Sunday Matinee #68 A Few Good Men
What we teach one another when we are open to learning.
Acts 8:26-40 | Revised Common Lectionary | EnterTheBible.org
Fifth Sunday of Easter | 04.28.2024
Context: Philip is one of the original twelve apostles. He has received a vision telling him to travel and something amazing will happen. When he comes across an Ethiopian eunuch, someone who is on the margins of the community because of his ethnicity, sexuality, slave status, etc., he is compelled to engage him and become his teacher of the moment.
28 [Now an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official in charge of the treasury,] was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to this chariot and join it.” 30 So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 He replied, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. 35 Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. 36 As they were going along the road, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?” 38 He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.
A Few Good Men | 1992
IMDb | Letterboxd | RRMC
Context: While military base physician, Dr. Stone (Christopher Guest in an icy role), lies through his teeth on the stand to make sure he doesn’t look bad, defense attorney Lt. Cdr. JoAnne Galloway (Demi Moore in a steely role) objects. And objects. And objects. The Judge (J.A. Preston in a character-actor-who-holds-his-own-and-then-somewith-the-biggest-Hollywood-stars role) finally shouts that she’s overruled, the witness is an expert, and let it go. The witness is dismissed and court adjourns for the day.
The courtroom clears while Kaffee, Jo, and Sam pack up their belongings. Finally, Sam speaks up.
Sam: “I strenuously object”?! Is that how it works?! Hm?! “Objection.” “Overruled.” “No, no, no, no. No, I strenuously object.” “Oh, well if you strenuously object, then I should take some time to reconsider.”
Jo: I got it on the record.
Sam: Yeah, you also got the court members thinking we're afraid of the doctor. You object once so they can hear us say that he's not a criminologist. You keep after it the way you did, and suddenly our great cross looks like a bunch of fancy lawyer tricks. It's the difference between paper law and trial law…
Kaffee: Sam––
Sam: Christ, you even had the Judge saying Stone was an expert!
Kaffee: Sam, she made a mistake! Let’s not relive it!
The three share a beat of challenging silence.
Commentary:
Most stories with multiple figures have a main protagonist and then others along the way. That’s the case in the movies and it’s the case in the Bible. The twelve named disciples of Jesus have some main protagonist “and then others” energy. Simon Peter is the most-prominent disciple, followed likely by John, then James because he’s often with John, “and then others.” Some others are named (Andrew), some others are named as the other one (other Simon, other Judas, other James), others go by other names (Matthew OR Levi, Bartholomew OR Nathanael), and others get their big scene (Thomas, Philip, Judas Iscariot).
That doesn’t change much in Acts of the Apostles. Simon Peter, James, and John are the disciples we read about the most. The eleven go through the process of selecting Matthias to bring them back up to The Disciple Dozen, but then he isn’t mentioned again, ever! If this was a movie, pick the biggest actor you can think of for this cameo, just for fun. The disciples, now apostles, appear as a group, but as far as named apostles in Acts, Peter, James, and John are about it. Except for this wonderful scene featuring Philip.
I’ve come to really appreciate Philip as a disciple. He has two memorable scenes in the Gospel of John and this scene in Acts of the Apostles. In John, he hears Jesus and is convinced he’s the one to follow. He goes to tell his friend, Nathanael, who scoffs at the very notion of it all (oh, those cynical Nates). Jesus told Philip, “Follow me,” and now Philip tells his friend in John 1:46, “Come and see.” I love that! Later in John 6, it’s Philip who asks the tough but fair question: “Jesus, exactly how are we going to buy enough bread for 5,000 people? We don’t have the dough!” He gets to be center stage for that miracle.
Now, Philip has been given a vision: go, and something will happen. It seems like he’s given a precise location, but this is a wilderness road, so he obeys, yes, but somewhat ambiguous instructions. When he sees the servant of the Ethiopian queen reading from the prophet Isaiah, he listens for the Holy Spirit and gets a much more specific nudge: go talk to him. When the Ethiopian, pursued by the Holy Spirit in his fresh faith and newly taught by the apostle Philip, says here’s water, what’s to stop me from being baptized, Philip goes for it. He knows this is his chance to be part of something powerful in this person’s life. And while he was a “side character” to other disciples like Peter, now is his time to do something amazing for God.
I don’t think anyone would argue that A Few Good Men is anybody’s movie but Tom Cruise’s. Jack Nicholson and Demi Moore are obviously big players in it, but like the disciples, different figures factor into the story at different levels. That includes other actors like Kevin Bacon, Kevin Pollock, and J.A. Preston. Now, put them and others all together, and like the disciples, you have a stellar ensemble cast.
This scene between Jo (Demi Moore) and Sam (Kevin Pollock) is brief but energetic. Jo has made a major gaffe in court and Sam cannot let it slide without comment. Jo and Sam are smart attorneys, as is Kaffey (Tom Cruise). One of my favorite things about watching them work the trial together is witnessing how they learn from one another. Here, Sam is so irate with Jo that he teaches her, but in a terrible way. He lambasts her choice, is impatient with her ignorance, and frustrated with her mistake - all things that stem from Sam’s underlying reality - he is upset with their clients for what they did. Then, despite his own unimpressive immaturity, it’s Kaffee who teaches them both: name the mistake, learn to move on. He’s also the one who says take the night off. That’s a lesson that more of us could likely take to heart. Okay, at least I could!
I like seeing these two side characters have their moment together. Kaffee is there, but most of this scene is Jo and Sam learning from one another. We may find unexpected teachers in our peers, if we let it happen. Who has taught you as a peer, as Sam and Jo surprise one another by doing? Who has given you a harsh lesson? Who has given you a generous lesson? What do you do when someone asks you for help going to the next level, as the Ethiopian eunuch asked of Philip?