September 29, 2013
Good, Bad, Right, Wrong
- Luke 16:19-31
- Dr. Teri Thomas
How far would you go to protect someone you love?
The movie Prisoners is the story of every parent's worst nightmare.
Anna, the six-year-old daughter, of Keller and Grace Dover,
goes missing on Thanksgiving, together with her young friend, Joy,
and as minutes turn to hours, panic sets in.
The only lead is a dilapidated RV that had earlier been parked on their street.
Heading the investigation, Detective Loki arrests its driver, Alex Jones,
but a lack of evidence forces his release.
As the police pursue multiple leads and pressure mounts,
knowing his child's life is at stake
the frantic father decides he has no choice
but to take matters into his own hands.
But just how far will this desperate father go to protect his family?
Written by Warner Bros. Pictures
In this movie Keller (the dad) does a lot of praying.
He prays before he hunts, and when he’s scared.
But he also prays before he crosses moral boundaries that he knows he shouldn’t.
And that plays into the most challenging area of the movie,
(and maybe of life)
where people do things they know are wrong because they think they’re right.
They honestly believe their ends are justifiable.
The movie is about a desperate father out to save his daughter.
Watching the movie, we may feel Keller’s actions are horribly unjustified —
but at the same time we also feel that they may be what true morality demands.
Either scenario could turn out to be true, and each one is just as scary.
The film isn’t pretty, and it isn’t uplifting,
but it asks us how we respond and what we do when life is going sideways.
“Prisoners” is a challenge:
you have to decide who’s right and who’s wrong at every turn,
and, when it’s over, ambiguity, wins.
BY DAVID DENBY The New Yorker Sept 23, 2013
Isn’t that life?
The line between right and wrong is sometimes very thin.
And is seems to always be moving.
Is it wrong to hurt another person?
What if hurting one gives you information to save someone else?
What if it saves five others?
One hundred others?
When does something good become evil?
When does something evil become good?
The letter to Timothy asks that question about money and possessions.
Scripture never says money is evil.
It is not a bad thing.
We know all the good money can accomplish.
It built this church building.
It pays the bills.
It feeds hungry children.
It helps us worship and serve God.
All of that is worthy and good and commendable.
But scripture warns us that the love of money
is the root of all kinds of evil.
Our desires for more can lead us into temptation
allow us to wander away from the faith.
What is good can become evil.
That seems to be the case with the rich man
in Jesus’ parable this morning.
He dressed in purple and fine linen
he feasted sumptuously every day.
Food is good. Clothing is good. Satisfaction is good.
But outside his door lay a poor man named Lazarus.
A man who would eat the scraps from the rich man’s table
but he was starving, alone, sick, and dying.
Lazarus did not see him or at least he did not register what he saw
he did not see with his heart
And then they died.
In hell, the Rich Man notices Lazarus comforted in the bosom of Abraham,
and he says to Abraham: send Lazarus to bring me a little water.
When Abraham won’t agree to the Rich Man’s request, he makes another one.
He asks Abraham to send Lazarus to his brothers, to warn them.
And now we can see the sin of the rich man.
It isn’t being rich.
His sin is being blind.
Lazarus is a man just like him, but he can’t see it.
He doesn’t talk to Lazarus, because he doesn’t see Lazarus as a person in his own right.
All he can see is how Lazarus could be used to benefit himself.
His wealth prevents him from seeing or relating to Lazarus as a fellow child of God.
Even in hell, all the rich man can think about is himself.
It wouldn’t matter if the Rich Man had fed Lazarus when they were both living, if he had fed him in this frame of mind. The sin is the failure ever to think, “He is a man just like me.”
I think Jesus is trying to tell his audience, and us, about how important it is to see.
Oh, sure the rich man probably saw Lazarus out of the corner of his eye,
probably didn't talk to him, although he seems to recognize him and remember his name – but surely, if he really saw Lazarus lying there, wouldn't his heart have been moved to do something, even to share those table scraps?
The rich man’s wealth numbed him into believing he was sufficient unto himself.
He had no need of others.
The rich man has made his way to a state of total self-absorption,
and there, all by himself, all he finds is agony and torment.
At that point, he was lost.
In the movie, Prisoners Keller is numbed by his fear
and he came to believe he had no need of others.
He made his way to a state of total self-absorption,
and I won’t spoil the movie to tell you what he finds and if he too is lost.
Maybe right and wrong have as much to do with what we see
as with how we actually behave in a situation.
How do we see ourselves?
Are we victims?
Are we entitled?
Are we somehow better than?
How do we see the others?
Are they at fault?
Do they deserve to be punished?
Are they children of God?
Are they fallible human beings just like me?
How we see will determine what we decide to do.
Not just with money
or in a kidnapping
but in our marriage
in times of war
with the annoying neighbor
with the lonely parent
The line between right and wrong can be blurry
Jesus does not just identify behaviors and say- this is right and this is wrong
Jesus talks about seeing
about walking in the light
Evil can convincingly disguise itself
as good, or as necessary, or as helpful.
We need to shine some light on it, in order to see clearly.
We need to shine God’s light on it.
Your Word O Lord is a lamp unto my feet.
Jesus is the light of the world.
The light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it.
The Lord is my light and my salvation.
Amen.