A Holy--wood Ending
Sermon
Sermons On The Second Reading
Series I, Cycle A
A couple from Minneapolis decided to go to Florida for a long weekend to thaw out during one particularly icy winter. Because both had jobs, they had difficulty coordinating their travel schedules. It was decided that the husband would fly to Florida on a Thursday, and his wife would follow him the next day. Upon arriving, as planned the husband checked into a hotel. He settled into his room and decided to open his laptop computer and send his wife e--mail back in Minneapolis. However, he accidentally left off one letter in her address, and sent the e--mail without realizing his error.
In Houston, a widow had just returned from her husband's funeral. He was a minister of many years who had been "called home to glory" following a heart attack. The widow checked her e--mail, expecting messages from relatives and friends. Upon reading the first message, she fainted and fell to the floor. The widow's son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor, and saw the computer screen that read:
To: My Loving Wife
From: Your Departed Husband
Subject: I've Arrived!!
I've just arrived and have been checked in. I see that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing you then! Hope your journey is as uneventful as mine was.
P.S. Sure is hot down here!
We all want to be "called home to glory" some day, but the key to our thoughts on "gloryland" is that it will happen in due time. It's like the words from country singer Joe Diffie's song, "Prop Me Up Beside The Jukebox When I'm Gone," in which he beseeches, "Lord, I want to go to heaven, but I don't want to go tonight." There are times we all want an end to our sufferings and our pain, from our loneliness and desperation, but we don't want a permanent end, at least not too quickly.
A couple of years ago actor and director Woody Allen released a film titled A Hollywood Ending. We've heard those words for years now describing everything from marriages to business endeavors. In the old sense of the meaning, "a Hollywood ending" meant "they lived happily ever after." It meant the guy got the girl. It meant the good guys won, and the bad guys were deservedly punished. It meant they saved grandma's house from the evil banker who demanded little Nell's hand in marriage if they couldn't come up with the money. A "Hollywood ending" meant that the doctors were able to come up with a cure for the incurable disease and save the lead actor's life.
That wasn't always true in every movie. Some directors would stray from the predictable ending even in the early years of movies. But in what we call the "golden years of cinema" people went to the movies to forget about their day--to--day problems. People used to go to the local theater to lose themselves in a fantasy world that would either scare their worries away or make them feel good about their own hum--drum lives.
Things have changed. Today, "a Hollywood ending" isn't so predictable. Whether it's on the big screen, or our favorite television shows, the good guys don't always win. The guy doesn't always get the girl. Grandma's house has been torn down and a gambling casino has been built on the property. And even with our high--tech medicine, more people die in Hollywood productions today than in yesteryear. Movies and television programs are more about picking up the pieces and moving on than about living happily ever after. In other words, what we see on the screen tends more to reflect real life than to take us safely away from our own misery.
There was a time when we were somewhat buffered from the suffering of the world. We had our own problems, felt our own pain, and perhaps that of our close friends and neighbors. But we were protected from the disasters and oppression that went on in other parts of the world. That's not to say that was good, especially when innocent millions were led to their deaths in Europe during the 1930s and '40s as well as in other places at other times. But it was safe for us. We were distanced from the suffering and could pretend it didn't exist even if we were somewhat aware of it.
Now we are deluged with images and stories from around the world. Not a day goes by that we don't hear of struggles and violence, of disasters and disease, of people whose lives have been destroyed and loved ones taken away. The more modern and sophisticated we've become, the more that suffering and pain have been brought into our lives on a daily basis.
We don't like to suffer. We don't like to see the suffering of others. We strive to alleviate suffering from the world. So why does Peter tell us in this text to "rejoice insofar as we are sharing Christ's suffering"? Why does he make it sound as though suffering, and specifically the suffering of Christ, is such a good thing? If we read the conclusion of that thirteenth verse we get an answer. It says: "so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed."
