Difference between revisions of "Sermon for January 26th, 2025"
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====Rising Stars==== | ====Rising Stars==== | ||
| − | In the Bible, there is also a story about a young | + | In the Bible, there is also a story about a young boy from a rural upbringing--a complete unkown--who comes to the big city with his harp (that's the biblical version of the guitar) to play his songs and make a name for himself. This is, of course, David, and you can find his story in the books of 1st and 2nd Samuel. King Saul takes David under his wing, and introduces him to the royal court. David is bold and brash--sometimes a bit of a jerk--but he is also talented and blessed by God. He soon takes to the stage (so to speak) when he defeats the giant, Goliath in battle. You might say that his performance "brings down the house." After this, David's fame grows, gaining him tens of thousands of fans, and also leading to tension between David and his mentor, King Saul. Eventually, David breaks free from Saul's shadow, becoming king in his own right, and also becoming one of the most legendary figures in the Bible. Right up to the end of Davi's life, he continues to write songs and play his harp. |
====The Times, They Are a Changin'==== | ====The Times, They Are a Changin'==== | ||
| − | + | Conversion, or personal transformation, is a recurring theme in all of our films this year--and this one is no exception. The entire film is centered on Bob Dylan's transformation from a complete unknown to... well... a very famous complete unknown. But more on that later. It's also the story of his transformation from a folk singer to a rock-n-roll star, from an imitator of others (Seeger and Guthrie) to a songwriter with his own unique voice. | |
| − | + | ||
| + | But there's another transformation going on here too--in the 1960's the world (and America in particular) is also transforming. We see images in the film of the Cuban missile crisis, the Civil Rights movement, the assassination of President Kennedy, and the beginning of widespread social protests. This decade has been called the "loss of innocence" for America, and Dylan's personal transformation tracks with that, almost anticipating the change. At one point in the film, Dylan's manager tells Pete Seeger, "you're pushing candles, while he's selling lightbulbs." Dylan tells another character that he's got these "special binoculars, and they allow me to see into your soul." | ||
| + | |||
| + | 1 Chronicles 12, which also relates the rise of King David, talks about how some of David's followers had a unique gift: The men of Issachar, who "understood the times, and knew what Israel should do." I think God gives that dual gift to some people in every generation--the ability (first) to see and anticipate the ways in which the times, they are a changin'--but then (second) to harness that insight in a way that helps people, that rallies them together in service of a greater purpose. | ||
====Who Do You Say That I Am?==== | ====Who Do You Say That I Am?==== | ||
| − | + | The title of the film, as I referenced earlier, has a double meaning. The film is about Dylan's early career, when he came onto the scene as a "complete unknown." But there's another sense in which the title captures a key aspect of Bob Dylan's real-life personality: He's STILL a complete unknown--you can listen to all of his songs, watch all of his interviews and still come away not entirely sure who he is or what he's thinking. Even those who have been closest to him express the same sentiment. The man is a genius--the only songwriter to ever win the Nobel Prize for Literature--but he is still a mystery, both unknown and to some extent, unknowable. | |
| − | + | ||
| − | + | Jesus had a similar problem. When he called his disciples together to ask the question, "who do people say that I am?" there were plenty of different answers to go around. Even when Peter supposedly gets the answer right, saying that Jesus is the Messiah--he still gets it wrong, when later in the gospels we realize that to Peter (and to the crowd that cheered for Jesus on Palm Sunday) their idea of the "Messiah" was a conquering hero who would defeat Rome in battle. When Peter and the crowd realize that Jesus isn't going to be that kind of Messiah, they turn on him--much like those in the Newport Crowd turn on Bob Dylan when they realize he is not going to be the savior of folk music they had hoped he would be. | |
Revision as of 23:09, 25 January 2025
Contents
1 Samuel 18:6-16 (OT p.262)
6 As they were coming home, when David returned from killing the Philistine, the women came out of all the towns of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments. 7 And the women sang to one another as they made merry, ‘Saul has killed his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.’ 8 Saul was very angry, for this saying displeased him. He said, ‘They have ascribed to David tens of thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands; what more can he have but the kingdom?’ 9 So Saul eyed David from that day on.
10 The next day an evil spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he raved within his house, while David was playing the lyre, as he did day by day. Saul had his spear in his hand; 11 and Saul threw the spear, for he thought, ‘I will pin David to the wall.’ But David eluded him twice. 12 Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him but had departed from Saul. 13 So Saul removed him from his presence, and made him a commander of a thousand; and David marched out and came in, leading the army. 14 David had success in all his undertakings; for the Lord was with him. 15 When Saul saw that he had great success, he stood in awe of him. 16 But all Israel and Judah loved David; for it was he who marched out and came in leading them.
