…as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. Ephesians 1:10-12
Everyone seeks purpose and meaning in life. We desire to have fulfillment and value in what we do. The titular character of the movie Hugo is the visual embodiment of the human desire to have purpose and be loved. Hugo is an orphan living at a train station in the middle of Paris, France. He spends his days tending the clocks of the station and observing the lives of the passersby. But Hugo longs for more meaning than his days provide.
Hugo has made it his life goal to complete a project he and his father were working on before his untimely death. He seeks to reconstruct a machine that was broken. He desires to see what the machine’s purpose was, believing it will enlighten him as to why he himself is alone and purposeless. His only blueprint for fixing it is a journal left with him by his father.
Hugo explains his quest to his friend Isabelle saying, “Everything has a purpose, clocks tell you the time, trains takes you to places. I’d imagine the whole world was one big machine. Machines never come with any extra parts, you know. They always come with the exact amount they need. So I figured if the entire world was one big machine… I couldn’t be an extra part. I had to be here for some reason. And that means you have to be here for some reason, too.”
Like Hugo, we sometimes try to find the greater meaning of our existence. We long to live for something greater than simply being alive. We want to live not just to survive. We want to belong, not just exist. We want to make a difference, rather than succumb to indifference. Hugo sought answers through a book left by his father, and we can do the same. God gave us a small snapshot of the overall picture through his Word. For those who truly seek answers, the secret of the story of life is in the pages of the Bible.
The Bible can sometimes seem like a collection of disconnected stories that have no meaning or depth. But like the machine Hugo is working on, the Bible has many parts that individually have no meaning; but together tell a rich and beautiful story that we are all a part of. That story is the relationship between God and us. The relationship was broken, causing us to lose purpose. But God is desperate to restore that relationship and let us know we are not broken and we are not alone.
Some of us do not feel that love that God intended us to. Some grow up without parents or siblings. Some grow up with parents who did not want them. Many are in abusive relationships that imply they have no value. Some live seeking approval that never comes. Others can be in a crowd of people but feel alone and disconnected. But God does not deem any unworthy of love. He does not consider anyone a mistake or beyond recovery. He does not consider anyone as lacking value. In God’s eyes is where we find meaning and purpose and love.
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
John 10:10-11
God showed how much value we have when he sent Jesus to die in our place and restore purpose in our lives. The reason we often feel we are living a meaningless life is not because we were an extra part never meant to exist. We feel this way because we were designed for communion with our creator. We are not an extra part, but we apart from our intended design and therefore have no purpose. But God wants to restore the relationship and fix what is broken. But he has left the decision to us.
“The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”
John 1:9-13
If you are like Hugo, you are seeking tirelessly to understand why you feel broken. The Israelite people felt a similar feeling of purposelessness. They had been exiled to the land of Babylon. They were homeless, second rate citizens of an invading nation. They were king-less and godless. But God spoke to them in their exile through the prophet Jeremiah saying “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”
Hugo did not allow anything to hinder him in his quest. He was told on numerous occasions to stop seeking, but he pressed on. No one seemed to understand why fixing some broken machine was so important to him. They viewed him as a thief, orphan, and an undesirable nuisance. It was only when he voiced his motivation that the others around him realized it was a unifying motivation for them all. Crying because he believed his quest was lost he choked out “Please, please listen to me! You don’t understand! You have to let me go. I don’t understand why, why father died, why I’m alone. It is my only chance.. to work.”
Each character in Hugo had an underlying feeling that they had a greater purpose. But not all of them sought to find that purpose. The Bible says in Matthew 7 ““Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” If you feel you are missing the greater picture, the meaning in an empty life; never cease to seek for it. We were meant for more than this fallen world can offer. We were designed for relationship with each other and our creator. We were designed for something holy. Discovering this is the ultimate fulfillment of purpose.
God at the Boxoffice 