The Avengers–Captain America

Steve Rogers, Captain America.
And a bonus Hawkeye.

This blog has been very hard to write. Not just because of a handful of schedule problems, or fussy babies, or the fact that there is a lot to say about Captain America. I really want to use this blog to tell you about the amazing journey I took last summer as I got to know Cap.

But I’ll skip to the end: I discovered that Cap is not in fact a dork with lame superpowers in a badly tailored American flag suit. Captain America is the greatest Avenger because he has integrity.

Steve Rogers was picked for the super-soldier program because he understood being the underdog, understood that power is not to be abused. And in WWII, as Cap fought Hitler and the Red Skull, he was as powerful as they came. But after being a ‘Capsicle’ for so long (thanks, Tony), Captain America no longer seems so strong. Compared to the Hulk, Captain America is downright frail. But the strongest around, or not, Steve Rogers still stands for protecting those who cannot protect themselves; still stands for making the right choices no matter how tough; still stands for making peace instead of perpetuating war.

When Thor makes his first appearance in the Avengers, he manages to offend Tony Stark (but is that really hard to do?). Cap urges caution, Ironman ignores that and charges in. After Thor and Ironman knock out a few rounds, Cap catches up and breaks up the fight…by telling Thor to put down the hammer. Thor takes that hammer straight into Captain America, who simply hides behind his shield, and does what Ironman for all his power could not do: stops Thor. Captain America is the unifier, leader, and moral compass of the team.

You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing.

And not only does he talk a big talk, while the other Avengers deal with the invading force, Cap coordinates an effort on the ground to save lives and get the defenseless to safety:

Captain America: Sergeant! I want you to station your men in all these buildings, and I need a perimeter all the way down to 39th.
Police Sergeant: Why should I take orders from you? [Cap kills a bunch of enemies] I want men posted in all these buildings! And I want a perimeter all the way down to 39th!

So Cap really does earn his spot as leader of the Avengers, not by might, or intimidation, or pissing contests. He earns it by his integrity–to himself, to the defenseless, to humanity, to his team.

Ironman: Call it Cap!
Captain America: Barton, I need you on top of that building. Round up and shoot down all the strays you see. Iron Man, cover the skies. Don’t let anything break that perimeter. Agent Romanoff and I will cover the ground and get these civilians out. Hulk, Smash.

We look at Captain America, and we see the best of ourselves. We see the photoshopped version of our consciences and character: touched up, beautified, flawless. We want to think that someone out there is really good enough to put himself or herself on the line for the defenseless. We want someone to refuse to kneel to egomaniacs, and we want them to have the strength to succeed. Maybe we don’t think that person will be us, ourselves, me…but it is comforting to think that someone will. We see this quality in our police officers, in our military servicemen, in our firefighters and EMTs and public servants. We want–we need–Captain America.

Lord, you have heard the request of the oppressed;
you make them feel secure because you listen to their prayer.
You defend the fatherless and oppressed,
so that mere mortals may no longer terrorize them.
Psalm 10:17-18, NET

He sprouted up like a twig before God,
like a root out of parched soil;
he had no stately form or majesty that might catch our attention,
no special appearance that we should want to follow him.
He was despised and rejected by people,
one who experienced pain and was acquainted with illness;
people hid their faces from him;
he was despised, and we considered him insignificant.
But he lifted up our illnesses,
he carried our pain;
even though we thought he was being punished,
attacked by God, and afflicted for something he had done.
He was wounded because of our rebellious deeds,
crushed because of our sins;
he endured punishment that made us well;
because of his wounds we have been healed.
All of us had wandered off like sheep;
each of us had strayed off on his own path,
but the Lord caused the sin of all of us to attack him.
He was treated harshly and afflicted,
but he did not even open his mouth.
Like a lamb led to the slaughtering block,
like a sheep silent before her shearers,
he did not even open his mouth.
He was led away after an unjust trial –
but who even cared?
Indeed, he was cut off from the land of the living;
because of the rebellion of his own people he was wounded.
Isaiah 53:2-8, NET

