(prayer)
A couple of weeks ago, I
went and saw the movie, Blair Witch - the
sequel to the 1999 surprise hit, The Blair Witch Project. This year's version is a sequel in the sense
that it assumes the events of the first film have happened, but in reality, it
is a remake (or re-boot) because the new
characters have pretty much the exact same experiences of the first ones - the
new film offers almost nothing new.
Unless you have nothing
better to do (and I'm sure you do) I don't recommend this one.
There was a real Blair
Witch sequel made in 2000, with a unique new plot line (The Book of Shadows),
but it was horrible - even as horror
films go.
//
Back in 1999, I actually
enjoyed The Blair Witch Project. It was
one of the first 'found footage' style movies - where the whole film was edited
together material allegedly from a black and white camera film and a camcorder
video tape, that were supposedly found out in the woods after a documentary
film crew went missing without a trace. Found footage was a fresh style at the
time and was genuinely spooky to watch if you let yourself become engrossed in
the story - and let yourself pretend it was real.
//
The only reason I went to the
new version was because a certain 13 year old (who shall remained nameless)
didn't want to see it alone.
#thingsdadsdo
//
//
Fear sells.
Every summer, there is a
new cache of suspense or slasher-horror films.
Although it is no longer fresh, found
footage films are still hitting theatres.
//
But... as I tell my kids if
they are spooked after watching a scary movie or TV program: "remember, it
is just a show... it's made up... they only reason you feel affected by it is
because you have a good imagination."
In movies, fear is just a
form of entertainment, in the same way a roller-coaster is.
//
//
//
You probably know that
besides being a movie fan, I am also a bit of a news junkie. In fact, the pattern I have begun to use
(over the last year) is to sit in the Second Cup coffee shop on Friday mornings
to work on my sermon notes for the week.
I like the fresh java, the comfortable seats and the reliable free
wifi. Usually, as I type on my tablet, I
have my earphones plugged into my phone while streaming US cable news (thanks
to Shaw's Free Range TV app).
//
There is so much fear being
peddled to us in our newscasts.
You may have seen, Michael
Moore's Academy Award winning documentary on America's love of guns (Bowling
for Columbine). It has a whole sequence
stringing together newsclips from local and national news sources that focus on reasons to be
afraid - not just crime, terrorism and wars, but also foods that can kill you, wild
animals in your yard, mall escalators,
and pretty much everything else you might encounter in the course of a day.
Fear sells.
//
We saw it in last year's
federal and provincial elections in Canada... Americans are seeing it in their
current election cycle: some politicians want you to vote out of fear. Your
world will become unbearably dangerous if my opponent is elected, so, on
election day, come out of your bunker, take your trembling hand and mark an X
beside my name.
//
For all of human history,
bullies have used the power of fear to get what they want.
The Roman Empire of Jesus'
day maintained the Pax Romanus as Peace
Through Strength. A strong military
presence throughout the lands controlled by the Empire were a signal to
everyone that they should be afraid of trying any attempt at revolution.
//
In Jeremiah's time (six
centuries before Jesus), the Babylonians forced the people of Judah into exile
after laying seize to Jerusalem. The
Hebrews were more worried about where their next meal would come from than
living out any opposition to the world's bully de jour.
//
From a formal legal
perspective, modern Terrorism usually requires a political or ideological
component to gain that moniker, but the word 'terrorism' is a perfect
descriptor - the goal of terrorists is to fuel terror-fear: to scare people
into questioning the priorities in their lives; perhaps with the ultimate goal
of making people so afraid that they bow to the will of those behind the acts
of terror.
Ironically, as security at
airports has expanded exponentially and there are (not so veiled) invitations
to look at certain religions and skin colours with intense scrutiny, we are
told to 'not give into fear, or else the terrorist will win'.
Terrorists do what they do because... fear
sells. It always has.
//
//
It is not always easy to
stand up to the bully. They know
this. They bank on the fact that
capitulation is often the wisest move (in the short term, at least).
I know that I capitulate a lot when I encounter
difficult people.
How much am I up for a
bigger fight? What are my chances of
changing things anyway?
But... just because I have
been known to let bullies have their way, doesn't mean that I am okay with the
situation.
Letting a bully win (even
temporarily) creates an aura of sadness.
It doesn't feel right when
imposed fear dominates. It's depressing.
//
//
The Judeans were displaced
- exiled to a refugee existence - forced to live hand-to-mouth after centuries
of independent living as an established people.
They had no real choice but
to take the meager refuge they were given, but the thought of their capital in
the hands of tyrants and their Temple in ruins could not be driven from their
minds.