Faith & Film XIII: A Complete Unknown
- Film Clip #1 - Trailer
Three Minute Film Summary
The film opens as a young Bob Dylan arrives in New York City in 1961 to meet his musical hero, the folk singer Woody Guthrie. Guthrie is in long-term care at the Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital. Another famous folk singer, Pete Seeger, also happens to be visiting Guthrie that day, and so Bob Dylan plays a song for both musicians, impressing them. Pete Seeger takes Dylan home to stay with him, and then takes him under his wing, introducing him to the New York folk music scene. As Dylan's career begins, he develops a relationship with Sylvie Russo, a young artist and social activist. He also develops a relationship with popular folk singer Joan Baez. Both women (and the back and forth tension in their respective relationships) influence Dylan's emerging style. Both women are also frequently puzzled, frustrated, and disappointed by Dylan's enigmatic personality.
In 1963, Dylan makes his first appearance at the Newport Folk Music festival, and is hailed as the voice of a new generation. As his popularity grows, he becomes uncomfortable with fame, and at the same time he begins to feel boxed in by the folk music community--in particular, by Pete Seeger's insistence on the "purity" of folk music, specifically that it should be simple, no frills, and above all, acoustic. Dylan starts playing with a band, and experiments with amplified or "electric" rock-n-roll music, encouraged by none other than Johnny Cash. This creates tension between Dylan and Seeger, in the lead up to the film's climax at the 1965 Newport Folk Music Festival. Dylan arrives with his band, but wavers back and forth about whether he will play his older folk music... or his new "electric" music. At the last minute, Dylan decides to plug in and launches into a series of songs that will divide the audience, shatter old relationships, and make musical history, putting him on a path to becoming one of the most legendary (though still enigmatic) musicians of modern history.
Rising Stars
In the Bible, there is also a story about a young boy from a rural upbringing--a complete unkown--who comes to the big city with his harp (that's the biblical version of the guitar) to play his songs and make a name for himself. This is, of course, David, and you can find his story in the books of 1st and 2nd Samuel. King Saul takes David under his wing, and introduces him to the royal court. David is bold and brash--sometimes a bit of a jerk--but he is also talented and blessed by God. He soon takes to the stage (so to speak) when he defeats the giant, Goliath in battle. You might say that his performance "brings down the house." After this, David's fame grows, gaining him tens of thousands of fans, and also leading to tension between David and his mentor, King Saul. Eventually, David breaks free from Saul's shadow, becoming king in his own right, and also becoming one of the most legendary figures in the Bible. Right up to the end of Davi's life, he continues to write songs and play his harp.
The Times, They Are a Changin'
Conversion, or personal transformation, is a recurring theme in all of our films this year--and this one is no exception. The entire film is centered on Bob Dylan's transformation from a complete unknown to... well... a very famous complete unknown. But more on that later. It's also the story of his transformation from a folk singer to a rock-n-roll star, from an imitator of others (Seeger and Guthrie) to a songwriter with his own unique voice.
But there's another transformation going on here too--in the 1960's the world (and America in particular) is also transforming. We see images in the film of the Cuban missile crisis, the Civil Rights movement, the assassination of President Kennedy, and the beginning of widespread social protests. This decade has been called the "loss of innocence" for America, and Dylan's personal transformation tracks with that, almost anticipating the change. At one point in the film, Dylan's manager tells Pete Seeger, "you're pushing candles, while he's selling lightbulbs." Dylan tells another character that he's got these "special binoculars, and they allow me to see into your soul."
1 Chronicles 12, which also relates the rise of King David, talks about how some of David's followers had a unique gift: The men of Issachar, who "understood the times, and knew what Israel should do." I think God gives that dual gift to some people in every generation--the ability (first) to see and anticipate the ways in which the times, they are a changin'--but then (second) to harness that insight in a way that helps people, that rallies them together in service of a greater purpose.
Who Do You Say That I Am?
The title of the film, as I referenced earlier, has a double meaning. The film is about Dylan's early career, when he came onto the scene as a "complete unknown." But there's another sense in which the title captures a key aspect of Bob Dylan's real-life personality: He's STILL a complete unknown--you can listen to all of his songs, watch all of his interviews and still come away not entirely sure who he is or what he's thinking. Even those who have been closest to him express the same sentiment. The man is a genius--the only songwriter to ever win the Nobel Prize for Literature--but he is still a mystery, both unknown and to some extent, unknowable.
Jesus had a similar problem. When he called his disciples together to ask the question, "who do people say that I am?" there were plenty of different answers to go around. Even when Peter supposedly gets the answer right, saying that Jesus is the Messiah--he still gets it wrong, when later in the gospels we realize that to Peter (and to the crowd that cheered for Jesus on Palm Sunday) their idea of the "Messiah" was a conquering hero who would defeat Rome in battle. When Peter and the crowd realize that Jesus isn't going to be that kind of Messiah, they turn on him--much like those in the Newport Crowd turn on Bob Dylan when they realize he is not going to be the savior of folk music they had hoped he would be.
