By Pastor John Hulden

Have you heard of the new movie that is causing theological and historical debates? It’s a film about religion and the consequential actions that arise out of a strong belief in doing what is right. The reaction to this film is resulting in essays, treatises, and of course, social media chatter. The movie? Conclave. I haven’t seen it yet, but I plan to… despite a good portion of Roman Catholics asking me that I stay away from a movie that tells the fictional story of electing a pope.

Speaking of new movies…
Last month, the national spotlight switched from one Lutheran to another. We went from campaign ads and signs for Governor “Tim Walz for VP” to movie ads and signs for the biopic about the late Pastor Deitrich Bonhoeffer. No, I haven’t seen the Bonhoeffer movie, but I plan to… despite the controversy around it. I’ve been reading many essays, treatises, and social media chatter about it. And while I don’t necessarily like supporting these particular moviemakers, with their potentially questionable intentions, I do feel compelled to see it with my own eyes; to form my own opinion.

 

WE ARE NOW in the season of Advent—a church season that just might be the most out of step with the culture and the ubiquitousness of commercialism leading up to Christmas. Advent is that in-between time of waiting and hoping for a Savior.

Two prophets pop into my head every time Advent comes around. The first is the last of the Old Testament prophets:  John the Baptist. Like many prophets, he quickly gets in trouble with the authorities and lands in jail, on death row. The other prophet? Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Like Jesus’ cousin John, Bonhoeffer is arrested and put in jail, on death row. I remember Bonhoeffer every Advent because of his writings from a Nazi prison. He reminds us that the geography of Advent is like a jail cell. Bonhoeffer wrote to a friend: “By the way, a prison cell like this is a good analogy for Advent; one waits, hopes, does this or that— ultimately negligible things— the door is locked and can only be opened from the outside.”

No matter whether you choose to see the Bonhoeffer movie, maybe you can find some time and space to read some Bonhoeffer while you wait and hope for a Savior this Advent.

By the way, a prison cell like this is a good analogy for Advent; one waits, hopes, does this or that— ultimately negligible things— the door is locked and can only be opened from the outside.”

As for my next movie? Odds are my musical theater loving family will want to go see Wicked. And yes, I’ve been warned, it’s only part 1. I guess I’ll wait for Part 2 that’s due out just before Advent next year.