Sermon for January 28th, 2018 - Revision history

Iraneal at 18:18, 27 January 2018

2018-01-27T18:18:12Z

Iraneal at 18:15, 27 January 2018

2018-01-27T18:15:16Z

Iraneal at 17:42, 27 January 2018

2018-01-27T17:42:22Z

Iraneal at 17:26, 27 January 2018

2018-01-27T17:26:38Z

Iraneal at 17:16, 27 January 2018

2018-01-27T17:16:33Z

Iraneal at 17:14, 27 January 2018

2018-01-27T17:14:43Z

Iraneal at 17:06, 27 January 2018

2018-01-27T17:06:48Z

Iraneal at 16:15, 27 January 2018

2018-01-27T16:15:58Z

Iraneal at 03:35, 27 January 2018

2018-01-27T03:35:08Z

Iraneal at 03:19, 27 January 2018

2018-01-27T03:19:34Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:18, 27 January 2018
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	I think Jesus came to turn on the light; to BE the light; to help us see things more clearly with our own eyes, brains, and hearts.		I think Jesus came to turn on the light; to BE the light; to help us see things more clearly with our own eyes, brains, and hearts.

−	I think Jesus came to inspire us with the kind of bravery it takes for each one of us to flip the switch... to open the box... to tell the story... to overcome the darkness and fill the world with hope, and love, and light.	+	I think Jesus came to inspire us with the kind of bravery it takes for each one of us to lay everything we value on the line, to flip the switch... to open the box... to tell the story... to overcome the darkness and fill the world with hope, and love, and light.

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:15, 27 January 2018
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	We live in a world today where the very notion of "truth" is being called into question. If the 70s taught us to be skeptical of politicians, presidents, and government institutions, then the 2000s and the advent of #fakenews have taught us to be skeptical of newspapers, publishers, and giant media conglomerates (like the Washington Post). So if you walked away from The Post believing that good newspapers and good reporting are the answer to all of our problems, I'm very sorry to disappoint you.		We live in a world today where the very notion of "truth" is being called into question. If the 70s taught us to be skeptical of politicians, presidents, and government institutions, then the 2000s and the advent of #fakenews have taught us to be skeptical of newspapers, publishers, and giant media conglomerates (like the Washington Post). So if you walked away from The Post believing that good newspapers and good reporting are the answer to all of our problems, I'm very sorry to disappoint you.

−	Words are powerful, and can be a powerful force for good. But as I often reminded my high school freshmen in my teaching days, just because you see something in print (or hear it on the radio or watch it on television) doesn't necessarily make it true.	+	Words are powerful, and can be a powerful force for good. But as I often reminded my high school freshmen in my teaching days, just because you see something in print (or hear it on the radio or watch it on television) doesn't necessarily make it true. And these days, we are sophisticated enough in our writing and speaking that something can be completely true but arguably false; partially true but mostly false; mostly true but not completely, or completely false but arguably true. What a mess!
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		+	That's why I really like the metaphor of light and darkness. When you shine a light in the darkness, that light does not create the truth, or create anything for that matter. It simply illuminates what was already there, so you can see it better. So you can evaluate it better for yourself--you still have to use the eyes, the brain, and the heart God gave you!).
		+
		+	Lies are harder to defend, and truth is harder to obscure when everyone sees the same things in the same light. Sometimes we still come to different conclusions, but that's okay. That's part of what it means to be a democracy, to be a community.
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		+	I don't believe that Jesus came to tell us definitively, once and for all, exactly what we should believe, how we should behave, to what church or political party we should belong.
		+
		+	I think Jesus came to turn on the light; to BE the light; to help us see things more clearly with our own eyes, brains, and hearts.
		+
		+	I think Jesus came to inspire us with the kind of bravery it takes for each one of us to flip the switch... to open the box... to tell the story... to overcome the darkness and fill the world with hope, and love, and light.

