Tag Movies

Don’t Let the Stink Stop You – Blessed are the Meek #5

Todd R Leave a comment

Here’s a review of the series on meekness so far.  The first two posts contrasted two characters from the movie The Matrix, Agent Smith and Neo, to Jesus.  Agent Smith was the “Malevolent Incarnation,” who used and enforced rules to keep people in their place.  Smith can’t stand the stink of humanity and just wants to be free of it.  Neo, the hero of the Matrix series, is the “Ambivalent Incarnation” who wants to free mankind from rules, but otherwise wants to let them be as they are.  However, under Neo’s no-rules philosophy of “everyone should do what they want,” there is no foundation from which to object to anything someone else does, including brutal oppression.  Any objection is also an objection to the same philosophy Neo claims to hold, and “no city or house divided against itself will stand.”[1]

Jesus, contrasted to these, is the “Benevolent Incarnation.”  Jesus is more aware of the problems that make Agent Smith repulsed by us and that make him want to control us, but He also does not leave us alone with no way to overcome our problems.  He rules us for our good, and because we cannot meet His perfect standard, He lived it in our place, then died to cover the cost of our failure.  He wants to fix our stink, not because He hates us as Agent Smith does, but because He loves us in spite of our stink.  He refuses to allow us to stink forever, as Neo would.  He is benevolent, not malevolent or ambivalent.

Meekness is the third step in the Beatitudes, an intentionally sequential series of statements that describe what’s involved in following God, like gears in a machine: “First, being poor in spirit means that we have emptied ourselves of all illusions that our plans are better than God’s.  Second, mourning the state of ourselves and our world means we are emotionally engaged.  That we care.  In the third Beatitude, being meek is where we begin to engage our will, submitting it to God as our benevolent Lord.”

He wants us to also be benevolent incarnations, however we often don’t want to engage the third gear of meekness, where “the rubber meets the road” so to speak.  But if we don’t embrace it “the first two Beatitudes alone can leave us in a place where we’re a mess and the world is a terrible place and there’s nothing we can do about any of it.  It can be a place of depression and despair.”

Martha almost found herself stuck in this place when Jesus returned to Bethany after the death of Lazarus, her brother.  Jesus found the family mourning, then: “Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone.’ Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, ‘Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.”  (John 11:39).  Jesus intended to raise Lazarus from the dead, but for Martha the stink was all she could think of.  Patently, Jesus encouraged her, the stone covering the entrance to the tomb was moved, and Lazarus walked out of the grave alive!

Don’t Let the Stink Stop You
Does the stench of sin keep us from being meek?  Do we, like Agent Smith, just want people to behave so we can go about our way?  Or does our obedience come first?  Jesus wants us to live as He lived, but we only can if we accept His righteousness and become invested in it at all levels of our being.  If we are truly poor in spirit and mourn our sin, what’s stopping us?

God won’t tell us to move the stone from Lazarus’ grave – that was Martha’s task. It also was not Jesus’ task.  We don’t do what Jesus would do, but what He would have us do.  He could have moved the stone Himself, but He wanted Martha to participate in His work, but to do that she had to be willing to be uncomfortable.

We all are often in Martha’s place, struggling with what Jesus wants us to do.  He asks us to do things that don’t make sense to us, that don’t make sense to the world, and sometimes it stinks (sometimes literally).  Jesus wants to bring His people to life, as He did with Lazarus, but there may be a stone He wants you to move, and it will only move if you have faith in Him stronger than the stink involved.

Meekness is the Cross
Meekness means carrying the cross the Father assigns to us.  For Jesus it was taking on all the sin of the world, not just by His death on a literal cross, but also by proactively taking on the consequences of it for the benefit of others.  We stink but He did not leave us alone.  For us, carrying the cross involves taking on some of the stink of the world, stepping into the suffering of others and offering the life that only Jesus can give.  What an amazing contrast this is to what’s so common today: pointing out sin everywhere and demanding those “other sinners” pay the price, or demanding that government solve the problem somehow, or withdrawing from problems that seem too big to do anything about.

Is there a stinky situation you’re aware of, but avoiding?  Being meek toward Jesus means we’re on board with His plan of salvation and willing to do our part, whatever that is.  Sometimes all that’s needed to bring someone life is moving a stone and enduring the odor.  While the smell was enough for Martha to hesitate, to Jesus it was part of the cost of living and dying for us.  He was willing to bear it, and if we meekly move the stone, Jesus will do the rest.

[1] Matthew 12:25

The Miracle of the Toothpicks

Todd R 2 Comments

In 1989, Rain Man, a movie starring Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman, won the Oscar for Best Picture and Hoffman won for Best Actor in a Leading Role, playing Raymond, an autistic-savant.  Long before autism was widely recognized, Raymond showed that those with autism have amazing talents, personalities, and human dignity just like anyone else.  In the movie, Raymond wins the affection of his selfish, arrogant brother Charlie, played by Cruise, who was initially only interested in Raymond because of his inheritance.

