SPECIAL DAYS: Friendship Day

LESSON: Matthew 2.13-15, NRSVA

SERMON TITLE: Escape

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  1. Sing the opening stanza from The Theme from HIGH NOON (DO NOT FORSAKE ME): Music by Dimitri Tiomkin; Lyric by Ned Washington

      2. Verse 1

      DO NOT FORSAKE ME,
      OH MY DARLIN',
      ON THIS, OUR WEDDING DAY,
      DO NOT FORSAKE ME, OH MY DARLIN',
      WAIT............, WAIT ALONG!
       

    1. Who can forget the froggy baritone voice of Tex Ritter solemnly singing the words to this song from the Movie High Noon.
    2. The story line goes like this:


      3. Its 10:35. Judge Percy Mettrick is preparing to marry the town's ex-marshal Will Kane to the young Quaker girl, Amy Fowler.

      In a cross-cut, parallel scene at 10:35, the trio arrives at the town's deserted train station platform just as the train station master reads a disturbing telegram. An impatient, surly Pierce, one of the riders asks the station master:

      Gang member: Noon train on time?

      Station master: Yes sir.

      They are planning to reunite with their pardoned leader, Ben's brother Frank, arriving at noon on the mid-day train, to seek revenge on the town's marshal.

      During the marriage ceremony, Kane's (and Amy's) first words in the film are "I do."

      After they are pronounced "man and wife" and the celebration begins.

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      Kane finds privacy in an adjoining room with his new wife and promises: "I'm gonna try, Amy, I'll do my best."

      The new and younger marshal to replace Kane is expected to arrive the following day, and Henderson assures everyone: "This town will be safe 'til tomorrow."

      His new bride has firm, pacifist Quaker convictions that deplore violence, and he will be putting away his marshal's star in his last act in office - he removes his badge, a popular Western icon, and pins it on his gun holster, amidst applause.

      At that moment, the train station master bursts in, bringing a telegram ("it's terrible, it's shocking"). The message announces that outlaw Frank Miller, put away in a penitentiary by Kane five years earlier for terrorizing the town, was pardoned a week earlier.

      And three others are waiting for Miller who is to arrive on the noon train at Hadleyville, to seek revenge on the Marshal. Kane glances at the clock - it's 10:40 am.

      Henderson encourages them to leave town immediately: "Get out of this town this very minute...Don't stop 'til you get to Clarksburg." The former marshal's first reaction reveals his sense of responsibility: I think I ought to stay.

      The newly-wed couple leave town immediately, gathered into a horse and buggy buckboard to quickly ride away.

      During their retreat a few miles from town to the freedom of open country, Kane has second thoughts, as the oft-repeated, haunting theme of the film plays in the background.

      His inner conflict about leaving and the central dilemma of the film is reflected on his face as he stops the buggy and tells Amy that he's got to go back - due to his fidelity to his Western code of honor.

      Because of his fateful decision, their honeymoon will be postponed until after his 12 o'clock showdown:

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    3. This is clear in the dialogue between Will and Amy

      4. Kane: It's no good. I've got to go back, Amy.

      Amy: Why?

      Kane: This is crazy. I haven't even got any guns.

      Amy: Then let's go on. Hurry.

      Kane: No, that's what I've been thinkin'. They're making me run. I've never run from anybody before.

      Amy: I don't understand any of this.

      Kane: (after looking at his vest watch) Well, I haven't got time to tell ya.

      Amy: Then don't go back, Will.

      Kane: I've got to. That's the whole thing. (He turns the buggy around and rides back into town.)

    4. Amy wants to escape.
      1. The only thing to do is to run.
      2. She believe that if they can get far enough away they will be safe.
      3. With Frank Miller seeking revenge there is no safety.
      4. There is no place far enough to run to.

