Sermon
Series: Superhero
Sundays
“Batman:
Driven By Guilt or Grace?”
(Romans
5:1-11;8:1-2; Luke 18:9-16)
Rev. Billy D. Strayhorn
Sometimes on our journey of faith, we let
other things get between us and God. Sometimes it’s not things so much as it is
ideas and attitudes. Sometimes its just our emotions. The point is, we let
other stuff get between us and God.
Usually it’s just our own selfish pride.
But whatever it is, it blocks us from receiving the full extent of God’s Grace.
It’s like going to a banquet in our honor, being told that all our favoritie
dishes have been prepared just the way we like them and then choosing to eat
oatmeal because we don’t like the tablecloth or because we don’t think we
deserve anything but oatmeal.
If you’ve ever read Batman comics or seen
the most recent movies which really delve into the back story of what drives
Batman, you know that he’s obsessed with both guilt and rage over his parents’
deaths. That’s what drives him. So, what Spiritual Truths, can we learn from
this Dark Knight? What can Batman teach us today?
Before we go
any further, let’s look at two passages of Scripture, both from the Apostle
Paul’s letter to the Romans. Romans
5:1-11 (NRSV)
[1] Therefore, since we are justified by faith,
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
[2] through whom
we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our
hope of sharing the glory of God.
[3] And not only that,
but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces
endurance,
[4] and endurance
produces character, and character produces hope,
[5] and hope does
not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the
Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
[6] For while we
were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
[7] Indeed,
rarely will anyone die for a righteous person--though perhaps for a good person
someone might actually dare to die.
[8] But God
proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for
us.
[9] Much more
surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved
through him from the wrath of God.
[10] For if while
we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much
more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life.
[11] But more
than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we
have now received reconciliation.
Now let’s
look at Romans 8:1-2 (NRSV)
[1] There is therefore now no condemnation for
those who are in Christ Jesus.
[2] For the law
of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and
of death.
INTRODUCTION:
Batman and
Robin decided to go camping. They set up their tent and are asleep. A couple of
hours later, Batman wakes his faithful friend. "Robin, look up at the sky
and tell me what you see."
Robin, w
hose used to these midnight lessons, replies, "I see millions of
stars."
"What
does that tell you?" asks Batman.
Robin
ponders for a minute. Astronomically speaking, it tells me that there are
millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, it
tells me that Saturn is in Leo. Chronologically, it appears to be approximately
a quarter past three. Theologically, it's evident that God is all-powerful
and we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically,
it seems we will have a beautiful day tomorrow.
What does it tell you, Batman?”
Batman is
silent for a moment, then speaks: “Robin, you’re an idiot, it means somebody
stole our tent while we were sleeping.” (1)
Almost
everyone born before 1960 remembers the 1966 TV series Batman. And there are a
bunch of younger folks who remember it as well because of reruns. It literally
burst on the scene as a mid-season replacement which aired on two separate
nights, Tuesday and Thursday. Tuesday always ended with the cliffhanger ending
which was resolved on Thursday. Will Batman fall victim to the Joker’s tricks
or will the joke be on the Joker. Tune in Thursday for the exciting conclusion.
It became an overnight smash hit and a cultural phenomenon.
It was the
“IN” thing to watch. It was a satire of the then popular comic book of the same
name. Most Batman fans, especially the real aficionados of the comic book
Batman, can’t stand the TV show. Oh, they don’t loathe it, or even hate it, at
best they are embarrassed and annoyed by it because it was parody of their
comic book hero and not the real deal.
