How can a 200 mph racing snail help us to envisage the treasured prize which Paul is aiming for, as he senses himself nearing the end of life’s journey?
Paul drove a great race, but could sometimes come across like the arrogant Pharisee in Jesus' parable (Luke 18.9-14). Taking a snail’s-eye view of the track before us, might just keep us, and Paul, humble, like the tax collector!
This week's news
Snail power! With the school half term upon us, it’s time for another big animated family film to tear its way onto our cinema screens: Turbo. This is the tale of a tiny snail with big ambitions to become a racer in the world of human motor racing and compete in the Indianapolis 500. It sounds mad, but this meek mollusc is transformed by a freak accident that makes him superfast – fast enough to challenge the most powerful racing cars in the world.
The Formula One Grand Prix season also reaches a climax this weekend too, as the championship trophy is about to be claimed.
More power! While some power plants are coming to the end of their time, amidst fears of power shortages to UK homes, a shiny new one is set to line up on the grid at Hinkley Point, Somerset. Alongside the announcement of the first new nuclear power plant in the UK for a generation, the bosses of the UK’s six biggest energy suppliers have been called before MPs to give account for the huge hike in gas and electricity prices.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, himself a former oil company executive, once more accelerates the Church into the midst of a moral issue, saying suppliers should be ‘conscious of their social obligations’.
In this race for power, what do we feel we should be saying to the world in the light of our gospel and epistle passages this week?
Reflection
We might visualise Paul’s race like a runner at an athletics meet or school sports day, but supposing we imagine something a bit more powerful? Whether you are a fan or not, there is something overwhelming about the live experience of a full-on motor race, whether it be the Indianapolis 500 or our more familiar Formula One Grand Prix. Thousands upon thousands of spectators; the deafening noise of roaring engines; the smell of burning rubber and intoxicating petrol fumes; the shape of the track. Paul’s race, imagined from this perspective, upgrades from a light jog, wearing a vest and tiny shorts, to full-bore V8 motor race! Isn’t that, literally, a more powerful way to imagine our journey of faith?
Turbo’s obsession for speed has made him an outsider to the snail community, much like Paul’s Damascus road experience alienated him from the established Jewish community of which he had been a part. Paul became obsessed with the race that lay before him, with the treasure being both the message to be shared and Jesus himself. Both Turbo and Paul take an incredible journey to achieve the seemingly impossible. Turbo is also very much the under-dog (under-snail?), like the tax collector in today's parable (Luke 18.9-14). Despite what others may think of him, the humble tax collector does not think himself so unworthy that he cannot pray to God. Likewise our snail hero is given some good advice: ‘No dream is too big and no dreamer too small.’ This is hope worth clinging on to when your shell is riding one inch above life’s tarmac, up against massive mechanical monsters, powered by human-engineered righteousness.
Jesus’ parable proves that it’s not always the ones who think they have the power who actually have it! The arrogant human race driver who competes against Turbo in the film, is so full of his own self-righteousness, that the snail is so unworthy and beneath him, that he would crush him rather than consider racing on the same track as him.
Do we see our faith traveling at a snail’s pace? Or, are we ready to live life in the fast lane, to chase our dreams and to race for the treasured prize that is Jesus Christ? To be a turbo-powered, thumping V8-engined faith racer – now there’s something to aim for!
Prayer
A prayer of confession
Great God,
you may be the Lord of eternity,
but it must seem to you that too often
we are moving too slowly.
Does our faith look, to you, like a mobility scooter
with the battery running flat?
Do you long to turbo power our ambition;
supercharge our soul; or fuel inject our faith?
Sorry, if we’ve accepted a snail’s pace as good enough.
Help us, instead, to put our foot down,
to accelerate towards the kingdom,
seeking the treasure which only you can give.
With you beside us,
wherever there is doubt, let us drive flat-out!
We race for your glory
forever and ever, fast and furious.
Amen.
Questions
Treasure time
This weekend sees the end of British summer time, as we all turn our clocks back by one hour. What could you do with the great gift of this extra hour? In the film Turbo, a friend asks the ambitious young snail what would happen if he woke up tomorrow morning and his new gift of great speed had disappeared. Turbo’s response is that, if that were the case, then he’d better make the best use of his gift today. What would you do if you only had one day to use the gift God has given you?
More power
As Christians we might talk of the power of the Holy Spirit as God’s gift to us, or the power in the message and teachings of Jesus. Discuss the subject of power stations and the moral dilemmas of the UK’s gas and electricity supplies. How will the race we run today affect future generations? Is nuclear power a treasure or human arrogance?
Action
Take a church family trip to the cinema during the half-term holidays to see Turbo. You might like to offer verses from 2 Timothy 4.6-8,16-18 or Luke 18.9-14 as food for thought, along with some appropriate questions, either before or after viewing the film. Listen out for these great quotes and consider them in a faith context:
• ‘All these people believe in me?’
• ‘Live life in the fast lane.’
• ‘Chase your dreams.’
• ‘No dream is too big and no dreamer too small.’
Does your church use the most ethical energy supplier possible? How could you go greener?
Young People
Turbo features fast and furious action, alongside some serious shell-work. On the film website there is a ‘Pimp my shell’ feature, so why not try designing a shell for a racing snail, but choose a verse from one of today’s Bible passages as inspiration for your design.
Tim Lowe is a minister of the United Reformed Church, serving three churches in the north west of Coventry. He is particularly interested in all forms of visual art as expressions of faith.
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