From Pleasantville to Haiti

Scripture: Matthew 23 

One of my favorite movies is “Pleasantville”. It’s a very well done film both in its use of color, and metaphor. The story follows Toby Maguire (pre-spider-man) and Reese Witherspoon as modern teenagers who end up being transported into a black and white TV show (very similar to any 50’s family show- Donna Reed, Andy Griffith, etc) where they believe life will be simpler.

Everything in Pleasantville is perfect. The fire department only rescues cats, because there are no fires. The school kids all sit up and pay attention. The basketball team never misses the hoop. Men go to work, and women vacuum in pearls before making huge amounts of food. Families sit down and talk over dinner. Wow.

However, our protagonists soon discover the black and white world of Pleasantville is not as perfect as it should be. The books in the library don’t have any words in them. The role of art in a colorless world is small and unnecessary, and the road out of town goes nowhere. Perfection, it seems, lacks passion.

As the teens encounter the ideal world of Pleasantville – they bring their own knowledge, passions and experiences to the town. Introducing Pleasantville’s residents to everything from self-esteem to sexuality, soon color begins appearing all over. Books now tell stories (not all of them pleasant) and art is powerful and provocative. Pleasantville becomes chaotic, divided, messy and very much alive. It’s no longer perfect, but its real.

The encounters Jesus has with the Pharisees are very much like Pleasantville. The temple administration had everything under control. People knew their roles and had their place in the temple secured through status and lineage. Lepers knew to keep away, and officials knew who to go to if they needed something done. The Sabbath had its purpose, and its limits. The faithful stayed in line and the blind stayed blind.

And then…along comes a Rabbi with the ability to hear and to heal (even on the Sabbath). Along comes a Rabbi who brings with him a messy group of followers and introduces everything from dining with tax collectors to raising the dead into the midst of the order. Suddenly the temple was abuzz with colorful people, healed sinners and angry authorities who don’t like being questioned.

In Matthew 23:27 – the Seven Woes – Jesus spells it out.

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.”

Jesus points out that turning the Temple – the community of God – into a black and white (or white-washed) museum is not what God intended for people to do in the world. Our world is full of messy situations, colorful people and vibrant challenge. It was the great desire of God for the church to be in that world – changing, healing and helping.

Jesus angered the Pharisees because he upset the order, and he showed without question the disordered, creative, techno-colored spectrum of existence – all of which God inhabits.

This week as we have watched the island nation of Haiti struggle with the aftermath of devastating earthquakes the people of God are still struggling to deal with the reality of it all. As people stand around the rim of this tragedy and say “Where was God during this? How could God let this happen?” we are showing our own tendency to want the simple black and white world to come back.

We want a world where good things happen to good people and bad things only happen to bad people. Certainly folks like Pat Robertson who want to blame Haiti (and some kind of devil-pact) for this disaster are trying to push this hard-to-understand reality into a box that is easier to get a handle on: “Haiti was destroyed because it was bad”. But Haiti is not to blame for the fact earthquakes (a natural design to release pressure and prevent the earth from exploding) happened.

We want a world where the easiest explanation is the right one. “It was God’s will” many will say – as if that takes away pain or answers our many questions. With a swipe of the “God’s Will Credit Card” we can make our offering and walk away without suffering pain or sadness. However, one look at the people of Haiti, and all they have lost, would tell you this certainly is not the desire of a loving God. I am reminded of the earthquake that Elijah experienced and the clearly written understanding that “God was not in the earthquake”. (1 Kings 19).

So if the simple, black and white answers don’t work for us anymore, what does? Where IS God? God is digging people out of the rubble, God is holding the grieving, God is boxing up food and blankets, God is inspiring soldiers, missionaries, neighbors and workers to go forward. God is putting on someone’s bandage. God is finding someone’s child. God is in the very midst of the rubble – where the colors of blood, water, courage, and faith are flowing all over the simple realities.

As Christian people, let us not retreat into our whitewashed tombs and long for simpler, happy days devoid of reality. Let’s be the likeness of God and jump into the colors that make up our world. Let’s bring our expertise, our gifts, and our passion into the rubble of the Caribbean, the reality of Richmond and to our very dinner table. From Hull Street to Haiti – let’s stop hiding behind how we want it to be… and let us bring about messy, amazing, colorful salvation through living the good news of the message of Christ.

Praying, working and reckoning with disasters like the one in Haiti make us stronger in our understanding and relationship with God. Ask hard questions and work through the answers. Like the newly colored Pleasantville- our faith may not be perfect anymore. But, it is real.