But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep…Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when he has brought to an end all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be eliminated is death.
…“Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
1 Corinthians 15:20, 24-26, 54b-57, NET

Many cultures and religions and myths and Marvel comics talk about a god, or gods, or demigods who visit Earth and walk among humanity. Including the Christian faith. However, the real miracle is not that God visited us, it is that God became a man. Not just pretended to be a man, or very similar to a man, or even borrowed another man’s body; that God took on his own flesh, gave up his position and privilege in the Heavenly throne room, and lived a fully human life. A human life to the fullest extent, meaning it ended in death. Jesus’ favorite term for himself in the Gospels wasn’t “Son of God.” He could have used that term to get attention and make a point about who he is. But instead, he preferred to call himself the Son of Man. There are a number of reasons for this, but I think that one of them is because what is most impressive, most important, is that Jesus was a man.

And he lived Captain America’s life. He stood for the poor and oppressed. He took punishment to save others. His power was balanced by his integrity. He literally put himself and his life on the line.

And God resurrected him, raised him from his legitimate and complete death.

The Avengers–Thor

Thor. ‘Nuff said.

Thor is one crazy dude. What is the point of the rest of the Avengers, when you’ve got freaking THOR on your team? Seems to be a somewhat valid question, and while there are probably many good answers, the only one I’ve got is “‘Cause Asgard is far away…?”

Thor is actually the Norse god of thunder (sort of). He actually comes from a whole different world. He actually possesses powers and being that is not merely superhuman, but inhuman. His hammer is freaking awesome (the Hulk can’t pick that thing up, another one of my favorite moments in this movie). His version of pesky vermin destroy lesser mortals…

Thor: Bilchsteim. You know; huge, scaly, big antlers. You don’t have those?
Agent Phil Coulson: Don’t think so.
Thor: They are repulsive, and they trample everything in their path.

Truly Thor is larger than life, the son of Our Father Odin, rightful King of Asgard, administrator of justice, protector of Earth.

Now the Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We saw his glory – the glory of the one and only, full of grace and truth, who came from the Father.
John 1:14, NET

And with the clouds of the sky
one like a son of man was approaching.
He went up to the Ancient of Days
and was escorted before him.
To him was given ruling authority, honor, and sovereignty.
All peoples, nations, and language groups were serving him.
His authority is eternal and will not pass away.
His kingdom will not be destroyed.
Daniel 7:13-14, NET

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be paid back according to what he has done while in the body, whether good or evil.
2 Corinthians 5:10, NET

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
because he has come to help and has redeemed his people.
For he has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David,
as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from long ago,
that we should be saved from our enemies,
and from the hand of all who hate us.
Luke 1:68-71, NET

Jesus Christ, Son of God, was sent out from the glorious throne room of the Father as a king, with authority and a kingdom. He is judge, and just, administering perfect justice to the guilty. And He is the protector of His people to rescue them, to save them, to defend his kingdom, his creation, from all enemies.

Major difference? Thor seems to prefer ales while Jesus shows a marked preference for wine.

I tell you, from now on I will not drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.
Matthew 26:29, NET

The Avengers–Hawkeye

I would hate to speak too soon, but I think I have a new favorite movie.

In one of the rare occasions that we went to see a movie in the theaters, Camille and I made a date out of the Avengers at Studio Movie Grill this weekend. We’d heard the hype, but this time I refused to let it get to me (too much). That was a smart decision, because for once a movie pleasantly surprised me. More than that, the Avengers blew my expectations out of the water.

But I don’t intend this to be a glorified geek-out reminiscing about the movie in between repeated trips to the theaters to watch it over and over and over again. Instead, I want to talk about heroes. And yes, don’t go reading this blog if you haven’t seen the movie and want to avoid spoilers. I make no promises that I am spoiler-free!

Agent Clint Barton, Hawkeye

I am a recent Avengers fan, so I didn’t grow up reading the comics or watching each and every animated feature I could find. So I didn’t really know Hawkeye before this movie. But pretty straight off, he is a very keen and interesting guy. Loki certainly picks up on that (and, sidebar, I think Loki has some of the most interesting things to say in this movie. He’s usually wrong, but he’s wrong because of his demented twist, not because there isn’t something meaningful to what he says. More on that later).

