Sermon for January 17th, 2016

This is the fourth year that we've done this sermon series on faith and film, and right about this time each year (about halfway into it) someone will invariably come up to me and tell me what films I *should* have picked, or what films we should do next year, or what kind of movies they won't ever go see. Some people just don't like science fiction, others don't like animated movies...some *only* like animated movies.

In just a while, we'll get to the scripture passage and today's film. But first I wanted to take a moment to share with you how I choose the films we talk about, and why you should see them, either in the theater or when they come out on video, and regardless of what kind of films you like or don't like.

So The first criteria is that it has to be a movie that came out in the past year. Not that there weren't some great movies five years ago, or fifty years ago--there were. But I'm interested in what ideas are circulating around our culture and our collective imagination now, and what our stories say about who we are and what we're interested in today.

Another criteria is that it has to be a movie that people are actually talking about and thinking about. I usually look for movies that are either blockbusters (movies that a lot of people are going to want to see) or movies that are getting a lot of critical acclaim. Oscar nominations came out last week, and three of our five films were nominated for best picture (The Martian, Bridge of Spies, and today's film, Brooklyn). A fourth film, Inside Out, was nominated for (and will probably win) best animated picture, and the fifth film was Star Wars--that was the blockbuster.

Because we're a church, I try to avoid Rated R films. While I do try to select a variety of different types of films, it's not an attempt to please everyone (that would be impossible). It has more to do with getting a good cross section of ideas across different genres--seeing what's unique, and what they have in common.

You'll notice one criteria that is conspicuously absent: I rarely ever choose films that are explicitly about Christianity, the Bible, or made by Christians for Christians. Plenty of those come out each year, but their message is rarely subtle. In fact, with that kind of movie, often there will be someone from a local megachurch standing outside the theater handing out tracts, ready to explain to you just what the movie was all about, and to find out where you think you might spend eternity if you were hit by a train on the way home from the movie.

Some pastors encourage their congregations to go see only that sort of movie, and to stay away from all the rest, lest they be somehow brainwashed by non-christian, pagan culture. Well, that's not the Presbyterian way. Long before films existed, Presbyterian pastors were encouraging their congregations not to separate themselves from the culture, but to engage with it, to be knowledgeable about it, as well as to be knowledgeable about the scriptures and their faith--to know where all these things converge, where they diverge, and to see where God is already at work in people's hopes, dreams, desires, and imaginations.

Today, films are one of the best ways to accomplish this, to understand the zeitgeist, the spirit of the times, and so as your pastor, I want you to go to the movies, just as much as I want you to study the Bible--in fact, you need one in order to understand and navigate the other. If you don't study the Bible, then a movie is just a movie--it's spiritual themes and connections will be lost on you. And if you just study the Bible without learning to recognize the strange and interesting, often hidden places it shows up in our culture and the stories we tell...then the Bible is just a book written thousands of years ago, that will have less and less relevance with each passing year.

So, with that said...let's go to the movies! But first, let's go to our scriptures.

Ruth 2:8-12

8Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Now listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women. 9Keep your eyes on the field that is being reaped, and follow behind them. I have ordered the young men not to bother you. If you get thirsty, go to the vessels and drink from what the young men have drawn.” 10Then she fell prostrate, with her face to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your sight, that you should take notice of me, when I am a foreigner?” 11But Boaz answered her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. 12May the Lord reward you for your deeds, and may you have a full reward from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge!”

Faith & Film IV: Brooklyn

• Film Clip #1: Trailer (1:50)

• Film Clip #2: Spaghetti (2:13)