St.
George's Episcopal Church
Roseburg, Oregon Twenty Second Sunday After Pentecost and All Hallows Eve
Proper 26, October 31, 2004 Go To St. George's
Home Page
He entered Jericho
and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief
tax collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account
of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead
and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that
way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus,
hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” So he hurried
down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said,
“He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.” Zacchaeus stood there
and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to
the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four
times as much.” Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this
house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek
out and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:1-10)
From Things That Go Bump In The Night, Good
Lord Deliver Us The Rev. Dr. Bill Stroop, Rector
Marion Crane is in trouble. She
has embezzled a large sum of money from her employer, and is planning a rendezvous
with her cash-strapped lover. Delayed by weather, she stops at a roadside hotel
for the night. Trying to relax and make sense of what she has done, and is
about to do, Marion steps into the
shower. She rinses her hair, letting the warm, soothing water refresh her mind.
Suddenly the shower curtain is pulled back, revealing a grandmotherly figure
holding a knife! The knife slashes down. Marion
struggles with her assailant. A mixture of blood and water flow down the drain,
as life ebbs from Marion’s body.
This classic scene of horror from
the 1960 Alfred Hitchcock movie Psycho is regarded as many as the classic
horror film of our time. By brilliant cinematic editing, we see a knife, blood
(actually chocolate syrup), water, and a woman’s naked body. But only momentarily
is shown the actual attack. The horror of the murder is largely left to the
imagination of the viewer. The power of the movie was so strong that many people
who saw it developed shower phobia – including Janet Leigh, the actress who
played Marion.
The movie was so potent that many
other filmmakers tried to emulate or supercede Psycho’s ability to grab
onto those core fears we all possess. The 1978 movie Halloween, the
Friday the 13thmovies, the Nightmare on Elm Streets,
the Screams films, and two of my favorites, Wait Until Dark and
The Shining, all try to reinterpret the kind of terror that is the experience
of Psycho.
In addition to being the twenty
second Sunday after Pentecost, today is Halloween. The word “Halloween” comes
from the eve of “All Hollows Day” which, in our tradition is called All Saints
Day, and is celebrated on November 1. All Saints is a day when we observe and
honor saints.
The modern secular holiday of
Halloween developed from the Irish Celtic new year’s celebration of Samhain
(pronounced sow-en), and the European Medieval prayer rituals of the vigil of
All Saint’s Day and All Soul’s Day. Primitive Celts believed that the souls
of the dead came back to earth during the last night of the year, and would
try to inhabit living bodies for the following year. Fearful Celts would extinguish
household fires making their dwellings cold and undesirable so that the departed
would go elsewhere. Individuals would dress in ghoulish costumes to frighten
away the spirits of the dead.
It seems that spooks and ghost
stories have been part of the human heart and soul for a very long time. Why
is that? What is it about terror that captivates us? I know my daughter and
I are so captivated by the genre of horror that we can hardly stand waiting
for a new horror film to be released.
I believe that the horror genre
taps into the deep, primordial fears humankind has experienced for millennia.
The psychologist, Carl Jung, described that which is held in common to all of
humanity as the collective unconscious which transcends both culture and time.
The sudden conjunction of our outer reality and the inner reality of the collective
unconscious may be experienced as love at first sight, deja vu, and the
recognition of the meanings of certain myths. Grander examples are the creative
experiences shared by scientists, artists and musicians all over the world,
or the spiritual experiences of mystics of all religions, or the parallels found
in dreams, fantasies, mythologies, fairy tales, and literature.
Jung said dreams about death
represented the unconscious itself and in fact tapped into the collective unconscious.
Jung believed that if we could somehow recapture our mythologies, we would understand
our fears, become comfortable with death, and perhaps even heal mental illnesses.
Before you think that we have
gone too far into the world of psychology here, let me remind you that our own
Christian story is one preoccupied by death, the dead, and the rising of the
dead. Jesus himself speaks many times of his own death, and how through death
he will conquer death. That imagery lies at the very core of the Christian
story. The dualisms of the Christian story – rich-poor, life-death, good-evil
– reflect not only the Greek influence upon the Gospels as they were written,
but probably also tap into the deep fears common to all humankind: The duality
of Good and Evil fighting for supremacy within one person’s body for his soul;
the seemingly finality of death; and the fear of death itself. Good versus
evil and death have long been staples of the horror genre, and have been explored
in their supernatural and scientific implications including demonic possession,
vampirism and lycanthropy, and the reanimation of dead tissue. There is also
the famous biochemical experiment of Dr. Jekyll that chemically transformed
him into that evil other, Mr. Edward Hyde.
It is fear itself that the horror
genre can help us to face. Halloween can help small children to face scary
things and practice how to handle fear in a protected and controlled way. In
the same way, fairy tales can help children face scary things. Learning how
to react to mythic scary things through play helps us all to rehearse and practice
our coping skills long before really scary or horrific things actually happen
in our lives.
Last weekend, my family and I
had an opportunity to watch this in action. While we were having lunch, a little
girl who resembled Shirley Temple was talking rapidly and loudly about the foot
sticking out of the trunk of a car in the parking lot. She took one adult after
another in this large family to see it. Each trip validated her discovery and
fueled her fear: Was there a body in the trunk?
After they had finished lunch,
the whole family got up and headed for the lot. We watched as they gathered
around the trunk of the car.
