Difference between revisions of "Sermon for February 6th, 2022"

Revision as of 20:04, 5 February 2022

Jeremiah 22:8-10

8 And many nations will pass by this city, and all of them will say one to another, “Why has the Lord dealt in this way with that great city?” 9 And they will answer, “Because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord their God, and worshiped other gods and served them.” 10 Do not weep for him who is dead, nor bemoan him; weep rather for him who goes away, for he shall return no more to see his native land.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-14

1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: 2 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; 3 a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5 a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6 a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away; 7 a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8 a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.

9 What gain have the workers from their toil? 10 I have seen the business that God has given to everyone to be busy with. 11 He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; 13 moreover, it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil. 14 I know that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; God has done this, so that all should stand in awe before him.

Faith & Film X: Belfast

• Film Clip #1 - Trailer (2:05)

Three Minute Film Synopsis

Belfast is an ode to childhood--specifically the childhood of actor/director Kenneth Branagh, who grew up in Northern Ireland during "the troubles," a time of violence and civil unrest. The film opens in full color, with shots of present day Belfast, but then (as you saw in the trailer) shifts into black and white, Belfast in the year 1969, and the busy urban street where nine-year-old Buddy, the main character, lives and plays with his cousins and friends in a blissful childhood existence. As Buddy's mother calls him home, however, an angry mob rounds the corner and storms the street, breaking windows and lighting a car on fire. This is the beginning of "the troubles." Ostensibly, the mob is Protestant, like Buddy and his family, and they are targeting Catholic homes, as part of a wider and long-running dispute in Northern Ireland that really had much more to do with class and identity struggles than religion.

The next day, barricades and military patrols are formed on Buddy's street, and local gangs try to enlist Buddy and his family in their cause, which his father resists. Much of the story centers on Buddy's attempts to process this change, while his parents struggle with the decision to stay in their home or leave to a safer world outside of Ireland. Throughout it all, however, life goes on: Buddy's working class parents wrestle with financial hardship, parenting two young children, and their own aging parents, while Buddy himself goes to school, spends time with his grandparents, celebrates Christmas, falls in love with the girl down the street, and develops a growing fascination with movies and the theater (which are always shown in color!).

Ultimately, when Buddy's grandfather dies and the mob violence reaches a fever pitch, his parents make the difficult decision to move to London, they say their goodbyes, and the film cuts back to present day Belfast (in color) ending with a dedication to all those who stayed, to those who left, and to those who were lost.

Two Roads

Near the beginning of the film, Buddy's family sends him to the local protestant church for Sunday morning services, and the pastor delivers a very frightening sermon about coming to a fork in the road--with one path leading to heavenly bliss and the other to hell and damnation. One good road, and one bad road. Of course, this is a reference to Matthew 7:13-14, where Jesus describes the narrow road which leads to life, and the wide road which leads to destruction. That image of the two roads also shows up in the Book of Proverbs.

This image sticks with Buddy in our film, and he keeps coming back to it in his mind--but he can never seem to remember which is the good road, and which is the bad road. That's an honest reflection of all the difficult choices he and his family (and we, too) face in life, choices which don't always seem so easy and clearcut: Protestant or Catholic? Science or Religion? Stay in Belfast or leave?

• Film Clip #?? - The Whole Rigamarole (1:34)
• Proverbs
• Faith and Tolerance
• Jeremiah

Loss of Home and Innocence

• Film Clip #?? - I Want My Family (1:15)
• Exile in the OT
• God's Providential Love (All things work for good)

Everlasting Love

• Film Clip #?? - Everlasting Love (0:42)
• A time for everything
• Black and White vs. Color