In one of the movie’s more well-known scenes, Raymond performs what in another context might be considered a miracle.  You can watch the 1 ½ minute clip here or read my summary below it.

In the clip, a waitress drops most of a box of toothpicks on the floor and in just a couple of seconds, Raymond counts that 246 of them scattered on the floor (he also counts three groups of 82).  At this point of the movie, Charlie still sees Raymond as someone he has to put up while he chases down his inheritance.  The waitress says the box had 250 toothpicks, so Charlie says Raymond guessed “pretty close” because he just wants to leave.  But when the waitress says, “there’s 4 left in the box”, Charlie realizes something amazing has just happened.  It wasn’t a guess.

It’s easy to be skeptical of miracles, or to choose to ignore them, but some of the Bible’s miracles aren’t much different than Raymond counting toothpicks at super-human speed.  We can’t explain why some people count faster than others, or run faster than others, or have photographic memories while others don’t, yet if we call something a “miracle,” many people will demand an explanation.  Other very abnormal things we just take for granted.

One miracle is recorded in Matthew 21:18-19, which says: “In the morning, as [Jesus] was returning to the city, he became hungry.  And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, ‘May no fruit ever come from you again!’ And the fig tree withered at once.”  This tree was eventually going to wither anyway, so all Jesus did was change the speed of a natural process.  True, Raymond was special because of his own speed, and Jesus controlled the speed of something other than himself, but still part of what makes it a miracle is the speed.

If the speed of a natural process, like counting or the growth of plants, can be variable and manipulated, why not also the direction of the process?  In Mark’s gospel, the word “immediately” appears in at least 5 references to healing miracles[1].  The word “immediately” means the speed was part of the miracle.  Jesus not only healed a paralytic in Mark chapter 2, but the paralytic “immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all,”[2] without months or years of physical rehabilitation therapy.  From everyday experience, we know that different people recover from injury at different rates, yet why do we demand an explanation when its immediate?  If we don’t know what process took place to make this man a paralytic, why is it hard to believe that process could go backwards, and quickly?  It’s partly a miracle of degree, not of kind.

Of course, we shouldn’t believe every miracle: some are mere hoaxes, and some signs are done in opposition to God.  But also, we should not be too quick to dismiss the possibility of miracles we didn’t expect or can’t explain.  And while Rain Man does not claim to be based on a true story[3], the Bible does.  And Jesus, the one who could control the speed and direction of what we consider “natural” processes, claimed to be the God who put those processes to work in the first place.

“As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.” – Ecclesiastes 11:5

[1] See Mark 1:42, 2:12, 5:29, 5:42, and 10:52
[2] Mark 2:12
[3] The movie was based on a novel, but Raymond’s abilities were modeled on a real person named Kim Peek, who you can read more about at this link.  https://allthatsinteresting.com/kim-peek-real-rain-man

The Meaning of the Bible in Sign Language

Todd R 1 Comment

As a hearing child of deaf parents myself, I was thrilled in 2022 to see the movie CODA win best picture, deaf actor Troy Kotsur win best supporting actor, and Siân Heder win for best adapted screenplay.  CODA stands for Children of Deaf Adults and the story centers around Ruby Rossi, a hearing teenage girl who is an amazing singer but is the only hearing member of her family.  There are good lessons in the movie about overcoming differences and obstacles through some compassion and creativity.

It was a great movie but be aware: “Mr. Kotsur used the versatility of sign language to enhance Frank’s dialogue, which is sometimes salty enough to push the limits on the movie’s PG-13 rating.”[1]  There’s one scene in particular where Frank Rossi embarrasses his daughter Ruby in front of a boy with some improvised, erotic sign language.  Versatility has negatives but also positives…

Multiple words for love in Greek (eros, agape, etc.) conceal layers of meaning when translated to English.  After watching CODA, I was reminded of an example where the expressiveness of sign language also adds layers of meaning beyond spoken English. (maybe spoken English is just a bad language?)  Not all sign language is the same – there are many dialects – but the sign for Bible I use is actually two signs: “Jesus” followed by “book.”  Every time I sign what I would just speak as “Bible,” there’s a reminder built right in that the Bible is a book about Jesus.  From start to finish, the Bible is a record of why He needed to come, what He was like when He did, and what His followers should believe, know, and do.  Jesus Christ is described right in the sign for Bible!

But there’s still another layer.  In the book of 1 Corinthians, the apostle Paul defends his ministry saying that his message needs to focus on “Christ crucified”[2], not on performing miracles to those who want signs and impressing with fancy speech those who love wisdom.  To sign “Jesus”, I touch the middle finger of my right hand to the palm of my left hand, then the middle finger of my left to the palm of my right.  What does that signify?  It’s an expressive reminder of the crucifixion of Jesus, and the nails that were barbarically driven into his hands.  Thomas, one of the 12 main disciples of Jesus, said after the first Easter that he would not believe Jesus had risen from the dead “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side.”  Eight days later, Jesus presented Himself to Thomas and said “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”  To which Thomas replied: “My Lord and my God!”  (John 20:24-29).  I don’t know if this was intended by the person who created the sign for Jesus, but it may be a liturgy recalling this encounter, reminding us that Jesus was crucified, yet lives!

