I think if I could have one superpower, it might be montaging. I doubt Rocky was the first movie to have a montage in it, but it’s become the most famous example. Sports movies in general are a great source of montages.

Just in case you’re not familiar with the word, a montage is that part in a movie where music plays while the main character does the thing they’re trying to get good at. In boxing movies, it’s the boxing training. In the first couple of shots of the montage, they’re slow, or they’re tired, or they can’t get up all the stairs. Then there’s a bunch of shots of training, and by the end of the montage, they’re strong, fast, whatever.

Can you imagine if you had montaging as a superpower? Something breaks at your house and you sigh: oh man, now I have to call a plumber! Not if you can montage – play an upbeat song and a few minutes later, BOOM master plumber. What’s that? You need your brakes changed? No idea how to do that… hold on: MONTAGE! Oh there’s a 5K this weekend? Hm I haven’t run down the stairs in a month or more. Gimme a sec – MONTAGE!

Montaging would be almost as good as being plugged into the Matrix. After all, I’ve always wanted to know kung fu. But I took karate lessons for like a month and we never learned to break one cinder block by punching. But if I could montage…

You know why movies use montages, right? It’s for the same reason none of us is a master of plumbing and brake pads and 5Ks and kung fu – because mastering a skill takes a lot of time, and it’s not glamorous. It’s not fun. It’s not exciting. It doesn’t make for good cinema.

And… it’s not very exciting in real life either. To be where we want to be takes commitment. It takes ongoing effort. There’s no such thing as a montage in real life.

That’s why I love Jimmy Eat World’s new song, “Diamond”. The singer has that same fear I do: that when it comes time for the title fight, I won’t be ready, because I’ve only put in ‘montage training time’. I can’t be ready for the big day without lots and lots of preparation for that big day. Real training, not just montage training.

So since it’s a new year, let’s take time to imagine what God has in store for us. What ‘big days’ God has in our future.

Let’s ask what we need to do in this new year to be ready for that future.

Join us Sunday as we commit to meet God in working for peace and good in this new year.

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