The Unexpected Gospel of Hoopers

By Cintia Aguilar, Immigration Ministry Manager, FaithWorks

This Sunday after church, my family and I sat down to watch Hoopers, a Disney+ animated movie that came out this year. If you have kids—or if you simply enjoy animated films—you may have already seen it. As the movie came to an end, I found myself unexpectedly emotional.

A cartoon movie? Really?

Let me tell you why.

At the center of the story is Mabel, a young girl determined to save a piece of land where animals once lived. The city's mayor has plans for a massive construction project that would destroy it. To stop him, Mabel uses technology created by one of her teachers to transfer her mind into a robotic beaver so she can communicate with the other beavers and convince them to return and reclaim their home.

As the story unfolds, the conflict grows into something much bigger than saving a piece of land. It becomes a battle between humans and animals. The animals, exhausted from being pushed aside and controlled by humans, decide they have had enough. Anger grows. Division deepens.

Then everything changes.

A fire breaks out, threatening to destroy everything.

In that moment, the animals set aside their resentment and begin working together to stop the fire. They return to the home they had painstakingly built after losing their first one. The only way to save everyone is to destroy that home so the water can flow and extinguish the flames.

One of the characters says, "We worked so hard building this."

And yet, they keep going.

They understand that sacrificing something they loved is worth it if it means saving everyone.

That scene stayed with me.

Because lately, that is how I have felt.

The world around us often feels like it is burning. While some people are rushing toward the fire, others remain safely inside the homes and lives they have worked so hard to build. I understand that instinct. I feel it too. We all want to protect what we have built for ourselves and for our families.

But I also wonder what could happen if more of us were willing to make temporary sacrifices for the sake of a greater future—one where everyone, regardless of where they come from or what their background is, has the opportunity to flourish.

Putting out the fires around us requires courage. It will make us uncomfortable. It may even require letting go of things we have spent years building.

If we truly seek to follow Jesus, we have to ask ourselves: What would Jesus do right now?

In Matthew 11, Jesus reminds us that he was criticized for the company he kept. He was called "a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners." He consistently chose to draw near to those society dismissed, rejected, or overlooked. In Hoopers, Mabel experiences something similar. She is mocked for always being around the animals, for believing they matter, and for fighting to protect their home when others see them as an obstacle to progress. While Mabel is simply a fictional character, her willingness to stand with those without power echoes a truth we see throughout Scripture: God's kingdom has never been built on status, power, or prestige. Again and again, God calls ordinary people—the unexpected, the overlooked, and the marginalized—to participate in God's work of restoration. That same invitation remains before us today.

The church is living in a unique moment in history. There are fires all around us—in our communities, our nation, and our world. This is our opportunity to be the people who choose to walk alongside those the world would rather ignore. We have the privilege of amplifying voices that are too often silenced, offering safety to those who feel vulnerable, and building communities where everyone can experience the dignity and belonging God intends.

The question is not whether God is calling us.

The question is whether we are willing to loosen our grip on what we have worked so hard to build so that others might live more fully.
 
 
As found on FaithWorks blog.