Difference between revisions of "Sermon for January 14th, 2024"

Revision as of 00:57, 14 January 2024

Mark 3:31-35

31 Then his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside asking for you.” 33 And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”

Luke 14:14-14

12He said also to the one who had invited him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. 13But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 14And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Acts 16:1-5

1 Paul went on also to Derbe and to Lystra, where there was a disciple named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. 2 He was well spoken of by the brothers and sisters in Lystra and Iconium. 3 Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and had him circumcised because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4 As they went from town to town, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. 5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith and increased in numbers daily.

Faith & Film XII: The Holdovers

• Film Clip #1: Trailer

Two Minute Film Summary

"The Holdovers" is set in the 1970s at Barton Academy, a fictional boarding school somewhere in New England.

Paul Hunham is a classics professor, and quite the old curmudgeon. He is universally disliked by students, faculty and administrators. During the winter break, Hunham is assigned by the headmaster of the school to watch over the "holdovers" – students with nowhere to go for the holidays.

Initially, five students are slated to stay, but a wealthy parent arrives in a private helicopter and takes most of them to a ski resort. Only one student remains: Angus Tully, because his parents cannot be located to give their permission. Angus's mother has left him at school for the holidays to go honeymooning with her new husband, causing Angus to feel disappointed and abandoned.

Joining teacher and student is Mary, the school's cook and cafeteria administrator. Mary is mourning the death of her son, Curtis, a former student who was recently killed in the Vietnam war.

As the holidays progress, these three, each wrapped up in their own loneliness and sadness, discover they have much in common. They form an unlikely trio, and their relationships evolve from conflict and mutual disdain to deeper understanding and mutual support.

Trinity

The number three is pretty important in the film, and the three main characters form a sort of trinity--Father, Son and Holy Spirit, if you will. But there's more to it than that. I'm going to walk you through the opening credits, because there's a lot of symbolism here that sets the stage for the film.

• [Film Clip #2: Trinity]

• Begins with darkness and a scripture reference
• Text is first, make it part of the music. So both story and music are important here.
• Middle voices, Higher Voices, Bass voices -- three voices coming together to make a chord.
• First type of music: Hymns/Carols -- these offer hope, and correspond to the character of Mary.
• Second type of music: Folk music, popular music from the 70s -- correspond to the character of Angus.
• Third type of music: Classical (notice the abrupt cut) -- correspond to the character of Mr. Hunham.
• Notice three shots of Mr. Hunham: each one progressively closer, because this is a movie about seeing each other more closely.

What's In a Name?

In a well-written script, names are often very intentional, and help us to quickly understand the characters. Think of any story by Charles Dickens or J.K. Rowling, for example. In the Holdovers, most of the names have Biblical significance.

The most obvious one is Mary, the grieving mother figure. Her son's name is Curtis Lamb: Curteous Lamb, or Christ the Lamb, the lamb of God who was led to the slaughter--in this case, in Vietnam.

Mr. Hunham's first name is Paul--and he certainly should remind us of the apostle Paul, a man of letters, who was zealous, harsh, had an off-putting physical condition, and preferred not to marry so he could focus on his faith. Listen to Mr. Hunham's description of himself in this clip:

• [Film Clip #3: Paul]

Paul, in the New Testament, also takes on a disciple, a young man named Timothy who is an outsider because his father is Greek.

The last member of our trio is a little less obvious: The name Angus sounds like both "angst" and "anguish" which would describe him (or any teenager) quite well. But I think Angus sounds most like the Latin word "agnus" which means "lamb," as in Agnus Dei, the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Now...Angus in our film is not exactly a Christ type--but in our trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, he's definitely the son.

Holdovers and Outcasts

This one is pretty straightforward. All of the "holdovers" in the film are societal outcasts in some way or another, and especially Mary, Agnus and Mr. Hunham. They are exactly the sort of people Jesus was most concerned with, the people he spent his time with, and (in our scripture passage from Luke) the ones he suggested were most worthy of an invitation to the banquet.

• [Film Clip #6: Banquet]

Truth & Sacrifice

At one point in the film, Angus breaks his arm and Mr. Hunham has to take him to the hospital. He's worried that if the headmaster and Angus' parents find out, he'll lose his job. So Angus makes up a story, pretending they are father and son, and playing on the sympathies of the nurse in order to avoid the incriminating paperwork:

• [Film Clip #4: Angus' Lie]

The story works, but afterwards Mr. Hunham berates Angus, telling him that "Barton men don't lie." Later in the film, when the two are on a trip to Boston, they run into an old acquaintance of Mr. Hunham's, who asks what he's been doing with his life since college. He proceeds to lie, and Angus gleefully joins in, but then calls him on his hypocrisy.

• [Film Clip #5: Paul's Lie]

All of this is a running setup for the climax of the film--when Mr. Hunham once again faces the prospect of losing his job, this time quite seriously, and mostly because of something Angus has done (not something bad--this time something quite noble). If Mr. Hunham tells the truth about the situation, he can clear his name and keep his job--but then Angus will be expelled, sent to military school, and likely to Vietnam (like a lamb to the slaughter).

Mr. Hunham chooses to lie, sacrificing his career, saving Angus, and in a larger sense, himself as well.

And here, I think the film gets it exactly right. The ninth commandment is NOT "Thou shalt not lie." It's actually "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." Don't throw your neighbor under the bus for your own gain, or your own protection.

At the heart of the Christian faith is self-sacrifice. Jesus gave everything--including his life--for the ones he loved, which is to say you and me... all the outcasts, all the holdovers. And he calls us to do the same for each other. He calls us to love, support, and care for each other--not just our biological families, but also the unconventional families we gather along the way.

Monograph

A recurring subject through the film is Paul Hunham's monograph, the book he longs to write but can't seem to bring himself to start. In our final clip, Mary (the Mother, the muse, the Holy Spirit) comes to visit Paul (the man of letters) with a gift:

• [Film Clip #7: Monograph]

Incidentally, the word monograph comes from Ancient Greek. It's made up of two roots. Mono, meaning "one" and graph, meaning "to write." Just write one word after another.

Which takes us back to the opening credits, and the voice of the choir director (which is the voice of the narrator, or the voice of God):

"Can I hear the opening word, O? Here we go. One, two, three. Remember the text is first: In the beginning was the word. So the text is what you're concentrating on... now make it part of the music."

And so may all of YOUR stories, word by word, be caught up in the music of heaven, the song of hope, the melody of God's love.