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Genesis 1:1-2:4a
Psalm 8
2 Corinthians 13:11-13
Matthew 28:16-20
The Collect of the Day
The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:16-20)
Trinity Sunday, Trinity Church
The Rev. Dr. Bill Stroop, Rector
It was a summer night in 1977. I climbed into my then-still-new-to-me 1968 Alfa Romeo and headed toward the corner of Geary and Palm Streets in San Francisco. The show didn’t start for about two more hours, but I didn’t care. The line around the Coronet Theatre was about seven or eight blocks long, wrapping nearly twice around the theatre building and its surrounds.
This was the event of the year. Many thought it was the event of the decade. Nobody minded being in this line that slowly snaked its way toward the door. In fact it was a festive occasion; people who had seen the show before were excitedly comparing notes, and whetting the appetites of the as yet uninitiated.
There were rumors that more episodes were in production. After all, if there weren’t why would this one be labeled “Episode IV?” Others chatted about the incredible special effects. Others sought in vain to describe their emotions at a cosmic situation where good was so clearly good and bad was so clearly evil.
As I neared the doors, that unmistakable smell of fresh theatre popcorn filled the streets. The people in the line next to me enviously smelled what I would soon be tasting; they would have to wait another four blocks to arrive at the spot here I stood.
Once inside the doors, it was pure pandemonium. The theatre was one of the last grand seventy millimeter single screen movie houses originally built by United Artists. It was adorned with gilded walls and impressive red velour draperies. Oklahoma! premiered there on February 17, 1956, and My Fair Lady on October 30, 1964. Through the elegant lobby, people rushed to find a seat in the colossal 1200 seat auditorium.
As the lights dimmed, the audience settled into a reverential silence reminiscent of the quiet that follows, “Let Us Pray,” when we bow our heads together in this place. And then it started.
With a powerful blast of trumpets, the title “Star Wars” was propelled onto the screen followed by the subtitle, “Episode IV, A New Hope.” Reminiscent of the old Republic Studios serials of the 1930’s and 40’s like Spy Smasher and The Masked Marvel, we read the plot line about a band of rebels fighting the Galactic Empire. And then the rebel space cruiser came dashing through space toward a small planetoid in the distance. And then came the low ominous hum of something bigger. As the bigger craft pursued the smaller rebel ship, it came over our heads, becoming larger and larger, as its sound became louder and more menacing. Following capture and ingestion by the larger pursuing craft, a fire fight ensued. And into the smoke and haze stepped the penultimate bad guy, Darth Vader.
And so it began, the most popular movie serial of all time. Over the next generation, the remaining five episodes of Lucas’ story would be released, the last being Revenge of the Sith, in May 2005.
Lucas’ creation is a powerful story. No matter whether you are a Star Wars devotee and have your very own light saber, or whether you have never seen any of the series, you have been impacted by it through the media, advertising, and how its popularity influenced the development of other venues of entertainment.
Thirty years ago, sociologist Robert Bellah, proposed that the moral and religious center of American culture was not Christianity, but rather was what he called “civil religion.”[1] Civil religion is a kind of spirituality that combines elements of Judeo-Christian traditions with pragmatism, rationalism, Jeffersonian democracy, patriotism and faith in the efficacy of science.[2]Star Wars fans find the combination of science fiction and spirituality very appealing. Star Wars typifies what all religion is about; namely the apparent struggle between good and evil and how a particular individual, and an entire people, can triumph.
The United States today is religiously a very diverse place; the resurgence of fundamentalism, the growth of Islam, and the popularity of Buddhism and New Age Spiritualities are just a few of the trends finding voice in our culture. But the Star Wars phenomenon suggests that despite this diversity, there is a certain moral and religious center to popular culture. It looks a lot like Bellah’s civil religion. George Lucas draws heavily upon Biblical imagery in the Star Wars series, and an in depth interview with Total Film magazine, described his work in Christian Trinitarian terms.[3]
The bearded and robed Christ-like figure of Qui-Gon Jinn who sacrifices his own life in Episode I is an example. His enemy was the red skinned and horned Darth Maul who was a caricature of the Devil. To make the Biblical parallel complete, their first confrontation took place in the desert. In addition to Christian themes, Star Wars showed us a Zen like substitution of the power of meditation for the power of prayer, a very New Age trust in the value of intuition and feeling, and a distinctly American reliance upon technology as an agent of liberation/salvation. This kind of syncretism has great appeal to people of all ages.
In a culture that is as diverse as ours, formal religious organizations have trouble giving expression to the common beliefs that form the core of the wider culture. In the Anglo-catholic branches of Christianity, we are wedded to ancient traditions, creeds, and practices, which seem largely irrelevant to many people – particularly the young. How are we in the Church – and Trinity in particular – to connect with the wider culture? How do we show people who think us irrelevant at best or imperious at worst that the beings of the Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – are at work in our lives and in our world?
