Where all Families are Holy

By Reverend Deacon Jerry Bauman

A few weeks ago, I went to the theater to see Christopher Nolan’s latest feature film, ‘The Odyssey’. A retelling of the ancient Greek story of King Odysseus and the struggles he faced on his twenty-year adventure. The Odyssey, the original by Homer, not the movie, is considered one of the first examples of the “Hero’s Journey” ever recorded. A hero’s journey is the term used to describe a story that follows a particular formula or classical story structure. The word hero is used as the main character in these stories, not necessarily a person who shows great courage. It can mean an everyday person. The hero, in this case Odysseus, leaves his normal life, goes on an adventure, faces hard tests, and returns home changed, hopefully a better person.

Our second reading is a reflection from Joseph Campbell’s book, “The Hero with a Thousand Faces”. Joseph Campbell was considered an expert on the hero’s journey, or monomyth. He helped to identify the parts of these stories and make it easier to understand how all of our heroes follow a similar path and come through their journey as the person they are meant to be.

There are twelve steps in any classical hero’s journey:

• Ordinary World: We see the hero’s story begin in a rather ordinary home or location.
• Call to Adventure: The hero is challenged, called, or realizes they have a purpose or mission.
• Refusal: The hero feels scared or unworthy of the mission and tries to say “No!”
• Meeting the Mentor: The hero meets a wise teacher or mentor who provides help.
• Crossing the Threshold: The hero steps into a strange new world.
• Tests and Enemies: The hero makes friends, forms allegiances, and fights minor foes.
• The Inmost Cave: The hero moves closer to their main goal.
• The Ordeal: The hero faces dangers that are frightening, scary, and dangerous.
• The Reward: The hero wins a prize or discovers a secret.
• The Road Back: As the hero begins heading home, new dangers and threats appear.
• Resurrection: The hero encounters a final ultimate test of survival.
• Return with Elixir: Finally, the hero arrives at home changed and better able to help their people.

Today’s first reading, from Exodus, begins Moses’ hero journey. And, believe it or not, Moses goes through all twelve steps of the formula!

• Moses was raised as an Egyptian prince.
• He sees an Egyptian beating a Hebrew.
• He flees to Midian to be a shepherd.
• He encounters God at the burning bush.
• He returns to Egypt to free the slaves.
• He faces Pharaoh and the ten plagues.
• He’s trapped at the edge of the Red Sea.
• He parts the sea to escape Pharaoh’s army.
• He receives the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai.
• He wanders the harsh desert for forty years.
• He passes leadership to Joshua before dying.
• He delivers his people to the Promised Land.

The Gospel stories of Jesus also go through the process.

• Jesus lives quietly as a carpenter in Nazareth.
• He gets baptized by John the Baptist.
• He fasts in the desert while resisting Satan’s temptations.
• He is guided by God and scriptural prophecy.
• He begins public ministry and gathers disciples.
• He performs miracles while facing hostile religious leaders.
• He prays in agony at the Garden of Gethsemane.
• He suffers betrayal, trial, and crucifixion on the cross.
• He conquers death and achieves salvation for humanity.
• He is resurrected from the dead.
• He appears to his disciples on Easter Sunday to prove he has conquered death.
• He ascends into heaven, sends the Holy Spirit, and leaves us with a new way to relate to God and each other.

In today’s Gospel, we hear of one of Jesus’ experiences of testing and growth. Imagine, a Gentile, a woman, a mother, who only wanted healing for her sick child, pleading with Jesus, who was too busy, too tired, and couldn’t be bothered, because he had Israel’s children to deal with, imposing herself on his merry little band of disciples. Jesus called tried to send her away and referred to her and her daughter as dogs. And, yet, she, persisted! And Jesus learned his lesson. This time, on this day, momma got what she wanted. Healing for her daughter, and for many more in the crowd that day. Jesus got schooled and grew from this encounter. He became someone better than he was before!

You can find instances of the hero’s journey throughout literature and cinema. Think of Luke Skywalker’s Star Wars adventures. Or Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, The Lion King, Spider-Man. Or real-life heroes, Francis Cabrini, Nelson Mandela, Abraham Lincoln. Each of their stories follow the pattern of a classical hero’s journey.

