Saving Today

In the climactic scene of the movie Wonder Woman, a plane filled with deadly gas is about to be unleashed on London.  Thousands of innocent civilians will die unless someone acts heroically.  The only way to stop it is to get onboard and pilot the aircraft to a high altitude where it could be safely detonated.  There was clearly no coming back from this mission.  Captain Steve Trevor knows this; he volunteers anyway.

Steve was the pilot and spy who crash-landed his plan on Themyscira—the hidden island of the Amazons—thereby setting the plot of the movie in motion. At one point earlier in the film, he said, “My father told me once, he said, ‘If you see something wrong happening in the world, you can either do nothing, or you can do something’. And I already tried nothing.”  Steve was tired of doing nothing.  This was his moment to do something—and he wasn’t going to miss it.

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men [and women] to do nothing. —Edmund Burke

Steve Trevor is an inspiration to me because he shows what I wish I was more often.  I look at the news headlines and quickly get overwhelmed by all that is going “wrong” in our world.  I struggle to know where exactly God would have me act. I long to do something—anything—that would make a difference. But too often, I become frozen in fear of “doing the wrong thing”. My “not knowing exactly what to do” becomes a convenient excuse for me to do nothing.  Indecisiveness is to me the same as mud is to a car.  My wheels are spinning furiously but I can't seem to move forward or backward.  I'm stuck!

At the same time, Steve is planning his final mission, Diana (a.k.a., Wonder Woman) is busy battling the individual she thought was the war-God Ares, whom she assumes was responsible for starting the war.  When she finds out about Steve’s plan, however, she wants to take his place.  After all, she’s the “super hero”; Zeus created the Amazon women to protect mankind.  Oh, and Diana also happens to have fallen in love with this particular man during the movie.  

“Steve, whatever it is, let ME do it!”

“No, it has to be me.”

“I can save TODAY.  You can save the WORLD.”

Steve’s final line to Diana contains wisdom for us all as we struggle to know where exactly we should act. Sometimes the feeling that we can’t save the whole world leads us to hunker down and wait for a “super hero” to fly in and make things right, or to rescue us and take us away to a better place. However, this scene reminds us that the heroes we wait for are already here.

Yes, Jesus is the “super hero” of God’s Story.  He’s the one that has saved, is saving, and will save the world.  But “everyday heroes” like you and me are the ones that “save today”.  The things we do now count toward the eternal future God is building.  When it comes to service, today is the only time we can act.  We can’t change the past and we can’t know with certainty what the future will bring—but we can act today.  

Each time we act to serve, stand up for justice, or enrich the beauty in this world, and each time we share God’s love with others, we move a little closer to the mark.  For Christians, our mark is Jesus.  Colossians 1:15 calls Jesus the image of the invisible God, and 1 John 4:8 describes God’s very essence as love.  So, another way of saying it, is that our mark is love. 

At the very end of Wonder Woman as Diana reflects on her experience she says, “…Now I know. Only love can save this world. So, I stay. I fight, and I give... for the world I know can be. This is my mission, now. Forever.”   

Christians have a similar mission—or calling.  We believe there is a world God is making, and that we take part in its construction.  Our prayers, our dreams, and our actions help create it. When I sing the chorus of “A Million Dreams” from The Greatest Showman, I often sing:

I think of what this world can be.

When God’s vision becomes reality.

A million prayers are what it’s gonna take.

A million dreams for the world we help create.

This world in which we live is more than our eyes can see.  We live in the now as we anticipate the not yet.  Every act of love we do today helps to make that invisible Kingdom of God (i.e., the range of God’s influence) spread a bit further and become more solid and real in our world.  We know that, as a favorite praise song puts it, “When it's all been said and done, all my treasures will mean nothing.  Only what I've done for love's reward will stand the test of time.”  That’s why we love; that’s why we serve; that’s why we give—and yes, that’s why we die whether metaphorically or literally, if that’s what it takes.  This is our mission now.  Forever.

So, where does God call you to “save today”?  

What gets in the way of you responding to that call? What has you stuck—unable to move forward or back?  What holds you back from loving more, serving more, giving more of yourself for others?  Do you fear what it would cost you to do something?  Is it just easier to do nothing?

Lent is a good time to contemplate these kinds of deeper questions. Ask God to help you strip away obstacles that block you from drawing closer to God and to others.  Perhaps it’s a good topic to discuss with a trusted friend, or a small group.  Maybe you can hold each other accountable to taking some concrete action(s) during Lent to do your part to help “save today”.  After all, doing something—anything—is always better than doing nothing.

We cannot save the world Lord—that’s your job, but we can—and we must—our part to save today.  Part of how the world is saved is through the actions of ordinary heroes, ordinary disciples of Christ faithfully and sacrificially serving you day after day over countless years.  Help us each find the place you call us to serve, where our great passion and the world’s great needs meet.  Forgive us where we have been reluctant to follow your call for fear of what it might cost.  You model sacrificial service when you kneeled to wash the feet of your disciples. Make us willing to follow your example, to surrender ourselves for the greater good of the world, knowing that the greatest love is the one that lays its life down for friends.  We thank you for your goodness and your grace.  We praise you and give thanks for all you are.  In the names of the Trinity.  AMEN