Lone Survivor: Real Hospitality (Movie Review)

Posted on January 21, 2014 by Jacob Sahms

Operation Red Wings was an unmitigated disaster, if Navy Seal Marcus Luttrell’s (Mark Wahlberg) book, Lone Survivor, is to be believed. Sent in with three of his fellow Seals (Taylor Hitsch, Emile Hirsch, and Ben Foster) to scout out a Taliban leader, the foursome makes the fateful decision to set a trio of goat herders free, and brings the full weight of the Taliban group down on them. What could have been a “simple” procedure becomes a race for survival, and a story of brothers.

[A disclaimer: I’m not a fan of war movies. I went to see Zero Dark Thirty at the request of a friend, and given the opportunity to see The Hobbit 2.0 a second time or see Lone Survivor, I went with the Mark Wahlberg feature. But unlike most war movies, which ultimately serve up a healthy serving of “hooyah,” this one had several “seriously?” moments where the military’s lack of preparation or communication obviously endangered its own troops. And even a non-war guy can get pretty irritated with that.]

I didn’t think this was war porn. I know some reviews have critiqued it for being overly violent (others have compared it to Black Hawk Down) but I thought, unfortunately, it was appropriately realistic. Berg does have Battleship on his resume (ouch!) but Friday Night Lights and The Kingdom were suitably accurate of their genre, and here, we feel for these guys and their ordeal. But ultimately, what I took away from it wasn’t the normal stuff.

Sure, you could go with the “everyone dies, but not everyone realy lives.” It would fit.

But I think the stronger take is the fact that our ‘lone survivor’ (for the five of you who don’t watch the news, I’ll keep it… a secret) doesn’t survive on his own. It’s more than “the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” because in Afghani culture, the code of Pashtunwali or hospitality dictates that a stranger must be taken in, cared for, and even defended. Can you imagine the story of the town that directed its occupants to defend a Taliban bomber because of its hospitality values? Think back to the backlash toward where Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsaernav would be buried after bombing the Boston Marathon!

Matthew 25:31-46 has plenty to say about what Jesus taught in terms of the way we would treat people; Hebrews 13:2 puts it this way: “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.” Sure, Lone Survivor injects humanity in the midst of what has devolved into a blood bath, but it also brings back around the initial decision by the Seals- that God smiles on us when we make good choices, that there is a right way to behave even in the midst of war.

I didn’t find easy answers in Lone Survivor but I wasn’t expecting any. I didn’t however expect a movie that downplayed the glory of the military, and raised ethical questions about how we behave when push comes to shove, and how we are really part of the global community.

Seals aren’t the only ones who die with honor and choose how to live. We all have to figure that out, and the sooner we do, the greater impact we can have on our community.

If you look closely (he has a line or two), you’ll see the real Luttrell. I hadn’t seen any pictures of him prior to seeing the film, but my brain picked him out as a ‘real soldier.’ It was a tribute to his fallen comrades that he was able to ‘act’ in the film, as well as train the actors. 

Posted in Current Events, Movie Reviews, Pop Culture, Theology | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

12 Years A Slave: Can Art Change The World? (Movie Review)

Posted on January 21, 2014 by Jacob Sahms

It was a big year for films based on true stories about racial relations in the United States.

In 2013, merely weeks into January, Michael B. Jordan played Oscar Grant III in Fruitvale Station, the victim of a police-related shooting in the metro system of Oakland California in 2009. In April, a biopic about Jackie Robinson, 42, showed us a glimpse of what it was like for Robinson to break baseball’s color barrier in 1947. August belonged to Forest Whitaker’s Cecil Gaines, a fictionalized look at a longtime African-American who was The Butler in the White House. And then came 12 Years A Slave, dramatizing the autobiographical account of Solomon Northrup, a freed man who was kidnapped and sold into slavery.

At one time or another, at least three of them had Oscar buzz, but 12 Years was the only one to garner any nominations. Best Picture. Actor. Supporting Actor. Supporting Actress. Costume Design. Directing. Film Editing. Production Design. Writing (Adapted Screenplay). In fact, Jackass: Bad Grandpa earned one more nomination than all of the other three (and one would’ve figured that The Butler’s broad array of actors and actresses, and the time-lapse covered, would’ve merited a look in that category, for makeup and hairstyling, at the very least.)

But Chiwetel Ejiofor and the crew of 12 Years are not second-guessed by anyone who has seen the film. The effort and skill put into the making of the film is obvious, as the cast, black and white, depict a struggle between good and evil, hope and despair, freedom and slavery. Ejiofor has the unblinking eye of the camera on him, intensely exposing the struggle of a man who knows freedom and knows what has taken from him, but he’s not alone: Lupita Nyong’o produces as a first-timer thrust into the role of objectified beauty and beaten/abused property.