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 *[http://youtube.com/watch?v=wg8kyFrxjxc Film Clip #3 - Dig In]
-When the journalists of The Post gather in wonder around the box containing the Pentagon Papers, I think that's also a subtle reference to Pandora's box in Greek Mythology.  Once you let the truth out of the box, you can't put it back in again.  It's also worth remembering that while all of the things that came out of Pandora's box caused great trouble...at the bottom of the box, Pandora found one more thing: Hope.
+When the journalists of The Post first gather in wonder around the box containing the Pentagon Papers, I think that's also a subtle reference to Pandora's box in Greek Mythology.  Once you let the truth out of the box, you can't put it back in again.  It's also worth remembering that while all of the things that came out of Pandora's box caused great trouble...at the bottom of the box, Pandora found one more thing: Hope.
 There is indeed great hope in bringing truth out of the darkness and into the light, even if at first, all it causes is trouble.

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 ====The Light Shining In the Darkness====
 *[http://youtube.com/watch?v=wg8kyFrxjxc Film Clip #3 - Dig In]
+There is indeed great hope in bringing truth out of the darkness and into the light, even if at first, all it causes is trouble.
-−
-Democracy dies in darkness

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 There is a scene in The Post, late at night, after Katharine Graham has made the difficult decision that publishing the papers was the morally right thing to do, and we see the enormous machinery of the printing press roar to life, causing the offices above the press to shake and rattle, as a sea of freshly printed newspapers flows up and down the conveyor belts.
-In this powerful scene, I couldn't help but hear in my mind the words of the prophet Amos: "Let justice roll down like mighty waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
+In this powerful scene, I couldn't help but hear echoes of the prophet Amos, who knew a thing or two about speaking truth to power.  Amos said (5:24), "Let justice roll down like mighty waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
 ====The Light Shining In the Darkness====
 *[http://youtube.com/watch?v=wg8kyFrxjxc Film Clip #3 - Dig In]

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 King Hezekiah consults the great prophet Isaiah, and values his counsel.  Isaiah prays for Hezekiah when he becomes ill, and asks God to heal him.  But then Hezekiah is succeeded by his son King Manasseh, who, according to tradition, executes Isaiah by placing him in a log and having the log sawn in half.
-Like the journalists and publishers in The Post, the Old Testament Prophets had to work with the rulers of the land, dining with them and getting to know them.  But they also had to hold them accountable, remembering that their
+Like the journalists and publishers in The Post, the Old Testament Prophets had to work with the rulers of the land, dining with them and getting to know them.  But at times they also had to confront them, expose them, and hold them accountable, remembering that their first allegiance was to justice and truth, making their profession a dangerous, but valuable one.
 ====The Light Shining In the Darkness====

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 ====Prophets and Kings====
+Interestingly, the Pentagon Papers were written before Nixon was elected President, and their most damning revelations were not against the Nixon White House, but against the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations that came before.  This made Graham's choice particularly difficult, as her family were close personal friends with the Johnsons, and (although only alluded to in the following clip) Bradlee himself had been close friends with the Kennedys.
 *[http://youtube.com/watch?v=SzOfBydxcHU Film Clip #2 - Hypothetical Question]
 ====The Light Shining In the Darkness====

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:35, 27 January 2018
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	====Prophets and Kings====		====Prophets and Kings====
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		+	====The Power of the Word====
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		+	====The Light Shining In the Darkness====
	(let justice roll like thunder)		(let justice roll like thunder)

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 When Graham and Bradlee come into possession of the leaked documents, they race to publish them, but their rivals, the New York Times beat them to press.  The Nixon White House successfully wins an injunction preventing the Times from publishing any more documents, and at this point, the Washington Post faces the difficult decision of whether to risk their very existence by defying the White House and going to press, or on the other hand, risking their journalistic integrity (and their opportunity to become a major player in national news) by allowing the government to silence them.
-Against the advice of her lawyers and business advisors, Graham makes the bold decision to publish, landing both her paper and the New York Times in front of the Supreme Court, which ultimately decides in their favor.
+Against the advice of her lawyers and business advisors, Graham makes the bold decision to publish, landing both her paper and the New York Times in front of the Supreme Court, which ultimately decides in their favor, setting the stage for the golden era of journalism, the Washington Post, and the downfall of the Nixon presidency.
 ====Prophets and Kings====