WALL.E is a film about a messed up world. It introduces us to an abandoned city full of rubbish and a lone robot programmed to clean it up. Human beings, on the other hand, have fled from the planet and its cities in spaceships – in the hope that one day they will return. But this can never happen until there is enough evidence that life on earth is possible again.
WALL.E and the Meaning of Life By John Mark Hobbins Over hundreds of years, generations of people are left to incubate in an artificial environment where mere existence has replaced real meaning. The humans seemed bored and without purpose. They were isolated in the midst of a crowd of humanity, not even caring or knowing that they were right next to each other. They need to learn that life is about living more than existing. But how can such a hopeless situation change? Still on earth, WALL.E stumbles across a plant. This is evidence enough that life can again be sustained on earth. The rest of the film explores the potential opportunity this discovery provides to humans. Will things change? And will the universe become what it should be once again? The book of Genesis has a similar story. It tells us that God created our environment for his glory and our benefit. He wanted us to enjoy it – but people messed it up. God was sorry that he had made the human race in the first place; it broke his heart. God said, ‘I’ll get rid of my ruined creation, make a clean sweep: people, animals, snakes and bugs, birds – the works. I’m sorry I made them.’ But he also had a rescue plan – he decided to save one family so that the human race would continue. He was gracious to them and warned them about the coming flood so that they were prepared for it. He instructed the father of the family, Noah, to build a rescue ship and to get into it in good time. And, true to His word, God sent a worldwide flood while rescuing Noah’s family. ‘Rain poured for forty days and forty nights ... (and) the floodwaters took over for 150 days. Then God turned his attention to Noah...’ The ship lands on the Ararat mountain range. ‘Then (Noah) sent a dove to check on the flood conditions, but it couldn’t even find a place to perch – water still covered the earth... He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again. It came back in the evening with a freshly picked olive leaf in its beak.’ This was the evidence Noah needed! Very soon, Noah opened the hatch of the ship and saw dry ground. God celebrated his rescue by introducing the rainbow and promising never to flood the earth again: ‘I’ll never again curse the ground because of people. I know they have this bent toward evil from an early age, but I’ll never again kill off everything living as I have done.’ The amazing truth is that our destiny is tied up with the creator of our environment. He made us and we find ultimate purpose and meaning only in him. If we deliberately make a conscious decision to reject him, we will be hit by the tide of his righteous judgment. But if we want the rescue plan God has provided for us through the Lord Jesus Christ, we can be sure that ‘he who promised is faithful.’ Scripture passage: Genesis 6-9 (The Message), Hebrews 10:23 (ESV) WALL.E from Disney/ Pixar now available on DVD
|
