Sermon Tone Analysis

Disney Films

Disney Films and/or one of its subsidiary tries to release a new film around the season of Christmas.

Many of them have become box office sensations—The Jungle Book, The Muppets Christmas Carol, The Happiest Millionaire which was Walt Disney’s last film, Follow me, Boys, the King Arthur’s legend, the Sword in the Stone, Swiss Family Robinson, the heart breaking film of Old Yeller was released on Christmas Day, the adaptation of the Jules Verne novel, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and others.

This year they have remade that classic film, Mary Poppins.

These and many other films have brought hours of cinematic enjoyment to families to the film going public.

The success of Disney Films and its theme parks has been so phenomenal that we could easily assume that when Walt Disney drew his first animated sketch he was not guaranteed success.

Animated films had never been done before Disney put pen to paper.

He could have made a decent living as a illustrator had he settled for drawing cartoons on paper.

But he saw the potential of projecting on a big screen his little drawings and connecting them to a story.

He saw things differently than traditional film makers.

He became a iconoclast—some who accomplished what the status quo said could not or should not be done.

They do it by seeing things differently.

The business and scientific community has scores of success stories about men who refused to accept the traditional way of doing things.

Their success is a direct result of their willingness to became iconoclasts.

There names are synonomous with innovation and change—Bill Gates and Microsoft Computer, Steve Jobs and Apple and Jeff Bezo and Amazon.

Elizabeth and Mary

This brings us to two unintentional iconoclastics in Scripture.

They were not willing to let the conventional norms of their culture dictate for them how they viewed one another.

Elizabeth was not willing to let the religious community cast a blanket of shame upon Mary.

We read in Luke that after the angel announced that Mary would become pregnant by the Holy Spirit, she made plans to visit her cousin Elizabeth.

Upon her arrival the baby who would later become John the Baptist, leaped in Elizabeth’s womb.

Filled with the Holy Spirit Elizabeth recognized the significance of the child that Mary was carrying and exclaimed:

She even added:

The status quo of the religious community would have required Elizabeth to decline Mary’s visit.

She would have turned her back on her relative.

Even if she would not publicly condemn her for immorality, Elizabeth could have easily turned her back on this single parent but Elizabeth saw things differently than the status quo, she was an iconoclast.

Upon hearing the Elizabeth’s greeting Mary responds:

God wanted to turn the world upside down.

He was preparing to send his Son into the world and he needed willing volunteers.

Elizabeth and Mary did not ask to change the world.

In a list of objections to the Christian faith a critic wrote “God did not ask Mary’s permission.”

The author appeared to be accusing God of rape.

That accusation entirely misses the point of the Incarnation and Annunciation.

God seldom asks our opinion when he chooses someone for a particularly difficult task.

By submitting to God’s will both Elizabeth and Mary demonstrated great strength.

In their own way each woman became an iconoclast.

Upon hearing the Elizabeth’s greeting Mary responds:

Mary has done nothing to deserve God’s attention.

She has not achieved great power in Herod’s court.

She has not achieved fame for her steadfast devotion of praying in the Temple.

She is just an average 14 year old girl living in Nazareth trying to help her family survive Roman occupation.

The miracle she held in her womb was a pure gift.

But by accepting that gift she joins with God breaking barriers, shattering societal roles that subjected women to male domination.

She shows a great deal of strength and insight into the activity of God.

Rather than complain about the burden of her calling, Mary sings with joy.

lk 1:

Even a superficial reading of Scripture reveals how God wants to upset the status quo.

He grows weary of watching the rich get rich, the poor suffer and the powerless oppressed.

Speaking through the mouth of the prophet Isaiah God says that he would

She goes on to describe how God intends to do this:

Mary understands that God is doing something new in the life of Israel.

The arrogant, the proud, the rich, the politically connected will no longer yield power.

God is not trapped by political protocol.

He is not a respector of the privileged.

He will lift up the lowly.

lk 1:50,53

In Mary’s day riches and prosperity were signs of God’s favor.

There is even Scriptural basis for this.

prov

Prov 15:6

Many believe this today.

It is very comforting to believe in the Prosperity Gospel.

America is enjoy a time of great prosperity.

We do not want to consider that our wealth comes from the substandard working conditions in other countries.

That might make us feel guilty.

We might not be able to enjoy our new Christmas gifts that come from China, India, or Vietnam.

(Isn’t that ironic.

The country with whom we fought a bitter war, now supplies us with the clothes we war.)

But God wanted to upend the prosperity mentality that was prevalent in Jewish thought.

God wanted to turn the world upside down.

He was preparing to send his Son into the world and he needed willing volunteers.

Elizabeth and Mary did not ask to change the world.

In a list of objections to the Christian faith a critic wrote “God did not ask Mary’s permission.”

The author appeared to be accusing God of rape.

That accusation entirely misses the point of the Incarnation and Annunciation.

God seldom asks our opinion when he chooses someone for a particularly difficult task.

By submitting to God’s will both Elizabeth and Mary demonstrated great strength.

In their own way each woman became an iconoclast.

The refuse to believe in all the things that their culture was telling them.

God wanted to turn the world upside down.

He was preparing to send his Son into the world and he needed willing volunteers.

Elizabeth and Mary did not ask to change the world.

In a list of objections to the Christian faith a critic wrote “God did not ask Mary’s permission.”

The author appeared to be accusing God of rape.

That accusation entirely misses the point of the Incarnation and Annunciation.

God seldom asks our opinion when he chooses someone for a particularly difficult task.

By submitting to God’s will both Elizabeth and Mary demonstrated great strength.

In their own way each woman became an iconoclast.

Iconoclastic Christians Today

Even a superficial reading of Scripture reveals how God wants to upset the status quo.

He grows weary of watching the rich get rich, the poor suffer and the powerless oppressed.

Speaking through the mouth of the prophet Isaiah God says that he would

Our culture has done everything it can to make Christmas comfortable.

The holiday has become so steeped in tradition that we have a distorted view of the events of the night that Jesus was born.

Did you know that shepherds held the lowest place in Jewish society?

Did you know that the wise men could have come about 2 years after Jesus was actually born?

Did you know that the “inn” was more like a relatives home?

Maybe closer to an AirBnB?

The stable would have been connected to the house almost like another room.

As we consider how to apply Elizabeth’s and Mary’s words to our lives we should reconsider the word iconoclast.