Sermon for January 14th, 2024
Contents
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
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 reminds us of the apostle Paul, who was zealous, sometimes off-putting, never married, and
Angus: Angst & Anguish, Agnus Dei,
