Summer At The Movies Part 1 

The film big hero 6 is about a teenager called Hiro and his big brother Tadashi. They are both experts at robotics, but Hiro uses his skills to invent robots to take part in illegal robot fights, whereas his older brother is at what they call Nerd School.
This is a school where they specialize in robotics and what Tadashi does is to take his younger brother there to see what happens to try and convince him there is a better way to use his skills. As part of his tour of the school Tadashi shows him his invention called Baymax, a personal healthcare companion.

Well Hiro is convinced and tries to get into Nerd school. To get into nerd school he has to show a new invention that will wow the watching crowd and he comes up with what he calls a Microbot. The crowd are wowed, but unfortunately there is then a fire at the school and his invention seemingly gets destroyed and his elder brother Tadashi gets killed in the fire.

Hiro is then convinced that the fire was started deliberately by an unscrupulous CEO of a company specializing in Robotics, he also believes that this guy has stolen his idea for the Microbot.
And so he sets out to get revenge, aided by Tadashi’s friends and their know how in technology. He also decides to turn Baymax from a caring personal healthcare companion into a fighting machine! In order to do this he has to put in a nasty chip to replace the caring chip that his brother had first used when he invented Baymax.

Now you could well be wondering what on earth does a film about a big white cuddly robot have to do with our lives today? Well if you look at Matthew chapter 25 verses 31-40 Jesus talks about lots of ways that we can show care and love to others just like the original Baymax does.You can read this by clicking here. 

The list is quite daunting, it is quite long, and also there may be some on the list that you may think really aren’t relevant to me. However I think God wants to challenge us all to think of ways, however small that we can help others.
So what did Jesus say to people, and what might it mean for us today?

I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. Can we add something to our shopping to give to the foodbank at church? Or can we invite someone round to have dinner with us?
I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. Not so easy in the UK as we can easily access clean drinking water. But can we look to support the many charities who look to provide clean drinking water in places like Africa such as Wateraid?

I was a stranger and you invited me in. Are you aware of times when a new person has joined a group you are part of? Could be at work, at college, in a sports team. Have you made them feel welcome by talking to them?
I needed clothes and you clothed me. Can you get involved with the wonderful work of Storehouse at EBC? They are always on the look out for volunteers to help move furniture, or people to drop off smaller items to people in need.
I was sick and you looked after me. Are you aware of people who live near you who are ill or sick? If so what could you do to support them? Can you simply drop round a card or send them a text to see how they are doing? Could you offer to do some shopping for them?

I was in prison and you visited me. You may not know anyone in an actual prison but there are lots of people who probably feel like they are in prison in their own homes. They are simply lonely. Maybe because they have no friends and family nearby, maybe they find it difficult to go out, but they feel isolated like they are in prison. Could you offer to have them round for a cup of tea? Could you get them round for a meal?

If you get chance to watch the film when you first see Baymax he does two things. The first is he scans for a problem, then he tries to fix it. I think God is trying to say to us all that we need to do the same. We need to be aware of the needs that people have and then we need to take action.

I mentioned earlier that Hiro put a nasty chip into Byamax when he wanted him to help fight the evil guy. I believe God makes us all with the caring chip that Tadashi put into Baymax, but over time for lots of reasons that caring chip gets replaced by a nasty chip.

So perhaps today we can all be thinking about what we can be doing to use our caring chip more. As I said earlier the list is daunting but we can start small. Talk to that new person at work or at college. Invite someone round for a cup of tea or a meal. Think about getting involved in different charities.

But do something!