Liturgy: “Alien: Covenant”

We’re all aware that aliens have been getting a bad rap recently. Between Donald Trump and Ridley Scott, that’s unlikely to change for the better any time soon.

The Alien from E.T.
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What is the King’s Liturgy? King’s Liturgy defines our experience together as a Christian community. It outlines the rhythms we celebrate with the Church at large: Scripture readings, Sabbath habits, and celebration of Holy Days and historical events.

This Week’s Lectionary Readings
Acts 2:14a,36-41
1 Peter 1:17-23
Luke 24:13-35
Psalm 116:1-3, 10-17

This week’s liturgy is contributed by Dr. Josh Blander, Assistant Professor of Philosophy:

We’re all aware that aliens have been getting a bad rap recently. Between Donald Trump and Ridley Scott, that’s unlikely to change for the better any time soon. But I’d like to urge upon you a recognition of the aliens all around you . . . and perhaps within you. It is intriguing to consider that the newest entry into the Alien movie franchise is titled “Alien: Covenant”. I have no idea whether the movie’s employment of the term covenant has any properly biblical connection. But that title is a perfect description of Peter’s first letter.

When Peter opens his letter, he addresses his audience as aliens: “To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout [various Roman provinces] . . .” (v.1). Perhaps Peter means that the Christians to whom he writes are aliens within Roman culture; or perhaps he means that they are aliens on earth; or perhaps he means both. What Peter emphasizes to these aliens is that God has included them in His covenant.

Peter doesn’t stop there. As a result of our inclusion in the covenant, we now have obligations. In particular, we have an obligation to obey Jesus, so “conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth” (v.17). Why is Peter being so mean and bossy? Because we were bought with the most precious thing in the world; we were redeemed not with a Rolex or a Rolls Royce or an iPhone or 5,000 shares of Snap, but with “precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ” (v.19). That price was paid to remove us from our “futile way of life” (v.18), from our willingness to subject ourselves to what Augustine calls “the iron of my own choice” and “the slavery of worldly affairs”.

Peter suggests that when we obey Jesus, we become aliens within our own culture. We are not to be imitators of the culture around us. We are to be imitators of Christ, people who are often seen and believed to be aliens within the culture. We are to be transformed into aliens who are not at home in this world. We are to live with the constant awareness—indeed, the constant “fear”—of the price paid to include us in this gracious God-given covenant. Much of the language in Peter’s letter, especially in this first chapter, is immediately recognizable. Sadly, much of it has become trite. When we truly reflect on the meaning of Peter’s words, though, we can see how powerful they are. I pray that we can employ phrases like “saved by the blood of the Lamb”—one that has been an easy target for both amateur and professional comedians everywhere—in ways that encourage us toward faithful obedience and allegiance to Jesus.

A Christian “rock” band named Petra (get the joke, and the connection to Peter? clever, huh?) once made a song called “Not of This World”. Many of my friends loved the band. I consistently made fun of them (the band and my friends—imagine that). Their lyrics and songs were, in my view, the culmination of every cheesy Christian attempt to create rock music. But later, one of my favorite bands, Galactic Cowboys, did a cover of that song. When listening to their cover version, I truly heard the lyrics, and I have never forgotten the implications of those words (despite failing in my obedience to Jesus regularly).

The refrain, in particular, is a challenge to us to become and see ourselves as aliens: “We are strangers, We are aliens, We are not of this world.” Indeed, we are not. The implicit promise, of course, is that we are not aliens everywhere. We are aliens here, but God has covenanted with us to give us our true and best home, wherever and whenever that might be.

In the immortal words of Liz Lemon, “I want to go to there.”


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