“But when the Pharisees questioned him when the Reality of the Divine would come, Jesus responded, ‘The Reality of the Divine isn’t something you see. It’s not something you say, “Look over here” or “Look over there.” The Reality of the Divine is right here, amongst you'” (Luke 17:20-21).
Going into this summer, I was originally looking at the big summer failures—films that either made far less or just at their budget. There were a lot of bad movies in that list (which is what drove me into a different direction for these hot summer months). But among them was The Iron Giant, which had been released in August of 1999 and made just over half its budget.
The film, set in the late 1950s, is about young Hogarth Hughes who discovers a fifty-foot-tall robot that has crashed to earth near the coastal town where he lives with his mother. Following their initial encounter, Hogarth hides the giant first in his barn and later at an old scrap yard. We learn that the robot has no idea who it is. But after an encounter in the woods with hunters, it declares that it is not a gun.
In one scene, Hogarth is going through his comics with the robot. On the cover of one is Atomo, the Metal Menace, and on the other is Superman. Both share characteristics with the robot: Superman also crash landed on Earth, and Atomo looks similar to the giant. And the choice between them emphasize the theme that underlies the film and is vocalized by Hogarth that you are what it is you choose to be.
It turns out the robot is a gun—a machine of unstoppable destruction that is triggered by an act of violence. When its latent programming takes hold, even the military cannot contain it. And are willing, in what is seen as reasonable logic, to drop the atomic bomb on the town to stop the machine.
I cannot, in this space, do justice to this movie and what it accomplishes in under an hour-and-a-half. There’s a reason critics at the time gave this rave reviews and that critical sites today still rate it as a must-see. It is effective, and an amazing examination of what it means to be who we choose to be.
This is the root in Jesus’ declaration that the Reality of the Divine is amongst us. Unfortunately wrapped in a sense of a monarchic reign by its language, the words Jesus speaks are about so much more than God as a ruler or king.
When asked when this reign would come, Jesus blows that apart, telling them that it’s not something you can point to or say “there it is.” It’s right here, amidst you. You’ve just got choose to see it.
That’s the Gospel and The Iron Giant both in summary: we can choose. We can choose to live as if the rule of love and respect for life is the reality that surrounds us, or if it’s something that must be imposed. We can make the choice whether we’ll see everyone and everything different as something to explore and embrace, or as a threat to be destroyed.
We can choose whether we are a gun, or not.
Jesus, may we live—and encourage others to live—as though the reality where the last are first and the meek inherit the earth is here, right before our eyes.