seems we are on our own, and it seems that God is far from us, He is there all along. He remains with us, assuring us through His Gifts of an eternal future in Christ!

And get this! Jesus never needs to be laundered! Actually, He launders us! He brings us to His Holy Font and washes us. Once baptized, we don’t need to be washed again (only absolved, and that’s another topic.) In that miracle, He clothes us with Himself, covering us with His righteousness.

Finally, God will unite us, together with Him in heaven, just as the girls were united again in Greece. Our Savior will bring us amazing joy as He gathers us all in His presence, blessing us beyond understanding.

Though we may not have a magical pair of pants, we do have a wonderful and amazing God who blesses us! Far better than this sisterhood, we have been given sonship by our Savior, laundered, reminded, and given His Good Gifts!

Johannah Miesner teaches the 7th and 8th grades at Saint John’s Lutheran School in Lanesville, Indiana. A native of Perry County, Missouri, Johannah is a graduate of Concordia University – Nebraska. She previously has written The Big Screen vs. Small Screens: Cinemas and Cell Phones for Higher Things.

by The Rev. Rich Heinz

A few seasons ago, before watching, I thought it was a mean, voyeuristic concept of a show. Put a bunch of overweight people on a ranch, make them work hard, and vote them off if they did not work hard enough.

Yet when I actually watched the program, I came to see it as much more. Even when the trainers are hard on their contestants, they are pushing them to excel and teaching them to cope with food, exercise, and life in general. When competitors are voted off, many others cry, as they actually become friends and support each other.

Of course, as I sit on the couch, eating a brownie and sipping Starbucks, I don’t think I’m complying with the choices that the show encourages – at least not all the time. On the other hand, the previous week my wife and I went outside and ran the hill of our driveway a couple times when the show was over.

As Pastor Borghardt and the entire HT staff would say, “Ah! The freedom of the Gospel!” Both the brownie and Starbucks, and the exercise are gifts from the Lord; and there is a time and a place for each.

On Biggest Loser, we see people taught good nutrition choices, great exercise in and out of the gym, and simply living a healthier lifestyle. The show is not about mocking large people. It is not about pitying them either. Biggest Loser is about teaching and encouraging viewers to live healthier lives, becoming Big Losers themselves.

When you think about it, Jesus is the Biggest Loser. Saint Paul directs us to “Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:5b-8 ESV) Jesus humbled Himself to lose it all for you.

On the show, the one who ends up losing the most weight (unless unfairly voted off) becomes the “Biggest Loser.” Yet in Jesus’ case, He made a major adjustment to this concept.

First, Christ released you from the weight of your sin. As He was baptized in the Jordan, He soaked up the oppressive load of your trespasses. You became “lighter,” as His “weight” increased. It would seem that He was actually being defeated in this contest!

Then Jesus, under the burden of the whole world’s sin, suffered and died. But wait! At the moment of His death, the weight was removed. The pounds of punishment – the tons of trespasses – all gone for good. Jesus indeed became the Biggest Loser!

But in a bizarre twist, Jesus decided not to remain simply the “Biggest Loser,” but to be the Biggest Loser FOR YOU! The Winner, the Champion hands out His delivery through His Holy Gifts, one of which (irony of ironies) is through eating!

Yes, the creators of the show Biggest Loser might be perplexed, but the Lord shares His victory and new life with you as He feeds you! And kneeling at the Lord’s Table, longing for the Holy Food and Drink He gives there is one food addiction that is to be praised and encouraged!

Jesus became the Biggest Loser that you too might be Big Losers – losing the control that sin, death, and the devil have in your lives. You lose the burden of constantly being accused by the devil. You lose the hopelessness and despair that come from our failures in this world. You lose the weight of Old Adam, as Christ, the Biggest Loser, feeds you His victorious Body and Blood! Congratulations! Jesus has made you a bunch of Losers!

Rev. Rich Heinz is Pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Lanesville, IN. Pastor Heinz also serves as editor of the Higher Things Website.