### Quotes for Outreach

1. "Every great story to some extent, to the extent that it is great at all, will reflect the greatest story that's ever been told, which is the story of Jesus Christ, the gospel of Christ. And these different stories will not reflect the gospel in their totality. Only the story of Jesus does that." [35:39] (23 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2. "There's an African concept called Sankofa, which means it's a bird in Africa. And it means looking back but moving forward and doing both at the same time. Looking back but moving forward. And I think To Kill a Mockingbird helps us to do that." [38:11] (21 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3. "He comes to break oppression to set the captive free to take away transgression and rule in equity. He comes with succor speedy to those who suffer wrong to help the poor and needy and bid the weak be strong to give them songs for sighing their darkness turned to light whose souls condemned and dying are precious in His sight." [49:56] (23 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4. "You never understand a person until you consider things from his point of view until you climb inside of his skin walk around in it you never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view until you crawl inside of his skin and walk around in it." [52:36] (27 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5. "Shoot all the mockingbirds you want but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird and that's the title of the book of course and the movie to kill a mockingbird now look for just a moment take a glance at the front cover of your bulletin and you see there a mockingbird it's a beautiful bird and you see it as it in kind of its upward motion of flight as if cruising to heaven it's a beautiful beautiful bird." [53:08] (40 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


### Quotes for Members

1. "Methodist themes like sanctification come up in this story. Like doing what is right even when it's unpopular. Loving God with all of our hearts. Loving our neighbor as ourselves, which John Wesley called sanctification. And in the Methodist Wesleyan tradition when we look at loving our neighbor in public settings, that's called social justice, which is played out very well by Atticus Finch in the story." [42:36] (37 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2. "Atticus was a lawyer in this fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama which was roughly the same as Harper Lee's Monroeville, Alabama. Atticus is an honest man. He is an honorable man. He is doing his best to raise two children by himself and he is the lawyer in town. And he is called on to defend a black man whose name was Tom Robinson who is accused of raping a white woman named Mary Ella Ewell." [46:52] (40 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3. "But despite all of that biblical tradition Tom Robinson was still denied the most basic form of justice. You know when Jesus looked out over the city of Jerusalem Luke tells us that He wept over the city of Jerusalem. I can't help but think one of the reasons that Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem and probably still weeps over our cities today is because of this human propensity to deny people justice what is right what is true what is fair what is equitable to deny justice." [50:55] (57 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4. "The one that they feared the most turns out to be their savior they had made fun of him the first of him they had mocked him you might say mocked him as in mockingbird but they feared him the most and yet he turned out to be the very one who was their salvation interesting maybe Boo Radley is the mockingbird." [56:54] (33 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5. "There is one man who is completely innocent never ever sinned at all never ever did anything except good for everybody he loved everybody he went about doing good and he did nothing for any of us except pour out his heart in love in song his heart of love is what he sang to us all of our days and despite all of his love for all of us what did we do collectively to him at a place called Calvary we killed him on a cross." [57:57] (49 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

Thank you choir.The scripture for today is from three sourcesAmos and Micah and Galatians.You'll find some passages on the back page of your bulletinif you'd like to follow along.First from Amos chapter 5and the context for this is,this passage in Amos 5 is,the people of Israel at the timeoften thoughtthat it didn't matter how they treated people.They thought they could treat people with injustice,with unfairness,not treating them with kindness or justiceand it didn't matter because, hey, after all,they had the right religionand they did the right religious ritualsand so what they did during the week didn't really matter.And so Amos' response to them was this,from Amos chapter 5.He writes,I hate, I despise your festivalsand I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.Even though you offer me your burnt offeringsand grain offerings,I will not accept them.And the offerings of well-being of your fatted calves,I will not look upon them.Take away from me the noise of your song,I will not