On the other side of the whip, Paul Giamatti, Paul Dano, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Brad Pitt present different levels of the evil that white men both proactively did and passively allowed in the 1800s. Their willingness to play that evil is just as powerful, because we see the way that Northrup’s hope and presence made a difference because of the intensity of the evil he faces.

But is it Oscar worthy? Absolutely.

Not only is this a well-done, ridiculously moving movie from a historical perspective, but 12 Years A Slave demands that we look at our world and see who is struggling to gain real freedom in our world today. If we can cheer Liam Neeson in a movie like Taken about rescuing his fictional daughter, shouldn’t we get fired up about ending human trafficking? If we’re going to cheer fictional heroes, then a movie like 12 Years should remind us, through the character of Brad Pitt, that it’s not enough for us to be free while others suffer.

12 Years A Slave isn’t just entertaining (like some of its competitors); it is a singular story of what happens when injustice occurs and we must overcome. Until we change the course of history, it will remain a solid, well-done movie. But if those who see it will act, then it could be art that changes our world.

This is a piece I wrote for our ongoing Oscar coverage at HollywoodJesus.com. If you haven’t seen 12 Years a Slave, I urge you to strongly consider- just know it’s not for the faint of heart. But it IS based on a true story which speaks to our history and the present, if we’re willing to listen, and to change. 

Posted in Current Events, Movie Reviews, Pop Culture, Theology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

In Honor Of… (Mustard Seed Musing)

Posted on January 20, 2014 by Jacob Sahms

I ran on Saturday in honor of Meg Menzies. Menzies died after being hit by a drunk driver a week ago, while she was training for the Boston Marathon. I ran to be part of the movement to finish her race, to be one of those who ran Meg’s Miles. (For a stirring reflection on Menzies’ passing, check out Professor Candance’s piece.

“Some dance to remember, some dance to forget.”–The Eagles, “Hotel California”

Running Saturday definitely made me remember that Menzies had died, and reminded me of how stupid and selfish drinking or texting and driving are. It also reminded me of those souls who lost their lives and limbs at last year’s Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013. It made me think about my friend Paul who has a long road back from a motorcycle accident that left him without a left leg. It made me think of my friend Dean and his battle with brain cancer.

None of them can run now, but some of them will run again. I can and should run more often, but too often, I’m lazy or stubborn or too apathetic to lace up my shoes and head to the gym. On Saturday, I got to thinking that maybe on some days that I dis-honor them.

Do you ever wonder that about your faith? I know I do.

Sure, it sounds great on the days when we read our Bibles, say our prayers, go to church on consecutive Sundays, give away money and toys at Christmas, and practice a giving spirit, to say that we honored the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus. But what about the days when we’re not generous, not faithful, not kind, too grumpy, out of sorts, apathetically selfish, and stuck on ourselves? Do we dishonor God?

Hosea wrote, “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings” (6:6). The Psalmist put it this way: “My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise” (51:17). James said, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (1:27). All of these point to our honoring God with a change in our attitude, not just a day of the week or a special day of celebration. It’s about a lifestyle change that sometimes I find harder said than done! But I believe these crucial moments in our lives (unfortunately, usually tragically), can inspire us to change.

I hope that if you read this that you will run (or walk, or hop, or something) to remember those who would run but can’t. And I hope that you’ll consider with me what it looks like to honor God 365-24, to really honor by the ways we live our lives, not just on ‘high holy days’ or days that have Facebook reminders.

It’s time to run.

Posted in Current Events, Theology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

True Detective Eps. 1-2: If Faulkner Had Done Criminal Procedures (TV Review)

Posted on January 20, 2014 by Jacob Sahms

HBO’s latest miniseries isn’t set in some medieval realm of fantasy and fire, but instead, the world of the dirty Louisiana bayous. Detectives “Rust” Cohle (Matthew McConaughey) and Martin Hart (Woody Harrelson) tackled a ritualistic serial killer in 1996, and appeared to bring the culprit to justice; in 2o12, the two are interrogated by several detectives about a similar killing that has been discovered, another girl tied up and mutilated. What happens over the course of the series will challenge you, to solve the mystery and to unravel the way that the we struggle with our own demons and create facades to protect our true selves.

Thanks to a publicist for HBO, the first four episodes arrived in my mailbox. I tore into the series’ first two hours right away, wondering what script and noir could drag two successful stars from the silver screen onto the smaller pay-per-view circuit. [On the night the show premiered, McConaughey netted the Best Actor award at the Golden Globes for The Dallas Buyers Club.] The answer? A multi-leveled script, a strong mystery, serious subject matters and dialogue, and two characters who are equally buddies and sparring partners.

In 1996, Cohle questions everything without smiling, exploring a world of drugs he experienced as an undercover cop, and hanging a crucifix on his spartan apartment wall for meditating on “what it means to allow ourselves to be hung on a cross,” without embracing faith in anything at all; Hart exudes button-downed, grade A police detective, while living his affair on the side and bottling up rage over his own failures. Seventeen years later, the tables have flipped: Cohle has the look of a hard-worn, singular man with serious problems and Hart has the look of a man who has gotten his life and career together. But after a few hours, one has to ask: is any of this a mirage?