Grandpa reached down and touched
the foot protruding from the trunk. He beckoned the little girl to do likewise.
“Oh no!” she shook her head. One adult after another touched it, encouraging
the little girl to embrace the scary and overcome her fear. Finally, after
much cajoling, she reached up, hesitated for a moment, but then touched it!
Squealing with delight, she clapped her hands and looked around with pride.
She had done it! And then, the unexpected Hitchcockian moment.
The owner of the car, unseen from
his hiding place within the restaurant, pressed the remote trunk release. The
trunk flew open, revealing who knew not what! Grandpa jumped sideways, father
leapt back, and the little girl veritably flew to her mother. Seeing no body,
everybody laughed – they laughed at their own fear.
When Jesus came to town, Zacchaeus,
rich from pocketing the difference between the taxes owed and what he collected
from the poor, wanted to see Jesus. Probably amused by the sight of this portly,
short, well dressed, rich tax collector perched on a limb of a tree, Jesus asked
to be a guest in his house. Those who saw this exchange began to grumble, because
Jesus wasn’t supposed to associate with people like that. They reacted out
of fear.
“What is he doing?” they cried.
“He is not doing what a man of
God ought to do!”
“He will ruin the movement he’s
started!”
“Who will believe him about the
Kingdom now?”
“We can’t trust him any more!”
Fear. Jesus’ acceptance and blessing
of Zacchaeus was like the hand sticking out of the trunk. Who knew what it
meant, what was hidden behind his actions? Perhaps they feared that because
Jesus went into Zacchaeus’ house that he would abandon them. Maybe they feared
that the whole messianic movement would collapse when news got out that Jesus
had associated with that kind of person.
Fear is a powerful thing. It
can cause us to mistrust; it can paralyze us. It can cause us to shun that
which we don’t understand; it can make us rigid and self righteous. It can
make us blind to the healing and forgiving power of the divine that is all around
us.
Because fear is so powerful, we
need ways to deal with it. And therein lies the value of things like Halloween,
fairy tales, and spooky stories. They allow us to rehearse how we deal with
some of the basic, primordial fears of the collective unconscious. And in the
process of learning how to cope with fear as well as the things we are afraid
of themselves, we make contact with something that is beyond ourselves. If
we are lucky, we can transcend this existence and acknowledge God.
Zacchaeus had every reason to
be afraid of Jesus and the crowd. He was a tax collector after all – one of
the most despised people of the ancient near east. A person who was viewed
as stealing from the poor and giving to the rich and making himself wealthy
in the process. But Zacchaeus did not react fearfully. He climbed a tree and
made a spectacle of himself. He happily welcomed Jesus into his home. He did
not fear the crowd or Jesus’ condemnation of his lifestyle. He acknowledged
his failings by offering restitution to those he may have bilked. Living without
fear, he transcended all expectations and was blessed by Jesus, and was acknowledged
as one of God’s own.
Now, I don’t want you to leave
here thinking that by wearing a mask, carving a pumpkin, and by going trick
or treating that you will secure God’s favor. The message here is that the
loving embrace of the divine is there waiting for all of us. What can make
us feel lost and keep us from acting toward others as beloved children of God
are our fears – some of which may be very deep seated. But, by facing our fears
– perhaps in imaginative and surprising ways – we may come to experience the
welcoming salvation that Zacchaeus received from the Son of Man who came to
seek out and save the lost.
So go out and enjoy this day and
this night of All Hallows Eve! Face those scary primeval fears like death and
tax collectors. For it is through practice that we can overcome our fears,
develop our faith, and open ourselves to the possibility of being overwhelmed
by the grace of God.
The oracle that the prophet Habakkuk saw. O LORD, how long shall
I cry for help, and you will not listen? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will
not save? Why do you make me see wrong-doing and look at trouble? Destruction
and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. So the law becomes
slack and justice never prevails. The wicked surround the righteous-- therefore
judgment comes forth perverted. I will stand at my watchpost, and station myself
on the rampart; I will keep watch to see what he will say to me, and what he
will answer concerning my complaint. Then the LORD answered me and said: Write
the vision; make it plain on tablets, so that a runner may read it. For there
is still a vision for the appointed time; it speaks of the end, and does not
lie. If it seems to tarry, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay.
Look at the proud! Their spirit is not right in them, but the righteous live
by their faith.
Psalm 119:137-144
137 You are righteous, O LORD, and your judgments are right.
138 You have appointed your decrees in righteousness and in all faithfulness.
139 My zeal consumes me because my foes forget your words.
140 Your promise is well tried, and your servant loves it.
141 I am small and despised, yet I do not forget your precepts.
142 Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and your law is the truth.
143 Trouble and anguish have come upon me, but your commandments are my delight.
144 Your decrees are righteous forever; give me understanding that I may live.
2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12
Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians
in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace from God
our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We must always give thanks to God for
you, brothers and sisters, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly,
and the love of everyone of you for one another is increasing. Therefore we
ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your steadfastness and
faith during all your persecutions and the afflictions that you are enduring.
To this end we always pray for you, asking that our God will make you worthy
of his call and will fulfill by his power every good resolve and work of faith,
so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him,
according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Luke 19:1-10
He entered Jericho
and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief
tax collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account
of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead
and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way.
When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry
and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” So he hurried down and
was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, “He has
gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.” Zacchaeus stood there and said
to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and
if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.”
Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he
too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the
lost.”
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