Wadhams United Church of Christ
2569 County Route 10, Wadhams, NY 12993
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Sermon by Steve Smith
March 15, 2009
Last week we commiserated with a hapless ice fisherman whose day on the lake was interrupted when his ATV sank into a slushy hole. His day got worse when his new pickup trick got lodged on the rim of the ice. It officially became a bad day when a friend’s bulldozer got mired in the muck of the wetlands just off shore, and it went from bad to worse when the heavy duty winch tow truck he hired couldn’t budge any of it. It’s a little hard to top a story like that one, isn’t it? So I’m going to have to turn to fantasy and science fiction to help lead us into today’s message.
Friday night I watched yet another remake of the Godzilla saga. I believe the Japanese started the trend when they showed a giant mutant lizard terrorizing their island and creating havoc wherever it went. I can’t be sure, but the writers were probably using the monster as a political commentary on the monstrous United States, who had recently terrorized their island and used nuclear weapons to subdue them. Hollywood is never content to leave well enough alone, so back in the 1990’s they hired Matthew Broderick to play a perceptive and brilliant scientist who tracked the progress of an enormous reptile whose DNA was damaged by nuclear weapons testing. Much to his horror and to the delight of those who have little or no use for New York City, Matthew’s character traced Godzilla to Manhattan, where something horrible had taken up residence in the sewer system.
Despite repeated efforts to destroy the monster, it continued to terrorize the urban dwellers and then slink back into the seamy underworld of the city. While I’m pretty sure that the filmmakers intended this to be a metaphor for the corrupt politicians in New York, I don’t have time to develop that theme today. As the story progresses, Matthew’s character reached the stunning conclusion that Godzilla had come to New York City to fashion a nest, because the beast is ready to lay eggs. He and a team of international experts finally figure out that the unearthly horror has taken over Madison Square Garden to serve as its nesting ground.
As they pan their cameras across the shattered remains of the Garden, cluster after cluster of monstrous eggs come into view. The experts count no fewer than two hundred eggs. While they are preparing to detonate the eggs, they begin to hatch, with 9 foot tall hatchlings terrorizing their team. But using modern technology and a series of thrilling action scenes, our heroes engineer an air strike on the Garden, which erupts into a giant fireball, thereby killing all the beastly little hatchlings and saving humanity from certain destruction. In the meantime, the air force national guard, which as you remember hadn’t been deployed to Iraq yet, had finally managed to bring the monster down by pumping it full of missiles.
Just as our heroes are staggering away from the Garden, though, the ground shakes, and once again Godzilla rises from the ashes to terrorize them for a while more. After another sequence of thrilling action scenes, Godzilla is finally killed, and our weary heroes go off to universal acclaim. The final scene, though, made it hard for me to sleep that night. The cameras panned the ruined city, then hovered over the burned out shell of Madison Square Garden. Swooping into the wrecked arena, they focused on an oblong mass that turned out to be an egg that somehow survived the fiery inferno. After a brief silence, the egg cracks, and out comes another baby Godzilla, ready to create more mayhem. With that, they rolled the credits.
You can see why I found it hard to sleep that night. But right about now, you’re probably asking yourselves, “How is he going to pull a sermon out of this? Where is he going with this?” It might be a bit of a stretch, but the Jewish people of Jesus’ day had come to view the Roman Empire as a monstrous beast. There were thousands of beastly hatchlings terrorizing the countryside in the guise of Roman soldiers and their officers. Much to the horror of the Jews, the beast had come to their holy city, Jerusalem, and fouled their spiritual home by taking over the city and turning it into a nest in order to hatch more horror.
