Please note, Luke Cage is rated TV-MA I'd like to just share the words of Luke Cage's final speech at the end of Season 1. It is the culmination of all of Luke's trials and his coming to understand his purpose and responsibility as a hero: This burden is bigger than you or me. People are scared, but they can’t be paralyzed by that fear. You have to fight for what is right, every single day, bulletproof skin or not. You can’t just not snitch or turn away or take money under the table because life has turned you sour. When did people stop caring? Harlem is supposed to represent our hopes and dreams. It’s the pinnacle of black art, politics, innovation. It’s supposed to be a shining light to the world. It’s our responsibility to push forward so that the next generation will be further along than us. Pop said his mantra aloud twice a day. The kids in the shop were pissed, but they could never unhear it. Never backwards. Always forward. Forward Before Luke can reach the end of the sentence, Detective Misty Knight finishes the sentence for him: Always. Claire Temple, who is with Luke, says she wished she'd gotten to know Pop. Misty replies, "In a way, you have."
Fighting for what's right and caring for our children who will follow after us are key roles for us as Christians. How are you living into the words of Luke's speech?
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Please note, Luke Cage is rated TV-MA As Luke starts to live into his role as hero and protector in Harlem, he, like we all do at times, falls into some difficulty. Just as he gets framed for the murder of Cornell "Cottonmouth" Stokes, the chief villain in Harlem, He also gets shot by Willis "Diamondback" Stryker, his old friend and secret half-brother with a Judas Bullet, so-called because "if you wanted to kill Jesus, that's the bullet you would use." The unfortunate affect of the Judas Bullet is that it is somehow able to drill past Luke's bulletproof skin. For the first time in quite some time, Luke is left hurt. Not even Claire Temple, who has helped him before, can figure out how to remove the Judas Bullet shrapnel from Luke Cage's body. Instead, Luke and Claire find Dr. Burstein, the doctor who originally performed the experiment on Luke. Burstein devises a plan that involves putting Luke back in the bath in order to weaken the bonds of his skin enough to remove the shrapnel.
In a sense, it's like Luke's being rebaptized, except that Baptism is a once-for-all event. That doesn't mean there aren't times where we stray from our faith, much like the Prodigal Son, and that when we return to our faith, we don't feel in need of some way to mark that shift. Reaffirmation is a service that fills that role. It recognizes that we are not being rebaptized", but that we are reaffirming, once again, the vows we made in Baptism. It doesn't "re-make" us as Christians, but it does mark our return back to God. Luke has had a lot of struggles at this point in the season. He is in need of a little renewal in his role, especially after the revelation that Stryker is actually his half-brother. Going through a procedure like the one which gave him powers is the first step to gaining some clarity about who he is and where he needs to go from here. If you feel like you are ever in need of reaffirming your baptismal vows, talk to your local clergy/minister. He or she can help to mark your transition back to God, and in many denominations there is even a specific service to do so. There are always challenges in our faith, but God will always remain there for us to come back to. Take the time you need to renew yourself, just as Luke did. Please note, Luke Cage is rated TV-MA. Previously in Luke Cage, Luke Cage, once Carl Lucas, escaped Seagate Prison after being framed for a crime he didn't commit. Luke endured a great deal of Spiritual Warfare in his time in prison, but he came out of it renewed and super-strengthened by a prison experiment, just as we are renewed and strengthened in the waters of Baptism. However, Luke learns later that the Spiritual Warfare he faced went deeper than he could have ever known. It turns out his getting tapped for the prison experiment that gave him powers wasn't an accident. The prison staff had been eyeing him for a long time, and the main person to put his name forward was none other than the woman who helped him, and who he eventually fell in love with: Dr. Reva Conners. It turns out Reva was not only aware of the experiment, but she also submitted reports about Luke about his psychological state to those leading the project. It turns out that one of the few people Luke thought cared about him in Seagate was really just using him. As Luke is wrestling with this revelation and the fact that he didn't really know Reva at all, Claire asks if he still loves her. Luke says he loves "the idea of Reva, but not her specifically. Not anymore."
