The Matrix, Cookies, & Jesus

Do all of you remember the movie The Matrix? I love that film (not the second or third one so much…just the first)! One of my favorite parts of that story is when Morpheus (played by Laurence Fishburne) takes Neo (Keanu Reeves’ character) to visit the Oracle to find out if he indeed is the one their people have been prophesying about.

The Oracle is the one everyone looks to, who is wise above the rest and can foresee the future to tell each person their destiny and purpose.

When Neo finally walks into the room to speak with the Oracle, he finds this little old lady baking cookies in a kitchen. The most powerful and wise person that everyone in this story looks to for guidance, and it’s a little old lady with cooking skills and small talk.

Something in this part of the film really sticks out in my mind. This Oracle is so much like who I believe Jesus Christ really is and was on this earth. We hear the name Jesus and think of some mega-Zeus god who’s zipping around the galaxy doing whatever He wants and controlling our fates like a puppeteer, having no desire to relate with us or live in us. Once you get to know Him though, you begin to understand Him more, like you’re sitting in a kitchen baking cookies talking about life and love. Many of us, even Christians, have never stepped foot inside Jesus’ kitchen.

All of my childhood was spent trying to understand the simple truth that Jesus Christ is the definition of love. There is nothing formulaic or predictable about who He is or what He requires of each of us, and yet His only expectation of us as human beings is to understand His love for us, recognize and appreciate the extent of that unmatched love, and to help those around us and all across this globe understand that simple truth that brings meaning and hope to every one who encounters it.

The sad reality is that the religious demands and piety we hold so tightly to choke us of our actual faith, and more importantly, our effectiveness in a world that so desperately needs to know the unconditional love of a God Who “cooks in the kitchen” and isn’t sitting in front of a big red button waiting for us to fail.

So what is it that prevents those around us every day from wanting to know the truth of who Jesus Christ is? Why doesn’t the Gospel message work so many times in its straight-forward presentation in hand-out tracks on the subway or during our lunch break conversations with a co-worker? Perhaps it is this- we spend so much time focusing our attention on why others needs Christ in their lives that we forget to display in our every day lives what and why we have gained from a personal relationship with Christ. I believe that begins in the way we love others, especially those who are undeserving.

When we start to love others in this way, we begin to understand God’s love better, and baking cookies in a kitchen over small talk starts to sound a little more divine.