I have always been a movie buff. In another life, acting, directing, and theatre could have been a direction my life turned towards. However, the lot was cast and I am another distant admirer. One of my favorite films, and my favorite Tim Burton film, is Big Fish. The teetering between fact and fiction, truth and elaboration, fantasy and reality is captivating as well as moving. As far as original storytelling goes, this film has it all (hot take, I know).
Towards the end of the movie, after Edward Bloom has finally passed away and his son William reflects on his dads life he says, “That was my father's final joke, I guess. A man tells his stories so many times that he becomes the stories. They live on after him. And in that way he becomes immortal.” That is true for all of us. We are all part of a story. Every day is a new scene. In film, every scene has a purpose. Every scene was chosen to be part of the final cut for a reason.
Dr. Henry Cloud mentions a client of his that was unfulfilled in her career. He asks her what she wants to be and she says a lawyer. He asks why she isn’t one and she says it’s because it would take a long time to finish school and she feels like it is too late. Dr. Cloud asks if she plans on dying in the next three years. His client looks confused and responds no. Dr. Cloud then tells her that in three years she is going to be somewhere doing something, so why not be a lawyer.
His point was that the passing of time is not a choice. Three years might seem too long, but three years is coming. He says, “She could not see that her choosing to avoid school was not an isolated decision. It was only one scene, but the movie was going to keep playing regardless, and that scene would dictate the way it turned out” (75).
In Big Fish, immortality is equated to the stories we tell about ourselves. Scripture talks of immortality based on the story about God. We are part of His story. C.S Lewis in his book, The Seeing Eye writes, “Looking for God — or Heaven — by exploring space is like reading or seeing all Shakespeare’s plays in the hope you will find Shakespeare as one of the characters.”
How do we strike this balance? This could easily become a conversation of free will, election, and eternity. However, I do not believe this is a debatable topic in the sense of our identity. As followers of Jesus we are called to be faithful to living in the present and in the day-to-day. One scene at a time. Simultaneously, we are moving towards a conclusion of this story. Where there will be new heavens and a new earth. This is the end of the movie and we are living in scenes of that movie. Jesus did this perfectly.
The message of Christ is one of a clashing of heaven and earth. God lived among us, and showed us how to be human while also being, “citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives” (Phil. 3:20). It is a tension, yes, but it is exactly where we are supposed to be.
Street and Alleys
In Luke’s gospel, we are told of an instance where Jesus is invited to the house of a “prominent Pharisee.” We learn that he was invited there because the pharisees wanted to carefully watch him. Most likely to trap him in some way, as we are told they tried to do quite often. Jesus notices how the guests chose “places of honor” at the table. He tells a parable of attending a wedding feast and how you should not choose the highest place, but the lowest. He ends this parable saying, “For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted” (11).
Upon hearing Jesus’ warnings of pride and traditionalism, one man chimed in saying, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God” (15). A wonderful and beautiful promise that the prophets and psalmists spoke of, yet Jesus explains that how you respond to the invitation dictates your seat.
Jesus goes into another parable of three people who were invited to a great banquet, yet had excuses to not attend. So the master of the banquet sent his servant out to the streets and alleys, then the roads and country lanes, “so that my house may be full” (23). Why did this man’s remark of the blessed one eating in the Kingdom of God elicit Jesus to tell this parable? Because before the end of the story, before the feast, we have a part to play.
Before modern clocks or calendars, if you planned an event you would set a date long before the actual day. However, the exact time would be announced the day of, so if you agreed to attend you would free up the entire day and wait to be notified that everything was prepared.
So in Jesus’ parable, when the master sent his servants to let people know everything is now ready it would have been a great insult to not attend. Similar to RSVP’ing for a wedding and then on the day of not attending. That is why after three of the guests made their excuses, the owner of the house became angry.
The first and second excuses deal with industry and vocation. “I have just bought a field… I have just bought five yoke of oxen” (18,19). One of the greatest smoke screens for people that miss a Kingdom life is preoccupation. This kind of preoccupation is an easy trap to fall in through our work and the material possessions offered. Charles Spurgeon once said, “Excuses are made. They are fashioned for convenience and are clung to in desperation. Hope doesn’t begin until excuses end.”
The third excuse is a little harder to swallow. “I just got married, so I can’t come” (20). Spurgeon again notes, “In saying, ‘I cannot come,’ the man intended, as it were, to dismiss the matter. He wished to be understood as having made up his mind, and he was no longer open to argument.” This is very personal. Is marriage important to God? Absolutely. But if we put anything ahead of Him, even our marriage, then we miss to see the whole story. We miss what God has prepared for us and is constantly preparing.