As a Psalmist would write
in that time: we put our instruments
against the trees; how could we sing of home in a foreign land? (Ps137)
//
Similarly, centuries later,
even pride in having nurtured a strong faith in Timothy and knowing that the
good news of Jesus was sure to endure, Paul could not escape the sadness and
suffering of his imprisonment and his regret for a future halted for him personally. He tries to speak encouragingly to his young
protégé, but we can also hear the anguish behind the Apostle's words. He tries to convince himself that he is not
afraid with words like God did not give
us a spirit of cowardness, but I am sure that Paul deeply wished that his
situation was different.
It is like when someone
(with tears welling up in their eyes) says 'be strong'.
Between the lines of the
letter you can feel a sense of putting on a brave face in a troubling
situation.
//
//
Fear is a natural
motivator. It is part of our nature
because it keeps us safe. We need fear
to survive.
//
But... also part of our
nature is a call to face certain fears to grow our experiences, advance our
knowledge, and create new wonders for us to enjoy.
Bullies thrive on fear, but
seldom are they interested in pushing their point when that fear-mongering is
no longer effective. Why because behind
every bully's reign of terror is their own inner fear.
//
Another movie reference:
Disney-Pixar's A Bug'sLife.
Every year, the
grasshoppers force the ants to give up most of their food stores with
intimidating threats, but their leader, Hopper, knows that if the ant colony
ever stood up together against this
bullying, the grasshoppers would be outnumbered and likely unable to maintain a
reign of fear.
Guess how that movie ends?
//
A bully's only power rests
in our fear. And it can be effective,
especially initially. But it is hard to
keep people afraid, because fear is a very uncomfortable emotion.
Over time, we seek ways to
alleviate that fear. We want to live in
a different way. Granted, bullies can
reinvent themselves to keep the fear fresh, but when we find ways to move that
fear out of our lives, the power begins to shift.
//
For the exiled Judeans,
they were forced to begrudgingly accept an absence from their homeland, but
they stubbornly held fast to what they believed about God's everpresence. They told the story of their history and
culture to new generations born into exile, because they hoped and believed
(like we heard Jeremiah say last week) that houses
and fields and vineyards shall again be bought [and sold] in this land.
The lament from the Old
Testament reading today did not endure.
The spirit of the Hebrew people could not be frightened from their
hearts.
Even a destroyed Temple did
not crush faith from their lives.
//
//
Subject to the Roman penal
system, Paul may have been worried about his own future, but he was buoyed by a
confidence that the Way of Jesus was well poised to endure in his absence.
He faced his fears with a
faith that the spark of God's light was
being fanned and rekindled in the life of a new generation of followers
like Timothy.
//
go down steps //
Think of this metaphor:
Fear can control best when it tries to
crush us from above. It is most
effective when we can see a longer view - when we are forced to keep the focus
only on where we are now.
But when we step up. And begin to take in a bit wider view.
We might even see that the fear (which
clouds our view from below) isn't as wide reaching as it pretends.
Fear is eased when we replace it with
hope and promise, and (dare I say) faith.
Jesus made a point of saying that faith
is challenged not so much by doubt, but fear.
It was hopeful for the Apostle Paul to
see the gospel come alive in Timothy and that helped him deal with fears for his
own safety.
The Judeans in exile hung on to their
faith. Yes, the rituals needed to be
adapted and they began to understand God's presence in a fresh way, but - as
they realized that who they were as a people was not determined by the precise
land beneath their feet - they stepped above the fear of the moment and saw a
future in which they had a place.
//
In times of big and small fear (or
worry, or anxiety), that which bullies us wants us to feel hopeless.
Ezekiel was a Hebrew priest who served
in Jerusalem as the Babylonians approached. He was among the first wave of
exiles sent away from Judea.
As more and more of the people joined
him by the Rivers of Babylon, he was inspired to describe hope to them. The story goes that he had a vision of the
Temple lying in ruins - the place he worked, performing rituals and saying
prayers on behalf of the people, where (after centuries of stability) some
professed that God actually dwelled... the Temple was a symbol of defeat at the
hands of invaders.
But, in his vision, Ezekiel saw the
Spirit of God rise above the ruins and travel across the wilderness to dwell
with the exiles.
They were not a people without
hope. They continued to practice their
faith - in ways relevant to their new context.
Even in Babylon, the exiles lived on
God's world.
Even in prison, Paul was not alone.
Neither are we.
Thanks be to God.
//
//
//
Let us pray:
Holy God, you kindled faith in our
ancestors and they told us of your impact.
And the spark of Christ glows in us as well.
Amen.
***offering***
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