Sadly, I don’t have HBO, so I may have to wait months, even a year, to find out how the mystery (or mysteries) get resolved. In a world where gritty, Southern classics become longtime cult classics, True Detective’s annual rolling cast (think American Horror Story) will make this one an interesting follow. Galveston, writer Nic Pizzolatto’s 2010 debut novel, is now on my Kindle, and I’ll be paying attention to see if this is more The Killing or Low Winter Sun. Our good guys may or may not be good, but they’re existential, and they’re questionable. Will we love them or hate them before this is all over?

Only time, and some more troubled dialogue, will tell.

Posted in Reviews, Theology, TV | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Fruitvale Station: The Ghosts Of The Past (Movie Review)

Posted on January 18, 2014 by Jacob Sahms

On January 1, 2009, a twenty-two-year-old man named Oscar Grant III died after been shot by BART officers in Oakland, California’s Fruitvale Station, part of the public transportation system. An ex-con, an ex-gang member, and an ex-drug user, Grant appears to have been working to better himself, care for his girlfriend, and raise his daughter. Fruitvale Station is director Ryan Coogler’s attempt to present the story of the last twenty-four hours of Grant’s life.

Grant doesn’t always get it right, but while Coogler doesn’t dwell on the gang affiliation, or the drugs, or the time served behind bars, the camera doesn’t try to present us with a saccharine view of our protagonist. You can’t miss the efforts that he’s going to as he tries to be a better husband, father, son, and citizen. He’s disavowed himself from the gang life, and trying to get himself a better job; he’s made amends with his mother (Octavia Spencer) and seems intent on telling the truth to his wife (Melonie Diaz), even when it hurts.

The fight that precipitates the final confrontation comes out of the blue, but it’s clearly tied to Grant’s past. It’s not his fault, and it doesn’t seem race-related (even though his death has more than a fingerprint of racial profiling attached to it). I wrote this in July about the George Zimmerman-Trayvon Martin conflict, and the lack of justice I felt in the “wrap-up” there. Watching Fruitvale Station probably made me feel even worse, because it at the very least appears that Grant is targeted while others are not, and that his death is deemed “accidental” but wouldn’t have happened if he wasn’t targeted first.

No matter how you see the ‘facts’ of the case, Oscar Grant shouldn’t have died in the early morning of January 1, 2009. On a day when most of us celebrate new starts and changed lives, Grant was destroyed, murdered, ended, senselessly. Jordan is exquisite in playing Grant, as a multifaceted son, husband, and father, and would potentially be at the Oscars if not for the other racial statement film, 12 Years a Slave (review here.) It’s sad there seems to be a log-jam there (no The Butler either?) when each of the movies has a legitimate story to tell.

I found myself thinking that I was blessed to be born white, with parents who were able to provide for me and educate me. It’s still a privileged life, even in 2014 when we’re all supposed to understand that “all men are created equal… with unalienable rights.” But I’m also grateful that I don’t live every day worrying about whether my past catches up to me or whether someone will recognize me and my life will unravel in a moment. I am blessed because Jesus died on the cross and set me free from my sins, but I continue to see consequences from my past that I have to deal with. For me, it’s enough to know I’m forgiven, and I have the grace to rely on when a consequence shows up. But it’s time we worked harder to make sure that others get the same opportunity to be free from their pasts, spiritually and consequentially.

It’s one of our “unalienable rights.”

Posted in Current Events, Movie Reviews, Pop Culture, Theology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Gimme Shelter: The Hands Of Jesus, Interview With Kathy DiFiore

Posted on January 17, 2014 by Jacob Sahms

Have you ever been homeless?

A few weeks ago, I watched Vanessa Hudgens’ new movie, Gimme Shelter, about a young lady named Apple and her road from homeless teenager to mother to established member of the community. Her story is Ron Krauss’ screenplay, written after a year of living embedded and immersed in the lives of the women of Several Sources Shelters, run by Kathy DiFiore. Earlier today, DiFiore called me from New Jersey to talk about Apple’s (Hudgens) triumphant story and the ongoing work of her community to help pregnant teenage moms find community, and Jesus.

Raised by her family to love God and church, DiFiore married a man in her early twenties who abused her for eight years. Finally, with the clothes on her back and her purse in her hand, she ventured out alone and homeless, with only her faith as a support. After finding a job and stabilizing her life, she bought a small house but knew that she was meant to do something more with it, more for others than just living in comfort. She invited in an elderly woman, a woman struggling with leukemia, and a pregnant teen.

