Originally written: July 28, 2017
Romans 5
“In the beginning,” Moana’s grandmother recounts how things came to be. She explains how the mother island, Tefiti, had life itself, and how “Tefiti shared it with the world.” This creation account is obviously based off Genesis, where we read of how our Father gave life; He calls for His creation to “be fruitful and multiply…subdue the earth… and have dominion” in order that life, which is knowing God, might be shared. But when Adam fell, death entered the world. In that day, Adam and Eve were cut off from life; they weren’t able to know God in an intimate way. Moana also portrays this fall. The First Adam, Maui, transgresses against the giver of life and is cast out of Tefiti’s presence—banished to an island. It is because Maui tried to usurp Tefiti, thinking that he could steward the heart better than the goddess, that there was enmity between Maui and Tefiti. And it is because of Maui’s sin that the rest of creation groans. We see the consequences on Motunui: no fish and dying trees. The demigod, who had once subdued the earth and brought dominion over every living thing to all men, also imputed the death and the consequence of his sin to all men. And yet, this is not even the worst part of Maui’s sin. The goddess who was once known to give life became known as Te Kā. Because of Maui’s sin, humans could only know Tefiti by the characteristic of her burning wrath: Te Kā. Similarly, the Bible tells us that it is because of sin that there is enmity between God and man. And for those who have become futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts darkened, they will mainly experience and know God for His wrath. It is only through Jesus that we can know and experience an aspect of God that is not His wrath. It is only through Jesus that we can be reconciled to our Father. Even though Moana has her own set of failings, her character is meant to point us to the personhood and role of Jesus Christ. When Te Kā’s wrath was set on destroying Maui (the scene where Maui’s hook was fully damaged, and Te Kā raised her hand to smash him), Moana stepped forward to take his place. She passed through the waters (resembling the wrath that was poured out on the Egyptian armies) to endure the full wrath of the frantically crawling Te Kā. And it was through Moana that the wrath of Te Kā was appeased. This propitiation even brought reconciliation to those who were once enemies. Tefiti, who once had her wrath set on destroying Maui, now shines her smile upon him. Because of her affections for Moana, she blesses Maui with a new hook. Likewise, it is only because of Christ that we too find favor in the sight of the Father. It is because of Christ that we are lavished with good gifts and brought into His kingdom. He even uses us to advance His kingdom to the ends of the earth. What a beautiful illustration of the First Adam being redeemed to once again have dominion with the last Adam as they voyage to the ends of the earth.
Matthew 28
Whether it’s fear or complacency, the church has always struggled to advance the Gospel. The realities of persecution, rejection, and failure have caused many saints to abandon missions. There is no telling what will happen if we go out into the unknown– out past Jerusalem and into Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth. Fear has kept the church from being occupied with missions. Another reason why the church has struggled to advance the Gospel faithfully is because she has become complacent. When God grows ministries and brings about unity, it is easy to become comfortable. But it becomes sinful when this comfort leads to apathy. The mission of the church is to “Go” and make disciples of all nations. To forsake this mission is to forsake our purpose and identity. Praise God we are not alone. When the Lord Jesus commissioned us to go, He said that He would be with us always, even to the end of the age. And then He poured out His Holy Spirit. His presence is enough to overcome both fear and complacency. In a very similar way, we see the island of Motunui struggle with complacency and fears. Lin Manuel Miranda’s Where You Are is literally about being comfortable with where you are. The islanders of Motunui sing of their contentment with what is here and express their apathy for what’s out there. Their desire to stay in Motunui is also driven by fear. Moana’s father is adamant that no one goes beyond the reef. He doesn’t even want Moana to go near the water, as he fears for her life. Understandably so: we hear the story of how his friend died when they attempted to go beyond the reef. And this fear has driven him to abandon his people’s purpose and identity; he has abandoned voyaging. Right as he is about to go and burn all of the boats, he is interrupted by the death of his mother. It is on her deathbed that she commissions Moana to “Go.” And when Moana is uncertain, her grandmother assures her, “There is nowhere you can go that I won’t be with you,” even to the end of the age. And right when Moana responds in obedience to the call, we see the grandmother’s spirit (in the form of a manta ray) go out from the island with Moana. Moana is a call for people to be who they are truly meant to be—to do what they are truly meant to do. For some, it is a call to voyage, but for others it is a call to missions.
Another Cool Parallel
One of my favorite scenes in Moana is when she is journeying to find Maui, and her boat tips over. As she grabs on to the flipped boat, she says: “Ocean, can I get a little help?” And at that moment, lightning strikes and a storm ensues. As she attempts to flip the boat herself, she continues to cry out for help. And almost as a response, a gigantic wave knocks her out, and the screen goes black. She wakes up on some island and immediately runs to the waters. She puts her hands on her hip and angrily yells, “Ummm, What? I SAID help me…and wrecking my boat, not helping,” she tries to kick the water but instead lands on her butt. “Fish pee in you…all day,” she tries to insult the water. And then right as she turns around, she notices that she has landed right where she needs to be: on Maui’s island. How often, do we as Christians look at our own circumstances, and when we cry out to God, he sends a storm? And we usually look at these moments of trials and suffering, and we doubt the goodness (or even the existence) of God. And yet, He is just so good to put us exactly where we need to be. These hardships are meant to shape us into Christlikeness.
Moana and LOTR
I probably shouldn’t call these parallels. They are more so just similar elements that make me think of LOTR when I am watching Moana. When grandma Tala is explaining how things came to be…I could almost hear Lady Galadriel narrating how things came to be. And there is a very similar premise: basically, the protagonist has to journey with another to the ends of the earth, past the lava, and place this small token of power there. In the Fellowship, when Isildur finally takes possession of the ring, he is shot off of his horse by an arrow, and the ring floats to the bottom of the waters where it remains for generations. Likewise, once the greedy Maui steals the heart of Tefiti, he is blasted from the sky, and we see the heart float to the bottom of the ocean where it remains for generations. And whether you want to call it “precious” or “shiny”, this symbol of power is sought out by a very disturbing looking creature. And then even the strategy to restore the heart is similar to the strategy of destroying the ring. Frodo’s friends attempted to divert Sauron’s gaze by keeping his attention on the black gate. In the same way, Maui was used to distract Te Kā so that Moana could make it to Tefiti. But both of these diversions were not enough; when you talk to LOTR haters, they always bring up the fact that they should have just used the eagles the entire time. Like, why couldn’t the eagles just drop the ring in Mordor? And you kind of wonder the same thing about Moana. Like when Te Kā finally realizes what Moana is doing, she ignores Maui, and goes after her. And that’s when we see the ocean basically carry Moana to where she wants to go. Like why couldn’t the eagles and the ocean just spare us from these movies entirely? But what most fail to realize is that it is not just about the end goal. There is a need for a journey, and growth, and fellowship. It is these elements that make people appreciate the beauty of the author more. Isn’t that the same way our Author works? When I look at this story, I know that He can easily just take us to glorification. Why leave us here to be sanctified? Why leave us here to experience trials and suffering? Why not just invoke some eagles and ocean, skip the sanctification, and go right to glory? Maybe it’s so that we might know and experience our Author more fully.