(A sermon for Luke 21:25-31 Presented at Christ Christ, Bordentown, NJ, Nov. 30-Dec. 1, 2024)

For the past several years now, I have had the pleasure of working in different ministries in this church, whether that was serving at the altar, or through our adult education sessions, or preaching to this congregation. I’ve worked closely with Father Matt, listening to him, learning from him, and thankfully finding out along the way that his advice and opinions make sense, and his sermons are inspirational.

Each Sunday’s sermons brought us closer to understanding the Gospel and about Jesus. And we would learn things about Father Matt’s life, like one of his favorite movies is “Roadhouse” or his music tastes include Motorhead and AC/DC.

And seriously, these three things are absolutely fine examples of modern culture that I couldn’t agree with more, and thus certainly got me to raise my head up attentively. And these are just a few examples of how this would happen.

But all that came into question a couple of months ago, when our rector openly claimed in a sermon how much he detested the movie … the Wizard of Oz.

I remember it like it was yesterday. I was sitting right there and I completely spaced out after his bold confession, so I have no idea what he said after that, or why this cultural icon of cinema was on his abomination list. But it didn’t matter what he said. My head went down and my mind was a-flood with how wrong he was.

Granted, this is a movie that glorifies witchcraft as something good, and the Lollipop Guild song is probably the most annoying 25 seconds in the history of America cinema. But this is a movie rich in the human condition and dynamic.

The four main characters represent some inherent truths about ourselves. We either don’t think we’re smart enough,

or that we don’t love enough,

or that we don’t have the courage that besets us,

or have the ability to get home.

But as the hit song from the 1970’s stated, “Oz never did give nothing to the Tinman that he didn’t, that he didn’t already have.” This was also true of the Scarecrow, the Lion, and Dorothy.

So, despite a wicked witch, an army of flying monkeys, angry apple trees, narcotic poppy fields, meeting Oz’s big scary green head _ these characters stuck together through the “distress among nations”, and their own fainting from fear and foreboding, only to find out that when they got Oz’s attention, the song was correct. They already had what they were searching for.

And as I wrote this sermon, I wondered, do brains, hearts, courage, and wanting to go home cover everything about the human condition in this story? What about faith? Does the story need a character who thinks they lack faith?

At times they lacked faith. But not enough to keep themselves from venturing to the Emerald City. Even though Glenda knew Oz was not who he wanted everyone to think he was, Glenda knew enough about Oz to know he was the one who could help Dorothy.

Glenda had faith in Oz and gave Dorothy faith, and in turn, Dorothy spread her faith. And she spread her faith in a land that was ruled by an onerous and wicked leader.

So faith was not their problem. They were concerned with their lack of other attributes. Faith seemed inherent in them.

AND It’s that inherent faith that Jesus points to when he says to look to the blooming of a fig tree as a sign to us that Summer is near. What Jesus doesn’t say is that the fig tree knows that it’s time to bloom. It knows it instinctively.

The fig tree doesn’t need an Oz to tell it that it’s Summer, and that it has what it takes to bloom….The tree raises itself and points itself to the sun and does not worry about what it lacks.

So to you _ I encourage you to hear Jesus’ words _”stand up and raise your heads”.

Raise your heads in faith.

Raise your heads despite your flaws, real or imagined.

Raise your head despite your bad day.

Raise your head despite the weather outside.

Raise your head knowing your faith is already within you _ already within everyone _ and even when you feel shaken in your faith.

Raise your heads when you don’t agree with your leaders, or your preacher, or your rector.

Raising your head is inherent in each of you. So, when it comes to that time of redemption when you ‘see the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory _ remember your faith, remember the faith that you’ve had all your life _ and let that instinctive faith raise your head to meet Jesus.

I’ve made my case as to why The Wizard of Oz should not be a detested movie. In truth _ I couldn’t care less that Father Matt does not like The Wizard of Oz. It just goes to show that we don’t have to always agree. And when we don’t agree we can poke fun at it.

We don’t have to take our differences while we live in this world so seriously. When Jesus comes, He’s not going to care about our disagreements with each other over earthly matters.

He cares that we find ways to bridge our differences, and not let those differences erode our connections, beliefs, and faith in each other, so we are ready for our redemption when the Kingdom of God finally does arrive.

As you all know instinctively, it may be December today. But you also know that Summer is already near.

Amen.

---

And for that hit song from the 1970’s, here you go …