The Bat-Man
was born in issue #27 of Detective Comics, in May 1939. Created by Bob Kane and
Bill Finger, The Bat-Man, now simply Batman, was completely different than
Superman or any of the imitators of Superman. (2)
Batman’s
back story was told in just 12 frames. He and his parents, Thomas and Martha
Wayne were coming from the theater when they were accosted by a gunman who
attempted to rob them. Thomas Wayne stepped between the gunman and his wife and
was shot and then she was shot. Ten year old Bruce stood there, in complete
shock and terror. Nobody came to his rescue. No one swooped him up in caring
arms. The only one who showed him an compassion at all was Jim Gordon, the cop
who took his statement. (3)
Bruce Wayne
only had an empty house and a butler to return to. Bruce Wayne is a rich kid,
who had everything but the one thing he wanted most. He grew up an orphan. And
he was filled with one obsessive goal, fueled by rage and guilt. No wonder
Batman is call the Dark Knight. (4)
I.
OBSESSION AND GUILT:
A. Batman
was obsessed; driven by guilt, the number one weapon in the enemies arsenal of
weapons. It’s effects are worse than mustard gas or agent orange. It lingers
and effects the soul and the spirit and cripples them repeatedly when the
spirit should be rejoicing.
Compare
Superman, bright primary colors blue, red and a splash of yellow. Batman,
dressed in black and grays, the only color being the cold gold yellow around
the bat on his utility belt buckle.
Superman
always works in the day time. Batman is a creature of the night, where guilt
finds its strength. Worse than any Jewish or Catholic guilt, more pervasive
than any guilt your mother could ever heap upon your head is the guilt we carry
from our sins. It haunts us. It distracts us. It continues to remind us that
we’re not good enough. It slowly eats at our self esteem and our self
confidence. (5)
For Batman,
a lapsed Episcopalian, it’s so pervasive that time after time he has to prove
that he’s better than the guilt will ever let him feel.
B. From
the moment of his decision to take on crime to avenge his parents, Batman
worked to become what Superman never could be, a self made man. I think that’s
one of the reasons why Batman is so popular. While Superman appeals to the best
in us, Batman appeals to the rest in us. The rest of what everyday humanity is
like.
We can
identify with that self made model who Batman is. He has honed his body to
physical perfection with exercise and martial arts training, yet he is
vulnerable and has been bruised and wounded a number of times. That could never
happen to the man of steel. Bullets bounce off of him.
Batman has
also honed his intellect and skills of perception, training hour after hour
until he is the best strategist around, which also gives him insight into the
criminal mind. He has become the consummate detective and scientist through
reading and training. All through his own efforts; driven by his guilt and the
obsession of avenging his parents death. He is what Neitsche calls the
“ubermensch.” The true super human.
But still,
Batman hangs in the dark. Oh, he comes out in the day time but he prefers the
night. He’s a creature of the night. He prefers the shadows where he best can
deal with the people of the shadows, the enemy of normal human life, the home
of those who feed and prosper off of the rest of us.
C. Look
at Peter, a self made man as well. Head of a fishing industry that included at
least two boats and two families. Peter and his brother Andrew along with James
and John and their father Zebedee. There in Bethsaida and Capernaum, they plied
the Sea of Galilee and made their living. Peter was known as the Big Fisherman.
Rough and tumble, rough around the edges. My favorite quote about Peter is that
he always had his foot in his mouth and the only time he ever took his foot out
of his mouth was to change feet.
Peter, one
of the reluctant disciples. We know he was married. We know he was a kind man
who took care of his mother-in-law and made sure she was comfortable. It’s
estimated that Peter owned a whole fleet of fishing vessels and may have been
one of the wealthiest fishermen in the area.
When he left
to follow Jesus, the guilt must have been overwhelming and at war with his
faith. Leave his wife and the business he had worked so hard to build to follow
an itinerant preacher whose message quickened his heart, who many, including
his brother claimed to be the Messiah, but who never claimed that for himself?
Guilt, regret, second guessing, uncertainty all mingled with his excitement and
sense of calling had to have driven this analytical man crazy.
No wonder
one moment he was fully a man of Jesus filled with the deepest faith and the
next minute a man of the world filled with overwhelming doubt. Peter was a
completely self-made man and there was a spiritual battle going on within his
heart.
