Difference between revisions of "Sermon for January 12th, 2014"

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John 1:1-5

1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

Faith & Film: The Book Thief

Film Clip #1

Three Minute Film Summary

I'll begin with the very last line in the film, because it's one of the best, and it puts the story into perspective. "There is only one thing I know to be true: I am haunted by humans." These words are spoken by Death, who narrates the film (and the book by Marcus Zusak that the film is based upon). Death first encounters Liesel Meminger on a black train winding its way through a white snowy countryside in World War II era Germany. He has come to take Liesel's younger brother, but notices her and is intrigued.

At her brother's funeral, a gravedigger unknowingly drops a book--"The Gravedigger's Handbook"--and when no one is looking, Liesel picks it up and takes it with her. This is the first book she steals, as she is on her way to be placed in foster care with Hans and Rosa Hubermann. As foster parents go, Rosa is like a crab: Hard shell on the outside, snaps at people, but soft on the inside, and loving in her own way. Hans is the opposite: On the outside he is soft, thoughtful, caring, generous and gentle, but inside him is a quiet and determined strength. He is the backbone of the family. He comforts Liesel in the loss of her brother and her mother, and when he learns that she cannot read, he teaches her.

Rudy Steiner is the blond-headed boy who lives next door, who quickly becomes Liesel's best friend. There are only ever two things on Rudy's mind at any given point--I'll let you figure out what they are from this clip. Film Clip #2

One day, a young Jewish man--Max--collapses on the Hubermann's doorstep. They take him in, nurse him back to health, and hide him from the Nazi police. He becomes like an older brother to Liesel, and continuing what Hans Uberman had begun in teaching Liesel to read, Max awakens her to the power of words and storytelling. While he is sick, she steals books from the local governor's house to read to Max, and she is heartbroken when eventually he must leave in order to protect himself and Liesel's family.

The story ends in a way that can only be described as both tragic and beautiful. For once, I won't spoil it for you entirely, at least not yet. Remember, the story is set in the middle of World War II, and the narrator is Death himself, so you can imagine that some of the characters don't make it. Liesel is not one of them, however, and Death finally comes for her when she is 90 years old, having lived a full life, having experienced love and loss and love again. We also learn that Liesel has put her talent for words to use as a writer. Right before the last line about being haunted by humans, Death tells us that "In then end there were no words...only peace."

A Story of Stark Contrasts=

There is so much that is striking about this movie, but especially the stark contrasts between polar opposites. We'll take a quick look at several of those, and also see if the Bible has any light to shed on them.

=Light vs. Darkness

It's fitting that our first contrast is light vs. darkness. Just like we saw last week with "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" the imagery of black and white is found throughout this film. But in the Hunger Games, one ignites and changes into the other. Here, in The Book Thief, they remain in stark contrast. The black train passing through a white countryside. The white chalk words on a black board. Rudy, who is about as pale white as you can get, colors himself black with charcoal to imitate his hero, Jesse Owens. Max steals a copy of Hitler's book, Mein Kampf, and paints over all of the black, anti-semitic words with white paint. That act should remind us of Isaiah, who tells us that with God, our darkest sins will be washed as white as snow. We also see this light vs. darkness contrast in our scripture passage today: Jesus is described as "the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

Giving vs. Stealing

Liesel steals books, although she insists she is only "borrowing" them. She also has the sense that life (or perhaps death) has stolen from her, too--stolen her brother, her mother, a large part of her childhood. She says at one point, "when life robs you, sometimes you have to rob it back."

In the scriptures, we read "you shall not steal," although in at least one previous sermon I have challenged our simple interpretation of that complex commandment. In that sermon I argued that the opposite of stealing is giving. The antidote to stealing is generosity. Early in the film Liesel steals and is stolen from. But as the story progresses, she begins to receive generous gifts. Here's one she receives from her Papa (Hans Hubermann). Film Clip #3

The copy of Mein Kampf whose pages Max has painted white is also a gift for Liesel--a book with blank pages so she can write her own words, her own story. Even the governor's wife, who is quite aware of Liesel's book stealing, leaves the window unlocked so she can get in, and sometimes leaves books on the windowsill for Liesel. As Liesel is treated generously, she learns to give generously of herself, and finds less and less need to steal.

Presence vs. absence

Courage vs. Fear

Life vs. Death

Sound vs. Silence

Human Kindness vs. Human Cruelty

Hubermann

The Power of Words

• Propaganda Words
• Forbidden Words
• Living Words