In the minds of every single disciple and every person who supported Jesus secretly or openly, from a distance or from close at hand, Jesus was the incarnation of God’s Messiah, come to clean out Jerusalem from the unholy terror of the beastly Romans. We all know how these monster stories are supposed to end: the heroes are supposed to succeed, no matter how nerdy or unlikely they might appear. That’s the heart of the plot, isn’t it? That unlikely people can overcome incredible odds and become heroes in the process? So in the minds of the supporters of Jesus, their unlikely hero could march right into Jerusalem without a single weapon in hand and still find a way to bring down the beast.
You can understand, then, why his followers might get a little nervous and edgy when Jesus starts to make it sound like they’re going to march into Jerusalem to confront the beast, but he doesn’t expect to survive the ordeal. I’d be a little nervous, too: “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” would be one of the questions on my mind. Yet their devotion to this man inspired them to the heights of courage and sacrifice, as one after the other of them declared their willingness to die on his behalf. Surprisingly, the reluctant and doubting disciple Thomas was one of those courageous ones.
Earlier in John’s gospel, Jesus’ good friend Lazarus had become deathly ill, and after waiting two more days, Jesus finally proposed that they return to the suburban Jerusalem home of Mary and Martha to visit with them and see Lazarus. His pragmatic disciples started to feel nervous and politely wondered if that was a good idea. “Rabbi, a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back there?”
Jesus finally told them in plain language that Lazarus had died, and that was when Thomas spoke up: “We should go too, so that we may die with him.” No one disagreed with him; in fact, they all followed along to see what was going to happen. We have to remember, though, that even though they proposed to die with him, they were still following the plot line in their heads, which is that bad things don’t happen to good people, even if you’re going up against a monster like Godzilla, and especially if you happen to be the Messiah. So in their heads, they’re probably trying to figure out what he’s got up his sleeve to take out a beast and thousands of beastly hatchlings dressed up like Roman soldiers.
When Jesus tells them that he’s only going to be with them a little longer, and that they can’t come with him when he leaves them, they are completely mystified, and understandably so. What he is trying to tell them is so far beyond their thought process that they get stuck on the concrete stuff they can understand. “Where are you going?” Peter wants to know. You’ll notice Peter doesn’t comment on or question anything else Jesus has said. Instead, when Jesus reiterates that Peter can’t come with him now, Peter pursues Jesus. “Why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”
When Jesus contradicts Peter’s bravado by predicting his betrayal, Peter falls silent and Thomas picks up the line of questioning. After a wonderful statement that is often quoted at funerals, Thomas ignores the rich content that has just been given and takes up the question like a stubborn child who refuses to let go of it. “Lord, we don’t even know where you’re going, so how can we possibly know the way there?” If it hadn’t been for the persistent questioning of Peter first and then Thomas, we might never have heard the wonderful words of faith that Jesus laid out for them and for hundreds of generations of believers down through the ages: “I am the way and the truth and the life.”
His answer, of course, didn’t satisfy them, nor could it, since they had no way of conceptualizing or understanding what was about to happen. They were on their way into Jerusalem to fight the ultimate battle of good versus evil. In everyone’s mind, good is ultimately supposed to overcome evil. Godzilla never ate the heroes in the movies; lots of other people were devoured, but never the heroes. They would fight the evil beast with their bare hands if they had to, but none of them thought that Jesus would actually be killed by the monster. That would just be wrong!
(Announcer’s voice:) Having no reference points whatsoever for what Jesus was up to and what he could possibly mean by his cryptic answers to their concrete questions, our intrepid band of disciples and would-be heroes continue on their journey toward Jerusalem and certain doom! On television, this would be the perfect time for a commercial break. But since we don’t do commercials in church, I’m going to have to try to make good on my implied promise that I can pull a sermon out of the fire-breathing mouth of a monster named Godzilla.
There are times in all of our lives when circumstances in our lives loom so large as to seem monstrous in proportion to our limited energy, or our financial resources, or our ability to cope. The same is true of churches and other organizations. Just when we think we’ve managed to solve one problem, we come to the stunning realization that our big problem has laid a mess of eggs, and all those eggs are going to hatch into little problems with the potential to become full-grown nightmares. It sure seems like we’ve seen our share of that here lately, doesn’t it?
