God on Film: Maleficent – Real Evil
Sycamore Creek Church
June 1 & 2, 2014
Tom Arthur
Peace friends!
Today we’re beginning a new series called God on Film. During the summer we’ll be looking at some of the summer’s biggest blockbusters and exploring the themes those movies raise from a biblical perspective. Today we’re kicking the series off with a nice light topic, evil.
There are three kinds of evil that we find in the world. The first kind is supernatural evil. This is the kind of evil that a movie like Maleficent brings to mind. Supernatural evil from a biblical perspective would include demons and the chief demon, Satan. Then there’s what is often called natural evil. This would include things like natural disasters. Consider Hurricane Katrina or the tornado that recently hurt nine people in North Dakota. The third kind of evil, and perhaps most disturbing, is moral evil. This kind of evil would include war like the Ukraine civil war going on right now or the girls kidnapped in Nigeria or the shooting by Elliot Roger at University of California, Santa Barbara that killed six or even more close to home the shooting at Frandor a couple of weeks ago. It’s not hard to look around the world and see all kinds of evil.
A book that has been helpful to me preparing this sermon is N.T. Wright’s Evil and the Justice of God. If you want to explore this issue further, pick up Wright’s book and read it for yourself.
The Predictable Argument
When it comes to these three kinds of evil—supernatural, natural, and moral—there is a very predictable argument that springs up for the Christian. It goes something like this:
If God is all powerful and all loving, why did God create a world that allowed evil? We all have heard this argument and most of us probably know the predictable response to it. Perhaps one of the most succient and clearly articulated responses to this argument comes from C.S. Lewis:
God created things which had free will. That means creatures which can go wrong or right. Some people think they can imagine a creature which was free but had no possibility of going wrong, but I can’t. If a thing is free to be good it’s also free to be bad. And free will is what has made evil possible. Why, then, did God give them free will? Because free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having. A world of automata -of creatures that worked like machines- would hardly be worth creating. The happiness which God designs for His higher creatures is the happiness of being freely, voluntarily united to Him and to each other in an ecstasy of love and delight compared with which the most rapturous love between a man and a woman on this earth is mere milk and water. And for that they’ve got to be free.
Of course God knew what would happen if they used their freedom the wrong way: apparently, He thought it worth the risk. (…) If God thinks this state of war in the universe a price worth paying for free will -that is, for making a real world in which creatures can do real good or harm and something of real importance can happen, instead of a toy world which only moves when He pulls the strings- then we may take it it is worth paying.
~C.S. Lewis, The Case for Christianity
The Unpredictable Argument
So that’s the predictable argument and while there is more to be said about it, that’s not really where I want to spend our time today. I want to wrestle with the unpredictable argument. The unpredictable argument goes something like this: What is God doing about evil?
The answer to this question is not so predictable, but there are two things that God is doing about evil:
- God judges evil;
- God promises to overcome evil.
Let’s go back to the very beginning of the story and see where evil enters in. Right at the beginning of the Bible in the book of Genesis, which means beginning, evil enters the story. God creates Adam and Eve and a garden with one rule to follow: don’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A snake shows up and tempts Adam and Eve to eat the fruit. They do, and their eyes are immediately opened to what good and evil are because they have just participated with evil. Of course we want to know the answer to all kinds of question chief of which is, why was there a snake, how did he get there, and what is he doing talking? But the Bible doesn’t seem very interested in these questions. The Bible assumes that evil exists and doesn’t try to explain why. Rather the Bible tells us what God does about this evil. He judges it. Here’s how God judges the evil that has been done in his creation.
The Curse: Genesis 3:14-20 NLT
Then the Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this, you are cursed
more than all animals, domestic and wild.
You will crawl on your belly,
groveling in the dust as long as you live.
And I will cause hostility between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring.
He will strike your head,
and you will strike his heel.”
Then he said to the woman,
“I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy,
and in pain you will give birth.
And you will desire to control your husband,
but he will rule over you.”
And to the man he said,
“Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree
whose fruit I commanded you not to eat,
the ground is cursed because of you.
All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it.
It will grow thorns and thistles for you,
though you will eat of its grains.