listen to the melody of your harps.But let justice roll down like watersand righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.And Micah has these words,He has told you, O mortal, what is goodand what does the Lord require of youbut to do justiceand to love kindnessand to walk humbly with your God.Paul writes in Galatians 3,In Christ Jesus you are all children of Godthrough faith.As many of you were baptized into Christhave clothed yourselves with Christ.There's no longer Jew or Greek.There's no longer slave or free.There's no longer male and female.For all of you are one in Christ Jesus.And if you belong to Christ,then you are Abraham's offspring,heirs,according to the promise.This is the word of God for the people of God.Thanks be to God.Every great story to some extent,to the extent that it is great at all,will reflect the greatest story that's ever been told,which is the story of Jesus Christ,the gospel of Christ.And these different stories will not reflect the gospel in their totality.Only the story of Jesus does that.But maybe some of the great stories that we know aboutwill reflect maybe one dimension of the gospel.So this summer we are looking at some of our culture's great storiesas told through filmto uncover at least some part of the gospel in them.Now today's story or film isTo Kill a Mockingbird.Now before it was a movie,it was a book.And since then it has also become a Broadway play.I'm curious, how many of you are familiar with the story ofTo Kill a Mockingbird?A lot of you, a lot of you.How many of you, I'm just curious again,how many of you read To Kill a Mockingbird in school,maybe middle school or high school?Gosh, a lot of you.Wow.How many of you have seen the movie?Again, a lot of you.Anybody seen the play?Wow.A lot of you have seen the play.That's great.Harper Lee wrote the book in 1960.And it immediately became popular.It won a Pulitzer Prize in 1961.And a movie was made based on the book.The movie starred Gregory Peck, 1962.I think he won an Academy Award for his portrayalof Atticus Finch in that movie.And in a PBS survey of readers that was done in 2018,the book that was voted the most beloved novel,the most beloved American novel of all timeswas To Kill a Mockingbird.That survey was done by PBS in 2018.So needless to say,and you can see how popular this story isjust by the number of hands that were raised earlier,this has been a very popular story.It has struck a chord deep within the American people.And I think it has been so popular for several reasons.One, it deals with race and racism and racial justice.And those are topics that the American peopleneed to grapple with and need to address.And this story helps us do that.There's an African concept called Sankofa,which means it's a bird in Africa.And it means looking back but moving forwardand doing both at the same time.Looking back but moving forward.And I think To Kill a Mockingbirdhelps us to do that.Another reason it became so popular, I think,was that it was published in 1960.And so it was uniquely positioned,the timing was just right,to be very influentialat the beginning of the 1960sand the civil rights movement.It was just very appropriategiven what was going on in our country at the time.Tom Brokaw, you may remember Tom,famous TV anchorman and author,wrote The Greatest Generation and other things.Anyway, Tom Brokaw was asked to write an essayabout To Kill a Mockingbirdon his 50th anniversary in 2010.And what Tom Brokaw said wasTo Kill a Mockingbird had an electrifying effecton our country.An electrifying effect.Now, I don't know,I wasn't around in 1960.But Tom Brokaw was.And he said he was a college student at the timewhen this book had such an electrifying effect.And Tom Brokaw is a pretty astute observerof American culture.And when he says it had an electrifying effecton the country,I would probably take his word for it.It probably did.But the other reason that I thinkthat the story has been so popularis because God is behind it.I think God is operating somehow through this story.It's a great story.It's a tragic story in some ways.But it's a story that reminds usof God's saving activity in Jesus Christ.And so it has some staying power,not only in the 1960s,but even up until our current day today.By the way,Harper Lee, the author of the book,was a Methodist.Anybody know that?She was. She was.As a matter of fact, her whole familywas very activein her hometown of Monroeville, Alabamaat the First United Methodist Churchthere in Monroeville, Alabama.Her family gave the stained glass windowat First United Methodist Churchin Monroeville, Alabama.And her sister, her older sister Alice,was a delegate to the United Methodist General Conferencein 1968.So her family backgroundwas just saturated with Methodism.And believe it or not,Methodism does come up in her bookand in the movie.She mentions it as well.In the first two pagesof the book,she's already talking about Methodism.She mentions the Methodist ancestorsof Atticus Finch.And on page two of the book,she has a quote from John Wesley.So Methodism kind of permeatesthis book in some ways.If you've seen the movie,you may remember there's a scenein which Jim, one of his sons,climbs up in a tree.And he refuses to come down from that tree.And Atticus goes up to him and says,Would you please come down from that tree?It's time for you to go