Sermon for February 18th, 2018 - Revision history

Iraneal at 04:03, 18 February 2018

2018-02-18T04:03:11Z

Iraneal at 04:02, 18 February 2018

2018-02-18T04:02:33Z

Iraneal at 03:54, 18 February 2018

2018-02-18T03:54:46Z

Iraneal at 03:43, 18 February 2018

2018-02-18T03:43:27Z

Iraneal at 03:41, 18 February 2018

2018-02-18T03:41:19Z

Iraneal at 03:19, 18 February 2018

2018-02-18T03:19:58Z

Iraneal at 03:02, 18 February 2018

2018-02-18T03:02:40Z

Iraneal at 02:58, 18 February 2018

2018-02-18T02:58:51Z

Iraneal at 02:39, 18 February 2018

2018-02-18T02:39:15Z

Iraneal at 02:07, 18 February 2018

2018-02-18T02:07:37Z

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 And The Darkest Hour is one of the first of many films about Winston Churchill to deliberately emphasize the human, fallible aspects of his personality.  We see behind the powerful speeches to glimpse his doubts, his inner turmoil, his indecision.
-*[http://youtube.com/watch?v=MRyq37Bcijw Film clip #3 - Imperfect
+*[http://youtube.com/watch?v=MRyq37Bcijw Film clip #3 - Imperfect]
 Where is it, in our own story, where the lines between perfect divinity and imperfect humanity become blurred and meet in one individual?  This is, of course, in the person of Jesus, who was at once completely human--subject to pain, suffering, and death--and also completely divine, God incarnate, dwelling among us.  This is also our own nature:  We are fallible, fallen, human beings, painfully aware of our imperfections.  And yet, we also bear within ourselves the Imago Dei, the perfect image of God, who created us and calls us to him.

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 Despite both films ending with that famous speech, both take entirely different approaches to the use of words.
-The Darkest Hour spends a great deal of time emphasising Churchill's skill as a wordsmith, and we see countless scenes of him writing, dictating, revising, and delivering his words.  One of the best lines of the entire film comes at the very end, right after he has delivered his famous and stirring "on the beaches" speech.  As the entire British Parliament rises in a standing ovation, someone asks Churchill's rival, Lord Halifax "what just happened?"  Halfix responds that the prime minister "just mobilized the English language and sent it into battle."
+The Darkest Hour spends a great deal of time emphasising Churchill's skill as a wordsmith, and we see countless scenes of him writing, dictating, revising, and delivering his words.  One of the best lines of the entire film comes at the very end, right after he has delivered his famous and stirring "on the beaches" speech.  As the entire British Parliament rises in a standing ovation, someone asks Churchill's rival, Lord Halifax "what just happened?"  Halifax responds that the prime minister "just mobilized the English language and sent it into battle."
 Dunkirk, on the other hand, when it comes to the spoken word, is a study in minimalism.  Just for fun, I downloaded the screenplay, cut out all the screen directions, and pasted the film's entire spoken dialog onto one page, single spaced, 12-pitch font.  Christopher Nolan, the film's director, tells his story with striking images, with tense action, with jarring sound effects (including the sound of a ticking clock that fades in and out throughout the film) and often with a prolonged, eerie, uncomfortable silence.
@@ Line 41: / Line 41: @@
 And The Darkest Hour is one of the first of many films about Winston Churchill to deliberately emphasize the human, fallible aspects of his personality.  We see behind the powerful speeches to glimpse his doubts, his inner turmoil, his indecision.
-*[http://youtube.com/watch?v=MRyq37Bcijw Film clip #?? - Imperfect
+*[http://youtube.com/watch?v=MRyq37Bcijw Film clip #3 - Imperfect
 Where is it, in our own story, where the lines between perfect divinity and imperfect humanity become blurred and meet in one individual?  This is, of course, in the person of Jesus, who was at once completely human--subject to pain, suffering, and death--and also completely divine, God incarnate, dwelling among us.  This is also our own nature:  We are fallible, fallen, human beings, painfully aware of our imperfections.  And yet, we also bear within ourselves the Imago Dei, the perfect image of God, who created us and calls us to him.
@@ Line 52: / Line 52: @@
 In Dunkirk, we see the image of the good shepherd, but in a slightly different way.  It's the good shepherd who leaves  behind the majority of the flock to go after the lost sheep.  The most powerful moment of the film is when those "lost sheep" at Dunkirk first see their shepherds on the horizon, coming to their rescue:
-*[http://youtube.com/watch?v=WOpZ4bM2a4c Film Clip #?? - Home]
+*[http://youtube.com/watch?v=WOpZ4bM2a4c Film Clip #4 - Home]
 ====Wrapping it all up: Darkness, Light, and Hope====

