Difference between revisions of "Sermon for February 2nd, 2014"
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====Three Minute Film Summary==== | ====Three Minute Film Summary==== | ||
| + | The film 42 begins in 1945, as America's young men are returning home from World War II--a war in which black men and white men both served and sacrificed equally for their country while abroad. Back home, however, Jim Crow laws and legal segregation were still in force. In baseball at the time, there was no official law or policy preventing a black man from playing on a white team...but as the film points out, sometimes the unwritten laws and customs are the hardest ones to change. This film is about that change. | ||
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| + | Jackie Robinson plays for an all-black team,the Kansas City Monarchs, in an all-black league, but it is clear from the beginning that he's not happy with the "separate but equal" approach. When a gas station attendant tells him he can't use the white restroom, he tells the attendant that he and his team will fill up their 99 gallon tank elsewhere, and the attendant finally relents. We also learn later that Jackie was court-martialled while serving in the military because he refused to move to the back of the bus. He has a reputation for being a troublemaker, and for his quick temper. But he is a phenomenal ball player. | ||
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| + | Branch Rickey, meanwhile, is the general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers. He is a devout Christian who believes that segregation is wrong, and that the time has come to bring black players into Major League Baseball. He's also a practical man who notes that dollars are not black or white...they're green, and black baseball players will bring paying black fans to fill the Dodgers stadium. After a examining some of the best players in the Negro Leagues, Branch Rickey settles on Jackie Robinson. Besides Jackie's obvious baseball skills, Branch Rickey chooses him because, in his words: "I'm a Methodist. Jackie Robinson is a Methodist. God's a Methodist. We can't go wrong." The film is loosely based on true events, and in real life, both Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson were indeed Methodists. God, however, is Presbyterian. I did say the film was loosely based on true events. | ||
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| + | The Dodgers sign Robinson, and most of the remainder of the film is about his struggles to earn the acceptance, respect, and finally the admiration of his teammates and American baseball fans. Along the way he faces racist attacks, threats to his life and his family, and every hostility imaginable from inside and outside of organized baseball. In the midst of all this, Robinson keeps his temper remarkably in check, and ultimately leads his team to the National League pennant, breaking the color barrier in baseball, becoming a hero and a role model to thousands, and ensuring that America's pastime would belong to all Americans of any color or ethnicity. | ||
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| + | ====Why I Chose This Film==== | ||
| + | February is Black History month, but in Hollywood, the year 2013 could have been considered Black History Year. Some of the very best films of 2013 were films that documented, celebrated, and explored the history and culture of African Americans. Among them were 12 Years a Slave (which will likely win best picture at the Academy Awards), Lee Daniels' The Butler, Black Nativity, Baggage Claim, Best Man Holiday, and of course, today's film, 42. Some film critics have claimed 2013 as the year in which African American writers and directors have broken the Hollywood color barrier in the same way Jackie Robinson did for baseball in 1947. But to be honest, that's not why I picked today's film, and even though breaking the color barrier is a big part of the message and story of 42, there's another message just below the surface that's even more important to me, and I think more important to us as believers and Christ followers of any color. | ||
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Revision as of 23:14, 1 February 2014
Contents
Luke 6:27-36
27 ‘But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. 30Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. 31Do to others as you would have them do to you. 32 ‘If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. 35But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. 36Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
Faith & Film: 42 (The Jackie Robinson Story)
Film Clip #1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9RHqdZDCF0
Three Minute Film Summary
The film 42 begins in 1945, as America's young men are returning home from World War II--a war in which black men and white men both served and sacrificed equally for their country while abroad. Back home, however, Jim Crow laws and legal segregation were still in force. In baseball at the time, there was no official law or policy preventing a black man from playing on a white team...but as the film points out, sometimes the unwritten laws and customs are the hardest ones to change. This film is about that change.
Jackie Robinson plays for an all-black team,the Kansas City Monarchs, in an all-black league, but it is clear from the beginning that he's not happy with the "separate but equal" approach. When a gas station attendant tells him he can't use the white restroom, he tells the attendant that he and his team will fill up their 99 gallon tank elsewhere, and the attendant finally relents. We also learn later that Jackie was court-martialled while serving in the military because he refused to move to the back of the bus. He has a reputation for being a troublemaker, and for his quick temper. But he is a phenomenal ball player.
Branch Rickey, meanwhile, is the general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers. He is a devout Christian who believes that segregation is wrong, and that the time has come to bring black players into Major League Baseball. He's also a practical man who notes that dollars are not black or white...they're green, and black baseball players will bring paying black fans to fill the Dodgers stadium. After a examining some of the best players in the Negro Leagues, Branch Rickey settles on Jackie Robinson. Besides Jackie's obvious baseball skills, Branch Rickey chooses him because, in his words: "I'm a Methodist. Jackie Robinson is a Methodist. God's a Methodist. We can't go wrong." The film is loosely based on true events, and in real life, both Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson were indeed Methodists. God, however, is Presbyterian. I did say the film was loosely based on true events.
The Dodgers sign Robinson, and most of the remainder of the film is about his struggles to earn the acceptance, respect, and finally the admiration of his teammates and American baseball fans. Along the way he faces racist attacks, threats to his life and his family, and every hostility imaginable from inside and outside of organized baseball. In the midst of all this, Robinson keeps his temper remarkably in check, and ultimately leads his team to the National League pennant, breaking the color barrier in baseball, becoming a hero and a role model to thousands, and ensuring that America's pastime would belong to all Americans of any color or ethnicity.
Why I Chose This Film
February is Black History month, but in Hollywood, the year 2013 could have been considered Black History Year. Some of the very best films of 2013 were films that documented, celebrated, and explored the history and culture of African Americans. Among them were 12 Years a Slave (which will likely win best picture at the Academy Awards), Lee Daniels' The Butler, Black Nativity, Baggage Claim, Best Man Holiday, and of course, today's film, 42. Some film critics have claimed 2013 as the year in which African American writers and directors have broken the Hollywood color barrier in the same way Jackie Robinson did for baseball in 1947. But to be honest, that's not why I picked today's film, and even though breaking the color barrier is a big part of the message and story of 42, there's another message just below the surface that's even more important to me, and I think more important to us as believers and Christ followers of any color.
Get me Up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upeKFdDWk4I
All wear 42: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5zRN6rU7eU
Fine Gentleman: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93PKVxXF3i8