By the sweat of your brow
will you have food to eat
until you return to the ground
from which you were made.
For you were made from dust,
and to dust you will return.”
God judges the evil that has happened. He holds it up to the standard of good and finds it lacking. So he pronounces a judgment, a curse, upon the evil. This continues throughout the entire Bible all the way to the end of the Bible in the book of Revelation. We see in Revelation the story coming full circle. Jesus returns to judge the evil that has taken over the world.
The Second-Coming of Jesus: Revelation 19:11-16 NLT
Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named Faithful and True, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war. His eyes were like flames of fire, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on him that no one understood except himself. He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God. The armies of heaven, dressed in the finest of pure white linen, followed him on white horses. From his mouth came a sharp sword to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will release the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty, like juice flowing from a winepress. On his robe at his thigh was written this title: King of all kings and Lord of all lords.
Jesus comes in a “robe dipped in blood.” This is a reference to his death by crucifixion.
One of the key claims of the Christian story is that Jesus’ death and resurrection is the ultimate victory over evil. I don’t want to go into this a great deal right now because in August we’re going to do a whole four weeks on the question: why did Jesus die? Rather, what we see in this story is that Jesus is the King of all kings and Lord of all lords, and thus, he rightfully pronounces judgment on evil. The story continues…
The Final Judgment: Revelation 20:11-15 NLT
And I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide. I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead. And all were judged according to their deeds. Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death. And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.
Jesus sits on this throne and judges all who come before him. “All were judged according to their deeds.” Even death itself is judged and is thrown into the lake of fire. No more death. Death is dead. So if death is dead, what’s left? What’s left is God’s promise to overcome evil and restore and renew creation.
The New Creation: Revelation 21:1-2, 22-27
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband…I saw no temple in the city, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its light. The nations will walk in its light, and the kings of the world will enter the city in all their glory. Its gates will never be closed at the end of day because there is no night there. And all the nations will bring their glory and honor into the city. Nothing evil will be allowed to enter, nor anyone who practices shameful idolatry and dishonesty—but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
Notice that “nothing evil will be allowed to enter.” Evil is done. No longer. Kaput. Sayonara. Hasta la vista, baby.
So what is God doing about evil? God judges evil and God promises to overcome evil. But that’s not the end of the story. Because it’s not enough for God to overcome evil at some future point. God is in the business of overcoming evil right now. That’s where you and I come in. We participate in God’s judgment of evil and restoration of creation. So now the answer to the question about what God is doing about evil becomes another question: what are you doing about evil? God has given us three things that each one of us and we as a community are to do about evil. We are to pray, seek holiness, and establish justice. Let’s look at each one.
What Are You Doing About Evil? Praying.
Prayer is fundamentally about aligning our will with God’s will for creation. The other day I was in Noodles and Co in East Lansing, and I thought prayer was making a comeback. There were lots of young college students in the restaurant. I was one of the older people there. I looked over at a table and saw a young woman sitting with her head bowed and I thought, “That’s cool. She’s praying.” Then I noticed her fingers twitch under the table and I realized, “She’s not praying. She’s texting with her phone under the table!”
One of Jesus’ disciples named John wrote about prayer. He said:
And this is the boldness we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
1 John 5:14 NRSV
Did you catch that? This is an “if…then” statement. If we ask how? According to his will. Then we know that God hears us. Prayer is a process of aligning what we’re
asking for with what God wants for us. Søren Kierkegaard, a 19th Century Christian Philosopher, said, “The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.”
So how do you do this? I think you do it by listening in prayer. Prayer is essentially communication. And most of our prayer, I think, is us talking expecting God to listen. While this isn’t bad, don’t forget that communication goes both ways. You ask and you listen. Or maybe you listen first then you ask. Prayer can be understood as an acronym, P.R.A.Y. Praise, repent, ask, and yield. The key word for our conversation today is “yield.” You ask and listen and then you yield to God’s will.
What Are You Doing About Evil? Seeking Holiness.
The second thing each of us can do about evil is to seek holiness. Holiness is another word for righteousness or right relationships. Holiness is having a right relationship with God, others, ourselves, and all of creation. When we seek holiness we seek to align our actions with God’s love for creation.
