Sermon for January 26th, 2014

Matthew 28:16-20

16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. 18And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’

Faith & Film: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xCD-U2TN5U

Three Minute Film Summary

Walter Mitty works for LIFE Magazine in the negative assets department--which means he is responsible for processing the negatives of photographs that appear in the magazine. He has a crush on his co-worker, Cheryl Melhoff, but is too quiet, shy and unassuming to approach her. In fact, Walter Mitty is too quiet, shy, and unassuming to do much of anything...except inside his head. Just like the James Thurber short story the movie is loosely based on, in Walter Mitty's frequent daydreams, he is a hero--bold, suave, self-confident, and full of boundless life and energy. Unfortunately, his brief escapes from reality tend to have rude awakenings, dropping him back into his less-than-remarkable life.

One day, Walter arrives at work to find that his place of employment, LIFE Magazine is going out of business, or rather it is downsizing and transitioning to an online magazine. A ruthless and arrogant transition manager has been brought in to decide who stays and who gets laid off. In the midst of this, LIFE Magazine must publish its last issue, and one of its best freelance photographers--Sean O'Connell--has sent in a roll of film with a photograph to be considered for the final cover. This photograph is negative 25, the "Quintessence of Life"...and Walter Mitty, the negative assets manager, is responsible for it. To his horror, it is found to be missing, cut out from the roll of film, putting his job at risk.

And so, after some encouragement from Cheryl, Walter does something he's never done before: He takes a risk, goes out on an adventure, following clues from other negatives on the roll of film that take him literally around the globe into remote, beautiful, dangerous places. He swims with sharks, narrowly escapes a volcano eruption, tracks down Afghani Warlords, and even meets his hero, Sean O'Connell, the mysterious freelance photographer, on the top of a mountain peak in the Himalayas. And in the midst of all this...life...something amazing happens. Walter Mitty starts to actually become the hero he has been in his daydreams. His confidence grows, and his relationships grow deeper, he finds new meaning and purpose to life, and toward the end of the film when he is asked if he still daydreams, he thinks about it and says..."you know, lately a little less."

The Great Commission

Ordinarily, after the film summary, I like to delve into some of the themes of the film, but this time I'd actually like to start with today's scripture passage in Matthew. It's a familiar one, and I may even have preached on it a few times before (and will undoubtedly preach on it again). It's the last words of Jesus to his followers before he ascends into heaven, and we tend to call this speech "The Great Commission."

Life and Death, Life in Death, Death in Life.... What is the purpose of Life? Purpose Driven Life, Porpoise driven life...

• Not a Porpoise: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrzvLvVFBAU (baptism)

To see things thousands of miles away, things hidden behind walls and within rooms, things dangerous to come to, to draw closer, to see and be amazed and to feel that is the purpose of life

To see the world, things dangerous to come to, to see behind walls, draw closer,to find each other and to feel. That is the purpose of life