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A few years ago there was a TV show called Early Edition. The main character in this program would receive a paper every day that showed what was going to happen the next day. He would then set out to correct the bad things before they happened. Through a series of events in which he often put himself in harms way he would accomplish his destiny.
If we as Christians new something bad was going to happen to someone we would try to prevent it – wouldn’t we? We know hell is real and certain for everyone who doesn’t know Jesus, so let’s gather in and pray for God to motivate us like the rich man to share the truth.
Video Illustration: City Slickers- Right atfter he is gored by the bull and they talk about it on the plane. It’s right after the scene of New York which says 1 year later. It’s his birthday and he is depressed and worried. Mitch has become a worry wart and it’s draining the joy out of his life.
Do you see what worry and anxiety can do to your life? It robs you of living-instead you just exist – you end up with no joy and no hope. It’s a sad state to be in.
THE PARENT TRAP: THE JOY OF HAVING A DAD
Anyone ever seen the original The Parent Trap with Hayley Mills done in 1961? Have you seen the remake from 1998? In the remake Lindsay Lohan plays the twins and Dennis Quaid is the father. If you know the story then you’ll remember that identical twins, separated at birth by their parent’s divorce meet 11 years later at camp and change places. They want to meet the parent they’ve never had.
As Annie James, Lindsay flies home to her father who doesn’t expect anything out of the ordinary. Their conversation goes like this.
She runs to embrace him with a big smile, saying, "Dad! Finally!" The father tells her he missed her and a lot had been happening. Annie responds, "A lot’s been happening to me too, Dad. I mean, I feel I’m practically a new woman!"
In the car Quaid notices she can’t stop looking at him and asks, "What? Did I cut myself shaving?"
Annie answers, "No. It’s just seeing you for the first time. I mean, you know, in so long."
As they drive Annie discusses the camp, ending almost every sentence with "Dad". He asks, "Why do you keep saying ’Dad’ at the end of every sentence?"
Annie answers, "I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I was doing it, Dad. Sorry, Dad." They both laugh. "Do you want to know why I keep saying ’Dad’? The truth?"
The father says, "Because you missed your old man so much, right?"
"Exactly. It’s because in my whole life—I mean, you know, for the past eight weeks—I was never able to say the word ’Dad’. Never. Not once. And if you ask me, a dad is an irreplaceable person in a girl’s life. Think about it. There’s a whole day devoted to celebrating fathers. Just imagine someone’s life without a father. Never buying a Father’s Day card. Never sitting on their father’s lap. Or being able to say ’Hi, Dad,’ or, ’What’s up, Dad?’ or, ’Catch you later, Dad.’ I mean, a baby’s first words are always ’Dada,’ aren’t they?"
The father asks, "Let me see if I get this. You missed being able to call me ’Dad’?"
Annie answers, "Yeah, I really have, Dad."
(Source: The Parent Trap 1998 Disney, IMDb.com. From a sermon by Charles Wilkerson, Who’s Your Daddy, 11/10/2009)
[Fiddler on the Roof]
Tevye: "Golde, I have decided to give Perchik permission to become engaged to our daughter, Hodel."
Golde: "What? He’s poor! He has nothing, absolutely nothing!"
Tevye: "He’s a good man, Golde. I like him. And what’s more important, Hodel likes him. Hodel loves him. So what can we do? It’s a new world... A new world. Love. Golde..." Do you love me?
Golde: Do I what?
Tevye: Do you love me?
Golde: Do I love you?
With our daughters getting married
And this trouble in the town
You’re upset, you’re worn out
Go inside, go lie down!
Maybe it’s indigestion
Tevye: "Golde I’m asking you a question..." Do you love me?
Golde: You’re a fool
Tevye: "I know..." But do you love me?
Golde: Do I love you?
For twenty-five years I’ve washed your clothes
Cooked your meals, cleaned your house
Given you children, milked the cow
After twenty-five years, why talk about love right now?
Tevye: Golde, The first time I met you
Was on our wedding day
I was scared
Golde: I was shy
Tevye: I was nervous
Golde: So was I
Tevye: But my father and my mother
Said we’d learn to love each other
And now I’m asking, Golde
Do you love me?
Golde: I’m your wife
Tevye: "I know..." But do you love me?
Golde: Do I love him?
For twenty-five years I’ve lived with him
Fought him, starved with him
Twenty-five years my bed is his
If that’s not love, what is?
Tevye: Then you love me?
Golde: I suppose I do
Many years ago I went to see a theatrical production called Cotton Patch Gospel, a musical about the life of Jesus with an Appalachian, country-western twist. It was based on Clarence Jordan’s paraphrase of the New Testament, by the same name. It tries to tell the story of Jesus as if he has been born in Georgia in the 1950’s. The lyrics and music were written and composed by the late Harry Chapin. I wish I could play one of the songs for you, for it is both gripping and haunting.
It begins with Herod’s men singing:
All through the ages, the wise men and sages,
have said there are dirty deeds that simply must be done.
To keep society going, and the benefits flowing,
there’s the simple necessity of hurting someone.
It means strength and agility, taking responsibility,
it’s the core of what leadership’s really about.
When the red blood starts coming, just think of it as plumbing, if you’ve got a problem you must flush it out.