This pregnant teen resonated with DiFiore and her community, and soon, she was supporting several teenagers. In 1984, DiFiore was fined $10,000 by the state of New Jersey for running an unregistered shelter but after months of fighting, the bill was introduced to legalize homes like hers. And then the governor threatened to overturn the bill. Praying over the problem, DiFiore heard a voice tell her to “contact Mother Theresa.” Mother Theresa was in New York on mission work, but DiFiore had no idea how to reach her. Still, a local businessman had given his card to DiFiore months before with the promise to help whenever she needed it, scrawling his home number on the back of the card. She called, and four contacts later, she was pleading the shelter’s case to this saint of Calcutta. A letter from Mother Theresa to the governor and the bill was passed without incident.

Mother Theresa’s influence is obvious in talking with DiFiore. She says that we don’t need to come to New Jersey or even leave our community to ‘get it.’ She told me to “find [my] Calcutta,” that I didn’t have to travel far to figure out a family member, friend, community member, or someone living near me who needed help. But she did tell me we needed to think hard about how we were loving, how we were being Jesus to the world.

The sisters of the Missionaries of Charity were getting ready to throw away this statue of Jesus, pictured as a boy in the Temple at age 12. Somehow, the stone Jesus’ hands had been broken off, and the image was tarnished. But for DiFiore, it symbolized what it means to be Jesus. Jesus doesn’t walk or talk or comfort or serve today as a human being walking around, but if we’re going to be Jesus to the world, what better place to start than as his hands?

My latest inspiration’s time is short, and she knows it. Granted, DiFiore has done more with her time than most of us have, but she’s been battling cancer for twenty years. She told me that every three weeks, she takes a drug that gives her three more weeks. She’s living moment to moment, understanding how precious life is and what God is calling her to do with it, to make a difference. It’s drawn her closer to God, and as we talked, her next treatment was just days away, less than a week before the movie that could change how people see Several Shelters and homeless teenage mothers.

Now, DiFiore finds that this beautiful movie (review next week!) about a girl who runs away from her abusive mother and a life of drugs, is turned away by her rich, estranged father, and falls headlong into her one chance at a real life, will open people’s eyes to what life is like for many young mothers across the United States. While Several Shelters has an extensive application process, they accept everyone who wants to live by the community’s rules and learn to love Jesus. They’re taught about motherhood, granted scholarships to pursue education, and set up for success when they move out to raise their children on their own.

Having worked previously in a shelter for women and their children, I know the reality is that not everyone gets ‘saved.’ That’s usually because not everyone wants the help! DiFiore still proposes that those in need of rescue need to seek out a pastor and admit they need help, and to fully present themselves to those communities that can help them find shelter. But she says the most important thing to do is pray.

Those who will consider getting involved should check out the movie’s website or the movement behind it. But if you know someone who needs help, who needs shelter, check out this link for a list of shelters nationwide.

Go see the movie. Donate money. Feed a hungry person. Tutor a teenager scrapping to get by.

Who knows, you may just be the hands of Jesus, to show the world that God still moves.

Posted in Current Events, Interviews, Movie Reviews, Pop Culture | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Butler: Two Roads Divided (Movie Review)

Posted on January 17, 2014 by Jacob Sahms

Over the last year, I’ve seen 42, Fruitvale Station, 12 Years A Slave, and Django Unchained. Each of them presented a time period in American history where racism and prejudice caused great pain, even death, as the country struggled through toward civil rights for everyone (yes, I understand Django is a strange Quentin Tarantino mashup of styles, not truth). But then theres’s Lee Daniels’ The Butler that isn’t as graphic as 12 Years and takes more liberty’s with a literally true story than Fruitvale Station, yet often shades the degree of brutality like 42 did. What’s it trying to get across to us? What can we take from it?

As a child, Cecil Gaines (Forest Whitaker) asks his father why he isn’t defending his mother from their plantation owner, and his father is murdered on the spot. Gaines is directly responsible for his father’s death, and suddenly, a movie that has a fuzzy, retrospective feel is looking a bit less like an after school special. But the following twists and turns, the aging of the kid Gaines to the middle-aged Gaines (who Whitaker plays through elderly stages), dilutes the intensity for awhile, and weakens the power of the film.

Still, there comes a time when we see Gaines’ life, based on the real Eugene Allen, struggle through several Presidents, as a quiet, subservient type, while his son (David Oyelowo) tries out the paths of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Black Panthers, thinking that his father hasn’t done enough. Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken” closes with “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” We’re not made to think that Gaines or his son are superior, but we can recognize that when dealing with oppression, both had to choose their own way, and that each had an impact.