So it's not the plot that brings rejoicing. It's not the period of great suffering of Christ, that with which we are to identify, that brings smiles to the faces and joy to the heart. It is the surprise ending. Like the old "Hollywood ending" in which all the major players lived happily ever after, the "holy--wood ending" in which the cross becomes the emblem or our salvation, is a happy ending. It's a glorious ending in which we are glorified because Jesus is glorified. It's an ending that keeps on going and continues adding new characters to the script because it's not really an ending, but the beginning of the sequel.
There's an old Chinese proverb that says: "If you wish to be happy for one hour, get intoxicated. If you wish to be happy for three days, get married. If you wish to be happy for eight days, kill your pig and eat it. If you wish to be happy forever, learn to fish."
We spend our lives looking for the happy ending. But we're still in the midst of the story, so the ending is yet out of reach. Jesus taught his disciples how to fish. It wasn't exactly the kind of fishing that the Chinese proverb was referring to, but it was Jesus' version of fishing. "I will make you fishers of people," Jesus told his disciples. He didn't even tell them that they would be successful, he just said to do it. He didn't say they would live without problems. He didn't say they would enjoy great happiness. In fact, they suffered, and we believe that most of them lost their lives doing just what Jesus had instructed them to do. So why did they endure the suffering of Christ? They followed his script because they believed in the ending.
A gardener took great pride in caring for his lawn. But one year it grew full of dandelions. He tried every method and product on the market to get rid of them, but nothing worked. Exasperated, he wrote to the Department of Agriculture explaining all that he had done. "What shall I try next?" he wrote. The reply came back, "Try getting used to them."
We try to regain our health and youthful vigor rather than accepting that we are growing older and making the best of what we have left. We dream of winning the lottery and never again having to worry about finances, instead of just planning to live within our means and enjoying it. We want God to take away all the suffering and pain that we endure, and we don't want to wait until we live in glory with Christ in eternity. We want it now.
A fortune--teller studied the hand of a young man and said, "You will be poor and very unhappy until you are 37 years old."
The young man responded, "Well, after that, what will happen? Will I be rich and happy?"
The fortune--teller said, "No, you'll still be poor, but you'll be used to it after that."
Peter tells us that we will be exalted "in due time." He describes our time of suffering with Christ as "a little while." Following that "little while" he says that the God of all grace will "restore, support, strengthen, and establish" us.
Are you one of those people who has to skip to the end of a novel shortly after starting it just to see how it ends? Do you rent movies and fast--forward to the end before you've watched the whole movie just to decide if it's worth watching the whole thing? If you're like that, then have I got good news for you! You don't have to read your daily horoscope. You don't have to go to a fortune--teller. You don't even have to go to John Edward and receive messages from people who have already "crossed over." The ending has already been revealed, and it's a glorious ending. Even if the final chapters are filled with suffering and pain, the ending is a "holy--wood ending." You will triumph with Jesus. You will rejoice with the angels. You will live with God in a painless world free of suffering and torment. That's how it's all been written, and the author is an undisputed authority on life.
A man had just had his annual physical exam and was waiting for the doctor's initial report. After a few minutes the doctor came in carrying the man's charts and said: "There's no reason why you can't live a completely normal life ... as long as you don't try to enjoy it."
If we believe the story of Jesus, and the ending that God wrote, then there is no reason why we cannot even rejoice in our sufferings. When we are able to accept illness and injury, hardship and struggle, contempt and injustice, and even the death of those we love, all as a part of our life with Jesus, then and only then can we learn to live in joy and happiness. Because there will always be suffering and pain. We cannot escape it. There will always be those elements of life that will beat down upon us and try to make us forget that Jesus ever lived. There will always be those times of weakness when we will question God's wisdom and his love for us.
But the "holy--wood ending" is still intact. Jesus died, taking the suffering of the world upon his shoulders as he hung on that wooden cross. In three days he had arisen to glory. In just three days he was back on top. And he invites us all to join him ... in the end.