Watching the movie leaves you with no doubt that Barton and Romanov have a powerful back story that is merely hinted at but left unexplored. Barton has a history of making risky calls to save someone, but he’s noted for his perception and intelligence. He says it succinctly: “I see better from a distance.”

Hawkeye is the hero who gets above it all, sees both the details and the big picture, and then acts with deadly precision and grace. Though he’s not a flashy superhero (who is, compared to Ironman, Thor, or the Hulk?!) I’ve developed quite the respect for Jeremy Renner’s portrayal of Clint Barton.

Hawkeye reminds us that heroes, though awesome and capable, are also somewhat set apart in their own ways. Jeremiah writes:

Do you people think that I am some local deity
and not the transcendent God?” the Lord asks.
“Do you really think anyone can hide himself
where I cannot see him?” the Lord asks.
“Do you not know that I am everywhere?”
the Lord asks.
Jeremiah 23:23-24, NET

God sees; God sees the big picture, and God sees the details. He is a “God near and a God far off” as the NIV renders it. He has a different perspective, because of who He is, but also because he can see in this way.

“You people are from below; I am from above. You people are from this world; I am not from this world. Thus I told you that you will die in your sins. For unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.”

So they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus replied, “What I have told you from the beginning. I have many things to say and to judge about you, but the Father who sent me is truthful, and the things I have heard from him I speak to the world.” (They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father.)
John 8:23-27, NET

Yeah, Jesus speaks some words we find harsh, but this exchange out of the Gospel of John is all about the fact that people couldn’t quite follow what Jesus was trying to tell them, because he was speaking from a different (the big word is “transcendent”) point of view.

The good news is that we’re talking about Hawkeye, not Rorschach from the Watchmen. Being above and watching isn’t the only thing God does. He acts. He saves. He uses his sight to be involved, to be close, to protect.

Captain America: You think you can hold them off?
Hawkeye: Captain, it would be my genuine pleasure.

For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.
Luke 19:10, NET

A Season for Hope

I hope the Chargers will win this week.

I hope it snows sometime this winter.

I hope I lose weight this month.

I hope I am becoming a better husband.

I hope many things. As do you. We hope the same way we love, the same way we believe, the same way we make our decisions and order our lives: shallowly. No offense to Twitter, but if it can’t be said, done, or solved in 140 characters, we’re not interested. We can’t be bothered.

Have you ever seen or read the play “Waiting for Godot”? I went through an extensive phase of loving Samuel Beckett, and plays written in a similar way (including David Mamet and Tom Stoppard works). In a certain respect, I am still in that phase. There is something profound about the stories told around the act of waiting. “Waiting for Godot” is about just that: waiting. Two men sit in an appointed place, waiting for this guy Godot to come and fix everything in their lives. Other opportunities come and go, but these two hold out for Godot.

The play feels futile and hopeless as they continue to wait. Will Godot ever show up?

In the twitterverse, we don’t have the strength to continue to wait for Godot. We don’t have the attention span, true; but more importantly we don’t have any confidence that waiting will produce results. Our hope is founded on nothing less than instant gratification.

I remember as a kid having to wait for dinner. I remember that Mom would go into the kitchen, and the first sign that dinner was coming would arise: the noises of the kitchen would sound forth: the clatter of pots as she pulled out the one she would use tonight; the swish of water flowing though the pipes into the sink; the thump of the refrigerator door.

Not too long after, the smells would begin to waft through the house. The worst was always when she made homemade bread, and we had to endure the fragrance of delicious baking dough for hours.

But for all the noises, and for all the smells, running to the kitchen never produced the results I wanted. Usually I’d be given a task to do to help with dinner, not a morsel of food to sate my growing boy’s appetite!

I waited on those days, whether I waited out of sight to try to avoid setting the table, or whether I waited while I worked. I waited with confidence that dinner was coming, even if I wasn’t eating already. I waited, with confidence.

