I found such a snippet in the first Spiderman movie. You will find a further explanation below in a sermon I preached shortly after arriving at St. John Lutheran Church of Cat Spring in 2004:
I have to begin this sermon by asking you if you know who Spiderman is? How many are you familiar with this comic book character? Well, if you aren’t now, by the time I am finished working here at this church, you will probably know more than you care to. See, anyone who has walked into my office knows that I am a Spiderman fan. Now, that wasn’t always the case. It was only in the past couple of years that I truly became a fan of the web slinger, and I’ll tell you why.
A couple of years ago, I watched the first Spiderman movie. I haven’t gotten to see the second one yet because I was moving and settling in when it came out, but I’ll get there eventually, and you can bet that you will hear several sermons about that movie too. But that’s for a later date. When I was watching the Spiderman movie, I was blown away by the movie’s underlying message. It was a message that I considered extremely important in this day and age, especially for those of us who call ourselves Christian.
For those of you who don’t know the story well, a young man by the name of Peter Parker is bitten by a genetically altered spider. The venom actually changes Peter’s very being, and he develops super-powers that are similar to spiders including the ability to shoot webs, extraordinary strength, the ability to climb walls and sense danger before it happens. In the movie, Peter is extremely excited about his new powers, and early on, he chooses to use them for his own purposes: to impress his next door neighbor a girl who he has literally had a crush on his entire life. He enters a wrestling match where he is supposed to win several thousand dollars. On the way to the match, a very important scene takes place. Peter has been living with his aunt and uncle, and they have noticed the changes that Peter is going through. His uncle is driving him downtown to supposedly go to the library, and he confronts Peter with the things that Peter has been doing. He does so in such a way that is very mild and mannered, and he tells Peter that he knows that Peter is changing and that he is becoming the man that he will be. And then Peter’s uncle utters these words, the words that made my respect for Spiderman go through the roof, "Remember, with great power comes great responsibility."
Unfortunately, Peter rebuffs his uncle telling him that he’s not his father. Peter bolts for the wrestling match so that he can win money to impress the girl of his dreams. Well, Peter enters and wins the match, but the guy who pays out the money is less than honest, and gyps Peter the prize money. Seconds later a man bursts in and at gunpoint robs the wrestling manager of the money. The felon runs right by Peter who refuses to stop the thief because in his view, it serves the wrestling manager right. But, in a tragic twist of fate, the thief shoots Peter’s uncle who has come to pick Peter up, and the thief steals the uncle’s car to escape. Because Peter failed to take responsibility with his great powers, he tragically lost his uncle.
It’s not all that far off from our Gospel lesson today where Jesus talks about a rich farmer who fails to use his great power responsibly as well. A couple of family members are arguing about inheritance issues, and they ask Jesus to settle the matters. Well, Jesus doesn’t exactly play into their hands, rather he tells them this parable, "The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God."
Now, I think it’s very important to look at Jesus’ last statement in this parable, "So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God." Jesus isn’t against wealth; far from it. But Jesus is against wealth when the purpose is to use it for ourselves and at the exclusion of God. Jesus is saying, with great power, with great wealth, there is great responsibility. I told you it was very similar to that scene from Spiderman. In the parable Jesus told, the guy who refused to take responsibility had his life demanded of him. In the movie, when Peter Parker refused to take responsibility, he lost his uncle. Tragedy befell both.
The good news in the movie is that Peter then dedicates his life to using his powers with great responsibility. We know that Spiderman is one of the good guys seeking justice and fighting evil with his powers. Peter had a choice of how to respond, and he responded by seeking good. Peter took to heart his Uncle’s council, "With great power comes great responsibility."
So what about us as Christians? What does this tell us? I think the message is very similar, for we as Christians have been given great power. Yes, we have been given great power. I love being a Lutheran because of how we talk about God’s gifts to humanity. In the large scheme of things, we don’t deserve God’s love. Think about who you are as a person. Are you perfect? Do you do everything that God expects of you? Do you love your neighbor as you love yourself 100% of the time? Do you reach out to those who are in need 100% of the time? Do you keep your mind clear of evil thoughts 100% of the time? Have you given all of your money away to the poor and spent your entire life following Jesus? If you are like me, you’ve answered no to all of these questions. Yet, this is what God expects out of us, and this is just the tip of the ice berg. God actually expects a whole lot more. God expects perfection, and yet, we continually fall short of the mark. Indeed, from God’s perspective, we deserve punishment, constant punishment.
However, God is really amazing. He forgives us. He knows that we cannot live up to his standards, but rather than lower his standards, God forgives. He tells us time and again that he knows that we have fallen short of the mark, he tells us to try hard, but he forgives because of his great love. But here’s the funnier part. God forgives us, and then he blesses us with great power. Yes, God blesses us with great power. In the waters of baptism, God poured his Holy Spirit into each and every one of us. He gave us the power to pray to him. He gave us the power to call upon the name of Jesus Christ. He gave us the power to be Jesus to others in this world. It’s really amazing when you think about it. God has trusted you enough to give you great power, and now here’s the great question. Now that God has forgiven you, loved you, and given you great power, how will you respond? Will you use the great power that you have been given with great responsibility, or will you simply sit back and revel in what you have?
My brothers and sisters, in today’s gospel lesson, I think it’s obvious how Jesus would prefer us to answer that question. Jesus calls us to use the great power that we have been given with great responsibility. Jesus calls us to be different–to use our gifts, our talents, and even our wealth, not for our own satisfaction and gratification but for the glory of God, for building up one another in love, and for spreading the news about God’s love to a world that is hungering for it. You have been given great power, and may you, like Spiderman, use it with great responsibility. Amen.
I continue to be fascinated and driven by the statement, "With great power comes great responsibility," particularly with my Lutheran background.
More on that tomorrow.
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