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    5. The only way Will Kane can escape is to go back.
      1. He has to live within the context of his understanding of honor and duty.
      2. To violate either concept leaves him as the song says:


        3. Verse 2

        I DO NOT KNOW WHAT FATE AWAITS ME,
        I ONLY KNOW I MUST BE BRAVE,
        AND I MUST FACE A MAN WHO HATES ME,
        OR LIE A COWARD, A CRAVEN COWARD,
        OR LIE A COWARD IN MY GRAVE,

    6. As the bridge of the song reveals he is torn between:


      7. Bridge

OH, TO BE TORN `TWIXT LOVE AND DUTY,
`SPOSIN' I LOSE MY FAIR HAIRED BEAUTY,
LOOK AT THAT BIG HAND MOVE ALONG,
NEARIN' HIGH NOON,

HE MADE A VOW WHILE IN STATE'S PRISON,
VOWED IT WOULD BE MY LIFE OR HIS'N,
I'M NOT AFRAID OF DEATH BUT,
OH, WHAT WILL I DO IF YOU LEAVE ME?

Verse 3

DO NOT FORSAKE ME, OH MY DARLIN',
YOU MAKE THAT PROMISE AS A BRIDE,
DO NOT FORSAKE ME, OH MY DARLIN',
ALTHOUGH YOU'RE GRIEVIN',
DON'T THINK OF LEAVIN'
NOW THAT I NEED YOU BY MY SIDE!

Tag

WAIT ALONG.........,WAIT ALONG...........,
WAIT ALONG.........,WAIT ALONG...........,
WAIT ALONG!

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  1. Will Kane stays.
  2. He meets Frank Miller in a gun battle.
  3. With the help of his wife, Amy, Will defeats Frank.
  4. In the closing scene Will drops his badge in the dusty road, hands Amy into the buckboard, and they ride away.
  1. There are times when one simply must take a stand.
    1. There is no alternative.
    2. It may be that you cannot leave.
    3. It may be that basic principles are involved that allow for no other options.
    4. You have to take a stand.
      1. It may be distasteful.
      2. It may be painful
      3. It may be costly, both physically or financially.
    5. You must take a stand.
  2. Sometimes it is necessary to go.
    1. Try to think of Joseph as your average family man.
      1. He is in his hometown.
      2. Perhaps he is in contact with relatives.
      3. He would like to stay in Bethlehem.
      4. There is work here and relationships.
      5. It is the birth home of Mary's child.
      6. It is a place of improving opportunities.
    2. Yet, Joseph is an honorable man.
    3. The angel of the LORD appears to Joseph in a dream.
    4. The message is starkly simple.
      1. "Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt
      2. Remain there until I tell you
      3. Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him."

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    5. Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod.
    6. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, "Out of Egypt I have called my son."
  3. Out of Egypt
    1. It brings to mind another Joseph.
      1. An honorable man.
      2. One who sought to do the best he could for his family.
      3. He could not run, but take a stand and see the situation through to its conclusion.
    2. It brings to mind another sojourn in a foreign land.
      1. Jacob and his sons went to Egypt.
      2. They lived there until they were enslaved.
      3. They also had to await their deliverance.
      4. After a time it was time for them to leave.
    3. Joseph, Mary and Jesus are not the slaves of a foreign government.
      1. They are also exiles awaiting deliverance.
      2. A deliverance that will come in good time.
    4. The biblical parallels are eloquent and inspiring.

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  4. There are times when we must take a stand and times when we must leave.
    1. We all have our Frank Millers, or Herod's with which we have to contend.
    2. God does not usually come to us in dreams and warn us.
    3. God does provide a way of escape.
    4. God does speak clearly through the word with council and advice.
    5. We like Joseph can heed the word and find security and safety.

CONCLUSION:

  1. In the movie, City of Joy, actor Patrick Swayze plays a medical student confronted with the overwhelming poverty of Calcutta.
    1. A woman confronts him with one of three choices:
      1. "You can run.
      2. You can watch. Or
      3. you can commit to getting involved with compassionate response." (1)
    2. The same three options face every individual as which path may be taken in every event of life.


      3. 1. As cited by missions consultant Paul Borthwick in Vital Ministry, July/August, 1998, 29.

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