At first I didn’t think I would like it. Its obvious that Hollywood is really trying to cash on the zombie craze of the last few years. So when I saw a preview of World War Z. I assumed that it would be just that, a Hollywood money maker. In truth I was partly right. However along with all the action, suspense and horror there were two ideals that were held up that I found interesting. They both have to do with hope.
The idea that all is lost drives us as humans to really latch on to something, anything, to get us through. Whether it be a death, hardship or a loss of a loved one we naturally try to find something to live for. This truth shines in World War Z. Though all is lost, or close to lost, we find that Gerry Lane, played by Brad Pitt, will do anything he can to protect his family. His family is the only hope, the only thing he has left to live for. So he will accept suicide missions, fight off zombies and go anywhere on the globe he must go in order to save them and keep his hope alive. Even in the darkest parts of the movie we can see this hope drive him.
Juxtaposed with this is our hatred of hope. Though we must have it, there is this nature within us that is skeptical that there is such a thing. So when something does come along, such as love or a great opportunity, we are leary of it because if it fails then we are more hopeless than before. We see, or rather feel this, while watching the movie. Though it was obviously a rewrite to make the movie more acceptable to American audiences there is a hope that appears during the last 1/3 of the movie. This hope seems so unreal,too easy, that its hard to accept it. When all we have seen is desolation and destruction we are far less likely, or at least I was, to accept this seemingly easy answer.
I find that this happens in a very real way in our lives. We grow up with a hope, regardless of what it is, and then a some point early on it is proven to be false, crushed or simply not as great as we had thought. Despite all of this we still search for hope, a greater hope. Hope that this world isn’t all that there is. Hope that despite world hunger, child slavery and sex crimes there must be something good. Something that can fix this horrible mess.
However when this truth is presented to us. A truth so great and yet so simple, we are so very skeptical of it. We fight it and refuse to believe that it can be as easy as it seems. We have a very hard time believing that the answer to all of this destruction, this sin, is as simple as one man, Jesus.
We want hope so desperately, but when presented with it we refuse to believe it is as easy as following Jesus. We can’t believe that He could solve the problem. The truth stares us in the face and we, many times, don’t see it. Hidden in plain sight Jesus stands ready to save, ready to redeem and ready to change the situation.
So the question simply comes down to this, “Where is your hope?”
Pastor Mike Moore 