Sermon for January 5th, 2014
Contents
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