Then the narrator comes in and tells this story: Herod had seen to it that on Sunday morning a bomb got tossed into the nursery of a church where Jesus was supposed to be. Fortunately, Joe had taken Jesus to Mexico, so the plan failed to get him. But the explosion did kill 14 innocent infants and toddlers. It was a horrible sight that morning. The doctor couldn’t even convince one mother that her child was dead. And then the mother sings her song:
Rock a by sweet baby, Mama is here
Hush a by sweet angel, there’s nothing to fear
Close your eyes sweet darling, all through the night
Mama will hold you safe ‘til the morning light.
You know, if you want to dabble in fiction, you can do some great things with a door. When I was a high school missionary kid living in Singapore, we all got to take a tour once on the U.S.S. Nimitz. And I now have a sci-fi film in my collection, about a time-travel portal that opens up and allows that very aircraft carrier to go back from now to the year 1941. In fact, it’s December 6, 1941, just one day before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. What an opportunity – all of America’s awesome nuclear arsenal, with heat-seeking missiles and the latest in supersonic jet fighters and bombers . . . and the Japanese army has these little putt-putt Zeros tiptoeing toward Honolulu at 90 miles an hour with their one-propeller engines.
H. G. Wells opens the door to his time machine and goes instantly from one era to another, tracking down Jack the Ripper and falling in love with a woman who lives a century later than he does. Doors open up new dimensions, new worlds, a new matrix, a new life.
But there’s one door, and really just one, that I care about today. I care about that closet door that opens up to a world where Aslan the Lion lives. I want that door to be real; I want its promises to be true.
Several Years ago there was a movie that starred Nicolas Cage. It was about a New York City Cop who didn’t have enough money for a tip. He felt bad about it so he gave her a choice. She could wait until tomorrow and he would come back and bring her a few dollars or she could have half of anything he might win on a lottery ticket he had purchased earlier in the day. I really identified with this movie because as you know I too am a waiter. What you may not know is that I am also a delivered compulsive gambler. Well the waitress did exactly what I would have done in the same situation. She took a chance. If you haven’t seen the movie or didn’t here about the true story that inspired it let me tell you what happened. They won. The movie goes on to tell of all the good and bad things that happened to them after winning this large amount of money. The title was
It Could Happen to You.
As I thought about that movie I thought about all the possible out comes and what would I have done if that had happened to me.
Video Illustration: Movie Pay It Forward.
Clip is from the beginning of the movie were a reporter becomes the recipient of a random act of kindness after his car is smashed at a police domestic scene. The reporter is given a new jaguar by a stranger to replace his old wrecked mustang. He responds to the act of kindness by calling the stranger a freak because he cannot believe someone would do this. He later learns that the man is returning the favor from another stranger who saved his daughters life. The man who saved the strangers daughter told him to pay it forward. In other words do three big random acts of kindness for 3 other strangers in need. He later on instructs the reporter that he too must pay it forward. The concept of pay it forward started from a classroom assignment in Social Studies were the teacher assigns his class the following task: “Think of an idea to change our world-and put it into action.”. A young 11 year old boy seem at the end of our clip comes up this idea. He tells his teacher that he did this not for the grade but he really wanted to see if the world could and would change. The boy ends up losing his life when he tries to rescue a friend in trouble at the end of the movie. But by the time he dies his “Pay it Forward” idea is in full motion across the country.
Point: I use this clip to talk about the importance of changing our thinking. The man who ...
After 25 years of an arranged marriage, listen to Tevya’s question to Golde in the musical Fiddler on the Roof:
(Tevye) “Golde, I have decided to give Perchik permission to become engaged to our daughter, Hodel.”
(Golde) “What??? He’s poor! He has nothing, absolutely nothing!”
(Tevye) “He’s a good man, Golde. I like him. And what’s more important, Hodel likes him. Hodel loves him. So what can we do? It’s a new world... A new world. Love. Golde…Do you love me?”
(Golde) Do I what?
(Tevye) Do you love me?
(Golde) Do I love you? With our daughters getting married and this trouble in the town You’re upset, you’re worn out Go inside, go lie down! Maybe it’s indigestion
(Tevye) Golde I’m asking you a question... “Do you love me?”
(Golde) You’re a fool
(Tevye) I know...But do you love me?
(Golde) Do I love you? For twenty-five years I’ve washed your clothes Cooked your meals, cleaned your house Given you children, milked the cow After twenty-five years, why talk about love right now?
(Tevye) Golde, The first time I met you Was on our wedding day. I was scared
(Golde) I was shy
(Tevye) I was nervous
(Golde) So was I
(Tevye) But my father and my mother Said we’d learn to love each other And now I’m asking, Golde, Do you love me?
(Golde) I’m your wife!
(Tevye) I know...But do you love me?
(Golde) Do I love him? For twenty-five years I’ve lived with him Fought him, starved with him Twenty-five years my bed is his If that’s not love, what is?
(Tevye) Then you love me?
(Golde) I suppose I do
(Tevye) And I suppose I love you too
(Both) It doesn’t change a thing But even so After twenty-five years, It’s nice to know
Steven Chapman
It’s a lesson that this familiar song from 20 years ago taught us.
“Making your way in the world today takes everything you’ve got
Taking a break from all your worries sure would help a lot
Wouldn’t it be nice to get away?
Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name
And they’re always glad you came
You wanna be where you can see our troubles are all the same
You wanna go where everybody knows your name
You wanna go where people know people are all the same
You wanna go where everybody knows your name
The tragedy of this song is that it took a Boston pub to preach the need for connection in loving community to the church. Out of that Boston bar we learned that people need a place to be vulnerable and authentic, a place they could be themselves with all of their rough edges and blemishes, yet still find support and encouragement.
