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“Now as an elder myself and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as one who shares in the glory to be revealed, I exhort the elders among you to tend the flock of God that is in your charge, exercising the oversight, not under compulsion but willingly, as God would have you do it—not for sordid gain but eagerly. Do not lord it over those in your charge, but be examples to the flock … And all of you must clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another, for ‘God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’”
–– 1 Peter 5:1-3, 5b
Mark Twain once observed that, “Under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer.” I don’t know if that is true despite having painted the air around me blue upon the random and unexpected occurrence of a sharp pain or the miscellaneous self-inflicted disaster. Yet, relief rarely seems to be the consequence of the persistent and ubiquitous eruptions of cursing that dominate modern dramatic film. Before their strike, one could assume that writers were paid according to the bushels of #!&$s they could include in their scripts. I remember leaving the theater after 2 ½ hours of Scorsese’s The Departed thinking that the removal of one word from the script would cut its running time down to maybe 17 minutes. Instead of the Best Picture Oscar, it would have won the award for short films. Though on many occasions that Grand Poobah of expletives is overused, forced, and exposes a lack of creativity, there are times when it supplies the intensity of rage bordering on madness that is intrinsic to the plot. Such is the case with the critically acclaimed drama, The Bear, a fictional series chronicling the disorder, dysfunction, and search for belonging of a chef, his eclectic crew, and his crazed extended family. The #!&$s, along with crashing pans, frothing rage, metal music, and screeching Chicago’s L trains serve to convey the chaos roiling within and among the characters in the orbit of The Bear.
Yet, despite the chaos and noise, there emerge these poignant moments of grace and self-discovery, perhaps most beautifully and stunningly as seen through the show’s most irritable and irritating character. Richie, “fake” cousin of the chef, is the thorn in everyone’s flesh. Bombastic, disruptive, and easily triggered into a ranting madman with no off switch, he seems only capable of inflaming the fires of every crisis that arises in the restaurant. Yet, in a most beautiful way, when exiled to be trained in another restaurant, an assignment he deeply resents, Richie finds himself under the tutelage of an intense but dedicated server through whom Richie discovers his own gifts and purpose. When asked why he was so passionate about his role in the restaurant, the server told Richie, “A couple of years ago, I had a drinking problem. And I got sober. I'm good now, you know, like I feel healthy and I'm happy and I'm grateful. And through that experience, I learned about acts of service and... I just like being able to serve other people now.” The manager of the restaurant tells Richie about her sense of purpose –– “Every night you get to make somebody’s day.” The chef and owner of the restaurant tells Richie why she pays such careful attention to details as she is actually peeling mushrooms –– “So when the diners see it, they know that someone spent a lot of time on their dish … Respect. Feels attached. I think time spent doing this is time well spent.”
Such is the message Peter offers to the church –– “exercising the oversight, not under compulsion but willingly, as God would have you do it—not for sordid gain but eagerly. Do not lord it over those in your charge, but be examples to the flock … And all of you must clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another, for ‘God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’”
As Richie grows into this new sense of purpose, a scene shows him reading a book before he goes to work. A small detail that you won’t notice in the episode is the subtitle of that book which offers wisdom for anyone who would seek to serve well, and that includes all who would follow Christ –– “The remarkable power of giving people more than they expect.” We watch as Richie “gets it.” Shall we “get it,” too?
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