Holiness is kind of like growing up. Holiness is a kind of maturing. It’s like moving from being a grown up toddler to be a grown up adult. What if we adults all still acted like toddlers? It might look like this:
There would be no peace anywhere! The ultimate effect of a holy alignment between our will and God’s will is peace. The prophet Isaiah said:
The effect of righteousness will be peace.
~Isaiah 32:17 NRSV
Perhaps the most important way you can align your will with God’s will is to read scripture daily, or at least as often as you can. A couple of months ago we did a series called Committed to Christ. One of the sermons in that series was making a commitment to read your Bible. Many of you made commitments to read your Bible daily. How are you doing? Read your Bible to learn what holiness is all about, to align your will with God’s love for all of creation.
What Are You Doing About Evil? Establishing Justice.
Let’s review where we’re at so far. We’ve been exploring what God is doing about evil. God judges evil and God promises to overcome evil. One of the ways God is overcoming evil right now is through each one of us and what we’re doing about evil. We judge evil and overcome evil through prayer and holiness. We also judge and overcome evil by establishing justice. Justice is aligning our systems with God’s image in all of creation.
Sometimes justice happens on an individual level. I recently read about some eBay justice. A guy posted and sold two sports tickets for $600 to a woman. He kept waiting for the payment but it never came. The night before the game he got this email from the woman who won the bid: “I overbid and my husband won’t let me buy these. Sorry and enjoy the game! :)… It’s eBay, not a car dealership. I can back out if I want.” With time running out he tried to sell to the other lower bidders but had no luck. He decided to take justice into his own hands. He set up another eBay account and a Google voice phone number. He emailed the original winner with a fake name telling her that he saw she won the tickets and offered her $1000 for the tickets. After some assurances were made, she emailed the guy back and offered to buy them for her original bid of $600. The met at midnight to exchange the tickets. Then he emailed her back under his pseudonym saying, “It’s eBay, not a car dealership. I can back out if I want.” LOL!
The Psalms are the prayer book of the Bible and Psalm 94 says:
Judgment will again be founded on justice, and those with virtuous hearts will pursue it.
~Psalm 94:15 NLT
Justice isn’t just about individuals. It’s also about entire systems. This past year I was given season passes to Peppermint Creek Theater Company (PCTC) right next door to North Elementary. Sarah and I were thrilled to have a theater so close to our house in South Lansing. The passion statement of PCTC is: to produce contemporary theatre that addresses vital issues in our society, raises awareness, and encourages dialogue while entertaining. In other words, they want to engage issues of justice in our culture in a way that is engaging and entertaining.
The last play of the season was called Clybourne Park and was about racism and white-flight in Chicago. The first act was set in the 1940s in a white neighborhood. The family is moving out to the suburbs and has sold their house to a black family. The local neighborhood association sends a representative over to try to stop the sale. The sale goes through. The second act is in the same house, but this time the neighborhood is a black neighborhood. The family that wants to buy the house is a rich white family. The neighborhood has created guidelines for remodeling these homes so that the current residents are pushed out by rising housing prices and rising taxes. This phenomenon is called gentrification. The issues are complex and there are no easy answers, but I was grateful for PCTC putting on the play and creating the opportunity for reflection and dialogue around this issue of racism and justice. I was reminded of a distinction that I learned in college between prejudice and racism. Prejudice is an attitude of superiority or bias. Prejudice is individual. Racism, on the other hand, has to do with systems that unjustly privilege one group over another. You can be unwittingly and without prejudice participating in racist structures in society. This distinction helped me humbly examine my own actions and how they play into privilege without getting defensive about whether I was prejudiced or not. Clybourne Park brought up all these questions in my mind again. It was an opportunity to ask: am I living justly or am I buying into unjust systems that perpetuate racism? So if you want to live justly, one step you could take is to go see some plays at Peppermint Creek Theater next season and allow the play to challenge and examine you. I don’t always agree with everything the theater does, but I do appreciate the opportunity for self reflection.
So what is God doing about evil? God is judging evil and overcoming it. How is God judging and overcoming evil? God will have an ultimate day of judgment and renewal of creation but in the mean time, God is working through you and me. So what are you, what are we doing about evil?
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