Unfortunately, The Butler was less powerful for me because of the famous actors and actresses who moonlighted their way through it. John Cusack, Robin Williams, Cuba Gooding, Live Schreiber, Lenny Kravitz, James Marsden, Alan Rickman, Jane Fonda, Mariah Carey, and Vanessa Redgrave all spend fractional time onscreen, but their parts are often famous and we find ourselves going “that’s so-and-so playing that-other-famous-person” rather than allowing the story to flow naturally. It’s distracting! Still…

12 Years a Slave, 42, Fruitvale Station, and The Butler all deal with racism in their own way, and in each of them, someone gets it and takes a stand that changes history, that changes the way that it history remembers them and those they impacted. How they do it is their decision, but how they impact the world varies. Gaines/Allen impacted policy because he chose his moments, like Esther before King Xerxes as she bet her life on telling the truth, and the U.S. is different because of it.

What roads do you have in front of you? What difference will you make? Will you choose violence or non-violence? Will you seek God’s direction or try to make it on your own? Your future and the future of others lay hanging in the balance.

Choose wisely.

Posted in Current Events, Movie Reviews, Pop Culture, Theology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ten: What Words Do You Follow? (Book Review)

Posted on January 16, 2014 by Jacob Sahms

Every few years, the public eye seems to focus in on a courtroom somewhere in the United States where one group of people is battling another group of people over whether or not the Ten Commandments should be displayed. Sometimes, it’s actually in the same courtroom; sometimes, it’s in some other public or semi-public place. And many Christians have been caught up in the ebb and flow of this argument, only to have it recede when the case is settled, one way or another.

Which begs the question: are the Ten Commandments important in the first place, and do they have anything to say about our lives today?

This is the premise of Sean Gladding’s second book, Ten: Words of Life for an Addicted, Compulsive, Cynical, Divided, and Worn-Out Culture. But unlike so many theological books of late, Gladding, who has Asbury Theological Seminary and several pastor stints under his belt, develops a narrative around ‘characters’ who meet weekly to discuss each of the 10 Commandments over ten weeks. We, the readers, are drawn into their discussion of the “ten words,” but we’re also blessed with a moving narrative about the way that community-building conversations can change and grow relationships and the way we see ourselves.

Told “backwards,” the group begins with the last one, about not coveting, and works up to the first word, often called the prologue, about who God is. There are certainly common points made here, like the ones about how advertising impacts our desires for things we don’t need, but there are a number of reflections about the impact of God’s covenant that I found myself seeing through a new filter.

-Are we unfaithful in relationships beyond marriage when it comes to fidelity? (I think of college coaches, their recruits and their contracts.)

-Are we quick to say we don’t murder but ignoring the impact of war and violence on our soldiers who return home? (I recently watched an interview with Mark Wahlberg and some of the widows surrounding Lone Survivor and wondered what support they had if the movie doesn’t exist.)

-Are we satisfied with fifth commandment, or would we prefer that ‘respect’ toward mother and father be defined, when maybe God let it be more vague so that we wouldn’t box that respect in? (I watch as members of my congregation deal with their aging parents, and teens try to negotiate patterns of behavior toward parents who treat them with varying levels of respect and decency.)

-Are we checking off the box marked “went to church,” complaining about how tired we are, and failing to see that Sabbath is built in for us? (Guilty as charged.)

I’ll admit that I received the book as a reviewer from IV Press but I devoured it in less than twenty-four hours! This is deep, tricky stuff that will have to be unpacked (and will more than likely end up a sermon series coming soon to Blandford United Methodist Church!) but is at the core of who we are as people of faith, and honestly, anyone living in a Judeo-Christian society should be taking note. And I must say I haven’t considered the Ten Commandments to this degree in quite some time.

We all follow something, some rule or form, even if we say that the form is that we’ll follow nothing at all. But for Jews and Christians, if we can’t see the articulation of these ten words in the way we live the shema (“Love the Lord your God… love your neighbor as yourself”), what are we doing? Ultimately, we see the tragedies of Columbine, slave trafficking, etc. and bemoan their existence, but are we doing what we can to truly live these words so that we can make a difference?

Gladding has opened my eyes, and along the way, even entertained me. His characters, based on his own interactions with people, were ones I cared about, and ones I wanted to see work through their problems and succeed, to whatever degree success needed to find them. I was moved by the book as a pastor, but more as a Christian seeking to figure out my own path, and to know who I’m supposed to be as I desire to serve God.

You can buy it here.

Posted in Books, Pop Culture, Theology | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Sunday’s Sermon Today: Turn The Lights On (Matthew 5:13-16)

Posted on January 15, 2014 by Jacob Sahms

Several years ago, George O’Leary was a highly successful ACC football coach with a 52-33 record, and was hired by the University of Notre Dame to be the twelfth coach of the Irish football program. But within days, it was discovered that he had misrepresented his college football-playing days, that he hadn’t played for the University of New Hampshire for three years but that he hadn’t actually played a single game! There was an uproar over his hiring at ND, and even though he had actually won the games on his coaching resume, he resigned less than a week later.

It didn’t matter what kind of coach O’Leary was, it mattered that he had been unauthentic.

