SETTING THE CONTEXT

Jesus’ reputation was spreading throughout the region of Galilee. Crowds were flocking to him to be healed. Some religious authorities who traveled all the way from Jerusalem came and challenged him. He wasn’t following the list of rules of the faith. How could he be of God if he was allowing his followers the “sin” of eating without the proper ritual.

Read Matthew 15:10-11, 17-20

This section of Paul’s letter to the Romans is one of my favorite Scriptures. It is one I come back to over and over again as I seek to live the Christian life. It can be difficult trying to apply Christ’s teachings to the day in and day out dealings of our lives. This passage I believe gives us the root that is beneath all of God’s commandments and rules for our living.

Read Romans 13:8-10

THE SERMON

Last week George talked about becoming fully human. It comes from developing a character. It is a character that is brave, truthful, and unselfish, it is a character of love. Our Scripture today confirms that this is indeed what God calls us all to a character of love. We can mask our lives through proper appearances, but if our hearts are not full of God, if our characters are not grounded in God’s form of love then we are just fooling ourselves. But what do you do if you don’t know how to love? Are you doomed if you are self-centered and/or angry at everyone most of the time? Can you learn to love?

The answers to these profound questions are explored in one of my favorite Disney movies, Beauty and the Beast. This classic fairy tale is retold in Disney fashion. I’ll let the movie itself tell you the story.

SHOW FILM CLIP^[i]

The young man may have been handsome, but on the inside, he was ugly. The enchantress simply has his outside appearance reflect his inner spirit. Wouldn’t it be easier if that were the case? We could tell those who would lie to us or harm us by simply looking at them. It would sure make our criminal justice system easier! But then if our inner selves were exposed, I’d imagine that all of us would have some warts or horns or claws.

Belle is a beautiful young woman on the inside and the outside. She loves to read books and wants to explore more of the world. One day Belle’s father was attacked by wolves in the forest and ran into the Beast’s castle seeking safety. The Beast imprisons him in his tower. Belle follows her father’s trail and finds him in the castle. In this clip, the Beast sees his first example of true love, of what I would say is Divine love.

SHOW FILM CLIP

Through Belle’s actions, the Beast saw sacrificial love in action. This was something he would have never considered doing because he was selfish and self-centered. Her act of love planted a seed. In learning how to love, maybe the first step is seeing what love looks like. God sent Jesus Christ to show us love as God intended. Oh, we have a way of deluding ourselves that all kinds of behaviors and attitudes are love, but through Him we have an example, we have the human expression of Love. If we never saw love modeled in our homes or if we’ve never had any other example of love in our lives, we have Jesus.

The Beast allows Belle to stay in a room instead of the prison cell. The castle’s staff was turned into enchanted objects and they are hoping that Belle might break the spell that is binding them all. You see a heart with no love impacts not just the heartless person, but also the people surrounding him or her. This is a great wisdom, so I’d like to repeat it. You see a heart with no love impacts not just the heartless person, but also the people surrounding him or her. Time is running out, the magic rose is beginning to wilt. The Beast has much to learn. He is very gruff with Belle, and he mistakes her shrinking away from him as being repulsed by his outside appearance rather than her response to his spirit. Hopelessness drains the will he needs to change. A turning point comes when he frightens Belle and she runs away into the forest. He goes after her and saves her from wolves. The Beast experiences his first glimpse of loving another. He risks himself to save another. He experiences the connection that comes when we extend ourselves in that way and he also experiences gratitude. That glimpse helps him risk other aspects of loving. He experienced the joy of giving by giving Belle the library of the castle. We see him learn to compromise. They each take into account the needs and limitations of each other experiencing being cared for and caring for another. The Beast begins to learn tenderness and play, but his newfound ability to love gets a very big test. Belle misses her father very much. He tried to get the townspeople to help him rescue Belle. He thinks she is still imprisoned by a horrible beast, for he has not seen the transformation taking place, but the townspeople just laugh at him so he goes into the forest alone in search of her. Let’s see what happened.

SHOW FILM CLIP

The Beast has learned to love. He put her needs above his own. The rose is wilting quickly and he is really risking himself to let her go, but he has finally learned to love another. He has let go of his self-centeredness and passed a very big test.

There is another character called Gaston. He is handsome, brutish, egotistical and cruel. He decides to kill the Beast. The next clip is for me an astounding piece of animation. The Beast’s ability to love is growing, but can the Beast love an enemy? Jesus said anyone can love someone who loves them back, but love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Can the Beast learn this level of loving?

SHOW FILM CLIP

Did you see the look on the Beast’s face when Gaston was begging for his life? I am convinced that the Beast saw his old self; he saw the way he was before the enchantress had changed him. He let Gaston live because he knew he had been just like him. Loving your enemy is not the same kind of love as loving a wife or girlfriend. Loving your enemy is a decision that involves compassion. It involves the truthful acceptance that we all sin and fall short of the glory of God.

Gaston literally stabs the Beast in the back and the Beast is dying. He has truly learned to love though. He has learned sacrificial love, generosity, compromise, kindness, selflessness, and compassion. His hard heart has been transformed and his character is changed, but is it too late for him to bear the fruits of this transformation?

SHOW FILM CLIP

In learning to love, the Beast became a man again. He learned how to be truly human. We too can learn to love no matter where our starting point is. This love that God calls us to is not just a fluttery feeling, but it is a spring from within that flows into our attitudes and actions. As Jesus told the crowds, God desires not superficial appearances masking a hardened heart. God desires a heart surrendered and transformed by the power of Christ. If an enchantress made your outer appearance reflect your inner spirit, what would we see?

As Christians we have a simple yet very difficult goal; we, Methodists, call it striving for perfection. The goal is when that enchantress turns our insides out, she will not see a beast, but she will see Jesus.

“Lord, give your heart and take mine, so I may love with your heart and you can transform mine.” Amen.

Sermon delived by Rev. Nancy Cushman on July 22, 2007.