Sermon for February 8th
Sermon for February 8th
I recently watched the third movie of the Knives Out series, Wake Up Dead Man. The movies are mystery movies, featuring some very clever writing, excellent acting, and some rather biting satire. For example, the second movie, The Glass Onion, was a send up of the whole technocrat, billionaire persona that we know so well through people like Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Peter Thiel, and others.
The third movie is also a critique on modern cults of personality, set in a religious environment. The story revolves around a young Catholic priest, Father Jud, who is sent to a remote New England parish. The priest that serves this parish, Monsignor Wicks, is conducting himself in a questionable way, driving off guests to the church with extremely aggressive sermons that only seem to resonate with the faithful of the flock, all of whom are there in the town and at the parish for their own, dark reasons. Wicks views the young priest as someone to toy with, until Father Jud decides to try and bring some grace back into the parish. At that point, Wicks and Father Jud have an altercation which nearly comes to blows.
At the annual Good Friday service, Wicks delivers his usual fiery sermon and then steps back into a small side closet to compose himself, letting Father Jud finish the rest of the service, which was the usual practice. It is while Wicks is composing himself in the closet that he is murdered. The mystery begins in earnest as the famous detective, Benoit Blanc, is called to solve the mystery.
I won’t offer any spoilers for the movie, but there were several scenes that were, from a theological level, unexpectedly deep. One such scene comes as Father Jud and the detective are following a lead that could prove extremely useful to the case. Father Jud is intent on solving the case alongside of Blanc, as he is indicted in the murder of his colleague. But when he makes the phone call to pursue the lead, he is unexpectedly confronted with a pastoral emergency. The woman on the other end of the phone was struggling with her relationship with her mother. It is in this moment that Father Jud stops and realizes that in the light of the mystery, the excitement of the case, and the fact that he is named as one of the suspects, he has completely forgotten what his role really is. He is a priest. His faith was what saved him when he himself was going through a crisis, and as a priest, he has wanted nothing more than to share God’s love to everyone he meets.
When confronted with this grieving woman, he realizes here his loyalties really lie, and much to Blanc’s dismay, he retreats to his office and stays on the line with the woman in crisis for as long as she needs to talk, ending their time together with prayer. He remembered his true self. And he tells Blanc that he is done with the investigation. It is not what he wants to be about. Even if he is convicted, he no longer wants to be untrue to his calling or to himself.
As I read the texts about being salt and light and about not hiding oneself from the world, that scene struck me. It is so easy to not live out our calling to be ambassadors of God’s love in this world. Perhaps it is anxiety over being mocked for our beliefs. Maybe there are stresses and pressures that begin to be all consuming in our lives. Maybe there are work pressures, or family issues, or maybe just the pressures and fears that come from living in this world. There are so many reasons to hide ourselves away and not share our light. We may even feel justified in doing so. I need healing time or down time or alone time. There are times where we need to step away and regroup when the pressures of the world become too much. Even Jesus had to do that on occasion. But we cannot stay hidden. We cannot choose to leave our light obscured. The world needs the love that we can share with it. The world needs the grace and mercy that we have come to know through our relationship with the divine.
That was why the scene from the movie was so stirring. Father Jud had every right to continue pursuing the truth. It was, after all, his life on the line. But when the woman called and needed him, he was there. And it wasn’t just life giving for the woman on the other end of the line. It was also life-giving for Father Jud. It reminded him who he was and what he loved. He loved God and he loved sharing God’s life with the world.
It made me think of the times when it was easier to retreat than engage the world. It reminded me of the times where I justified the easier way rather than the harder way, namely God’s way. I justified it by saying I was tired, or busy, or overwhelmed. And perhaps I was, to a point. Perhaps there were times I needed to retreat. But other times, I let the pressures of the world win and I didn’t trust enough. I didn’t let God guide me. I was too overwhelmed and didn’t see that the greater power of God was at work, a power that would have led me out of my fear and given me again the opportunity to share God’s love.
The thing is that when I can get over the anxiety, or exhaustion, or whatever factor is playing havoc with my sense of purpose, I find that life has never been found in retreat. Life has never been found in following my anxieties down the rabbit hole. Life has always been found when love is shared, even if it feels scary or overwhelming. When I engage with another person or group of people, even when it feels like I have nothing to give or share, I find God’s love waiting for me, just as I seek to share God’s love.
Father Jud came back to himself when he shared God’s love with the woman on the phone. He didn’t just share that love. That love was also given back to him and for the rest of the movie, there was a sense that God was with him, even when Blanc finally provided the truth of what happened. God was with him. He was going to share that love, even when his life was on the line. For a movie that had no religious designs, it offered such a powerful vision for what it means to offer our light and to be salt to this world. It isn’t easy, but it is life giving. May we never forget that even as anxiety would weigh us down, God would lift us up, and in that knowledge, we can shine God’s love into the world.
Amen