Sometimes, these hero’s journeys can make us look for epic changes in our own lives. Take for example the hero’s journey of John Newton. Born in London in 1725, John Newton lost his devout Christian mother at the age of seven. He was only eleven when he went to sea with his father, where he found life to be harsh and undisciplined. John rejected his faith, deserted the Royal Navy, endured severe punishment, became enslaved and was mistreated in Sierra Leone. John Newton eventually became the captain of his own ship, the Greyhound and entered the transatlantic slave trade. He tells us that on March 10, 1748, while he was reading a copy of a book he had been given, titled ‘On the Imitation of Christ’, a ferocious storm threatened to sink his ship. Facing imminent death from the storm, Newton cried out, “Lord, have mercy upon us,” marking his first breakthrough of spiritual awakening and humility.  And as he read, he came to realize, that as a part of the slave trade, he – was – absolutely – wretched! Echoing the words of the man healed in chapter 9 of John’s Gospel, he said, “I once was blind, but now I see.”

Please join me in singing the first verse of John Newton’s ‘Amazing Grace’.

1 Amazing grace how sweet the sound
that saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
was blind, but now I see.

This is the story behind one of the world’s most famous songs, “Amazing Grace”. It’s estimated that this beloved spiritual is performed 10 million times a year. It’s no wonder Amazing Grace is one of the most recognizable hymns in the English-speaking world. But we tend to sing its lyrics and reflect on them in terms of our own lives — grateful for God’s grace — and that’s understandable. But knowing who and where the song came from allows us to appreciate it and its creator in a new and more profound way. Written two and a half centuries ago, the words for the beloved song were borne from Newton’s real, painful experiences.

Please join me in singing the second verse.

2 ‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
and grace my fears relieved;
how precious did that grace appear
the hour I first believed!

Newton tells us in his autobiography that he lived intimately with the ghosts of 20K slaves. Let’s meet some of the ghosts in his dreams.

It was a beautiful day on the African coast. When 600 men, women, and children, the ship’s cargo, are each led into their own 4 foot by 18-inch spaces. To keep the cargo from throwing themselves overboard, they are forced to lie in this dark, cramped space, shackled and chained, in pain, for their entire journey. They have no sanitation, little food and stagnant water. After only three days travel, waste and blood fill the ship where this living, human cargo is stored. Bodies are unceremoniously thrown overboard as they die of disease, despair, or just to lighten the ship’s load during storms. The hold isn’t emptied until they finally reach their destination in the Americas – 3 weeks later – when the 200 that are still alive – only 200 –  are painfully forced off the ship and into the sunlight. They are not unlocked until they arrive in their new homes on plantations, where they are branded with red-hot irons to let them know they no longer belong to God, but are the property of a white man.

When John realized he was responsible for the human lives he destroyed, he prayed for God to change his life.

Please join me in singing the third verse.

3 The Lord has promised good to me,
his word my hope secures;
he will my shield and portion be
as long as life endures.

Knowing the story of John Newton’s life and his experiences before writing the hymn helps us to understand the depth of his words and his gratefulness for God’s ‘amazing grace’. John’s health forced him to leave his life on the sea, at the same time that his perspectives were dramatically shifting. John Newton came home to England for the final time, where he was married, studied theology, and was ordained a priest in the Church of England. He felt his prayers were being answered as his life was changing into one of service to God and his fellow man.

Please join me in singing the fourth verse.

4 Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come:
’tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
and grace will lead me home.

But his journey wasn’t over. He felt God calling him to more important work. In 1764, John Newton published his spiritual autobiography, Out of the Depths, detailing his powerful experiences. He penned “Amazing Grace” in 1779 to reflect on his dark past and profound redemption. He actively supported his friend, William Wilberforce, a Member of Parliament, in the successful crusade to abolish the British slave trade. The British Parliament abolished the transatlantic slave trade in 1807, just a few months before Newton died at the age of 82. It took another 25 years before the British Empire’s many slaves were freed. At the end of his life, John Newton said, “My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things: that I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Savior.”

Please join me in singing the fifth verse.

5 When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we’d first begun.

Newton would probably not have written “Amazing Grace” if not for his colorful adventures, conversion and mission of healing. And many of us would then be without this song that helps to put words on our own reliance on the grace of God in our lives. Hero’s journeys have happened throughout history and they are still happening all around us. Paying attention to our heroes, whoever they may be, will show us God’s Amazing Grace at work in their lives and in our own!

Amen Holy Family.