“John said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, we saw someone throwing out evil spirits in your name, and we restrained him; because, he wasn’t a follower of us.’ Jesus said, ‘Do not restrain him; because, no one will exhibit power in my name and be able to soon speak ill of me. Those who aren’t against us are on our side'” (Mark 9.38-40).
In space…well, you know the rest.
Alien, released in June 1979, grossed one-hundred-eighty-four million dollars (on an eleven-million-dollar budget), created a franchise, and during one iconic scene caused my mother-in-law to walk circles around the downstairs. It isn’t, after all, every day something comes bursting out of someone’s chest.
Brought to you by Ridley Scott, who directed last week’s film, Alien is the story of the Nostromo, a space tug that responds to a distress signal and stumbles upon an alien craft…and a bunch of eggs. One of said eggs hatches, attaches itself to a crew member, and…impregnates him with a terrifying creature. And then everything gets worse.
And it’s all Ash’s fault. And The Company’s.
It’s never stated in the film why The Company considers the return of the alien Xenomorph a priority above all others, including the lives of the crew. Perhaps it’s a weapon. Maybe it wants the genetic material for research and, of course, profit. Or maybe this is something they want to control. You know, like the Disciples.
Today’s exchange follows up on the incident when Jesus catches his friends arguing about who was number one in the gang. As a way of changing the subject, John brings up this story about some random person who was performing exorcisms but wasn’t, you know, one of them. But, hey, they took care of that, know what I’m sayin’.
By this point, I figure Jesus has had it and drops this on them. Everyone’s one of us unless they’re actively working against us. Ergo, they don’t necessarily have to be following from town to town, giving up the family business.
In other words, you don’t get to say who’s in and out. We’re not going to do things that way.
And what way is that? It’s the way of those who put religion above people, institutions above lives. It’s the way that doesn’t demand control and lose sight over what’s really valuable in this world that was made by that fellow they’re attempting to follow. It’s a way that requires a lot more imagination.
That’s what corporations and even religious institutions can lose sight of sometimes: imagination. Oh I’m sure they just like The Company would argue they have vision. It’s a vision a lot like the Disciples had: one of control, authority, and greatness.
But Jesus dreamt bigger, and encourages those along with him to do the same. He dares his followers to imagine that there is no great and small, no ruler and ruled. Everyone, it turns out, can be on the same side, at the same table, striving for something more than power, money, and the big chair.
In the end, only one person (and one cat) escape the Nostromo. The Xenomorph is lost to the depths of space, and with it the vision of The Company. Foiled by one person who decided that Ash, the ship’s computer, and those faceless individuals who tried to make the rules weren’t for the crew, but against them. And, against all odds, lived to see another day.
And somewhere in space, I imagine you could hear The Company scream.
.Jesus, may I dream your dreams.