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:54, 18 February 2018
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	But if we do, I think we miss out on an important part of the human experience, an important part of God's story, of our own faith journeys, and something that is clearly on the hearts and minds of so many people in our world today. And so as we embark on this journey through the season of Lent, take time to stop and acknowledge the darkness around you, the despair and the pain that are often part of every life. Don't lose sight of our light of hope in Christ, but know that sometimes that light can seem small and frail in such a large, engulfing darkness. And that's okay.		But if we do, I think we miss out on an important part of the human experience, an important part of God's story, of our own faith journeys, and something that is clearly on the hearts and minds of so many people in our world today. And so as we embark on this journey through the season of Lent, take time to stop and acknowledge the darkness around you, the despair and the pain that are often part of every life. Don't lose sight of our light of hope in Christ, but know that sometimes that light can seem small and frail in such a large, engulfing darkness. And that's okay.

−	Lent is also a good time to remember that sometimes, in the vast darkness of this world, WE can be that small light of hope for the people around us--through small and quiet acts of kindness, courage, and compassion. Through simple but heartfelt words of love and encouragement, spoken to a friend or to a stranger, or expressed in the silence of steadfast presence.	+	Lent is also a good time to remember that sometimes, in the vast darkness of this world, WE can be that small light of hope, shining for the people around us--through small and quiet acts of kindness, courage, and compassion. Through simple but heartfelt words of love and encouragement, spoken to a friend or to a stranger, or expressed in the silence of steadfast presence.
		+
		+	Yes, lent is a a good time to remember the small, simple things we are called to do and be as God's people.
		+
		+	We will always be captivated by great films, by great stories of great leadership...but to borrow yet another quote from the great Winston Churchill:
		+
		+	"All great things are simple, and many can be expressed in single words: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope."

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:43, 18 February 2018
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	But if we do, I think we miss out on an important part of the human experience, an important part of God's story, of our own faith journeys, and something that is clearly on the hearts and minds of so many people in our world today. And so as we embark on this journey through the season of Lent, take time to stop and acknowledge the darkness around you, the despair and the pain that are often part of every life. Don't lose sight of our light of hope in Christ, but know that sometimes that light can seem small and frail in such a large, engulfing darkness. And that's okay.		But if we do, I think we miss out on an important part of the human experience, an important part of God's story, of our own faith journeys, and something that is clearly on the hearts and minds of so many people in our world today. And so as we embark on this journey through the season of Lent, take time to stop and acknowledge the darkness around you, the despair and the pain that are often part of every life. Don't lose sight of our light of hope in Christ, but know that sometimes that light can seem small and frail in such a large, engulfing darkness. And that's okay.

−	Lent is also a good time to remember that sometimes, in the vast darkness of this world, WE can be that small light of hope for the people around us--through small and quiet acts of kindness, courage, and compassion. Through simple but heartfelt words of love and encouragement, to a friend or to a stranger.	+	Lent is also a good time to remember that sometimes, in the vast darkness of this world, WE can be that small light of hope for the people around us--through small and quiet acts of kindness, courage, and compassion. Through simple but heartfelt words of love and encouragement, spoken to a friend or to a stranger, or expressed in the silence of steadfast presence.

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:41, 18 February 2018
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	As sons and daughters of the church, neither the darkness or the light should be unfamiliar to us. In fact, that's the second reason I saved these two films--Dunkirk and The Darkest Hour--until the end. Today, in our church calendar, is the first Sunday in Lent. Lent, for us, is a season of intentional and self-imposed darkness--where we remember the 40 days and nights that Jesus spent alone in the wilderness, preparing for his ministry among people; and where we remember the events leading up to his crucifixion and death on the cross.		As sons and daughters of the church, neither the darkness or the light should be unfamiliar to us. In fact, that's the second reason I saved these two films--Dunkirk and The Darkest Hour--until the end. Today, in our church calendar, is the first Sunday in Lent. Lent, for us, is a season of intentional and self-imposed darkness--where we remember the 40 days and nights that Jesus spent alone in the wilderness, preparing for his ministry among people; and where we remember the events leading up to his crucifixion and death on the cross.