That’s what Jesus is talking about today, as he tells his disciples and those who wanted to become his disciples that they were comparable to salt and light:

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Light we understand, right? The Apostle John loved the light imagery and shared Jesus’ teachings on the subject. First, he explained Jesus’ coming, not in terms of the Virgin Birth or the angels and shepherds, but with grand, poetic figures: “In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.”

In John 8:12, he wrote that Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Light matters. Without the light of the sun, photosynthesis won’t happen, so crops won’t grow and oxygen won’t be made. Light, as a side effect, provides heat that keeps us warm in the winter and able to see at night. Light allows us to understand color and depth and to reflect.

Another preacher tells the story of a man whose job was to warn traveling trains that the they were coming up on a part of the track that had been damaged by waving his lamp. That night as the train came the man showed his lamp but the train went right off the rails. Called into court, the judge wanted to know why the train had not changed its path based on the man’s warning? The judge asked, “Where you on duty on the night that the train had the accident?” “Yes,” the man said.

“Did you have your lamp?” the judge asked. “Yes, sir,” said the man.

“Did you not wave your lamp?” the judge asked. “Yes, I waved my lamp,” said the man, and he was dismissed without penalty.

When the man arrived home, his wife asked him how it had gone, and he replied, “I’m glad that the judge did not ask me if my lamp was on!”

Light matters.

But what is the reason for salt? Why would Jesus tell his disciples to be like salt? Not the earth, not to go everywhere, but to be salt? We understand that Jesus is the light and we reflect the light, and take the light, and shine the light, but we are not the origination of the light.

But, again, salt?

Salt goes on soft pretzels and popcorn and steak and…

Okay, let’s try it this way:

Salt makes us thirsty. If Jesus is the living water which everyone needs, then people who follow Jesus are the ones who cause everyone to want more of Jesus. Have you ever considered that? That you are supposed to be a stimulant to someone else’s desire for more Jesus? That you are supposed to be a causal element in someone else seeking out more of what Jesus has to offer?

Salt preserves. Now we’re not talking about making things stay fixed one way, the only way, this is the way we’ve always done it kind of way, but in a, ‘without salt it would go bad’ kind of way. In an age of refrigeration, I don’t think we consider how vital salt was for preserving meat and other foods so that people would have something to eat even when it wasn’t the right season for them to have that food! If disciples of Jesus are like salt, then we are to be a vital participant in the community so that the community has grounding and anchors and continues to exist.

Salt isn’t the flavor but it brings out the flavor. Salt makes potato chips better and rings out the flavor of my Outback special. (Mmmm, getting hungry.) Salt helps us to enjoy something else that is the main dish, the point of what we’re eating. If followers of Jesus are like salt, then what we do provides an upfront example of what Jesus is all about.

Did you know that followers of Christ weren’t called Christians until years later? That the term Christians comes from them being called “little Christs?” The followers of Christ in Antioch in the book of Acts were called that as a term to make fun of them, as they tried to actually live like and model what Jesus had said but they took it as a compliment. 

C. S. Lewis, in Mere Christianity wrote, “Now the whole offer which Christianity makes is this: that we can, if we let God have His way, come to share in the life of Christ. He came to this world and became a man in order to spread to other men the kind of life He has — by what I call ‘good infection.’ Every Christian is to become a little Christ. The whole purpose of becoming a Christian is simply nothing else.”

We don’t actually become like Jesus but if we are the salt and the light as Jesus compared us, we become so much like Jesus that people will think of us synonymously.

So consider this: do you have enough characteristics about you that someone could mistake you for Christ like a doppelgänger, like a case of mistaken identity, walking down the street? Are you salty?

The salt in Jesus’ day was used to preserve or flavor but it wasn’t pure like what we get out of the cabinet or in a restaurant. So folks of Jesus’ day had to taste it, check it out, and if it wasn’t salty enough, they threw it outside in the street, the way we sand or salt the sidewalk. After a good rain, salt like that washes away.

That’s what Jesus said was the worth of a disciple of his who lost site of what it meant to be a disciple. Who forgot what it meant to love God with their whole heart, soul, mind, and strength. Who forgot what it meant to love their neighbor as themselves.

Jesus said that kind of disciple wasn’t worth anything at all.

Kind of scary, isn’t it? Jesus has a salt and light level of expectation for us. Are we salty enough? Do we reflect the light well enough?

Are we authentic enough? Wait. Authentic enough? We either are or we aren’t. We’re either like Jesus or we’re not.

A few years ago, we did the Dan Kimball Bible study They Like Jesus But Not The Church. Wait, what? You can like Jesus, but dislike the church? But the church is made up of a bunch of people who are like Jesus, right?

Whoa. What does it mean to be like Jesus?

Let’s see how smoothly, and quickly (right?), I can do this. Seriously, an Anglican minister last week preached a one-minute sermon to make it home in time to watch the San Francisco-Carolina football game. I have until 3 p.m. kickoff so we’ve got plenty of time!