When I became responsible for my own meals, I found myself eating a great deal more instant meals and frozen foods. Waiting can be painful, especially if my cooking disappoints. It’s easier to opt for the tweet than the textbook. But it’s harder to live on microwavable burritos than on a balanced steak and potatoes dinner. For the record, I have a Twitter account as well, and my only connection to world news is @BBCBreaking, which gets sent to my cell via SMS.

I don’t know if Godot was worth waiting for; I know a great number of people (especially these days) would scorn anyone who chose to wait confidently for someone who provided no evidence of trustworthiness. But that is hope.

Hope is a POW waiting in a camp for rescue. Hope is a child waiting for Daddy to come home from work. Hope is a cancer patient hanging on for another day while doctors work for a cure, or at least treatment. Hope is Andy Dufrain writing a letter everyday to his senator for months. Hope is a wife who refuses to consider divorce for her floundering marriage.

What do you hope for?

…as we wait for the happy fulfillment of our hope in the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Titus 2:13, NET

And so, since we have been justified by his grace, we become heirs with the confident expectation of eternal life.
Titus 3:7, NET

Every nation, tribe, and tongue

The prophet Zechariah writes:

The Lord who rules over all says, ‘It will someday come to pass that people – residents of many cities – will come. The inhabitants of one will go to another and say, “Let’s go up at once to ask the favor of the Lord, to seek the Lord who rules over all. Indeed, I’ll go with you.”’ Many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the Lord who rules over all and to ask his favor. The Lord who rules over all says, ‘In those days ten people from all languages and nations will grasp hold of – indeed, grab – the robe of one Jew and say, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”’ (Zechariah 8:20-23 NET)

Last weekend I saw that happen, and it nourished my soul. As you may know, I married into a Filipino family, which means I immediately tripled the amount of close relatives I have (or can keep track of) in addition to all the extended family. Last weekend I traveled with my family down to Corpus Christi for the wedding of my cousin, Jerome.

So Jerome’s family is Filipino (and me). Jerome’s bride, Audriana, is Hispanic. I failed to do the math in my head until I got there: Catholic wedding! I am grateful that it was in English, I just tried to imagine being Irish Catholic.

But it was at the reception that it all really hit home for me. Before the food was served, we heard traditional prayers in English, Spanish, and Tagolog. This is what Zechariah was talking about. And I can’t wait to experience it again, with this family, and again in the Kingdom!

In the wake of 10 years

It is so easy to become accustomed to evil.

Whether it is a fairly small evil such as an annoying vibrating noise that mysteriously sounds outside your apartment at random hours of the day and night, which wakes you up at 3 am every night of the first week you live there; or whether it is a significant evil such as the terror networks that exist simply to destroy and harm people for their own purposes; it is easy to adapt and forget that a perfect world should not have such elements.

I know comparing Al Qaeda to the mystery noise outside my bedroom window is ridiculous. The two are not the same. But both are symptoms of the bigger problem (yes, bigger than multi-national terrorist rings) we face in our world. The simple fact is, the world is not as it should be.

That really goes without saying in the post-9/11 world. I watched a program entitled “9/11: As it happened” on MSNBC this weekend, which was essentially a re-airing of the applicable parts of the Today Show from Sept 11, 2001. The images are just as shocking ten years after the fact as they were originally–perhaps more shocking, after spending the last ten years trying to manage and ignore the pain and fear.

I thought a great deal about how naive we all were as we watched the events unfold ten years ago. I heard Tom Brokaw make a remark about how significant this attack was, and even while he watched it live I think he (and all of us) could hardly have begun to imagine the impact that attack would come to have. I tried to catalog the changes American society has undergone as a direct result of 9/11, and couldn’t keep track of my own list.

In church on Sunday, they showed a 9/11 video about the fear and pain and change we have experienced. One line from the video stuck out to me: We learned that buildings can fall. I laughed at the line at the time, because it’s so self evident. But as we watched the towers crumble under their own weight ten years ago–when I watched it again this weekend–the fact is that we did learn the truth that buildings can fall, small and large alike.

