Luke 13: 10-17 (NRSV)
There’s
been a question about who would replace the Billy Grahams in our society? I
recently discovered part of the answer to that question.
Some
of you may wonder how we get our Scripture readings each week. In preparation
for preaching I usually read the lectionary texts ahead. Our passage for today
starts off a series of readings that go through the end of October. There is a
thread of continuity in these readings that sounds like a Reality TV series, only
with a real supernatural presence that influences events.
In
each passage there is at least one character, sometimes more than one, who is
confronted with a situation that demands that they change their attitude and/or
their circumstances. It begins to resemble a soap opera but it really shows us
the reality of Jesus and that people haven’t changed much over the last 2000
years.
A
crippled woman is healed at an inappropriate time; a wedding guest has to move;
a man starts building a tower and then realizes he doesn’t have enough money to
finish it; a desperate, unsavory sales manager is confronted with praise for
his financial creativity. There more: A “little person” up in a tree is asked
to host Jesus for a meal and learns
about self-esteem; a rich man is forced to change his attitude about the way he
lived his life.
There
is a judge, confronted with a widow’s persistence, who has to make a decision;
a healed leper is confronted with the ingratitude of his peers at the feet of
Jesus. A shepherd is confronted with his
unwillingness to let a single sheep be lost; and then a woman needs to find a
coin that was lost. Sounds like the pitch for a TV show?
Listen to
today’s passage from Luke 13: 10-17:
Now
he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And just then there appeared a woman
with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and
was quite unable to stand up straight.
When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Woman, you are
set free from your ailment.” When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight
and began praising God.
But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the Sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, “There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the Sabbath day.”
But the Lord answered him and said, “You hypocrites! Does not
each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead
it away to give it water?
And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound
for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the Sabbath day?” When he said this, all his opponents were
put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things
that he was doing.
Have you ever wondered why we like “Reality TV?”
Why are there so many TV shows showing the stories of families,
real people in artificial environments like Survivor or Big Brother, people who
make a living buying (and cheating others if possible) storage lockers or
antiques, and many other scenarios? You probably have your favorites.
There are five general types of Reality TV shows: documentaries;
competitive game shows; hidden cameras; makeover shows; and social experiments
(like survivor or Big Brother). (Just as there as different types of parables,
interactions, conversations, and actions in the encounters of Jesus.)
The roots of Reality TV can be found in shows like Candid
Camera, Truth or Consequences, To Tell the Truth, Adam 12, Emergency, and
Dragnet, and so on.
But why do we like these shows? Is it because we are nosy? Is it because this is just a higher form of gossip? Is it because it’s entertaining? Do we identify with the people out of sympathy or the new concept of “synthetic friendship that comes out of electronic devices?”
Or are we just that bored? Or so desperately in need of
entertainment?
I think sometimes there is an even more sinister reason: simply
put, watching these people screw up their lives makes us feel better about our
own and the decisions we have made. This was true in Jesus’ day as well. But
there is a more dangerous element as well.
We can passively watch these shows, laugh, interact emotionally
with them, cry with them, but we never have to leave our couch to do it. To
some people a reality TV character may be more real than actual people they
live and work with.
Back to Bible reality: Seeing Jesus deal with the rigid rules
and expectations of the Jewish culture is much like watching a reality TV show.
The people we encounter are like those people we meet on the Desperate
Housewives, the Kardashians, Honey Boo Boo, Jon and Kate plus 8, Mountain Men, the
Deadliest Catch, and the 100 or so others we could mention. But with one
difference.
Jesus is the tie that brings them all together. His teachings,
sacrifice, and grace extends to all. In a culture that celebrates multiple
truth and realities, Jesus and His Heavenly Father remain the one unchanging
factor in every story.
That’s the point behind this story of the woman who is granted
healing and the strength to overcome the impact evil has had on her life. Evil
claims our lives in the bad decisions we make or the courses of action we
refuse to take.
Jesus tells her and the others around her that to get out of a
rut, you have to stop doing those things that keep you from jumping out of the
rut.
Jesus touched her and she stood straight up and began to praise
God.When you stand straight you see straight, and when you praise God your
heart is lifted as well.The woman began to see the world differently.
She began to see that we humans build barriers by our
interpretations of God’s rules. Isn’t that why reality TV is so interesting? We
see how others are living their lives marching to a different drum.
Reality TV shows show us the sins of humanity in full screen
color with replays and syndicated rebroadcast. My trouble with reality TV is
that some people get so caught up in the shows that it becomes the “reality” of
their lives. They think they know the people on the shows and relate on a
personal level to them. It becomes another way to escape the real world.
And people learn to interact with others and what to
believe through these shows.
For the first time in American history, whatever is
happening in religion and society is being driven by the media instead of teachings
of the family, churches, and schools. We already see the danger of a TV culture.
“TV” reality becomes real in the mind of the viewers,
but no morality, no judgment, no right or wrong applies. And people want to be
like the Kardashians, Honey Boo Boo, etc. And they expect to relate to each other
the same way.
But the reality of the Bible and Jesus’ messages presents us a
consistent moral story that frequently contrasts good values versus good TV.
Duck Dynasty has caught on because of its higher calling and
sheer differences in the usual messages of reality TV. I am reminded of the
uniqueness of Jesus messages to the Jews as well.
Duck Dynasty is mostly a restaged version of actual events that
portray the true character and actions of the Robertson family of Monroe,
Louisiana.
They may be rednecks, they may like guns and killing things, and
their work ethics (as portrayed on the show) are different from most people,
they may eat strange things like squirrels, ground hogs, and frogs, but they do
live by a code of Christian ethics that uphold marriage and the family. And
they are a delight to watch.
But there are hidden facts the world hasn’t caught onto yet: All
four of the Robertson men are ordained preachers of their church and each show
ends with a prayer and an uplifting message related to family and Christian values.
The shows are fun to watch, the messages uplift, there is little
or no bad language, and sexuality is handled biblically. Phil Robertson has
recently even spoken out against our national abortion culture.
I would like to think that their story, like the reality TV
stories of the Bible, are pleasing to God for the message and examples they
give us, who are starved for God’s word. This family is not perfect but you can
always see what they value.
Isn’t it interesting that when the Roman Empire was falling
apart, the people were kept reasonably happy with meaningless festivals and Circuses.
Now we have “Reality” television as diversion while the government and
politicians are out of control.
Despite the anti-Christian culture of Hollywood a show like Duck Dynasty is setting records for viewership. God is getting his message out, just like Jesus did in a culture so determined to kill him and His message.
I wonder how long the culture will tolerate Duck Dynasty? When
will the atheists and secularists begin the steps to ask for the termination of
this show and the squashing of their message? They’ve already been asked to
stop praying at the end of each show.
Phil Robertson is using his celebrity to book speeches and talks
that center around his faith and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Many people are
hearing God’s word because of Duck Dynasty.
Jesus’ birth, life, death, and resurrection is the ultimate
Reality Story pilot. Telling it makes me, “Happy, happy, happy!” Amen.
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