Isaiah 50: 7,8; Matthew 21: 1-5, 8,9

Creating Worlds

We all live in one world, on one uneven ball that is crammed full of salt water, bugs and other unwanted critters, a disappearing bunch of wanted critters and a whole lot of people.  Those are the facts: one small world that’s shrinking by the day.  But, friends, there are many worlds in that world, not only natural settings and cities, but the worlds that people dream up.  Languages are worlds, they are not just tools.  Certain humor is only possible in certain languages.  There is now a researcher who has shown that people who speak languages with verbs that have a future form are less likely to save money than people who speak languages with only a present form.  Those who speak futurist languages like that always see the future as being out there not right here.

In an interview with Charlie Rose recently the British actress Tilda Swindon talks about a conversation she had with film maker Michael Powell.  She had just arrived by plane and he asked her whether she had seen a movie on the plane and she answered that she had but that it “wasn’t very good.” “What was it,” he asked and she said:”Batman.”  Then he corrected her:” Oh no, you’re wrong,” he said “that is a good film.  It creates its own world.”  It creates its own world. It is true the really memorable movies are the ones who create their own world. The film the Grand Budapest Hotel harks back to pre-World War II Eastern Europe, but the director is not at all interested in recreating that particular time and place.  He just makes something totally new against that background.  He doesn’t care that the sets are not real looking sometimes and neither is the gondola.  I have talked to you about English professional soccer and how the stadiums are worlds of their own.  In many ways the English endearing loyalty to their local clubs takes the place of religion.  Think of the banner the fans of the London club Arsenal unfurl in support of their French coach Arsene Wenger:  “In Wenger we trust,” it says. At Stamford Bridge where their cross-town rival Chelsea plays, a banner hangs off the balcony supporting their Portuguese coach  Jose Mourinho. It reads :” A King is Born.” The fans create their own world as they participate in victories and gut-wrenching defeats. Friends, Palm Sunday is in a world all its own.  It is an almost quirky scene and I think the picture on the front of the program captures it.

Jesus is heading for disaster and suddenly the people are cheering.  They had not done that before. Sure, Jesus had had a large following and the people had been awed by His power, but this was totally different.  The people who are waving palm branches are creating this world where Jesus is an earthly Messiah Who will liberate them from corruption and from the Roman oppressors.  It is not a world that Jesus is buying.  He is there to fulfill the prophecy of the Old Testament, plain and simple. It is a temporary world that has to be staged.  There is a difference between the world the people create and the one Jesus must enter for a moment.  Theirs is created for their own benefit and His is created to serve human society.  This is a great difference.

We can use the same distinction in the worlds that we humans create every day.  Worlds are either for our own benefit or for the benefit of the greater good.   Vladimir Putin has created his own world where the Soviet Union is recreated within Russia.  He doesn’t realize that this is not the world the rest of us live in.  So many wars throughout history have been fought because tyrants created worlds in their head which were then imposed on others. But the world he creates is one that is past and is also one that only benefits those in power in his country.  It has nothing to do with making the world a better place.  Violent people everywhere also create worlds that hurt others.

A number of entertaining films and sitcoms are very good at taking different world that exists and put them together, such as My Fair Lady, the Fresh Prince of Belair, Different Strokes. The rich are put together with the poor, the culture of one race with the culture of another and they play off each other.  In most cases it is just silly entertainment, but sometimes a bigger truth is told about people and a world is born where one group of people find a way to live with another group of people.

Friends, here, today and weekly we create a world too. It is not a very pretentious. It is low key and toned down.  But it is a world of faith where God’s love is a reality, where Christ’s peace is a reality, where the Holy Spirit’s comfort is a reality. It is a world where people can be respected for who they are with their differences and support each other and where people can think about how to serve those beyond our walls.  This is easier said than done.  But we do do our best every week to create a space for the benefit of God and others, not our own.  May God give us wisdom and courage.