Life Works 006 - Meditations on Superman (Part 3)

Summary

The third in a series about Superman. Where does power really come from?

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Does the World Need Superman? (Part 3)

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote a narrative poem that provides some interesting parallels to the Superman theme. Whether the poem is based on some historical figure, I have no idea, but it harks back to ancient times.

The story line of the poem is as follows:

Robert of Sicily, a king of great renown, goes to church. While there he hears the Magnificat, that part of Scripture where she magnifies the LORD after being with child of the Holy Ghost and is bearing the promised Messiah:

He hath put down the mighty from [their] seats, and exalted them of low degree. (Luke 1:52 – New Century Version)

Robert angrily declares under his breath, “No one will put me down from my seat!”

Drowsiness comes over him and he falls asleep.

When he awakes the church is shrouded in darkness. He can’t believe he has slept so long. He leaves the church and makes his way frantically to the Palace, hardly aware he is no longer clothed in his kingly robes. Only when the guards stop him at the Palace gates does he realize he is clothed in the rags of a beggar. He is outraged.

What has happened to him?

Who has robbed him and clothed him in these evil smelling garments?

In a rage he pushes past the guards and arrives in the throne-room, only to discover someone is already seated on the throne. In astonishment he sees that the one seated there is the image of himself.

“I am the king,” he shouts. “You are an impostor.”

All those gathered in the throne-room laugh. How can this stinking beggar imagine he is the king? He must be mentally deranged.

Unknown to Robert the one seated on the throne is an angel. The angel says to Robert. You are a beggar. I am the king.”

In humiliation he is escorted out of the Palace gates and into the cold night. In the days and weeks that follow Robert finds himself in the company of an ape, the usual companion of some beggars in those days. The ape performed tricks to encourage donations from the populace. Wherever he goes he does not fail to declare, “He is an impostor. I am the king.”

Even those who knew him well failed to recognize him, mesmerized by the kingly personage occupying the throne.

At night, Robert huddles with the ape in a barn, coving himself with straw and cast off rags for warmth.

From time to time the angel visits him and asks a searching question: “Robert, who are you?

Time and again Robert answers, “You are an impostor. I am the king!”

The weeks pass into months, and the months into years. At last, burdened down by the humiliation of years he remembers his proud declaration, “No one will put me down from my seat!” Suddenly he is confronted with his arrogance and pride. He sees the rebelliousness of his heart against God, and the humiliation he feels turns to humility.

When the angel once again appears to him, he bows down and keeps his eyes on the ground as he is asked again, “Robert, who are you?”

“With a trembling voice Robert replies, “I am a beggar, you are the king.”

A sudden brightness shines around the angel and fills the barn with heavenly light. In compassion the angels reaches out to Robert and says, “No, Robert. I am an angel. You are the king!”

From that moment Robert is restored to his throne, a humble and good king, recognized for his compassionate and wise rule.

Now what has that to do with Superman?

It has to do with the question the angel asked, “Who are you?

While you and I hold on to the idea that we do not need God’s Superman, Jesus Christ, or at least deny him authority over portions of our lives, we will never be able to exercise the power Heaven grants us. We will go around declaring to ourselves, if not to others, “I can do this on my own,” and deny God’s right to rule over us.

Only when we bow our hearts in humility and declare, “I am full of weakness, and You, Lord, are my only Superman!” will we be raised to reign with Him over the forces of evil, and over our own wayward hearts.

When I Am Weak

(Thursday 19th April, 2007)

“When I am weak, then am I strong,”

Is a word from the holy page:

Wisdom distilled for the wise of heart,

Valued from age to age.

For when I am strong the power from on High

Has no place to call a home:

The strong close their doors to all strength abroad,

Except to the strength that’s its own.

But, when I am weak I open my arms

To a power that proceeds from above.

It’s a power none can have, except those souls,

Who yield to the power of God’s love.

Credits

• The intro is by Steve "Snowball" Saylor.

• The theme music is Wagner's The Flying Dutchman (Overture), courtesy of the Rumblefish Music Licensing Store.

• This podcast is produced by Shane Shennan.

Life Works 005 - Meditations on Superman (Part 2)

Summary

The only people who think they do not need a Superman are . . .

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Does the World Need Superman? (Part 2)

The only people who think they do not need a Superman are those who have deluded themselves into thinking they themselves are supermen of some kind, or in some way.
Such a man was Nebuchadnezzar, in the book of Daniel. He had been warned he had to humble himself and change his attitudes. The warning went unheeded:

Twelve months later as he was walking on the roof of his palace in Babylon, he said, “I have built this great Babylon as my royal home. I built it by my power to show my glory and my majesty.”

The words were still in his mouth when a voice from heaven said, “King Nebuchadnezzar, these things will happen to you: Your royal power has been taken away from you. You will be forced away from people. You will live with the wild animals and will be fed grass like an ox. Seven years will pass before you learn this lesson: The Most High God rules over every kingdom on earth and gives those kingdoms to everyone he chooses. (Daniel 4:29-32 –New Century Version)

What the voice from Heaven decreed happened. At the end of seven years Nebuchadnezzar was brought back to his kingdom, and ruled once again. However, he was not the same man. He had learned the most valuable lesson anyone can learn. Indeed, it is the first lesson before any of us can learn anything else worth learning. He learned he was no Superman. Let him tell it in his own words:

At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up toward heaven, and I could think normally again! Then I gave praise to the Most High God; I gave honor and glory to him who lives forever.

God’s rule is forever,

And his kingdom continues for all

Time.

