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4 Pentecost
June 12, 2005 Sermon
by Rev. Peggy Tuttle, Interim Rector
Readings
Six-year old Angie, and her four-year old brother, Joel, were sitting together in church. Joel giggled, sang and talked out loud. Finally, his big sister had had enough. “You’re not supposed to talk out loud in church.” “Why? Who’s going to stop me?” Joel asked. Angie pointed to the back of the church and said, “See those people standing by the doors? They’re hushers.”
We don’t go to many movies, and certainly not as many as we would like. Mostly we watch movies on TV or we rent with the exception of those we like so much we buy. We have our own private library of movies; movies that, usually, for some reason or another, either give me inspiration or one of us just simply enjoys.
Well, the Gospel lesson today reminded me of an old movie; one I saw back in the ‘60s. The Dirty Dozen. Although war movies today are of no interest to me, movies of World War II were once a favorite.
The Dirty Dozen portrayed a special military operation which was supposed to have taken place during the Second Great War.
You may recall some of the stars: Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnin, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, George Kennedy, Trini Lopez, Telly Savalas, Donald Sutherland, and Clint Walker. The premise of the story was that Major John Reisman, played by Lee Marvin, was assigned to go behind enemy lines in an effort to free some American prisoners from Nazi imprisonment. In order to accomplish this mission he needed to recruit some soldiers. But he did the unthinkable. He didn’t recruit the best soldiers in his outfit. For one thing he was told there was about a 10 percent chance that his mission would succeed. The Army didn’t want to take a chance like that with really good soldiers.
So, to recruit for this mission, Major Reisman went to an American prison where bad soldiers were held, men who had messed up in terrible ways and run afoul of the military justice system. There were thieves, murderers, scoundrels who had come up the hard way in life and continued their devious ways in the Army, and thus were thrown in jail.
As the movie unfolds, and the men engage in the mission, we see the wisdom of this officer’s selection of his “dirty dozen.” For one thing, many of them had skills that they had used in their earlier lives, which proved to be effective for the demands of this risky mission. One of them knew how to pick locks. He was helpful at the prison. Another was good with his fists and fists came in handy. They all were good at lying, concealment, and the sneaky tactics of crooks, which were exactly the skills they needed to get the job done.
Maybe the Dirty Dozen appeals to me because it is a story about people whom the world regarded as rather incompetent if not downright worthless. And yet, in the right situation, with the right guidance and encouragement, they became heroes. I guess that’s the appeal for me. From time to time, I have felt unworthy and this story offers encouragement.
With the leadership of Lee Marvin these convicts, thugs of the third degree, got the chance to become war heroes. Don’t get me wrong; these men only became heroes because they were chosen by a higher power to offer freedom to American prisoners.
Today’s Gospel tells about a dozen people who were chosen by Jesus. They were not the “dirty” dozen by any stretch of the imagination, but they were a rather remarkable dozen in their own way.
Jesus isn’t looking for extraordinary people but ordinary people. People who can do ordinary things extraordinarily well. Jesus sees in each of us, not only what we are, but also what he can make us. Jesus chooses these disciples, not only for what they are, but also for what they are capable of becoming under his influence and in his power.
Not one of us can think that we have nothing to offer Jesus, for Jesus can take what the most ordinary person can offer and use it for greatness.
They were the most extraordinary mixture. For instance, there was Matthew, the tax collector. Matthew is regarded as a chiseler, one who took undue advantage of his position and cheated others. He was the very reverse of a patriot, a hero, a lover of his country. And then there was Simon the Cananaean, who Luke identifies as Simon the Zealot.
Josephus describes these Zealots as men who were prepared to face any kind of death for their country and did not shrink to see their loved ones die in the struggle for freedom. They refused to give to any earthly man the name and the title of king. They were prepared to go the length of secret murder and stealthy assassination to seek to rid their country of foreign rule. They were the patriots par excellence among the Jews, the most nationalist of all the nationalists. (The Gospel of Matthew by William Barclay.)
There was Simon Peter who was emotionally unstable and given to fits of temper. Andrew had absolutely no qualities of leadership. The brothers, James and John, placed personal interest above the good of the whole. Thomas demonstrated a questioning attitude that could tend to undermine morale. James the son of Alphaeus and Thaddaeus had radical leanings and leaned toward manic depression. Then there was Judas Iscariot who showed great potential. He met people easily, showed ambition, was a keen businessman, had contacts in high places and was good with money.
The calling of the twelve disciples echoes the naming of the twelve tribes of Israel. But there were others called out by Jesus. There was Lazarus and his two sisters, Mary and Martha. There was Zaccheus, and the woman at the well. There was the blind man made to see and the lame man made to walk. There was plenty of work but few workers. Jesus called out a lot of people but not everyone was willing to labor in the vineyard.
All of that gives me hope. Hope for me and for you. Hope for this misguided world, for the chaos of the church, hope for St. Paul’s Church. Hope for this little boy Michael being brought here this morning by his parents, grandparents and sponsors. Michael is going to be marked forever as Christ’s own and no matter who he is, no matter what he does, he will always belong to the body of Christ.
Those who have gone before us, those who laid the building blocks of Christianity and the cornerstone of this very church surround us this day as we add one more to the family of God. The disciples were simple men with no great background, men from many differing spheres of belief. They were the very foundation stones on which the Church was built. It is on the stuff of common men and women that the Church of Christ is founded, men and women like you and me and this child who will grow in stature and with God’s help, he will grow in faith.
As you know, I am a person of the prayer book and on page 829 there is a prayer “For the Care of Children.” Let us pray.
Almighty God, heavenly Father, you have blessed us with the joy and care of children: Give us calm strength and patient wisdom as we bring them up, that we may teach them to love whatever is just and true and good, following the example of our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.