The plot thickens. Sometimes the movie drags on with parts we would rather see edited out. But in the end, what was lost is restored. In the end, the suffering has ended, the pain has vanished, and the weak are made strong. In the end, God has established his kingdom, and, as trite as it may sound, we all will live happily ever after.
In Houston, a widow had just returned from her husband's funeral. He was a minister of many years who had been "called home to glory" following a heart attack. The widow checked her e--mail, expecting messages from relatives and friends. Upon reading the first message, she fainted and fell to the floor. The widow's son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor, and saw the computer screen that read:
To: My Loving Wife
From: Your Departed Husband
Subject: I've Arrived!!
I've just arrived and have been checked in. I see that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing you then! Hope your journey is as uneventful as mine was.
P.S. Sure is hot down here!
We all want to be "called home to glory" some day, but the key to our thoughts on "gloryland" is that it will happen in due time. It's like the words from country singer Joe Diffie's song, "Prop Me Up Beside The Jukebox When I'm Gone," in which he beseeches, "Lord, I want to go to heaven, but I don't want to go tonight." There are times we all want an end to our sufferings and our pain, from our loneliness and desperation, but we don't want a permanent end, at least not too quickly.
A couple of years ago actor and director Woody Allen released a film titled A Hollywood Ending. We've heard those words for years now describing everything from marriages to business endeavors. In the old sense of the meaning, "a Hollywood ending" meant "they lived happily ever after." It meant the guy got the girl. It meant the good guys won, and the bad guys were deservedly punished. It meant they saved grandma's house from the evil banker who demanded little Nell's hand in marriage if they couldn't come up with the money. A "Hollywood ending" meant that the doctors were able to come up with a cure for the incurable disease and save the lead actor's life.
That wasn't always true in every movie. Some directors would stray from the predictable ending even in the early years of movies. But in what we call the "golden years of cinema" people went to the movies to forget about their day--to--day problems. People used to go to the local theater to lose themselves in a fantasy world that would either scare their worries away or make them feel good about their own hum--drum lives.
Things have changed. Today, "a Hollywood ending" isn't so predictable. Whether it's on the big screen, or our favorite television shows, the good guys don't always win. The guy doesn't always get the girl. Grandma's house has been torn down and a gambling casino has been built on the property. And even with our high--tech medicine, more people die in Hollywood productions today than in yesteryear. Movies and television programs are more about picking up the pieces and moving on than about living happily ever after. In other words, what we see on the screen tends more to reflect real life than to take us safely away from our own misery.
There was a time when we were somewhat buffered from the suffering of the world. We had our own problems, felt our own pain, and perhaps that of our close friends and neighbors. But we were protected from the disasters and oppression that went on in other parts of the world. That's not to say that was good, especially when innocent millions were led to their deaths in Europe during the 1930s and '40s as well as in other places at other times. But it was safe for us. We were distanced from the suffering and could pretend it didn't exist even if we were somewhat aware of it.
Now we are deluged with images and stories from around the world. Not a day goes by that we don't hear of struggles and violence, of disasters and disease, of people whose lives have been destroyed and loved ones taken away. The more modern and sophisticated we've become, the more that suffering and pain have been brought into our lives on a daily basis.
We don't like to suffer. We don't like to see the suffering of others. We strive to alleviate suffering from the world. So why does Peter tell us in this text to "rejoice insofar as we are sharing Christ's suffering"? Why does he make it sound as though suffering, and specifically the suffering of Christ, is such a good thing? If we read the conclusion of that thirteenth verse we get an answer. It says: "so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed."
So it's not the plot that brings rejoicing. It's not the period of great suffering of Christ, that with which we are to identify, that brings smiles to the faces and joy to the heart. It is the surprise ending. Like the old "Hollywood ending" in which all the major players lived happily ever after, the "holy--wood ending" in which the cross becomes the emblem or our salvation, is a happy ending. It's a glorious ending in which we are glorified because Jesus is glorified. It's an ending that keeps on going and continues adding new characters to the script because it's not really an ending, but the beginning of the sequel.
