“Avengers: Endgame Spoiler Alert”


BIBLE READING: Acts 2                

                One of the best things to me about having sons, is that we get to share in some great father-son bonding moments.  A few weeks ago, we got to share one of these special moments as we got to watch the Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame together.  Now I know that I have already lost some of you, so for those few of you who are completely ignorant to the Marvel movie series, let me give you a quick rundown about what this entails.   About ten years ago, Marvel debuted it first movie in a series of super hero films with Ironman.  The film was not only a blockbuster hit at the box office, it was also the beginning of a super hero saga that would last over a decade, chronicling a number of super heroes and super villains over the span of twenty-two films.  The final segment of this saga is the film Avengers: Endgame.  Now, for those of you that have not seem the film as of yet, let me warn you that I am about to drop a major spoiler about the film.  Are you ready...THE GOOD GUYS WIN!  As I was able to share this special moment of watching the film with my family, there is a scene where every super hero from all the previous films gather together to fight off their one common enemy.  As soon as that scene happened, my two boys, who were seated very close to the front, stood up with outstretched arms in a quiet movies theater and screamed “YEAH!! IT’S ABOUT TIME!!”  You would think I would have been embarrassed and tried to calm them down so the rest of the crowd could watch the movie in peace.  On the contrary, I had never been so proud (Okay, that is an exaggeration...but I was very proud). When they did this, the unexpected happened; the rest of the theater joined in with their own screams of excitement.  You see, those people who have followed the saga from the beginning, had been waiting on that exact moment for over ten years.  When it finally happened, they could not contain their excitement.  So…what does that have to do with the reading for today?  The second chapter of Acts is somewhat of the same thing.  Let me explain; ever since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, man has been faced with utter destruction, having no hope of a future after they die.  All throughout the saga, that we call the Bible, God is building and building to what will become the ultimate Endgame when Christ dies for the sins of the world and is resurrected on the third day.  However, that doesn’t end God’s plan.  The next phase of God’s plan was crucial to Christ’s life being made relevant to us today.  God had to reveal to humanity a way in which we could use the sacrifice of Jesus by way of example that would allow us to be reunited with Him.  This plan of course, is salvation and it is introduced here in Acts 2 with the establishment of Christ’s Church.   If we were to watch the entire Bible being played out in a film, the story of Jesus would send our emotions on a roller-coaster ride.  We would be intrigued with the unusual way our Savior came into the world; we would be deeply moved with his torture and His death; we would see the glimmer of hope that the empty tomb brings us.  However, when Peter stands to deliver that first sermon at Pentecost, we would all stand up and cheer knowing that God’s plan had been fulfilled.  Unlike the Marvel movie, it took longer than ten years. It took all of time, as we know it, from the Garden of Eden until this reading.  Now, every story of the Bible gives us a deeper meaning and understanding of how God has left us hints and pointed us in the direction of the climax of His plan.  Not only did the Good Guy win the war in Jesus’ defeat of death on the cross, but now I can become part of His team.  I can now accept His terms of salvation. Not only that, I can help Him by using my talents, my God-given talents to further His cause.  Church, if that doesn’t cause us to want to stand up and cheer, I don’t know what will!
               



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