People on earth

Are not truly important.

God does what he wants

With the powers of heaven

And the people on earth.

No one can stop his powerful hand

Or question what he does …

Now, I, Nebuchadnezzar, give praise and honor and glory to the King of heaven. Everything he does is right and fair, and he is able to make proud people humble. (Daniel 4:34-35, 37 – New Century Version.

Such is the story of a great king of ancient times, but the story does no end there. Most of us (in modern times) have areas of our own lives where we imagine ourselves to be Superman, or Superwoman. We refuse to give up control of our own destinies, at least with regard to some things. We feel competent enough to deal with these ourselves, without reference to the Almighty God who made us. In that respect we are determined to be the captain of our own destiny and master of our own fate.
If you like we are partial Supermen, willing to let God control some, but not all of our lives.

I Thought I Was a Superman

(Wednesday 18th April – by Christopher Shennan)

I thought I was a Superman:

I chose my own way and then

Thought I was some great boon

To the sons and daughters of men.

I thought I needed no one:

I could make it quite well on my own.

I was willing to do whatever it took,

Or take any path to win.

I tremble to think if it happened

That I continued on the path I chose,

If the Mercy of God hadn’t stopped me

And I’d ended up one of His foes.

How my pride would have merited judgment,

And my arrogance tears of regret.

But now I have learned to bow down

At the feet of the One I have met.

I no longer think I am Superman,

For I know I am frail and weak;

Only Jesus can give me power

While he is the One that I seek.

Credits

• The intro is by Steve "Snowball" Saylor.

• The theme music is Wagner's The Flying Dutchman (Overture), courtesy of the Rumblefish Music Licensing Store.

• The podcast is produced by Shane Shennan.

Life Works 004 - Meditations on Superman (Part 1)

Summary

Welcome to the first of four episodes about the spiritual significance of the movie Superman Returns.

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Does the World Need Superman? (Part 1)

Few would disagree that the latest movie, Superman Returns, is the best ever Superman movie. For me, the most important element in the movie was the question posed, “Does the world need Superman?”

Lois Lane, embittered by the sudden departure of Superman, wins the Pulitzer Prize for an article she wrote entitled, Why the World Does Not Need Superman!” Then Superman returns.

In a scene on top of a building, Superman asks Lois, “What do you hear?”

Lois replies, “I don’t hear anything.”

“I hear everything,” Superman says, “I hear cries for help all the time.” With super hearing, the super hero feels the burden of hearing what the ordinary man cannot hear. And in hearing the cries, and possessing the power to do something about it, he feels responsible to act on their behalf.

O.K., Superman is a fictional character, but that does not render the question irrelevant, “Does the world need Superman?”

Where can one find the answer?

First, you can find an answer in the media. The newspapers and television news provides us with ample evidence that Mankind is in a pretty sorry state. Human conflict continues despite the efforts and prayers of good people. The United Nations seems powerless to stop or even diminish world conflict. Nation against nation and civil wars within nations seem beyond their efforts. Even within the organization itself, the term “united” seems to be a stretch of the imagination. No, the human race is afflicted with a deeper disease that than mere outward conflict.

From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?(James 4:1 - KJV)

The Superman the world needs must not be so in strength alone, but must also have power to treat and cure the moral blight that afflicts it.

Returning to the fictional Superman, consider the plot of the super-hero genre:

There is (i) an arch villain (ii) a nation of weaklings, helpless before the evil deeds and diabolical plans of the villain, and (iii) a Superman who comes to their rescue.

The fiction bears a close resemblance to the facts of human life. Mankind is a race of weaklings: ravaged by sin and an easy mark for the villain, Satan, There is no hope of deliverance by our own efforts. We need a strong Saviour, a Superman capable of utterly defeating the arch Enemy and delivering us from the sin that separates us from God. More than that He must a Superman in the realm of Love, for only a Super Lover will be willing to give up His life to pay for the transgressions of a helpless and unworthy race.

The Supermen of fiction are many. The reason they appear on the pages of literature so frequently in different forms, is because the empty space in every heart longs for a Superman to fill its need. If none appears, then the heart goes about inventing one anyway. But however imaginative the creators of these Supermen of fiction are, they fall short of the requirements that necessary to deliver the human race.

Even if these Supermen were real, they would themselves fall under the blight of sin and require another Superman, or Saviour, to deliver them. That Superman is none other that Jesus Christ. He alone qualifies as the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.

Consider again the question Superman asked Lois Lane, “What do you hear?” When she said she heard nothing, Superman tells her, “I hear everything. I hear cries for help all the time.”

Imagine the real Superman, Jesus, asking you that same question:

What Do You Hear?

(Saturday 14th April 2007 – by Christopher Shennan)

My Lord said, “What do you hear?

“I hear nothing, my Lord.”

“I hear hearts crying,” my Lord replied,

“Dying for a word to give them hope.

“I hear the sighs, the whispers under the breath,

“‘Oh, God, what am I going to do now?’”

“How can I learn to hear, my Lord?”

“By joining your heart with mine,” He said.

By bending your will and seeking my glory

You will learn to hear.

Only then will your ears be opened

And your feet made swift to meet another’s need.

You will hear what I hear,

And smell the fear of those living in the dark.

Your heart will bleed as mine bleeds ---

And the needs around you will feel like your own.”

Credits

• The intro is by Steve "Snowball" Saylor.

• The theme music is Wagner's The Flying Dutchman (Overture), courtesy of the Rumblefish Music Licensing Store.

• The podcast is produced by Shane Shennan.