Difference between revisions of "Sermon for February 2nd, 2025"
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====Trial and Temptation==== | ====Trial and Temptation==== | ||
| − | One of the core themes of the film is voiced by the main character, Ellen, when she asks Professor Von Franz, "Does evil come from within us...or from beyond? | + | One of the core themes of the film is voiced by the main character, Ellen, when she asks Professor Von Franz, "Does evil come from within us...or from beyond? This is a theme that runs throughout the Bible as well. When evil comes from without, we call those "trials." The biblical character Job does nothing wrong, but is still afflicted, externally, by evil. When the evil comes from within, we call that "temptation." Jesus tells his disciples in Mark that "it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come." James 1 teaches that anyone who endures temptation is, in fact, blessed and will receive the crown of life--not, notably because they were successful in resisting temptation, but rather because God's promises extend to all who love him. |
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| + | We see this in the character of Ellen, who succumbs to temptation at the beginning of the film (and maybe a few other times), but continues to struggle to choose the good as often as she can--even to the point where she sacrifices herself to save her husband and her community. | ||
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====Christ and Anti-Christ==== | ====Christ and Anti-Christ==== | ||
| + | We talk a lot about recognizing Christ types in these films--and Ellen's sacrifice of her life to save others perhaps puts her in this category. Or perhaps it's her husband Thomas, who travels land and sea in attempt to save his wife (and remembering that Jesus compares himself to a bridegroom, who comes to save his bride, the church). But the clear-cut figure in this film is actually one we haven't considered before: The Anti-Christ. By this, I mean a character who subverts and parodies aspects of Christ. Count Orlok is such a figure: He has disciples who speak of him in messianic terms (He is coming!). Where Christ comes to save the world, Count Orlok comes to destroy it. And yes, where Jesus gives his body and his blood to nourish humanity in holy communion, the vampire takes the body and blood of others to feed upon for his own selfish purposes--a clear perversion of the last supper. | ||
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| + | Recognizing an anti-Christ in our midst is just as important to our faith as recognizing the image of Christ--that's why John of Patmos devoted so much space in the Book of Revelation to describing in cryptic language the great Anti-Christ of his day (most likely the Roman Emperor Nero). And in our film, it is those who are the most rational, the most science-minded who are the least capable of recognizing the very real, supernatural dangers that afflict them. It's just a plague. He's just an eccentric count. | ||
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| + | ====Darkness and Light==== | ||
====Communion==== | ====Communion==== | ||
Revision as of 21:46, 1 February 2025
Contents
John 3:19-21 (NT p.94)
19 And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. 20 For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. 21 But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”
Mark 7:20-23 (NT p.42)
20 And he said, “It is what comes out of a person that defiles. 21 For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, pride, folly. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
James 1:12-15 (NT p.229)
12 Blessed is anyone who endures temptation. Such a one has stood the test and will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. 13 No one, when tempted, should say, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one. 14 But one is tempted by one’s own desire, being lured and enticed by it; 15 then, when desire has conceived, it engenders sin, and sin, when it is fully grown, gives birth to death.
Faith & Film XIII: Nosferatu
- Film Clip #1 - Trailer
Three Minute Film Summary
The film opens as a young girl (Ellen, played by Lily Rose Depp) prays for companionship after the loss of her mother--first she calls out for an angel... or a celestial being... or anything. At these last words, she is visited by a terrifying spirit, causing her to collapse.
Years later, in 1838, Ellen lives in the town of Wisborg, Germany, and is now married to Thomas Hutter, a real estate agent. Thomas accepts an assignment to sell a castle to the mysterious Count Orlok, despite Ellen's dreams and warnings of dark premonitions. While visiting Orlok's castle in the Carpathian Mountains, Thomas discovers the count is a vampire obsessed with his wife, Ellen. Thomas barely escapes the castle with his life, is rescued and nursed back to health by nuns from a nearby monastery, and then rushes back to warn Ellen of Orlok's approach.
Meanwhile, Ellen continues to experience disturbing dreams, accompanied by seizures and sleepwalking episodes. Her physician, Dr. Sievers--a man of science and rational thought--is unable to diagnose her, and so consults Professor Von Franz, an expert in supernaturalism. Von Franz identifies Orlok as the vampire Nosferatu.
