This coming Friday, September 26, marks the 50th anniversary of the start of one of the most beloved TV shows of all time. But gosh, I forget the title . . . . [pause] . . . I can think of the characters. With a skinny guy [break into singing] . . . .
the Skipper too.
The millionaire and his wife,
the movie star,
the professor and Mary Ann,
here on Gilligan's Isle.
Now, how many of you have ever seen Gilligan’s Island on TV? Raise your hand. The show lasted only 3 seasons and was popular, but really became a hit with re-runs in the 70s and 80s.
For those of you who are too young to remember, the show was about seven odd, but like-able characters that were stranded on a tropical island. It was a comedy and each week they would try to get off the island (in some unusual way) and go home.
The show is fiction. That is, it was made up. Just as the story Jesus told in the gospel is . . . it’s made up. It is a parable. It didn’t happen! It often gets people upset, for they start arguing about how awful business would be if people were allowed to start work at any time, and how unfair it is that everyone gets paid the same. Remember, it was a made-up story by Jesus!
But Jesus is trying to get across a point to those who felt they were “insiders.” For example, the Jews who followed Jesus before the non-Jews (who are called Gentiles) . . . and how some of these Jews felt that they were entitled to more. And also to the disciples who were with Jesus from the very start, as opposed to those who just became believers. Jesus is trying to teach them all a lesson that says, “Stop thinking of who is more loved, or who is a better follower because they have been at it longer.” Jesus even gives them a “zinger” by telling them that the last will be first and the first last.
Gee, that’s difficult to hear . . . especially for some of us who have been following Jesus our whole lives or for those who have been active in Church for years. We’ve been following the rules and obeying all the commandments. So when Jesus uses the image of equality and sameness that makes some of us upset. It’s as if we say, “it’s just not fair that God loves those other people the same as me.”
Sometimes we think that life is easier to understand, when we put ourselves above other people. for example saying, “At least I am not like that person.” Or we try to blame the faults of the world onto that person, or group. That is, by thinking, “She is the reason my life is awful.” or “My life would be better if that group would just change.”
But think back to Gilligan’s Island. There were no “bad guys” among the seven leads. The badness came from the forces of nature . . . e.g. storms, lightening, quicksand, volcanoes . . . or from wild animals or native people. But none of the seven main characters were villains.
Even in the parable, the latecomers weren’t bad people. Yet, we here today, get “messed-up” when we want to create bad people. Maybe that’s why some of us hang onto a “disdain” for Muslims, or divorced or gays. That is, we want God to love us more than them.
There was another element of Gilligan’s Island that occurred in various ways each week . . . each of the Castaways were forced to look at life through the eyes of the others . . . and to examine their own life as well. Maybe we are called to do the same.
Instead of assuming, or gossiping or judging . . . maybe we should try understanding. We can start by asking a simple question: “Why?’ I find that once we “get to know” someone else . . . we begin to take apart fences and walls . . . and perhaps realize that we are all:
-people with various backgrounds and stories that at first seem so different
-and are put together (as Church, as community)
-and we can feel stranded at times,
-ultimately all trying to get home, to a heavenly home
-and as Pope Francis keeps reminding us, this journey is supposed to be “of joy.”
And when we come down to it . . . much of life contains funny moments (like a good TV comedy) and in the end it is all about God and God’s grace moving in our lives.
God’s grace is amazing. That song, “Amazing Grace” is one of most beloved songs of all times. And did you know that those powerful lyrics can be sung to the melody of the theme song from Gilligan’s Island? Let’s try it:
Amazing Grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind but now I see.
‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.
The hour I first believed.
Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come
‘Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.
And grace will lead me home.