So we are going to play a respond game.
Fill in the word at the end:
“As you wish.”
“Have fun storming the castle.”
“Think it will work? It will take a miracle…”
Last one is a whole sentence response, but I know at least Karen (our Senior Warden) knows it since she said it to me after I used this word in a sermon.
“Inconceivable!!!”
(“You keep using that word. I do not think it means, what you think it means.”)
During the pandemic, the movie took a prophetic turn when a line emerged in pop culture….
The hero Westley was asked, “Why you wearing a mask? Were you burned by acid or something like that?” And he replies, “Oh no. It's just they're terribly comfortable. I think everyone will be wearing them in the future.”
With all of the action in the story, people sometimes forget that it is a story within a story. The movie opens in a young boy’s bedroom in modern day time. He’s sick, but it’s the tail end of the illness. Can’t go back to school quite yet, but he clearly feels better and is happy to be playing his video games and watching TV. He is informed by his mother that his Grandfather has arrived, and the kid groans. “He’ll pinch my cheeks…I hate that.” The Grandfather walks in, and does precisely that, and Mom, with humor, leaves them alone. The Grandfather has brought a book, read to him by his father. He later read to his son, and now he’s going to read it to his grandson, who is skeptical and unenthusiastic. And the book’s story is the underlying movie.
Throughout the showing of the fantasy adventure movie, there is the occasional break-in from Grandfather and Grandson, commenting on something relevant to the story and briefly interrupting the action.
One such moment comes after Indigo and Fezzik find the Man in Black, Westley, in Humperdinck’s dungeon, dead.
- The Grandson says: Wait, what did Fezzik mean "He's dead"? I mean, he didn't mean dead. Westley's only faking. Right?
- Grandpa: You want me to read this or not?
- The Grandson: Who gets Humperdinck?
- Grandpa: I don't understand.
- The Grandson: Who kills Prince Humperdinck? At the end. Somebody's got to do it….
- Grandpa: Nobody. Nobody kills him. He lives.
- The Grandson: You mean he wins? Jesus, Grandpa! What did you read me this thing for?
THAT is precisely the question foundational to today’s Gospel reading.
Peter says to Jesus, “There is no way this is happening to you.”
And Matthew’s readers are saying to themselves, “Why is he telling us this story if Jesus is going to die this way. How can this story be known as The Good News? How can this possibly impact my life now in a relevant way?
Peter, and the readers of this Gospel story all have a picture as to how Messiah/hero stories are supposed to go. Things can look bad, even dire, but the hero transcends it all into the position of power, vanquishing evil and then being left to oversee a future with benevolent justice.
The Grandson has an expectation: the hero will win, and that means defeating the bad guy, punishing and most likely killing him.
Peter has a vision of Jesus, the Son of God, ascending to the throne and dispatching the Romans and their minions.
The Gospel readers also have an understanding that the Jewish Messiah will restore the Davidic Kingdom, and they are pretty sure what that will look like…based on history and what all kingdoms ultimately look like.
Jesus of Nazareth’s life does not mirror this expectation. He is put to a death that is meant to shame, ridicule, and end all discussion of his relationship to God and the things he stands for.
But Crucifixion, in its wrongness and injustice, does not end Jesus’ story.
Long before it was known as a necessary action for payment of the sins of the world, it was understood to be a sacrifice for all that was right and holy. The disciples, even in their sadness and despair, saw selfless love and commitment to what was right in the faithful action of Jesus, who demonstrates the depth of God’s love for us. Jesus, through his sacrifice, reconciles the world to God, brings new life, and liberates the world from the power of death. Resurrection is the experience of that transformation, and the imperative that we follow Jesus as Lord, not the authorities responsible for his execution. It is also about the end of the age where we battle for supremacy to wield dominance over others. Instead, we are called to live differently.
(Much of this comes from Marcus Borg & John Dominic Crossan's book, The First Paul, 2009, p. 143)
That way is reflected in our Baptismal Covenant that we renewed last Sunday.
Continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in the prayers.
Persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord.
Proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ,
Seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving neighbor as yourself.
Strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.
Living this way is the transformative call of the story. That is the meaning of “take up your cross and follow me.” It is not a call to die like Jesus, and it is certainly not to wield the punitive shaming power represented by Crucifixion.
It is instead, a call to fully live into what matters to God, and that, is the love that God has for the whole world.
(Please consider reading the "Christ Crucified" chapter of Marcus Borg & John Dominic Crossan's book, The First Paul, 2009)
In The Princess Bride, love overcomes death. Prince Humperdink doesn’t get killed by the heroes. He submits, because the bully is ultimately a coward, with concern only for himself. The heroes do not need or want what he has, because what matters to them is the love they have for each other. That transcends their lives and moves them forward, and is ultimately the lesson of the story. Likewise, what matters in the movie is the Grandfather’s love for his Grandson, and that love is fully revealed after the book story’s end.
The Grandson says: "Grandpa, maybe you could come over and read it again to me tomorrow."
And the Grandfather replies: "As you wish.”
Amen.
(This sermon was preached at Trinity Episcopal Church on August 30th, 2026)
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