Jesus obeyed the laws of the Old Testament. Jesus knew the Ten Commandments, and he worked to follow the shema:  “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” (Which, of course, was added to in Leviticus 19:18: “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.”) A direct corollary of this one is that Jesus called sin a sin; he didn’t sugarcoat it, dance around it, act like he didn’t see it, or say that it was okay.

Jesus had a relationship with God. It says over and over that Jesus went away by himself to pray. It says that his last words on the cross were to God, after spending hours crying out to God in the Garden of Gethsemane. And it says that Jesus felt so close to God that he called him the Arabic version of ‘Daddy.’ Any time he did something, Jesus invoked God and then gave God credit for his success.

Jesus put others before himself. We could pull out the cross trump card here, pretty easily. But for every two times that Jesus went to be by himself or with his friends or rest, there is a situation where Jesus was called into action instead, to heal, or listen, or comfort someone else who was struggling. While Jesus was put in a perfect decision to judge others because he knew the law and because he had that relationship with God, Jesus put grace before everything else.

So… do we know the way that God’s law works? Do we talk with God? Do we put grace first?

If we’re going to be authentic, if we’re going to be salt or light, then we need to figure out what it looks like to be Jesus, to shine brightly and taste salty.

That’s going to take work, isn’t it?

I want to be good publicity for Jesus. I want my life to be examined, and when it is, that I would be guilty of a life that looked like Jesus.

There’s only one way for us to make that happen: We must go and shine.

Or better yet, to go out into the marketplace, and be… the spice of life!

Posted in Current Events, Sermons | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Sunday’s Sermon Today: Jesus and the N.A.P. (Mark 4:35-41)

Posted on January 15, 2014 by Jacob Sahms

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

So said FDR when considering the United States’ national perspective and outlook in 1932. He was talking about the ways that the U.S. would move forward post-Great Depression, but we’ve taken that phrase out of context so many times, it stands on its own.

The author of John wrote, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” I think I like this better but it still doesn’t quite help us get around the idea of “fear” itself, and the fact that we, too often, operate out of fear.

In the story “Chicken Little” (or “Henny Penny”), a chick is hit on the head by a falling acorn and assumes that the sky is falling. Running around screaming about impending doom, the chick causes other animals to panic as well, inciting panic. The acorn is the precipitating thing but in some versions of the story, the chick’s panic actually causes the chick (and others) to end up in danger, or dead.

How often do you think that fear causes the outcome? How often do you think fear influences us in ways that are greater than the thing that causes the fear?

There’s a story told about Charles Blondin, the legendary tightrope artist who crossed the Niagara Gorge at Niagara Falls in 1859. Known for showmanship and increasing difficulty for the sake of a gasp, he sought someone to hold onto his back while he went across the gorge. When no one stepped forward from the crowd, he dragged his manager to the rope and hoisted him onto his back.

Harry Colcord, his manager, knew all of Blondin’s tricks and stunts, knew that the stumbles were not actually dangerous but intentional. But swaying in the breeze, dozens of feet from safety, he felt the pairing begin to tilt too far to one side. Screaming, he tried to lunge in the opposite direction to counterbalance the weight, and heard the firm, yet calm voice of Blondin: “Stop moving. I’ve got this.”

Oh, to be that kind of non-anxious presence!

Consider our story from Mark today, about a time when the disciples were anything but calm.

Scenario #1: They have just listened and observed as Jesus taught a crowd of people and he has decided that they must cross a lake. Where they’re going is not on their minds, but simply getting there. So when Jesus decides it’s time to cross the lake, they go.

But before too long, a huge storm came up. When we read this matter-of-factly, we see a storm, we see the water crashing down on either side of the boat, flooding into the passengers’ areas, threatening to drown everyone on board. And we see Jesus, asleep, taking a nap, while the disciples grow more and more concerned. Then they wake him up, and he calms the storm. Pretty straightforward, right?

Let’s look at it again, first from the disciples’ perspective.

Scenario #2: The disciples have worked so hard, and they just want to get to wherever Jesus will let them sleep. They are craving a bacon burger (a kosher one, of course!) and a round of Cheerwines for everyone, and Jesus decides to take a detour across the lake at dinnertime. But, it’s his show, and who’s going to argue with Jesus, anyway?

So across the lake they go, even as other ships coming across the lake pass them and tell them that they’d better hurry and get to shore, that a big storm is coming. But the disciples look at each other and then at Jesus sleeping in the boat, and roll their eyes, and say, “what are we gonna do?” Before too long, the twenty-foot-high waves are slamming into the boat, and crashing into the disciples. They’ve never seen so much water inside a boat!

‘We’re gonna die! We’ve gotta get out of here! Why aren’t we there yet? Why isn’t Jesus awake?” And so, in their genius, they go and wake Jesus up, and say, “Jesus! Omigosh! It’s stormy! Aren’t you scared? We’re scared! Why aren’t you scared? Omigosh! It’s stormy!”

