Sunday Matinee #21 Mother!

God gave us a beautiful home; what are we doing to it?

Dear Reader, I’m having fun getting creative and sharing R-Rated Movie Club with you. Will you take a moment to share it with someone else? If you know someone who’d get a kick out of this newsletter I would appreciate your recommendation, thanks. And now, a sneak peek at our next Feature Presentation!

Sneak Peek: Our Next Feature Presentation

You know, this month’s Feature Presentation for May Minnesota Month, A Simple Plan, is simply great. But it’s simply bleak. So let’s simply switch it up. Summer is for fun and it’s time for some funny, so let’s go with a recent movie that’s also of a dying breed, the R-rated comedy! The next movie for the Feature Presentation is…

GAME NIGHT!

If you missed this great 2018 comedy, you’re in for a real treat! You can read an excerpt in an upcoming Sunday Matinee and the Feature Presentation drops in June. I encourage you to watch the movie between now and then. You can find where it’s available to stream at JustWatch or purchase here.

Quotes With Notes

Genesis 1:31
Full Text: Genesis 1:1-2:4a (Revised Common Lectionary)
Trinity Sunday (June 4, 2023)
Sign up for a free course at EnterTheBible.org to learn more.
Context: The Revised Common Lectionary turns to some of the most famous stories of Genesis, the first book of the Hebrew Bible. In fact, today’s entry goes all the way back to Genesis 1, to the first of the creation stories in scripture. Read this story again with new eyes and wonder about how people back then wondered about where they came from.

31 God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Mother! (2017) | Paramount Pictures, Protozoa Pictures
Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, Michelle Pfeiffer
Written and directed by Darren Aronofsky
Context: Mother (Jennifer Lawrence) has gone through the ringer with Him (Javier Bardem) as their House, once a Paradise, is overrun by selfishness, violence, hedonism, rage, and sorrow. In a moment of sheer determination and raw emotion, Mother confronts Him with a claim about His emotions toward her in the first place.

Mother (to Him): You never loved me. You just loved how much I loved you. I GAVE YOU EVERYTHING. You gave it all away.

Commentary:

I love a good origin story. Learning where characters came from intrigues me. Sometimes it’s a flashback, other times it’s a prequel. Some stories are the origin story, like the 2002 Spider-Man movie. While others skip the origin and assume you have enough to go on to get to where you need to go next (see Spider-Man’s [re]introduction in Captain America: Civil War). As for humankind, the Big Bang is intriguing science. Genesis creation is intriguing poetry.

The first origin story in Genesis of the world and humankind is woven with delicate care. It uses repetition as one of its literary devices, a favorite especially of writers in the time of the Hebrew Bible. These days, pop song artists tend to favor rhyming lyrics. If you want to meet in the middle, go to most any given contemporary Christian rock song with rhyming lyric verses and repeating, repeating, repeating choruses! Here in Genesis 1, repetition is in full play. Let there be light; and there was light. Let there be a dome over the waters; there was a dome over the waters. There’s a special repeating refrain throughout: “And God saw that it was good.”

You’re good. Did you know that? God creates that which is good. Yes, there is brokenness. Yes, there is pain and tragedy and yes, people like you and me make terrible choices that are far, far from good. And, all that God creates is good. Even if you don’t take the Genesis creation account as literal historical fact - and I don’t - the poetry on display here is that all things created are good. In fact, you’re not just good. You’re very good. When God looked at everything They had created, when it was all done, God said it was very good. 

That includes you. Do you see yourself as good? Do you give yourself a break? We all make mistakes; can you find the good in yourself to repent and do the work and do better? “Good” is better than throwing away. “Good” is worth trying again and again. Repetition on the road to perfection. Where are you at on that road?

It is challenging to write about Mother! without major spoilers. Personally, I went into it very cold when I saw it in the theater and that’s what I think is best for anyone watching it. Mother! Is not the first film by movie studio A24 that I’ve written about here so far (that honor goes to fellow 2017 A24 feature Lady Bird), but it’s certainly the more bizarre between the two. I’m trying to be very mindful of that here. That’s my effort even with the obviously perfect pairing with today’s scripture text! Okay, even writing that sentence feels like I’m giving too much away. This movie isn’t for everybody, but for me, I found it startling in its rollercoaster ride and gut punch ending. Maybe that entices you to watch… or stay away!

This movie sees its own story of creation, of goodness and good intentions. But this beautiful paradise, this garden, is marred by selfishness, poor choices, and a lack of care and caretaking. When I watch it, I can’t help but think about God’s Eden, our own slice of the good that God created good and I wonder: what are we doing here? Not existentially, “Why are we here?” But what are we doing here with this little rock we call Earth? 

Do we love it as God loves it? Do we see it good as God sees it good? Do we take our charge to be caretakers and co-collaborators seriously? Even when it’s inconvenient? We’re about a month past Earth Day, how many of us let it pass us by? I don’t ask those questions just to you, Dear Reader, but also to myself.

Our origin story is we were created good by good for good. And I believe we are destined to bring restorative good to this world, with God’s help. That bears repeating. That attitude is worth getting repetitive. 

You’re good. Did you know that? Let’s do the good we were created to do!

Have an excellent day Dear Reader. May your life’s journey meet the heart of God in ways you can recognize and that are meaningful. And to today’s preachers, may worship be a blessing for you personally and may your sermon and prayers remind everyone that God loves all people. God’s peace and good movies to you!

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