While our journey through harrowing episodes may not seem nearly so thrilling and heroic as it does on the movie screen, most of us have a script running through our minds while we’re dodging pieces of our lives falling out of the sky. The script is at the heart of the human drama unfolding in our lives and in the lives of the people all around us: the good people are supposed to survive the calamities and traumas of life, and emerge triumphant on the other side of the ordeals they face. Most of us identify with the unlikely hero, no matter how nerdy or inept they might appear outwardly.
Our expectation is that when we face the monstrous beasts in our lives, God will somehow find a way to bring the Godzillas down before we get eaten alive. That’s the script running through our minds. When our problems become increasingly resistant to solutions, or even begin to seem like they have no solutions at all, we start to get edgy, just like the citizens of New York City who watched in horror while Godzilla survived yet another round of deadly missile strikes. When our lives are in crisis, or we can’t find any meaning or purpose in what it happening to us or to our loved ones, we want answers that we can understand.
In the meantime, God is finding ways to give us rich resources designed to help sustain us along life’s way, but like the disciples, we’re too preoccupied with the latest crisis to be able to fully hear or comprehend what God is telling us. One of those messages is simply profound: “Love one another. That is how the love of God will become real in your midst.” Another one reminds us that the answers we hear to our painful questions may never satisfy us, since the questions come from our minds, while the pain comes from our hearts. “I am the way and the truth and the life,” said Jesus.
Order of Service
March 15, 2009
Welcome, Announcements, Joys & Concerns
A Prayer for Peace
Opening Prayer
Leader: God, the Rock of our salvation, remind us again that your kingdom has come near.
People: Call us anew to be your disciples, as you called your disciples long ago.
Leader: You show steadfast love. You promise to bless to the thousandth generation those who walk in your ways.
People: Forgive our sins and restore us to new life.
Leader: Be our refuge and strength as we face the destructive forces in our lives.
People: Grant us the patience to wait for you in silence, that we may rest secure in your holy love and peace.
Leader: Let us rejoice in God’s mercy as we offer our prayers and praises.
ALL: Reveal yourself to us this day—in challenging scriptures, in meaningful prayers, in repentance and forgiveness, in love and grace, in being open to each other in love.
Hymn Family #337 Praise To The Lord Responsive Prayer
Leader: Gentle Shepherd, some days we are as firm in our faith as the disciples at their surest hour, and sometimes we are like lost sheep.
People: Even when we are uncertain where we are going as individuals or as a church, we believe you are ahead of us, leading the way.
Leader: Be patient with us, God. Sometimes we panic easily. So calm us. Gently show us the way.
People: Help us hunger for the things that will truly nourish our spirits as well as our bodies.
Leader: Help us to be patient with each other. Remind us we are part of your flock, with many ideas and many needs.
People: Gentle Shepherd, we need you to be our Shepherd. You know each of us by name and know our individual needs. You know us and love us as a congregation.
Leader: In your ways we find life. Show us the truth that sets us free to serve you. Teach us to recognize your voice so that we may follow you and love one another as you have taught us.
Pastoral Prayer, Lord’s Prayer
Hymn Family #258 When I Survey
Psalm 19, Exodus 18:13-24, John 13:31-14:7
Sermon Godzilla vs. Galilee
Offering, Doxology, Dedication
Hymn Family # 497 Like A River Glorious
Benediction (Based on Psalm 5 & 25)
Leader: To you, O Lord, we lift up our souls; in you we trust for you are our God.
People: Remember, O Lord, your great mercy and love, for they are from old.
Leader: Guard our lives and protect us, for we take refuge in you.
People: Let the light of your face shine upon on us, O Lord.
Leader: May the Lord fill your hearts with joy. May you work and sleep in peace, for only in the Lord will you dwell in peace and safety.
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