Mission: Impossible

3rd September 2023

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – of whom I am the worst.  1 Timothy 1:15 (NIV)

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Mission: Impossible

I realise I risk giving the impression that I do little more than go to the cinema… but I do have some thoughts on the latest Mission: Impossible film Dead Reckoning (Part One).  For those unfamiliar with the genre, each episode begins with a mysterious undercover agent being given his mission, ‘should he choose to accept it’ (although what choice he really has is debatable).  The mission usually turns out to be saving the world from some evil criminal, and the story then unfolds in an action-packed drama.  Several things stood out for me from this latest adventure:

First, here is another recent drama in which AI (Artificial Intelligence) is seen as a serious threat to the future of humanity as ‘The Entity’ accesses all knowledge from any device digitally connected, and the only hope of defeating this all-knowing, ever-present malevolent force is to disconnect.  We are surely right to be concerned about what is essentially a machine taking the place of human beings.  At the same time, the future of humanity and our planet is still in the hands of our loving God and Creator, and the world will only come to an end at a time and in a manner of his choosing.  Since he is our heavenly Father we ultimately have nothing to fear.

Second, it was pleasing to see some real female characters, who were just as clever and witty as – and often smarter than – their male counterparts, and who seemed able to hit and be hit just as hard as they were.  I did, though, feel somewhat uneasy watching women being kicked and punched and even killed alongside the men.  It made me wonder whether this is the kind of equality the Bible has in mind when it says that men and women are both made in the image of God, or if there is not still a right place for men protecting women from harm.  Or am I just a cultural dinosaur?

Third, I was struck by more than an echo of the plot line of The Lord of the Rings.  Without wanting to give away the plot of the film (such as it is), you may remember how in The Lord of the Rings, the ‘ring of power’ has to be taken to Mount Doom where it was forged in order for it to be destroyed, because it holds too much power to be entrusted to any one human being.  You will need to watch the Mission: Impossible film to see these themes played out once again.

Finally, ‘mission impossible’ is not a bad title for the Christian gospel, where Jesus comes on the impossible mission of saving sinful people from the wrath of a holy God.  Indeed, he is the only one able to do it because only one who is God and human and free from sin can do it.  He does what is literally impossible for any other being, human or otherwise.  It is also a mission he is given and which he chooses gladly to accept, and not by some mysterious unseen controller, but by his loving Father in heaven.

Father, I praise you for doing for me what had to be done and yet I could never do for myself, which is to save me from my sins and even from myself.  Amen.

Yours warmly, in Christ,

Chris Hobbs (Senior Minister)