There's an old Chinese proverb that says: "If you wish to be happy for one hour, get intoxicated. If you wish to be happy for three days, get married. If you wish to be happy for eight days, kill your pig and eat it. If you wish to be happy forever, learn to fish."
We spend our lives looking for the happy ending. But we're still in the midst of the story, so the ending is yet out of reach. Jesus taught his disciples how to fish. It wasn't exactly the kind of fishing that the Chinese proverb was referring to, but it was Jesus' version of fishing. "I will make you fishers of people," Jesus told his disciples. He didn't even tell them that they would be successful, he just said to do it. He didn't say they would live without problems. He didn't say they would enjoy great happiness. In fact, they suffered, and we believe that most of them lost their lives doing just what Jesus had instructed them to do. So why did they endure the suffering of Christ? They followed his script because they believed in the ending.
A gardener took great pride in caring for his lawn. But one year it grew full of dandelions. He tried every method and product on the market to get rid of them, but nothing worked. Exasperated, he wrote to the Department of Agriculture explaining all that he had done. "What shall I try next?" he wrote. The reply came back, "Try getting used to them."
We try to regain our health and youthful vigor rather than accepting that we are growing older and making the best of what we have left. We dream of winning the lottery and never again having to worry about finances, instead of just planning to live within our means and enjoying it. We want God to take away all the suffering and pain that we endure, and we don't want to wait until we live in glory with Christ in eternity. We want it now.
A fortune--teller studied the hand of a young man and said, "You will be poor and very unhappy until you are 37 years old."
The young man responded, "Well, after that, what will happen? Will I be rich and happy?"
The fortune--teller said, "No, you'll still be poor, but you'll be used to it after that."
Peter tells us that we will be exalted "in due time." He describes our time of suffering with Christ as "a little while." Following that "little while" he says that the God of all grace will "restore, support, strengthen, and establish" us.
Are you one of those people who has to skip to the end of a novel shortly after starting it just to see how it ends? Do you rent movies and fast--forward to the end before you've watched the whole movie just to decide if it's worth watching the whole thing? If you're like that, then have I got good news for you! You don't have to read your daily horoscope. You don't have to go to a fortune--teller. You don't even have to go to John Edward and receive messages from people who have already "crossed over." The ending has already been revealed, and it's a glorious ending. Even if the final chapters are filled with suffering and pain, the ending is a "holy--wood ending." You will triumph with Jesus. You will rejoice with the angels. You will live with God in a painless world free of suffering and torment. That's how it's all been written, and the author is an undisputed authority on life.
A man had just had his annual physical exam and was waiting for the doctor's initial report. After a few minutes the doctor came in carrying the man's charts and said: "There's no reason why you can't live a completely normal life ... as long as you don't try to enjoy it."
If we believe the story of Jesus, and the ending that God wrote, then there is no reason why we cannot even rejoice in our sufferings. When we are able to accept illness and injury, hardship and struggle, contempt and injustice, and even the death of those we love, all as a part of our life with Jesus, then and only then can we learn to live in joy and happiness. Because there will always be suffering and pain. We cannot escape it. There will always be those elements of life that will beat down upon us and try to make us forget that Jesus ever lived. There will always be those times of weakness when we will question God's wisdom and his love for us.
But the "holy--wood ending" is still intact. Jesus died, taking the suffering of the world upon his shoulders as he hung on that wooden cross. In three days he had arisen to glory. In just three days he was back on top. And he invites us all to join him ... in the end.
The plot thickens. Sometimes the movie drags on with parts we would rather see edited out. But in the end, what was lost is restored. In the end, the suffering has ended, the pain has vanished, and the weak are made strong. In the end, God has established his kingdom, and, as trite as it may sound, we all will live happily ever after.