to school.And he says,I'm not coming down from this treeuntil Atticus promises to play footballfor the Methodists.And Atticus says,No, I'm too old for that.I can't do that.You don't want me to go out thereand break some leg.And Jim says,Oh, you're too old for everything.Never any fun.But Methodism right thereat the beginning of the movieas well as in the book.But even at a deeper levelthan even that,Methodist themes like sanctificationcome up in this story.Like doing what is righteven when it's unpopular.Loving God with all of our hearts.Loving our neighbor as ourselves,which John Wesley called sanctification.And in the Methodist Wesleyan traditionwhen we look atloving our neighbor in public settings,that's called social justice,which is played out very wellby Atticus Finch in the story.Atticus Finch,very Methodist type of figure.I think,here's what I think.I think that Harper Leeis to Methodismwhat Flannery O'Connorwas to Catholicism.By that,I mean they were bothfemale southern authorswho were deeply influencedby their religious practices.And it came out in their writings.Harper Lee was awardeda Presidential Medal of Freedomfor her book.And she was awarded this in 2007by a Methodist presidentby the name of George W. Bush.So just Methodist fingerprintsare all over this story.Anyway, on with the story.Just to give you a recap.The story is told by the narratorwho is a little girlnamed Scout.And she is being raisedby a single fathernamed Atticus Finch.And she and her brother Jimare also raisedby their black housekeeper,Calpurnia.They have a friendnamed Dillwho comes to visit themduring the summersjust in a similar waythat Truman Cabotecame to see Harper Leewhen she was a little girlin Alabama.But down the street from themthere livedthis mysterious figurenamed Boo Radley.And they treatand act as if Boo Radleyis some kind ofweird monster type of figure.But we find out later in the bookthat he playsa different role.The setting for the bookand the movieis that it's the 1930s.So keep in mindthis is the Jim Crow eraof the American South.It's a timemarked not only bystrict segregationof the racesbut black people are not allowedto vote.They are not allowed to serve on a jury.During this timethere were over4,000 lynchingsthat took placein the American Jim Crow South.That is times when a black personusually a black manalthough sometimes women and childrenwere seized by an angry white mobtaken out and killed.And the perpetrators of this violencewere never held accountablefor their lawlessness.As a matter of factthey were often applauded and celebrated.People would come and bringto watch a lynchingas if it were some kind of celebrationand have pictures takenand have postcards madeto celebrate when a lynching happened.This is the kind of thingsthat happened in the Jim CrowAmerican South.The setting for this story.I wish I could saythat Methodists stoodagainst this practicebut for the most partSouthern Methodistsdidn't act any way differently than other people.They didn't let it go.They took part in it sometimes.But this storydoes feature the storyof a certain Methodistnamed Atticus Finchwho did stand against it.Who did take a standand who did act differently.Atticus was a lawyerin this fictional townof Maycomb, Alabamawhich was roughly the sameas Harper Lee'sMonroeville, Alabama.Atticus is an honest man.He is an honorable man.He is doing his bestto raise two children by himselfandhe is the lawyer in town.And he is called onto defend a black manwhose name wasTom Robinsonwho is accused of rapinga white womannamed Mary Ella Ewell.And actually at one pointAtticus prevents a lynchingfrom happening to Tom Robinsonat one point in the story.But in courtwhen Atticus is defending Tom Robinsonfrom the accusationhe proves that Tom Robinsonis innocent.I mean whoever attackedMary Ella Ewelldid it with their left hand.The blowsthat she receivedwere done by somebodywho did it with their left handand Atticus provesthat Tom Robinsoncouldn't even use his left hand.As a matter of facthis whole left arm was renderedunable to be usedbecause he had been involvedin a cotton gin accidentseveral years agoand he couldn't use his left arm at all.And Atticus showedhe proved beyond the shadow of a doubtthat whoever beat up Mary Ella Ewelldid so by striking herwith the left hand.He is not guilty.But neverthelessbesides all that proofTom Robinson is stillfound guiltyby an all whitejury.And before they can appeal the casehe tries to escapeand he is shotas he tries to escapeprobably thinkinghe's not going to get a fair trial at allhe might as well try to escape.So for Tom Robinsonthis is a completedenialof justice.Justice is what the Old Testamentprophets like Amosand Hosea were calling for.Jesuscertainly also fell intothat Old Testament traditionof calling for justice.As a matter of factI don't know if you noticed the opening hymnthat we sung this morningbut this is one of the descriptions of JesusHe comes to break oppressionto set the captive freeto take away transgressionand rule inequity.He comes with succor speedyto those who suffer wrongto help the poor and needyand bid the weak be strongto give them songs for sighingtheir darkness turned to lightwhose souls condemned and dyingare precious in His sight.That's what Jesus was like.He stood in that Old Testament traditionof the prophetswho called for justiceespecially