A battle
which comes to a head with the events of Jesus betrayal in the garden. Remember
that. Judas greets Jesus, who has just called upon God to help strengthen His
resolve after being tempted to give it all up for safety. Judas greets Jesus
with a kiss. Peter pulls out his sword and cuts off the ear of Malchus, the
servant of the temple High Priest. Jesus
chastises him and heals the man.
Peter, hangs
his head in shame but follows Jesus and the guards. And there in Caiaphas’
courtyard, while warming himself at a charcoal fire, not once but three times,
Peter denies Jesus. The third time, Peter looks up and looks directly into the
eyes of Jesus. And a cock crows. And like Batman, Peter runs to the safety of
the shadows to hide and collect his thoughts.
And the only
thoughts he can collect are those which condemn him. Thoughts of guilt and
ineptitude. Guilt and stupidity. Guilt and cowardice. Guilt and selfishness.
Guilt and betrayal. Every shadow has the face of someone mocking him for his
lack of faith. Every sound in the shadows is someone coming to arrest him.
Every movement in the shadows is the feral animal of his guilt stalking him,
ready to pounce once again and rip his soul open with its claws of regret.
II.
REDEMPTION AND GRACE:
A. And
that’s really where the comparison between Batman and Peter ends. Because for
Peter life becomes about Redemption and Grace. But for Batman it will always be
Obsession and Guilt.
You see,
Batman, the self-made man, is the one who doesn’t think he needs saving. And
yet that’s the one thing he’s working for the most. The sad truth is, He can’t
save himself, no matter how perfect his skills at detection become, no matter
how much science he learns, or how much he hones his body into the perfect
physique, it will never be enough.
Partly
because Batman can’t save everyone. In the saga of Batman, plenty of
significant people in his life have died. Michael Brewer in Who Needs A
Superhero? writes, “We can forgive Batman for failing to protect every innocent and save
every victim. He is, after all, only human. Unfortunately, Batman cannot
forgive himself. His own heart tells him he should have tried harder. He should
have done better. He should have been faster, stronger, smarter.” (6)
Batman
thinks he can save himself and he’s as good as any human being could be, yet in
the end, he still isn’t good enough because a life driven by guilt can never be
good enough.
B. Jesus
was painfully clear with a message we often forget to take to heart and let it
grow at the very core of our being. The answer Jesus gave the rich young ruler
could have been the answer Jesus gave Bruce Wayne and Batman. Remember the
story, the rich young ruler came and said, "Teacher,
what good thing must I do to get eternal life?"
Jesus says
keep the commandments; the young man asks which ones; Jesus tell him and the
man says, “I already do all that. There
must be something else.” Then Jesus looks him square in the eye and says, “If you want to give it all you've got, go
sell your possessions; give everything to the poor. All your wealth will then
be in heaven. Then come follow me.” MSG
Scripture
says he couldn’t do it. The cost was too high. Peter and the others were
staggered by that message. You see, the prevailing thought was that if you were
rich, that meant you were favored by God. The more faithful you were, the
richer, more influential you became. It was the 1st century version of the
prosperity gospel some people preach today.
Peter even
asks, "Then who has any chance at
all?"
[26] Jesus
looked hard at them and said, “No chance
at all if you think you can pull it off yourself. Every chance in the world if
you trust God to do it.”
C. That’s
what Grace and Redemption are all about, Trusting
God To Do It. Trusting God to save us.
That’s
Grace, God never gives up on us. Even after Batman’s butler, Alfred, shows him
what Grace is, Batman still doesn’t get it. He’s still driven by Guilt. Luckily
for us, Peter learns what Grace is all about.
You’ll
remember John chapter 21, the Risen Jesus has told the disciples to meet him at
the Sea of Galilee. Tired of sitting around and waiting, Peter one night says,
“I’m going fishing.” They fish all night and don’t catch a thing. But early in
the morning, they see someone on the beach who has built a charcoal fire. This
man hollers and asks how they’ve done. They holler back, “Didn’t catch a
thing.”