And Jesus gets up, and sternly rebukes the storm, and it stops trying to smash the disciples and their boat into bits.

Scenario #3: Jesus has shared the good news of God’s love for the world but people just aren’t getting it. Even the disciples aren’t getting it! But he patiently explains what God’s love is like, and the people spend all day being encouraged by Jesus. Now, he’s tired, and hungry, and needing some alone time, so he asks the disciples to go with him across the lake. It beats walking around!

Jesus finds a place that’s quieter than most on the boat, listening to the disciples joking and playing dice on the deck above him, and before too long, he’s asleep. What seems like seconds later, he becomes aware that the disciples are shaking him, and shouting. He feels moisture on his face, and he can’t tell if that’s because there’s water coming onto the boat or because so many of them are spitting on him in their panic!

The disciples are gesturing at the wind and rain, and Jesus recognizes that it’s a summer storm, here one minute and gone in the next. But the disciples’ fear is evident, paralyzing, and even potentially infectious, so Jesus, straightens his robe and stands near the bow, looking out over the storm, and says, “Wind, settle down.” And the winds die down and the waters recede from the boat.

I wonder sometimes what would happen if we looked at our situations from someone else’s perspective, if we looked at the troubles we were having from the perspective of Jesus. Would any of them fade away?

I’ll admit that I have a fear of things that sometimes get in my way. I do not like to fly. But I’m able to fly because I remember that in all of the situations where I have flown before, that God has always seen me through. I’m able, at least for the length of the flight, to overcome my fear of the flight until I’m able to get where I’m going. To see my parents! To go to Disney World!

All of these things are parts of my life that would’ve gone unexperienced if I hadn’t gotten past my fear of flying. (I guess I could’ve driven but my family would’ve disowned me.) And they’re all things that people along the way, often my wife or my parents, reminded me about and encouraged me in as non-anxious presences or N.A.P.s.

Now, some of you are saying, ‘but I’m not afraid of anything! I’ve never experienced a storm in my life! There’s nothing I’m anxious about or scared of or struggling with.’

To which I say, “good for you.” And not in a mean-spirited, one finger in each ear, tongue stuck out sort of way. No, I believe that some folks don’t experience the side of life that feels out of control, and I don’t think they need to beat themselves up about.

But consider group think. Consider the boat’s occupants minus Jesus.

Do they have to wake Jesus up if there’s one person who can see the beauty of the wind? Or the wonder of the lake in the middle of the storm? If there is anyone else who is a N.A.P., do they interrupt Jesus’ actual nap?

You know, most of us avoid storms. We hide in our most secure areas and away from windows and buy up milk and bread like they may one day go out of style. We can’t wait for the storm to be over.

Other people chase storms, revel in storms, embrace the dancing in puddles. Some people, apparently like Jesus, recognize that some of the best rest comes when it’s raining.

I wonder what it would look like if we danced in the storms of our lives, if we saw them as merely chapters or subheadings rather than the book of our life and the ‘end of the world.’ What would happen if we recognized that Jesus is a N.A.P. with us in the midst of each of them and that Jesus’ response to so many of our situations, that seem earth-shattering, is to yawn, and roll over back to sleep? Jesus knows who he is and he knows who we are!

This week, as my New England Patriots prepare to play the Denver Broncos at Mile High Stadium in Colorado for the AFC Championship in the National Football League, I read an interview with Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady. He said that many people outside the team were making a big deal about the Patriots being forced to play the Broncos away from home and at a much higher altitude. But Brady said that Coach Bill Belichek reminded his players that it didn’t matter where they played but who they were.

At the end of our story, right after he tells the storm, like a little child, to “settle down,” Jesus asks the disciples if they don’t have just a little bit of faith? They’ve been traveling with him, learning from him, but in the midst of the storm, they have completely forgotten what they know. Momentarily, they have forgotten who they are and whose they are.

We know that Jesus will keep reminding them who they are but ultimately, he will model for them what it looks like to recognize that regardless of the situation, our identity in God is the only thing that matters.

Whether you’re fighting sickness or debt or addiction or relationship issues or the job field, or a storm on a lake or death on the cross, who you are matters. So, ask yourself today: who am I, and how do I face my storms?

Do I get caught up in what the crowd thinks or do I care only about what God thinks?

Do I see my storms as all encompassing or merely a part of the greater story?

Do I recognize that I might be the non-anxious presence in someone else’s life or do I only worry about having enough life preservers for myself?

What if the storms aren’t times to grow, to change, to break free from the past, to be healed and renewed? What if the storms aren’t for the puddles afterward, to be danced in and splashed in, to reflect and remember that Jesus saw us through it all?

Storms will come. The boat will rock. The rain will fall. Will you be NAPping?

This sermon is for the 9 a.m. The Stand worship service at Blandford United Methodist Church on January 19. 

 

Posted in Pop Culture, Sermons, Theology | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment