Click the links under My Blog List to get to Chinese and English weekday homilies.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

28th Ordinary Sunday, Year B, 11.09.10

Wis 7:7-11
Hebr 4:12-13
Mk 10:13-30 (or 17-27)

I think it would be nice to have a guest preacher once in a while, and hear a different tone and a different style.

Well, I have tried to get a guest preacher for this weekend.

But because he is a celebrity, and very much in demand, hence it was difficult for him to fit us into his schedule.

I wanted him to share with us the secret of his success so that we might be stimulated and helped by his story.

Although he can’t be here in person, nonetheless, I have a transcript of his sermon.

Also, I have his poster, so although he can’t be here with us today, I would like to show you who he is.

So our preacher for this weekend…presenting…Mickey Mouse from Disneyland.

And this is the transcript of his sermon:

Thank you, thank you very much for inviting me to your church.

I must admit, at first, I was surprised that a church would ask me to give a sermon.

Oh, I have been invited to churches to give out Disneyland goodie bags. But to give a sermon is something new.

But after I thought about it, I kind of see that Disneyland and the church do have a lot in common.

As I began to organize my thoughts, I believe that if your church were to apply our principles, you would become as successful as Disneyland.

Well, firstly, make sure that your Church seems exciting, even dangerous, much like our joy rides, but be quick to let your people know that there is really no danger at all. Give the illusion of great risk, but make sure everything is perfectly safe.

Secondly, go into the entertainment business mode.
People don’t care what you say as long as they are entertained. Keep your people happy. Don’t tell them anything negative and don’t make demands on them. Just keep them diverted from the ugly reality of today’s world and they’ll keep coming back for more.

Finally, pretend that there are no problems. At Disneyland, we dress up our security guards as smiling rabbits and friendly bears, because we don’t want anyone’s experience at Disneyland to be spoilt by the sight of law enforcement personnel.

Disguise your problems and failures with a warm smile and a firm handshake. Leave the problems at home, and let the church be a happy place where there are no ugly problems. Just friendly priests and smiling wardens.

The point here is that people today want good clean entertainment. They want an environment that is safe for children and they want a place that is safe for their family and friends.

Well, I am so glad that you have invited me here. Thank you once again and see you soon at Disneyland. Bye!

We might clap for Mickey if he were here ; or would we clap at all?
Certainly, all that he said earlier is something we know that the church should not be.

But yet for all that he said, could it be that it was something we, the church are becoming, or have become?

I was thinking of the part about making the church exciting, even dangerous, but yet actually there is no danger at all.

Just giving the illusion of great risk, but actually everything is perfectly safe.

Well, is this what Christianity is all about?
Is this what is being Church all about?
Is this what following Jesus is all about?

Maybe that is what the rich young man in today’s gospel thought it was all about.

He had kept the law from his earliest days. He had met the requirements and the religious standards.

He thought he had made it, and that was it.

So as he approached Jesus, he was confident that he would get a pat on the back and maybe even held up as a model for others.

When he came before Jesus, he fell on his knees and told Jesus where he was at.

But when Jesus told him where he should go, and what he should do, his face fell and he went away sad.

Now, we came to church today, we genuflect, we fall on our knees in prayer.

But when we heard the gospel, did our faces fall like the face of the rich young man?

Maybe not. Because we would be thinking to ourselves: Jesus does not mean it literally, right? He does not expect us to sell everything and give it to the poor, right?

Whatever it is, we want to have a safe worship, we want to be comfortable, the message of Jesus might sound dangerous and risky, but we won’t be pushed to do anything strange or funny.

But if that is the case, we might have become the church of Mickey Mouse and not the Church of Christ the King.

We might have blunted the double-edged sword of the Word of God and made it into a joy-ride.

As in it looks exciting, looks even dangerous, but actually there really is no danger at all. Quite safe.

But Christianity is not about safety. Because Christianity points to the Cross.

St Paul would say this in the letter to the Galatians (2:19):
With Christ I hang upon the cross.

And if we hang upon the cross, then nothing and no one can ever save us except Jesus Christ.

On the cross, our money can’t save us, our health can’t save us, our abilities can’t save us, our achievements can’t save us.

Only Jesus Christ who was crucified on the cross, died, buried but rose from the dead, only He can save us.

Not even Mickey Mouse, with all his success and fame can ever save us.

But yet behind the Mickey Mouse character is an interesting story of 2 men and their strong but volatile friendship.

One is the famous Walt Disney and the other is his side-kick Ubbe Ert.

Both were animation artists, and though they were talented in their own ways, they had to struggle to prove themselves.

Eventually, they started their own company, with Disney providing the ideas and Ubbe Ert coming with animation and thus they created the famous MM character.

But Disney had a short and fierce temper, which was often dumped on Ubbe Ert who was more introvert and mild.

But one day, Ubbe Ert shocked Disney by making a secret arrangement with a competitor so that he would break out on his own.

That caused Disney to lose a lot of money and nearly become bankrupt. We must remember it was the days of the Great Depression in the US and things were not easy.

But Ubbe Ert failed in his venture and was left penniless and destitute.

Meanwhile, Disney managed to climb back from his severe setback.

When Disney heard what happened to Ubbe Ert, instead of gloating over it, he went in search of him, and when he found him, he invited him to work with him again.

There was no mention of the betrayal, no mention of revenge, no mention of pay back time.

Now, we would certainly not do that. How can we forget the pain of betrayal, the hurt of being played-out, the anger of being stabbed in the back.

Well, for whatever reason, Disney took that dangerous path with Ubbe Ert.

And together, they brought up Walt Disney Studios to what it is today.

So behind the smiling MM character was of a volatile yet close friendship.

Similarly, behind the cross, is an invitation to hang upon the cross with Christ.

To hang upon the cross with Christ means to let go of ourselves.

It is not just our money or wealth – that would be easy to do.

Compared with the hurt, the resentment, the anger we want to vent, the revenge we want to inflict.

Let us hang all those on the cross with Christ, so that in return we would dare to love again, in spite of the risks.

Note: Sermon of the Mouse is adapted from "Get 'em Talking: 104 Great Discussion Starters for Youth Groups" by Mike Yaconelli & Scott Koenigeaecker.