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

After the film summary, I usually delve into some of the themes of the film, but this time I'd actually like to start with our scripture passage in Matthew. It's the last words of Jesus to his followers before he ascends into heaven, and we call it "The Great Commission."

A Commission is a charge, a set of instructions or duties given to a group of people. But in this case, I also like to think of a commission as a "co" - "mission," or an opportunity, an invitation for us to participate with God and each other (co) in his great plan for the world, his mission. It is our greatest privilege and honor as Christians, our highest calling, and our greatest purpose in life. It consists of three things--listen closely to verse 19: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Three actions: Go, baptize, and make disciples.

In his last moments on earth, Jesus gave his followers three things to do; three things that are simple, profound, and encompass the entire cycle of Christian life. Our life in Christ begins not at our birth, but at our baptism. For some that's in infancy, for others it's in adulthood, but regardless of age, it is the starting point, the beginning of our journey.

In the gospel of John, after Jesus himself was baptized, we read that the very next day he begins to call his first disciples. To disciple someone is to teach them a discipline, a way of life. Most of us do not begin making disciples immediately after our baptism, but we do begin the process of becoming disciples--learning what it means to be a follower of Jesus, learning a better way to live.

Becoming a disciple is a lifelong process, but at some point in the process, Jesus tells his followers (and us) to go into the world and put into practice what we have learned. In the book of Acts, the disciples become the apostles--apostle means one who is sent, or one who "goes." When we go out into the world, we help to bring others into God's kingdom, to become baptized, to become disciples, and then we help them in turn to go out into the world and the process starts all over again.

Go. Baptize. Make Disciples. This is the cycle of the Christian life, and it is only when we are fulfilling this great purpose that we are truly alive, truly enjoying and experiencing the life that God has given to us.

Now, back to our film.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, at least as far as I can tell, was not intended by its writers and directors to be a "Christian film." But intentionally or unintentionally (and it could be said that nothing is unintentional with God) The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is a wonderful model and example of that Christian cycle of life I just spoke of: Go. Baptize. Make Disciples.

The Purpose of Life

The question of the purpose of life is squarely at the center of this film. Walter Mitty works at LIFE magazine, but he really has no life. At the beginning of the film, he is alive but he is not really living. He works in the negative assets department, and that's a metaphor for his life: negative assets, no assets, no life. LIFE magazine is colorful, vibrant, but Walter works in a dark room with the negatives, which are relatively colorless. At the beginning of the film, his life, his clothes, his apartments, are all pictured in shades of gray. No color. No life.

However, there is a large motto printed on the wall at LIFE magazine. It reads:

Sean O'Connell, the freelance photographer that Walter Mitty secretly idolizes, represents life, adventure

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, to draw closer, to find each other and to feel. That is the purpose of life