Sunday 3 April 2022
Passiontide
Sung Eucharist
Revd Nicholas Mercer
It was a great pleasure last Christmas to have all the family back together under one roof – for a few days at least
We had some lovely family time together which often included watching a film together in the evening
To overcome the problem of whose choice of film should prevail, we decided to let everyone choose a film on different nights
And the spread of different films gave us a wonderful cross section of our differing tastes and interests
All the films were powerful in their own different ways
But one film in particular called “Don’t Look up” made a lasting impression
I expect that many of you may have seen the film already but, if you have not, I could not recommend it more highly
It is a 2021 American Science fiction movie written and produced by Adam McKay with a wonderful cast of glittering stars
Without wanting to give too much away, the film tells the story of two astronomers who try and warn humanity about an approaching comet
A comet so large that it will destroy human civilisation
But although the film may be an allegory for climate change it could be an allegory for any situation where truth is being proclaimed
For despite the incontrovertible fact that the world is going to end, people just don’t want to hear the message
Even when the scientists spell out the truth on live TV, people do anything to avoid listening
The film very cleverly displays ways in which we deflect attention
From political obfuscation, commercialisation trivia and, above all, attacking the messenger
Hence the title “Don’t look up”
Today marks the beginning of Passiontide
It is a two week period which marks the final journey of our Lord to his death on Good Friday
The term, perhaps, is confusing as we normally associate Palm Sunday with the start of Passiontide
But that is wrong
The liturgical colours also give mixed messages.
Today, the Church is in purple for the fifth Sunday of Lent but Purple gives way to Red
Red is also the colour of blood –
The colour being a stark reminder of the story at the heart of this season
/and the fate which befalls our Lord in a fortnight’s time
Passiontide also stands out for me because in this first week we remember Dietrich Bonhoeffer –
Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran Pastor who found himself in confrontation with the political authorities in Nazi Germany
In 1939 he was invited to flee to the United States to avoid an almost inevitable confrontation
He duly did so but realised that he had made a mistake
He said:
Christians in Germany will have to face the terrible alternative of either willing the defeat of their nation in order that Christian civilisation may survive or willing the victory of their nation and thereby destroying civilization”
He could see the impending disaster staring him the face and could have chosen to divert his gaze
However, he chose to face up to the reality – he chose to “look up”
On his return, he confronted the Nazi regime and was inevitably arrested
He then suffered a form of execution every bit as brutal and bitter as that of our Lord
He was stripped naked and strangled by hanging on the 9th April 1945.
However, Bonhoeffer was just one, among many others
This year I have been watching the rise of the Nazi’s on BBC2 and the terrifying way that the Nazi’s both rose to power and consolidated it
And whilst watching the series, I was taken by another very moving story of a student called Sophie Scholl
She was a German student who was active within a non-violent resistance movement called the White Rose
She soon saw through the lies of the Nazi regime and began distributing anti-war leaflets at the University of Munich
She was caught and executed in 1943 – like Bonhoeffer, executed for daring to “look up”
Her final words were “God, my refuge into eternity.”
That was the truth above all else
Today at the beginning of Passiontide, we glimpse something of the film at the time of the Lord
Jesus, if you like, faces the camera and says to us all “If I tell you the truth, why do you not believe me?”
When Jesus sets out that truth to us all but the public don’t want to hear the truth
And menacingly we hear at the end of the reading that “they picked up stones to throw at him”
They wanted to stone him to death
This is by no means a new phenomenon – Jesus spends almost his entire ministry seeking to avoid being trapped by his political and religious opponents
And escapes death more than once
But the fact that we don’t want to face the truth/then and now/ says something about the human condition
And our lack of courage and our lack of faith
Before his death, Bonhoeffer wrote a book called “The cost of Christian discipleship” where he stated
“the ultimate question for a responsible man to ask is not how he is to extricate himself heroically from [his difficulties], but how the coming generation shall continue to live.”
This fortnight now in front of us reminds us not only of Christ’s witness but our duty to confront injustices in the world and the possible price that may bring to us
Christian discipleship is more than just about going to Church- it is more than generous giving – it is about confronting injustice at the same time
And confronting injustice often comes at a price
What is that price?
The clue is in the colour – the cost is potentially our own blood
In the name etc