Betrayal is one of the most difficult things we have to face, especially in the face of all the forces working against us. It is why it is so important to have God to lean on. God is that idea that is beyond Reva and every single thing we can possibly think of. God is that one being we can actually put our trust in. God is the one being we will ever know who will never let us down and never betray us. Please note, Luke Cage is rated TV-MA. Previously in Luke Cage, Carl Lucas had gained his powers in a manner similar to Baptism. Thanks to those powers, Lucas is able to escape Seagate Prison, much as we, through Baptism, escape our old life of sin and come into a new life with God in Christ Jesus. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:17: If any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold the new has come. Often, in Scripture, when a person passes from one sort of life to another, there is a name change, such as Jacob's name change to Israel in Genesis 32:28. Carl Lucas is no exception. After Lucas escapes Seagate, he meets up with Dr. Reva Conners. After a shave leading to a completely new look, Reva wipes all of Lucas' records from the system, and the two discuss a possible new name for Carl Lucas. During that discussion, Lucas remembers a verse, Luke 4:18, that his father, a preacher, used to quote a lot: The Spirit of the Lord is on me because I have been anointed to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners, and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed. Next is the last name. Luke recalls another thing his father used to say: No one can cage a man if he truly wants to be free. Reva responds: So, Luke...Freeman? Luke feels that name is "a bit on the nose." Instead, he goes with Cage for his last name. It is important to note that the passage from Luke is Jesus reading from Isaiah 61:1 in the synagogue at the start of His ministry. This is shortly after Jesus has gone through His own trials in the form of temptation by the devil. This passage very much informs who Luke will become in the course of the show. Luke has been anointed through the gift of his powers to do good works and to help those who cannot defend themselves. It is this task that he grows into thanks to those around him. As Christians, we are all called to do the work God has given to us. Like Luke, our Baptism is the starting point for us to serve God more fully. We too grow into our service to God. It is etched into our identity, just as Luke's task is etched into his new name. Please note, Luke Cage is rated TV-MA Luke Cage's TV origins differ slightly from his comic book origins. While in the comics, there was a great deal of spiritual warfare that Luke goes through, in the show, that is dialed to the max. In the show, Carl Lucas is a former police officer, and preacher's kid, who is framed and sent to prison. As one would expect, Lucas has a lot of trust issues, yet even in prison he finds his way to making friends, mainly with a fellow inmate known as Squabbles. He also becomes close with prison psychologist Reva Conners. But the forces in the prison conspire to keep Lucas down. Officer Rackham tries to get Lucas to join his underground prison fight club. When sending thugs after Lucas doesn't work, Rackham puts pressure on Lucas by attacking Squabbles. The fight club sends Lucas in a downward spiral. To protect everyone, especially Reva, Lucas distances himself from everything that gives him joy, but Rackham sees through him, and threatens to hurt Reva if Lucas doesn't continue to cooperate. When Lucas tries to strike back by plotting with Reva, Rackham again sends his thugs after Lucas, leaving him for dead. The prison also has a scientist performing experiments, Dr. Noah Burstein. Reva begs him to help Lucas with his healing experiment, and Burstein gives in. As he's getting Lucas ready in the tank for the experiment, he tells him: You're probably going to die, but you're already dying. Lucas' situation at Seagate Prison is related to what we sometimes face in life. There are forces around us that want to keep us from the love of God. Whether we realize it or not, those forces lead us to dying. Baptism, thankfully, raises us up from the death the forces of spiritual warfare would bring us to. Baptism raises us up from death into new life and heals us, just like the experiment healed Lucas and gave him new life as well. Lucas, like many in Scripture (as we learned before), comes into new life to such a degree that he receives a new name. Unlike the comics, there is a great deal more meaning in this name change, which is a conversation for another time.
Lucas also learns, much later, that the spiritual warfare he faced at Seagate went deeper than he could ever imagine, thanks to a betrayal by someone he trusted. This also will be a topic we'll explore further. Please note, Luke Cage, Hero for Hire is rated T.