Then the pastor had one line that really gripped me in his sermon. It wasn’t his main point at all, it wasn’t something he came back to thematically, he just threw it out there. He said something to the effect of this, that we have the opportunity to see how God is working in redemption in our world today.

That’s a statement I agree with wholeheartedly, and attempt to practice daily. But I’ve never specifically associated what God is doing in the world with 9/11. And I was challenged. What is God doing in the wake of 9/11? How is the plan of redemption healing our wounds, our world, after those devastating events?

I can’t wait to understand more of how God is revealing himself in redeeming and reconciling us, individually, and as nations and societies, as a result of 9/11. I suppose I should start by being grateful that I can look back on ten years and see that we not only survived the 11th of September in 2001, but that we have lasted another 10 years at least. Even that much was questionable in the hours and days following the attacks.

I should be grateful that Cassey has been raised in a post-9/11 world, and with all of its traps and pitfalls and terrors, life goes on and children have their innocence.

I should be grateful that for the vast power of 9/11, I had the opportunity to explain some of it to our nine year old this year for the first time, and while not downplaying the significance of the day, I didn’t have to dwell on its horrors with her either.

And I should be grateful that Cassey benefits from the strong emphasis on heroes in our post-9/11 world, because for all our trepidation and cynicism, we saw some of the best in humanity on that day, even if it was because of some of the worst in us.

We made it ten years. Here’s to ten more, and here’s to always being a little uncomfortable with the evil around us, the fact that we are not yet living in a perfect world.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.
John 10:10, NET

A Transparent Parable

A shepherd had one hundred sheep. One day, he lost one sheep. It the chaos of taking care of the hundred, it slipped away from his notice and trotted off over a hill. When the shepherd noticed that the sheep was missing, he began to fret. “Should I go find the missing sheep? What will happen to these ninety-nine if I leave them alone?” Knowing that sheep are, after all, fairly dumb animals, the shepherd decided that his best bet was to watch over the ninety-nine, and do his best to rescue the one missing sheep, should the opportunity arise.

The next day, another sheep managed to escape unnoticed, because watching ninety-nine sheep is not much less chaotic than watching one hundred sheep. The worry in the shepherd’s gut tightened. He thought “Now I’m missing two of my sheep! But if I go looking for them, I might lose far more than that,” for the shepherd had heard that wolves were reported nearby. After all, it was just two sheep.

A few days later, another two sheep disappeared from the flock. The shepherd was definitely concerned now, since two sheep went missing at once, and he was missing four total sheep. So he said to the flock “Alright, we’re going to make some changes. I need all of you to stay together, and we’re going to the other side of this hill to look for our two missing sheep.” So the shepherd took his ninety-six sheep up over the hill to the other side. The two missing sheep were not there, but the effort of moving all ninety-six together had wearied the shepherd out for the day. He found a good vantage point in the shade, where he could see his flock. After all, he still had ninety-six sheep to watch over.

While the shepherd was resting from the move, he didn’t see another few sheep wander away from the flock, back toward the old pasture ground. In fact, it was the next day before the shepherd realized that he only had ninety-three sheep remaining. “It’s too late to do anything about it now,” he reasoned with himself. “I’ll just do an extra good job of guarding these ninety-three. After all, every shepherd loses a sheep now and then, what can anyone expect?”

Over the next few weeks, sheep continued to disappear, one or two at a time. The shepherd became used to this attrition, and began to take notice of which sheep were disappearing. “Well, I didn’t like that sheep very much, his wool was rather poor. And that other sheep bleated through the night, so we’re all really better off without her and her misbehaving lamb.” The shepherd really didn’t think he was being callous about the missing sheep, after all, they were the ones who got lost. His job was to take care of as many as possible, right?

Which one of you, if he has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go look for the one that is lost until he finds it? Then when he has found it, he places it on his shoulders, rejoicing. Returning home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, telling them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost.’ I tell you, in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need to repent.
Luke 15:4-7 (NET)