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A Few Words from Pastor Bryan
...and Martin Sheen
I've been a big fan of Martin Sheen's for at least 40 years now. When I first started my ministry in a small northern Wisconsin town (two small churches in Elcho and Kempster--between Antigo and Rhinelander) in 1984, there were little film strips with cassette soundtracks put out by some Christian media company that I sometimes ordered through the mail and used in my ministry. The theological content of these little films was solid, and almost all of the soundtracks featured the voice of Martin Sheen. Some of them were quite hard-hitting social justice pieces from a very challenging "radical Jesus" perspective, and Martin narrated those little films with obvious passion and commitment. I really don't know much about his personal spiritual journey, but it was clear that he had wrestled deeply with Scripture and the Gospel. He wasn't just reading those scripts as a "hired voice," and the company was too small to have paid him much. You could tell his heart and soul were very much into what these films were about. In the picture above, that's Martin second from left in an anti-nuclear protest years ago with radical priest and poet Father Daniel Berrigan to the far right (another hero of mine whom I met during seminary and who impacted my life significantly).
I've always felt a connection with Martin Sheen and his career because of the time I spent with his voice all those years ago when I was serving those churches full of beautiful and often rather conservative people. While I look back on that first pastorate with lots of gratitude and affection, my more progressive worldview and approach to the Bible did cause me a good deal of conflict during those years. I was only 25 when I started that pastorate, and it was easier for some of the folks in the congregations to believe that I was a "communist dupe" than to be open to the fact that the U.S. might have been on the wrong side of history in El Salvador and Nicaragua. It was the Iran/Contra Oliver North days as some of you will remember. Martin Sheen sometimes felt like one of my only "friends" up there. He and I understood the Gospel in a similar way.
I've followed Martin Sheen's career closely over the years. I've loved many of his movies. Just this past week I watched "The Way" for the third or fourth time. It's a very touching movie written, produced, and directed by Martin's real life son Emilio Estevez in which Martin's character, after the death of his only son, walks the Camino in Spain--a spiritual pilgrimage journey. It's a powerfully moving film to me, and that movie has inspired me to want to walk the Camino myself sometime. I just might do that during one of my upcoming sabbatical months (I'll be taking one month this year and one month next year).
I've loved so many of Martin Sheen's roles, but best of all to me is his work throughout the series "The West Wing" as President of the United States Josiah Bartlet. That's a president I'd vote for...
But to my main point before this gets way too long.
I want to thank Ann Walsvik, who has been attending our church for the past few months, for sharing an amazing post from Facebook by a New Testament Scholar who teaches at Luther College named Guy Nave. He wrote an article called, "Mr. Speaker, There's No Such Thing as a 'Bible-Believing' Christian" in response to Speaker Mike Johnson's recent comment that he is a Bible-Believing Christian and that if anyone wants to know where he stands on an issue, all they need to do is read the Bible. Here's a link to Guy Nave's post. It is well worth the few minutes it will take to read it.
In the post you'll find a scene from The West Wing in which Martin Sheen, as President Bartlet, takes on a smug right-wing T.V. personality who used the Bible to promote anti LBGTQ+ plus oppression. I know some of you may not get around to clicking the link and reading the article or watching the clip, so below is my transcription of the scene. Thanks Ann Walsvik for sharing this with me and for reminding me of my old "friend" Martin Sheen. To be honest, watching the clip brought me to tears. So-called Christian Nationalists, using the Bible and a very unhealthy expression of Christianity, have permeated our government to an alarmingly dangerous degree at this point in our history. It is heartbreaking and frustrating to me to see the Scriptures I love so much misused in such harmful and hateful ways. We who understand the essence of the biblical message to be all about Justice and Love and full inclusion have our work cut out for us, and we really need to find our voice in this election year. We need to learn what Scripture truly says well enough to be able to offer a better, more loving, more accurate, more theologically sound, AND more beautiful understanding of what the path of Jesus is truly about. When we do, EVERYONE ultimately wins, including those we like the least and disagree with most.
I'll let President Barlet have the final word here.
Hope to see you in church or somewhere soon,
Pastor Bryan (and now to The West Wing...)
(Here's a link to the following scene on YouTube if you don't want to read the Facebook article.)
The scene takes place during an episode when President Barlet is up for reelection and is being taken on by a mean-spirited right-wing candidate. He has just been in conversation with his campaign director as to how to beat this opponent's ongoing challenge.
President Barlet walks into a room of people gathered at the white house as the election results are coming in. All persons are standing when he enters the room except for the T.V. show host who remains sitting in an expression of disrespect. President Bartlet begins his remarks, but then notices this woman sitting and departs from his planned remarks to address her directly.
"…You’re Dr. Janet Jacobs, right? … I like your show. I like how you call homosexuality an abomination."
Dr. Jacobs responds: "I don’t say homosexuality is an abomination Mr. President. The Bible does."
President Barlet: "Yes, it does. Leviticus 18:22. Chapter and verse. I wanted to ask you a couple of questions while I had you here.
I’m interested in selling my youngest daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. She’s a Georgetown sophomore, speaks fluent Italian, always cleared the table when it was her turn. What would a good price for her be? While thinking about that can I ask another? My chief of staff, Leo McGary, insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly says he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or is it okay to call the police? Here’s one that’s really important, because we’ve got a lot of sports fans in this town. Touching the skin of a dead pig makes one unclean. Leviticus 11:7. If they promise to wear gloves, can the Washington Redskins (now the Commanders) still play football? Can Notre Dame? Can West Point? Does the whole town really have to be together to stone my brother John for planting different crops side by side? Can I burn my mother in a small family gathering for wearing garments made from two different threads? Think about those questions, would you?
And one last thing. While you may be mistaking this for the monthly meeting of the ignorant tight ass club, in this building when the president stands…nobody sits." (she reluctantly stands)
President Barlet then turns to his campaign director and says, "Toby…that’s how I beat him."
Well (It's me, Bryan, again)-- I'm not much into "beating" anyone. As I said above, when we are true to what I consider to be an accurate understanding of the Gospel of Love, then everyone ultimately wins. But I sure do love the idea of a presidential candidate who knows Scripture, refuses to see it harmfully distorted, honors the fact that people may see it differently, and who is willing to stand up firmly and courageously to Bible quoting bullies.
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