Then man
then says, “Cast your nets on the other
side.” John immediately recognizes the command and the voice of Jesus,
tells Peter, who jumps in, robe and all, and swims ashore to be greeted by
Jesus. They share a breakfast of grilled fish and bread. And then Jesus looks
at Peter and asks him. “Peter, do you
love me?”
And Peter
says, “Lord, you know I love you.”
Twice more Jesus ask Peter the same question. Peter’s a little thick, you see
and it takes three times for it to sink in. But then on the third one, it
finally sinks in, one affirmation for each denial. One confession of faith in
the face of faithlessness. One affirmation of love with each pronouncement of
forgiveness and gift of grace.
Peter got
it. He realized He had “No chance at all (if
he tried to) pull it off yourself. Every
chance in the world if (he) trusted
God to do it.” And he did. Peter trusted not only god but the Son of God to
remove the guilt of his sin and set him free to be who Jesus had called him to
be, the Rock, upon whom the church would be built.
And a steady
rock he would become. When he preached his first sermon, 3,000 people gave
their lives to Christ and were baptized. That day 3,000 experienced God’s
Grace.
CONCLUSION:
According to
News Of The Weird, in 1996, a man visiting Stockholm on business stood to
inherit about a million dollars, Eduardo Perez had stopped off to pray at a
Roman Catholic church and signed the guest book of a man whose body lay there
in a coffin. Perez was later notified that the deceased, real-estate developer
Jens Svenson, had died without heirs and had specified that "whoever prays
for my soul gets all my belongings." (7)
I don't know
about you, but that's one of the strangest stories I’ve ever heard about
someone inheriting something they didn't deserve. But then again, do we ever
deserve what we inherit? Eph 2:8-9 (NRSV) [8] For by grace you have been saved
through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God-- [9] not
the result of works, so that no one may boast.
Peter
learned what Grace is all about. His guilt was wiped away forever. Batman on
the other hand need to hear what Paul writes in Romans 8:1-2 (NRSV) [1] There
is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. [2] For the
law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin
and of death.
Who do you
line up more with Batman, Driven by Guilt? Or Peter, Driven by Grace? My hope
is that you have experienced the forgiving grace of God. And your life is lived
in gratitude for what God has done for you through Christ and the Cross. If you
haven’t then it’s not too late. It’s never too late. Remember, God will never
give up on you.
Today,
choose Grace rather than Guilt. Lay down your guilt and never pick up that
burden again.
This is the Word of the Lord for this day.
________________________________
Bibliography
1. Found on the Internet
2. Wikipedia: Online Encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman
3. Oropeza, B.J., Editor. “The Gospel According To Superheroes,” Peter Lang Publishing, (NY, NY, 2005) pp 49-65
4 Who Needs A Superhero?: Finding Virtue, Vice and What’s Holy In The Comics, H. Michael Brewer, Baker Books, Grand Rapids, Michigan. 2004. Pp 36-46
5 Oropeza, B.J., Editor. “The Gospel According To Superheroes,” Peter Lang Publishing, (NY, NY, 2005) pp 49-65
6 Who Needs A Superhero?: Finding Virtue, Vice and What’s Holy In The Comics, H. Michael Brewer, Baker Books, Grand Rapids, Michigan. 2004. Pp 41
7. http://www.newsoftheweird.com
Other
References Consulted
Who Needs A Superhero?: Finding Virtue, Vice and
What’s Holy In The Comics, H. Michael Brewer, Baker Books, Grand Rapids,
Michigan. 2004.
Holy Superheroes! Exploring Faith and Spirituality in
Comic Books, Greg Garrett, Pinon Press, Colorado Springs, CO. 2005.
Oropeza, B.J., Editor. “The Gospel According To Superheroes,” Peter Lang Publishing, (NY, NY, 2005)
"The Religious Affiliation of Comic Book Character Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman." The Religion of Superman Website.
The History of Batman: http://www.legionsofgotham.org/FeatureHISTORYindex.html
DC Comics www.dccomics.com
Batman website: www.batman.com
And various sermon sites, blog sites and other internet sources.