This angers the master, and so he asks his servants to go to the streets, alleys, roads and country lanes. To those who could not pass up an invitation as grand as this one.
Now there is some controversy surrounding verse 23. Many texts might use the word ‘compel’ which in the Greek could mean “to force or threat.” This unfortunately led Christians throughout history to torture and even kill trying to get people to convert. This word ‘compel’ can also be translated, “by other means”. This lines up more with how God worked with Israel all throughout history up until Jesus. Where God asked for the atonement of sin through sacrifice of animals and the use of a temple, God used other means to atone for sin through the sacrifice of himself. Thus tearing the veil in two.
So in the parable (and for us) the people come to the banquet not because they are threatened, but because they are loved.
Living From/For
So how does this parable line up with playing the movie? Jesus was not only speaking about those who create excuses through worldly means. He was literally speaking to those who are stuck in a religious cycle of zealous fundamentalism. That God’s favor must be earned not given.
I haven’t been married for very long, but I have witnessed and participated in loving Jenn out of an overflow of love and loving Jenn for my own personal gain. Every morning, I try to wake up before Jenn and make her coffee and a smoothie. Almost every time, Jenn thanks me and gives me a kiss. Sometimes she doesn’t. If I only did this for the thanks and recognition then my behavior and desire to serve her would fluctuate and ultimately end in frustration and resentment.
However, if I serve her from love and not for love, then my behavior and desire to love and serve her will not be wavered. This is the message of the gospel. We love and serve Christ not because we can earn His love and favor, but because He already loves us and serves us out of an outpour of that love.
So our identity, and therefore our actions, reflect how we perceive God and His love for us. So our service to others directly reflects how we respond to that love. In the parable, we are invited to a great banquet that the Lord prepared for us. Those who respond to that invitation because they feel loved by the master of the house are the ones He wants there. Those who are more interested in their own endeavors, “not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet’” (24).
So everyday is an opportunity to participate in this story God has made us to be apart of. Christ has shown us and invited us to play the movie with love and grace. Seeing the present moment as an opportunity to become more and more like Jesus in whatever pursuit we are on or whatever relationships we have.
We can do this because it is His story. He has put each and every one of us on this earth with a purpose. We are going to be somewhere doing something down the road because time does not stop for us and the Lord’s will will be done. So we live each scene from a place of love and gratitude, not for love and gratitude.
Living Forward
In his second letter, Paul writes to the Thessalonians saying, “We hear that some among you are idle and disruptive. They are not busy; they are busybodies. Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the food they eat. And as for you, brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good” (3:11-13). Paul is warning about Christians whose idleness was a source of sin, not just because of what they weren’t doing with their time, but also what they were doing. The word “busybodies” is translated into a Greek expression of “busy people who do no business”.
Scholars believe these people were thinking that Jesus was coming soon so there was no work to be done. Paul is warning that this is not the case. He points to himself and the other disciples as examples (verse 9). Jesus is coming, but there is work to be done and a responsibility as his followers.
We are not in a story like Big Fish, where fact and fiction bleed together. We live in God’s reality and He will soon remove the veil completely revealing what He’s been doing all along. Out of love for Him we are called to walk faithfully in His love, day in and day out. Not becoming idle like some of the Thessalonians.
When we become idle it is easy to become like the three men in Jesus’ parable. Who became preoccupied with their industry, profession, and personal lives to see the amazing invitation and life God has offered us. A life of humility and love, where each day is a new scene in God’s amazing story.
My challenge for us is this.
Write down some short term goals. What can you do every day to help move yourself toward those goals? Start small, and then move into bigger, more long term goals and dreams. The key however, is letting God light the path. Allow Him to direct you, because as we talked about two weeks ago, there are gifts He’s given us that He wants us to dig up.
He is given us the part of a lifetime. A part in His Kingdom. We are not to become idle, simply waiting for Jesus to come back. We are called to play our part in His Kingdom.
References:
2 Thes. 3:9-13; Luk. 14:15-24; Phil. 3:20.
Burton. T. (2003). Big Fish. Colombia Pictures.
Cloud, Henry. (2004). ‘9 Things You Simply Must Do: To Succeed In Love And Life’. MJF Books. (75).
Lewis, C.S. (1963). The Seeing Eye. Ballentine Books.
Spurgeon, C. https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/guzik_david/StudyGuide2017-Luk/Luk-14.cfm