We continue our summer journey that will take us from Yoga to Crossfit, Baseball to Knitting, Picnics to Movies! We hope to rest in the assurance of God’s dynamic presence while we seek to identify the way in which God’s Grace comes to us. By focusing on Grace all Summer Long we intend to practice “noticing and naming” the ways Grace appears so that we will improve our skills in this area.
This week our worship will be rooted in Psalm 50.1-8,22-23 and Summer Blockbuster movies. We will draw upon images from big summer movies to invite deeper reflection on our own faith journeys. We hope the bold heroics, challenges and action of the summer blockbusters will illumine faith and Christian community differently.
“Psalm 50 challenges its hearers to make a decision. The basis for decision is, like Jesus’ preaching, grounded in the reality of God’s claim on the world. Lest the sermon (Psalm 50 is considered a sermon) sound simply judgmental, we should remember that God’s purpose in judgment is to set right people and things – that is, to establish justice. (from New Interpreter’s Bible vol 4, p882)
“Man of Steel” came out earlier this summer. Superman’s dream of how the world can be sounds a lot like how God intended this world to be, and the way God will one day re-create this world to be. God dreams of a world there will be justice and kindness. Where “All Means All” and we actually live that way. Where the poor are no longer and the rich are rich in mercy. There are other movies that present a similar story.
What is one scene from a big summer movie (either this year or in previous times) that has presented a picture of the “world as it should be”? How might these images hold a story of God’s Grace for you this summer?
0 Comments