Please note, Luke Cage is rated TV-MA. There are a lot of amazing things that can be said about Luke Cage and, in particular, about the first season of the character's show. Faith plays a particularly important role in the series, particularly in the Biblical themes and stories that come to play in Luke's life. But one of the greatest things about the show overall is that it gives us a great way to look at our life of Faith as Christians. Baptism: Luke's story begins with the life of Carl Lucas. In both the show and the comics, Carl is sent to prison for a crime he didn't commit, although as he points out in the show, that doesn't make him innocent. This is a reminder to us of the nature of sin and how it traps us all. Carl finds himself in a dark place in prison, just as we all do at times in our lives. In the midst of this darkness, Carl is tapped for a prison experiment, which involves him being placed into a tank filled with liquid. Though the evil prison guard Rackham tries to prevent this experiment from happening (explosively so), Carl emerges a new man with bullet-proof skin and new strength to go with it. Carl, like many people in Scripture, even takes on a new name: Luke Cage. Luke's transformation is a reminder to us of Baptism. Through it, we too die to our old ways of life and come out from the waters a new person in Christ Jesus. Discerning our Role: Just as it often is the case with us, Luke takes time to figure out what his new life truly means. At first he wants to hide his powers "under a bushel" instead of letting "it shine." He tries to be a good example to others by reading, refraining from having to put money in the Swear Jar, and making his own way through work. All the while, he's also trying not to attract too much attention from anyone around him. It takes two people in his life, Pop and Claire, for Luke to start to realize that his powers mean he has a responsibility to help others. As it often is with us, it takes time for Luke to accept this, but eventually he comes to terms with his role. We too are called on to figure out what path it is that God is putting us on. That sometimes requires us to seek out others who can help us discern God's will for us. Sometimes it involves listening to those who find their way to us, as Claire did with Luke. To truly serve God in this world, we cannot hide our light "under a bushel," but instead we must make our light, the Light of Christ, visible so that all can see it. Responsibility: As Luke says about his own powers at the end of Luke Cage, Season 1: This burden is bigger than you or me. Luke learns throughout the season that his powers mean he cannot stay on the sidelines. He has to step up to protect others, especially those he loves. Sometimes Luke has to do things that are uncomfortable or inconvenient for him in order to help others. Along the way, Luke learns what it means to let go of the hurt that others have caused him (or at least some of it), how to be "his brother's keeper", what it means to be an inspiration to a community, and what it really means to be a hero. We are called, as Christians, to be responsible for others. We proclaim the Gospel by word and deed, which really means showing God's love for us to others in the world. We are also called, like Luke, to put aside our hate in service to that love. Our life in Jesus is a journey, just like it is for Luke Cage. It is not always an easy journey, nor is it one that we always take the straightforward path on. Yet, it is path we are drawn to if we really stop and listen, bullet-proof powers or not. Please continue this journey as we dive in deeper to hear what Luke Cage has to say to us about the Gospel and our lives on this spiritual journey. Please note, The Flash is rated TV-14. Previously on The Gospel according to Superheroes, we looked "The Last Temptation of Barry Allen, Part 1. That episode taught us a lot about temptation and how we can deal with it. That episode could have ended with the wonderful theme of Barry's friends saving him from Ramsey Rosso's infection and temptation. Instead, Barry becomes infected and helps lead Ramsey's army in taking over Central City. Thankfully, Barry still has some control over his mind, and uses that to secretly clue his teammates in on how to cure everyone who has been infected by Ramsey. The episode ends with Barry being freed and Ramsey trying to attack him one last time in the form of a powerful monster. Barry then lets Ramsey know that he let Ramsey infect him (totally believable) so that he could sow doubt in Ramsey, just as Ramsey sowed doubt in Barry. Ramsey only started infecting people because of an experiment gone wrong. He was trying to create a cure for the blood disorder that killed his mother.
Barry plants the seed of doubt in Ramsey by appealing to his love for his mom. Ramsey sees an apparition of his mother appear before him, which causes him to stop his attack and transform back into his normal self. For us, however, this is a reminder of the power of love. If Jesus' death teaches us anything, it is that love always wins in the end. God loves us and wants to be in relationship with us. Because of that love, God was willing to become human and to even undergo death so that we could have a bridge leading back to our Lord. Even on a villain who has tempted The Flash and tried to take over the entire city, love was able to find a way to win him over in the end. Unfortunately instead of allowing love to fully take its hold, The Flash goes the trickster route and speeds Ramsey away into a metahuman prison set up in Star Labs. This implies Ramsey may return to his supervillain ways in future episodes. If only Flash could have allowed that love to take its full course with Ramsey. Perhaps there's more he could learn from his super-friend Kara. |
Please note, there maybe Spoilers in the Posts below!
The Rev. Trey KennedyHere is my take on how Superheroes and other characters can help us know God better. Categories
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