Film Friday Theme: Walking by faith
Bible refs: Matthew 14 vv 22-33
Similar clips: Goldeneye – A leap of faith
Location of clip: er… still working on that… it’s towards the end…!!!
Film Description:
Indy and his dad set off on a quest to find the Holy Grail. Indiana’s father has been looking for it all his life. Many adventures lead them across Europe on horses, trucks, tanks and airships all the way to the Middle East. Along the way they do much battling with doing with many nasty bad guys who also want the grail. They end up in the ancient monastery carved into the rock at Petra. Here Indy must face three final tests.
Clip description:
Indy’s father is dying. He has been shot and only water from the cup of Christ can save him. Just one problem, Indy must weave his way through three life threatening puzzles, in order to reach the cave where the cup is hidden. Only a penitent man may pass through the first test. Indy approaches the narrow entrance and, at the last moment, ducks and rolls forward narrowly avoiding the razor sharp disc which slices above his head. In the second test, he may only proceed in the footsteps of God. He eventually deduces that he must follow a series of stones that spell out the name of God, Jehovah, remembering that in Latin, Jehovah begins with i.
The final test is the most difficult, he must take a step of faith across a ravine, there is no footbridge, no rope ladder. Just a drop that falls away into nothing. Indy steels his courage and demonstrates his faith by stepping out. Once he has stepped he can see the way ahead and follows it quickly.
Thoughts:
Peter comes in for a lot of stick about his sinking in the water moment. But let’s not forget, the other disciples didn’t end up wet and embarrassed – because they stayed in the boat. Only Peter got wet – but only Peter knows what it’s like to walk on water. He dared try, and Jesus thought it was a great idea.
When he started to sink, it wasn’t because he panicked about the water, it was because he looked at the weather again. He only had so much energy, concentrating on both the storm and Jesus was too difficult. He could only give his attention to one thing. He couldn’t multi-task.
We often fear failure don’t we. If you’re like me you often don’t attempt things for fear you’ll get it wrong, or because you’re worried it might not be the right thing to do. But often we need to take the risks, what’s that old adage? You can’t steer a stationary vehicle. We need to try the doors, we need to make the mistakes. Maybe we’re even called to a life of making mistakes – that’s the best way to learn and grow. And God certainly wants us to do that. How much have we learnt because Peter and the other stooges made so many public blunders?
Questions:
1. Do you ever beat yourself up when you try something and it doesn’t work out as planned?
2. Peter failed spectacularly on several occasions, and not least on the night he denied Jesus. Yet most people say they identify with Peter. What do you think about that?
3. Are you facing any step-of-faith decisions at the moment?
4. It’s easy to encourage others to take those difficult steps. But are there ways we can walk on the water with them?
5. Did the clip make you think about anything else?
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