So, whenever you think of the Bible, think of it in sign language where every single time you sign it, there is a reminder that the Bible is the book about Christ crucified.  After Thomas declared who Jesus was, Jesus responded: “Have you believed because you have seen me?  Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”  Every time I sign “Bible,” it testifies to those who have not seen Jesus of what He has done for them.

One Last Thing
By the way, to sign “book” you place your hands together flat, palms facing each other, in front of you, then open them as if your hands were the front and back of a book.

[1] Jurgensen, John. “Troy Kotsur of ‘CODA’ Wins Best Supporting Actor Oscar.” The Wall Street Journal, 27 March 2022.
[2] 1 Corinthians 1:23

Stay on Target

Todd R 2 Comments

Every Christian needs some “Gold Five’s” in their life.  Who is Gold Five?  He’s the guy known for saying “stay on target” repeatedly in Star Wars.  If you’re a fan, you know this line, but for those who don’t, here is some background:

In Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, released in 1977, the climax of the story is a space battle between the good rebel forces and the evil Empire.  The Empire built a moon-sized battle station capable of destroying entire planets called the Death Star, which was getting into position to destroy the rebel base.  Fortunately, some rebel spies stole plans for the Death Star and located one fatal weakness: an exhaust port that led to the main reactor, but could only be approached by a long trench in the surface of the Death Star.  After other pilots failed, the hero, Luke Skywalker, was getting into position to fly his X-wing starfighter down the trench.  He’s under constant fire from cannons and enemy fighters and distracted by the intense battle going on everywhere above him.  But in this battle only one thing really mattered: attacking that exhaust port.

Enter Gold Five.  We don’t know Gold Five’s name, but as Luke was flying down the trench and having trouble focusing, Gold Five radios to Luke several times “stay on target!”  Luke refocuses[1] on his mission and succeeds in firing torpedoes down the port and destroying the Death Star.  Just in time, of course.

Every Christian needs to hear from people like Gold Five – people who keep us on target – often.

Luke was distracted by enemy cannons and Tie Fighters, and our enemy seeks to distract us in many, many ways.  There’s a massive spiritual and physical battle constantly raging all around us.  Much of our culture is designed to draw us to every “new” thing.  These are constant messages telling us to pay attention to things we shouldn’t.  To put our politics or other philosophies above our obedience to our Maker.  To fight battles that aren’t ours and that keep us from our own goals.

Temptation to stray from Christ’s specific mission for us is everywhere, and the desire to not give Him our best with everything He’s given us can be strong.  When these distractions bombard us, we need to hear “stay on target.”  Not once and probably not twice, but over and over again.  When the world is screaming loudly in our eyes and ears, we need to hear Gold Five speaking into our headset.  We need someone to encourage us to stay on the path God has laid out for us.

As Jesus is quoted in Matthew 7:13-14 –

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.  For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”

There are many voices that lead to the wide path of destruction, but who are your Gold Fives?  How can we all be better Gold Fives?  We all need more of them.

Stay on target!

[1] With some help from Obi-Wan as well.

Sound of Hope: Movie Thoughts

Todd R 2 Comments

Tagged as “Christian Propaganda” on IMDB.com, Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot is a powerful movie based on the true story of a small black church in East Texas where 22 families adopted 77 of the most difficult children in the local foster care system.  If this is propaganda, I wish there was more like it.

Donna Martin is one of 18 children but has only 2 children of her own and hears God speaking to her, telling her to share the love her mother had with more children.  She begins exploring how to adopt children in the foster care system.  Her husband, Reverend WC Martin, reluctantly agrees after considering their limited resources and the fact that they already had one special needs child.  However, WC eventually preaches to the small congregation of his church that Jesus calls His people to sacrifice themselves for the needs of others, and quotes James 1:27 – “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” – to show that orphans are often the neediest among us.

WC gives a clear spiritual message, but the movie doesn’t delude us into thinking God’s call for us is easy, if we decide to follow it.  For me, the best part of the story is that it doesn’t shy away from the terrible experiences of these foster children, who have often suffered beyond what many of us can imagine.  It also doesn’t shy away from the difficulty of bringing these children into a Christian home and the struggles to convince them that they are truly loved, both by their adoptive parents and by God.  Donna, as the story’s narrator as well as a main character, says that we only really understand the depths of God’s love for us and His power when we are stretched by faith to our breaking point.  There are many temptations for them to give up along the way.

The movie doesn’t stop at its own story.  It challenges everyone to do something, to not just look away from the pain of children in the foster system.  While not everyone can, or will, adopt a child, those who do adopt have many needs that other Christians can help meet.  Those needs may be physical and financial, or they may just be emotional and spiritual support through relationship and prayer.

The movie, from Angel Studios, is still in theaters and I highly recommend you see it while you can!  It may inspire and challenge you to listen for God’s call for your life.

“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”