−	And yet, as we begin these 40 days of darkness, we	+	And yet, as we begin these 40 days of darkness, unlike so many of the people in our culture and world, we know when and how our own darkness ends--we know where to look for the source of our light and our hope. In all of our films, we have seen faint and distant echoes of our own story and our own savior--the word become flesh, the good shepherd, the light shining in the darkness. Because of this, it's tempting for us to skip to the end of the story, to quickly pass through the darkness or ignore it altogether. Many churches do just that.
		+
		+	But if we do, I think we miss out on an important part of the human experience, an important part of God's story, of our own faith journeys, and something that is clearly on the hearts and minds of so many people in our world today. And so as we embark on this journey through the season of Lent, take time to stop and acknowledge the darkness around you, the despair and the pain that are often part of every life. Don't lose sight of our light of hope in Christ, but know that sometimes that light can seem small and frail in such a large, engulfing darkness. And that's okay.
		+
		+	Lent is also a good time to remember that sometimes, in the vast darkness of this world, WE can be that small light of hope for the people around us--through small and quiet acts of kindness, courage, and compassion. Through simple but heartfelt words of love and encouragement, to a friend or to a stranger.

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:19, 18 February 2018
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	====Wrapping it all up: Darkness, Light, and Hope====		====Wrapping it all up: Darkness, Light, and Hope====
−	There are two reasons I saved these two films for last in this year's sermon series on faith and film. First, because they both tie together a thread that runs through ~~all~~ of the films we've considered for the past six weeks: It's the theme of hope--of the tiny light that shines in the vast darkness.	+	There are two reasons I saved these two films for last in this year's sermon series on faith and film. First, because they both tie together a thread that runs through every one of the films we've considered for the past six weeks: It's the theme of hope--of the tiny light that shines in the vast darkness. It was present in Wonder, in Ferdinand, in Wonder Woman, The Greatest Showman, The Post, the Last Jedi, and both of today's films as well.
		+
		+	I didn't choose all of these films because of that theme, but I certainly noticed when it started to show up all over the place. I've said many times that the films, the stories we make and tell and pay money to go see, tell us a lot about what we're thinking and feeling in any given moment as a people. This year's films, taken together, convey a sense of despair and desperation about our world. We are a people wandering in darkness. And yet, we are desperately looking for light, for direction, for leadership. And against all odds, we remain hopeful, convinced that light is out there, and that in the end, the light will prevail over the darkness.
		+
		+	As sons and daughters of the church, neither the darkness or the light should be unfamiliar to us. In fact, that's the second reason I saved these two films--Dunkirk and The Darkest Hour--until the end. Today, in our church calendar, is the first Sunday in Lent. Lent, for us, is a season of intentional and self-imposed darkness--where we remember the 40 days and nights that Jesus spent alone in the wilderness, preparing for his ministry among people; and where we remember the events leading up to his crucifixion and death on the cross.
		+
		+	And yet, as we begin these 40 days of darkness, we

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 ====The Good Shepherd====
-*[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WOpZ4bM2a4c Film Clip #?? - Home]
+In Dunkirk, we see the image of the good shepherd, but in a slightly different way.  It's the good shepherd who leaves  behind the majority of the flock to go after the lost sheep.  The most powerful moment of the film is when those "lost sheep" at Dunkirk first see their shepherds coming to their rescue:
 ====Wrapping it all up: Darkness, Light, and Hope====

← Older revision		Revision as of 02:07, 18 February 2018
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	Dunkirk, on the other hand, when it comes to the spoken word, is a study in minimalism. Just for fun, I downloaded the screenplay, cut out all the screen directions, and pasted the film's entire spoken dialog onto one page, single spaced, 12-pitch font. Christopher Nolan, the film's director, tells his story with striking images, with tense action, with jarring sound effects (including the sound of a ticking clock that fades in and out throughout the film) and often with a prolonged, eerie, uncomfortable silence.		Dunkirk, on the other hand, when it comes to the spoken word, is a study in minimalism. Just for fun, I downloaded the screenplay, cut out all the screen directions, and pasted the film's entire spoken dialog onto one page, single spaced, 12-pitch font. Christopher Nolan, the film's director, tells his story with striking images, with tense action, with jarring sound effects (including the sound of a ticking clock that fades in and out throughout the film) and often with a prolonged, eerie, uncomfortable silence.

		+	Both of these approaches are powerful, and we find both echoed in scripture. Like Winston Churchill, Jesus was a dynamic public speaker, mobilizing crowds by the thousands with words that still resonate in our ears--the beatitudes, the sermon on the mount, the Lord's prayer, among them.

		+	But there's also the story from 1 Kings, where we are told that the prophet Elijah hears God's voice not in the thunder, or the wind, the earthquake, or the fire...but in the silence that follows them. Ecclesiastes 3 reminds us that there is a time to speak, and a time to keep silence.

	====Divinity vs. Humanity====		====Divinity vs. Humanity====