A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to preach on Sunday morning. My topic was inspiration. I talked about things that might inspire us and closed that as Christians we should be an inspiration to others. I'm sure most of you are like me and inspiration comes in many shapes and forms. Last night I watched a movie that was very inspiring. The movie is 7 Pounds starring Will Smith. I must warn you that this post will have many spoilers about the movie, so if you haven't, but plan on watching this film, you might wait to read this until after you watch.
The main character in this film is Will Smith. His character has experienced severe heartache that came when he lost his wife in a fatal automobile crash. Six others were killed in this crash as well. This haunts his character throughout the whole film. He claims to think about death and dying every moment of the day. I'm not sure why, maybe he feels guilt because he was the lone survivor. But he didn't die and he now has a purpose with the rest of his life. He plans on helping seven good people out of bad circumstances. The people he helps are in desperate need. He donated his own bone marrow to a child with bone marrow cancer. He donated part of his lung to his brother who was in need, part of his liver to a stranger, his home and fortune to a lady in an abusive situation, as well as a kidney to someone who was in dialysis. The last two are kind of tricky. He gave his eyes to a blind man and his heart to a woman in desperate need of a transplant. The problem with the last two is you must be dead to donate these two organs. That is right, the character chose death to better the life of people around him. I don't promote this activity for any of us, but the parallels here between Will Smith's character and Jesus are very evident to me. Jesus chose death on the cross so that we would have a better quality of life. I've heard it said that when we accept Jesus we receive a heart transplant, the old is gone, the new is come. Jesus didn't commit suicide like the character in the film, but he did choose death, even death on a cross. So this got me thinking about what we should do, short of dieing, to help others.
What's my conclusion? Fair question. I don't think we have to die to improve someone's quality of life. We have the capabilities right now. Today you can befriend someone who is friendless. You can love someone who others might say is unloveable. We can show mercy to someone who does not deserve it. Isn't that what Jesus does to us? He is our friend when we are alone, He loves us even when we don't love him, and He continues to forgive and offer His grace even when we fail over and over. If we are to call ourselves Christians, let's start being Christlike. This alone will improve the quality of life of those around us.
