Sermon for January 5th, 2014

Revelation 3:14-18

14 ‘And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the origin of God’s creation: 15 ‘I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot. 16So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17For you say, “I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.” You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 18Therefore I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich; and white robes to clothe you and to keep the shame of your nakedness from being seen; and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

The famous reformed theologian, Karl Barth, once said that Christians should approach the world with a Bible in one hand, and a newspaper in the other. What he was getting at was this: If we as Christians spend all of our time in study of scripture alone, we will be blind to the world around us, and will never be able to connect the gospel, the good news, to that world. To reach the world, we must also understand the world, we must be able to speak in its language. In Karl Barth's era, the newspaper was the best tool for accomplishing that. Today, I think it's the films, the movies, the blockbusters that we flock to see in the millions. Films are the great literature and storytelling of our era. Sometimes those films are good; sometimes they are bad, but always they shape and reflect our culture. Films are mirrors and magnifying glasses to who we are and what we aspire to be.

As Christians, it is our job to be aware of the places where our faith converges with the themes and stories our culture tells, and where we part company, too. As a pastor, I am a trained theologian. Trust me, I'm a professional! But seriously, it's my hope that in doing this series on faith and film, we can all learn to see the world through the lens of our faith wherever we go, to be amateur theologians, armchair theologians, connectors and interpreters of the scriptures we hold dear, and the world we live in.

With that, let's take a look at our first film, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Clip #1

Three Minute Film Summmary

I'll try to begin each of these sermons with a three minute summary of the film. Note that I said "try." The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is actually the second film in a trilogy, based on the popular novels by Suzanne Collins. The world of the Hunger Games stories is set in a futuristic country named Panem (which incidentally is Latin for "bread"). Panem consists of a large, wealthy ruling capitol city and several poor districts which support the capitol. In order to punish the districts for a past rebellion, they are all forced each year to send one boy and one girl (ages 12-18)to compete in the Hunger Games--a sadistic and violent competition where all the children are placed in an arena and forced to fight to the death, as the entire nation watches on television. Basically, think of the whole thing as American Idol meets Roman Gladiators meets Lord of the Flies.

Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark are from District 12, and are the winners of last year's hunger games. As the movie begins, they have been forced to tour all of the districts, representing the oppressive capitol which they despise. Katniss, however, has a habit of defying authority, sometimes intentionally, sometimes unintentionally, and she begins to be seen by the people as a symbol of hope. She is also seen by the leaders of the capitol as a threat, and so in order to get rid of her, they come up with an "All Star" version of the Hunger Games, where the participants are all winners of previous years--forcing Katniss and Peeta back into the game again.

The actual game itself only occupies the last 20 minutes of the movie. Most of the film is spent in delicate politics of alliances, image-making, moves and counter-moves that lead up to the games. Once the games begin, however, delicate politics give way to speed, brute force, and dumb luck. Katniss and Peeta form an alliance with a handful of others that eventually begins to dominate the game. However, strange and secretive things begin to happen, plans and alliances begin to unravel, and in a dramatic climax, Katniss shoots a lightning-charged arrow into the dome of the arena itself, destroying the arena, and almost killing herself in the process. She awakens to find that the games have given way to real war: Her home district has been completely destroyed, and--inspired by her example--a new revolution in Panem is now underway.

Apocalypse & Dystopia

The world of the Hunger Games is a classic example of what's called "dystopia." It's the opposite of a utopia--a place where everything is all wrong, a hellish existence. Dystopian writing throughout history has often been a way to subtly critique society, or warn society about possible dangers that lurk in the future if left un-addressed. In Hunger Games, the stark contrast between the rich, fashionable, cruel capitol and the poor, struggling districts--and the threat of revolution--is probably intended by the writers and directors as a warning about the growing income gap, the growing disparity between rich and poor in our own time. This, of course, is a theme you'll also find on just about every page of the New Testament and the teachings of Jesus, who, like Katniss Everdeen, was a friend of the poor and harsh critic of the rich and powerful.

But Hunger Games is more than just a dystopia. It also belongs to the genre of Apocalyptic writing--writing that chronicles events leading up to an apocalypse, or the end of the world as we know it. And of course, in the Bible, the great work of apocalyptic literature is the book of Revelation, where we find today's scripture passage. Apocalyptic writing is usually written by those who are on the short end of the stick--those who are oppressed, those for whom no justice is possible in this world, and therefore hope is only possible when the world as we know it comes to an end. When John of Patmos wrote the Book of Revelation, this was certainly the case, as Christians--including children--were being brutally slaughtered by a Roman government, often in arenas as public sport. By the way, if you observe carefully, you'll notice that in The Hunger Games, all of the rich and powerful characters from the Capitol...have famous Roman names.