In a few days, traditional religious traditions will experience another media event sure to capture the imagination of many with its ever so tenuous, tangential connection to the Biblical tradition. Harrison Ford, who played the part of Han Solo in three of the Star Wars series, will return to the screen after a nineteen year hiatus in his other famous role as Indiana Jones in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Indiana will go on a quest for the fabled quartz human-sized heads that purportedly come from ancient civilizations. Such carved skulls do exist; some of them are on exhibit in the British Museum. And I am sure that because of this, the film will spark months of talk about the mystical power they sold, their psychic energy and so on.
How does main stream Christianity deal with that? We remember that we care called to be disciples of Christ, and follow in the footsteps of the first twelve who gathered on a mountain in Galilee and heard Jesus tell them that in his name and with his authority they were to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Trinity.
And what did those disciples do? Some of them did what George Lucas did. They wrote stories that used cultural motifs and analogies easily understood by the people. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John talked of kingdoms, shepherds, and ruling classes of knights, who in their day were called Pharisees and Sadducees. They talked about how one man stood up against the evil Roman Empire and against the abuses of the religious hierarchy. They spoke about how the miraculous spread of the Gospel was made possible by the unseen force of the Holy Spirit. In other words, through the Gospel story itself, they spread the wonderful experience of God in Christ.
Beginning as a sect of Judaism, Christianity defined itself and spread despite periods internal struggle and outside persecution. And within 300 years it became the official religion of the Roman Empire. And at the root of it all lays the Gospel story of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Since then, communities of people have gathered together in the name of Jesus to celebrate the Story and retell it to their children. Our Church began with such a group who first met in the mid 1800’s. The first confirmations were administered by Bishop Thompson in 1900 as a visible sign of the Great Commission given by Jesus. A year later, Trinity Mission was officially organized and the first wood frame church was erected. In 1902, Trinity Mission was admitted into the Diocese. The corner stone of our current building was laid on January 12, 1912, and all of the 400,000 bricks of the current church were laid by a single parishioner, Mr. Percy Oliver. The doors were opened on December 19 1912, and the building consecrated on November 23, 1919. Trinity achieved parish status on June 11, 1922.
Many of your ancestors were involved in this process of celebrating the Gospel Story, the founding this church, and in providing a facility and a spiritual home for us to celebrate that Story and share the sacred meal. And all of us are committed to perpetuating the Story for future generations.
What are we modern disciples called to do? We are called to give voice to The Story, and share our faith. We need to be bold enough to go into our community and advertise who we are and offer it to a spiritually hungry culture.
The Story we have is not Star Wars or Indiana Jones. And it shouldn’t be, because what we have here in this space is tangible reality, not fiction. We are a community of believers who claim as our mission to be “an open and diverse Christian family dedicated to serving God and all creation by fostering spiritual growth through worship, prayer, education, service, stewardship, and celebration.” To fulfill that mission, we need to figure out ways to connect with and feed the civil religion culture around us. And one way to do that is to be proud of what we are and who we are, and the Church we are together. We don’t have to have all the answers, but we need to be willing to share The Story and walk with one other along the way. For it is by our faith, our faith in action, and our willingness to listen and love one another that people will come to hear and understand The Story, and to be transformed by it.
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In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. And God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.And God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. God made the two great lights-- the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night-- and the stars. God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.” So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm, and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day. And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation. These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.
Psalm 8 Domine, Dominus noster
1 O LORD our Governor, *
how exalted is your Name in all the world!
2 Out of the mouths of infants and children *
your majesty is praised above the heavens.
3 You have set up a stronghold against your adversaries, *
to quell the enemy and the avenger.
4 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, *
the moon and the stars you have set in their courses,
5 What is man that you should be mindful of him? *
the son of man that you should seek him out?
6 You have made him but little lower than the angels; *
you adorn him with glory and honor;
7 You give him mastery over the works of your hands; *
you put all things under his feet:
8 All sheep and oxen, *
even the wild beasts of the field,
9 The birds of the air, the fish of the sea, *
and whatsoever walks in the paths of the sea.
10 O LORD our Governor, *
how exalted is your Name in all the world!
Finally, brothers and sisters, farewell. Put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.
The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Almighty and everlasting God, you have given to us your servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of your divine Majesty to worship the Unity: Keep us steadfast in this faith and worship, and bring us at last to see you in your one and eternal glory, O Father; who with the Son and the Holy Spirit live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
[1] From an anonymous article appearing at About.com. http://christianity.about.com/od/themovies/a/starwars.htm. Downloaded 20 May 2005. This article served as inspiration for this sermon.
[2] Robert N. Bellah. Civil Religion in America. Dædalus, Journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 96(1): 1-21, 1967.
[3] http://www.supershadow.com/starwars/history.html and http://www.millenniumfalcon.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=8008#155123. Accessed 15 May 2008.
The Mission of Trinity Episcopal Church is to be an open and diverse Christian family dedicated to serving God and all creation by fostering spiritual growth through worship, prayer, education, service, stewardship, and celebration. |
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Copyright © 2008, William G. Stroop - All Rights Reserved.
15 May 2008
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