Orlok arrives in Wisborg by ship, bringing with him a host of plague-infected rats. The town falls into chaos as the plague spreads. Orlok threatens to destroy Wisborg unless Ellen reaffirms a supernatural pact from her youth. With help from Professor Von Franz, Ellen learns she must make the ultimate sacrifice to defeat Count Orlok. While Von Franz distracts Thomas and Sievers with a false lead, Ellen summons Orlok to her one final time, keeping him "occupied" until dawn. The sunrise destroys Orlok, and Thomas arrives just as Ellen dies from her wounds, her sacrifice saving the town from destruction.
Total Depravity
Alright. Let's address the elephant in the room--why did I choose a vile, scary, R-rated horror film--and encourage innocent congregation members to go see it? A couple of reasons. The first goes right to the heart of why I do this series every year: The movies that we pay for and flock to see in droves each year tell us a lot about who we are, what we're afraid of, and how our faith fits into the world we inhabit. The two highest grossing film genres--every year--are Superhero movies (I've preached on many of those) and Horror movies (which I have never preached on until today). I'll admit, I'm not a huge fan of horror movies. But this one appealed to the former English teacher in me--it's a remake of a classic film (probably the very first horror film ever produced, dating back to the era of silent film) and on a literary classic--Braum Stoker's "Dracula."
The second reason is that horror movies are one of the few places in our modern, science-obsessed culture, where the supernatural is accepted, unquestioned, by the masses. Our faith, too, is grounded in supernatural elements--miracles, curses, spiritual forces of good and evil that are absolute and beyond the comprehension of the sciences. It's trendy in a lot of modern films to "flip the script" and portray the good guys as bad guys, and the bad guys as good guys (that's the plot of Wicked, which we'll talk about next week). But in most horror movies (especially this one) good is good and evil is evil--and choosing one or the other has real, profound consequences. This also happens to be what our scriptures teach us.
Make no mistake, this film depicts all sorts of depraved acts--greed, lust, murder, fornication, among others. But in doing so, it is also an good representation of humanity at its worst. Romans 3 reminds us that "all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God. This is what Reformed theologians call "total depravity." Thankfully, it's not the final word, in our world or in the film.
Trial and Temptation
One of the core themes of the film is voiced by the main character, Ellen, when she asks Professor Von Franz, "Does evil come from within us...or from beyond? This is a theme that runs throughout the Bible as well. When evil comes from without, we call those "trials." The biblical character Job does nothing wrong, but is still afflicted, externally, by evil. When the evil comes from within, we call that "temptation." Jesus tells his disciples in Mark that "it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come." James 1 teaches that anyone who endures temptation is, in fact, blessed and will receive the crown of life--not, notably because they were successful in resisting temptation, but rather because God's promises extend to all who love him.
We see this in the character of Ellen, who succumbs to temptation at the beginning of the film (and maybe a few other times), but continues to struggle to choose the good as often as she can--even to the point where she sacrifices herself to save her husband and her community.
Christ and Anti-Christ
We talk a lot about recognizing Christ types in these films--and Ellen's sacrifice of her life to save others perhaps puts her in this category. Or perhaps it's her husband Thomas, who travels land and sea in attempt to save his wife (and remembering that Jesus compares himself to a bridegroom, who comes to save his bride, the church). But the clear-cut figure in this film is actually one we haven't considered before: The Anti-Christ. By this, I mean a character who subverts and parodies aspects of Christ. Count Orlok is such a figure: He has disciples who speak of him in messianic terms (He is coming!). Where Christ comes to save the world, Count Orlok comes to destroy it. And yes, where Jesus gives his body and his blood to nourish humanity in holy communion, the vampire takes the body and blood of others to feed upon for his own selfish purposes--a clear perversion of the last supper.
Recognizing an anti-Christ in our midst is just as important to our faith as recognizing the image of Christ--that's why John of Patmos devoted so much space in the Book of Revelation to describing in cryptic language the great Anti-Christ of his day (most likely the Roman Emperor Nero). And in our film, it is those who are the most rational, the most science-minded who are the least capable of recognizing the very real, supernatural dangers that afflict them. It's just a plague. He's just an eccentric count.
