A 21st-century look at sermons and their illustrations: Orphan Heroes

Lately, my life has been like Jimmy Buffett's song "Simply Complicated." I have been jumping through hoops and haven't had time to blog. Let's get back at it.

Long ago and far away in ministry years, I preached a sermon from the Old Testament book of Ruth, and in the sermon I made reference to the film Ordinary People to draw a contrast between the responses of two mothers to tragic loss. A listener expressed concern that I was willing to use movie illustrations in my sermons. Today, some pastors build sermon series around films or use film clips to illustrate a sermon point.  I do neither, but that is another blog.  Films show and tell stories on a grand scale in a short length of time.  Films are not novels – as anyone who has ever read a book and then seen the movie will tell you – but they have dialogue with the grandness of background and music and storyline. 

 Ironic that after that 30-year-ago experience I recently was asked to compose an essay about my three favorite films. I share the first part of that essay today – in 2012 – when I happily write for the 21st-century church of God – a church that must embrace all of the means of modern communication in your quest to make 21st century disciples.  As I planned to write the essay, it was difficult for me to choose three films.  My daughters say it best.  “Daddy can see creation, fall and redemption in any movie.”  I finally chose Peter Pan, The African Queen, and Tortilla Soup, and I’ll begin with Peter Pan. The others will come in later entries.

Peter Pan was my introduction to “orphan-as-hero” films.  Batman, Superman, Spiderman, James Bond – all are orphan film heroes. Further, Little Orphan Annie and Anne of Green Gables are two redhead orphans who captured the imagination of readers from different generations. Charles Dickens, an orphan himself, gave us a whole series of orphans, from Ebeneezer Scrooge to David Copperfield. The most recent orphan to capture the imagination and devotion of a generation would be Harry Potter. Along with the boy Peter Pan, we have Snow White and Cinderella as girl orphans from fairy tale literature. From the printed page, the film maker Walt Disney took many of these mental images and gave us the colors, swirls and music that cemented the stories in our hearts and minds.

In Peter Pan, a child sees freedom, power and problem-solving in a dangerous, life-or-death world. Read that as “adult” world. Peter Pan is where a child outsmarts the dangerous adult world. Peter builds his team, a social network of Lost Boys, but needs Wendy to read to him and restore his shadow. Wendy’s home is not Peter’s. He comes to visit in the end but does not live there. Peter does not want to grow up. He does not want to be an adult.

Orphan stories ring true to young people because they feel alone and alienated, even in strong families who raise them to leave. They see the adult world as dangerous, fallen and full of powerful destructive evil. Children want the freedom to fly and fight their pirates with swords or wands.

The inner lost boy or girl, the loneliness and alienation, those orphan feelings are early evidence of the lostness of those living outside the first garden needing to be adopted by the creator, to be born again by the grace of the Father who sent his only son. Jesus said, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” (John 14:18 ESV)