justice for the poor.And the Apostle Paulwrote in Galatiansthat we read earlier this morningHe says we're all one in Christ JesusHe says it doesn't matterwhether you're slave, free,Jew or Greek, male or femalenone of those things matterthe only thing that mattersis that we're all children of Godthrough Christ Jesusand through faith in Him.But despite all of thatbiblical traditionTom Robinsonwas still deniedthe most basic formof justice.You knowwhen Jesus looked outover the city of JerusalemLuke tells usthat He weptover the city of Jerusalem.I can't help but thinkone of the reasons that Jesus weptover the city of Jerusalemand probably still weeps overour cities todayis because of this human propensityto deny peoplejusticewhat is rightwhat is truewhat is fairwhat is equitableto deny justice.Now I know thatTo Kill a Mockingbirdis not a perfect booknot a perfect movienot even flawsand it has come under somecriticism in recent yearsand I am perfectly happyto acknowledge that yesit has its limitationsbut besides all thatthere's still a lot for usto learn from the storyhere are a couple of quotesfrom Atticus Finchthat come up in the storyone that he's most famous foris thishe saysyou never understand a personuntil you considerthings from hispoint of viewuntil you climb insideof his skinwalk around in ityou neverreally understand a personuntil you consider things from his point of viewuntil you crawl inside of his skinand walk around in itthat's basicallywhat that reminds me ofis the golden rulethat is do unto othersas you would have themdo unto youand that's kind of the foundational rulefor justicefor treating peoplewith justicethere's another quotefrom Atticus Finch in this storythat reminds us of our Biblical faithand he says thishe says to Jimhis son Jim he saysshoot all the mockingbirds you wantbut rememberit's a sinto kill a mockingbirdand that's the titleof the book of courseand the movieto kill a mockingbirdnow look for just a momenttake a glance at the frontcover of your bulletinand you see therea mockingbirdit's a beautiful birdand you see it as itin kind of its upward motionof flight as ifcruising to heavenit's a beautiful beautiful birdbut Calpurnia addsto what Atticus has saidwhen he sayssin to kill a mockingbirdby the way that's the only thing in the bookthat is called a sinhe says it's a sin to kill a mockingbirdbut Calpurnia saysmockingbirds don't do one thingbut make music for usto enjoythey don't eat up people's gardensthey don't doone thingbut sing their hearts outfor usso I ask youwho is the mockingbirdis the mockingbirdin this storythat Harper Lee is writingwell in some ways we could saywell Tom Robinsonis the mockingbirdcause he's an innocent manhe never did anything to harm anybodyhe never did anybody wronghe only did good things for peopleCal Ewell whom he's accused of rapinghe only did good thingsfor herand yet this innocent manwas found guiltyof a heinous crimeand was eventually shotas he pursued his rightful freedomand justiceand so at the end of the storythey shot and killeda mockingbird namedTom Robinsonand that kind of thingdidn't just happen in the 1930'sor even in the 1960'sor even todaythe injustice continueseven in our dayeven though it's a sinto kill a mockingbirdwell there's another characterin the bookthat I think you could saywell maybe he's the mockingbirdand that is Boo Radleyhe's like a mockingbirdhe's kind of a recluselives down the streethe's very shysocially awkwardbut he doesn't harm anybodyheas a matter of facthe leaves the children toyshe carveslittle dolls for the childrenand leaves them toysand leaves them in the knot of a treefor the children to findhe's too shy to give it to them directlybut he leaves them toysjust kind of leaves them out for the childrento findand he never hurt anybodythey feared him throughout most of the bookthroughout most of the moviethey considered him some kind ofmonsterthey were afraid of him the whole timebut it turns outat the end of the storythat the person who savesthe two little childrenis none other than Boo Radleyso the one that they fearedthe mostturns out to betheir saviorthey had made fun of himthe first of himthey had mocked himyou might say mocked himas in mockingbirdbut they feared him the mostand yet he turned out to bethe very onewho was their salvationinterestingmaybe Boo Radleyis the mockingbirdbut there's one more figureI want us to think aboutwho I think is never mentioned explicitlyin the movie but his presencethe moviethe storythe bookthere is one man who iscompletely innocentnever ever sinned at allnever ever did anythingexcept goodfor everybodyhe lovedeverybodyhe went about doing goodand he did nothingfor any of usexcept pour out his heartin lovein songhis heart of loveis what he sang to usall of our daysand despite all of his lovefor all of uswhat did we docollectively to himat a place called Calvarywe killed himon a crossthe whole human racekilled the mockingbirdthe one who came to save usthat God raised himfrom the deadso that we today can stillworship and honor himand follow him and obey himas our Lordthanks be to Godfor Jesus Christour truemockingbirdAmenas we forth from this place todayand as we carry the love of God with usinto the worldand all those whom we meetmay we practice what the prophet Micah wrotemay we do justicemay we love kindnessmay we walk humbly with our GodAmen