Coming Up Sunday, August 23

The "Summer Blockbuster Sermon Series" continues on Sunday with the third summer movie, "The Hangover." The R-rated comedy, now the second highest grossing comedy of all time (not accounting for inflation), is the surprise hit of the summer. It tells the story of a weekend in Las Vegas gone horribly wrong -- the hook is that no one can remember what happened on the fateful night.

Here is one of the trailers:

Where did the live chicken come from? Who knows. The film mines lots of laughs from the completely unexpected, such as the random appearance of Mike Tyson singing along with a Phil Collins song. And there are lots of laughs (many from inappropriate humor) in the film.

How does it relate to the Bible? I could tease you and make up some outlandish tale, though drunkenness plays a role in several Biblical stories, such as the end of the story of Lot. More than this, though, drunkenness is a prominent theme in the prophets, who accuse the Hebrews of being too intoxicated to recognize what's really going on. Jeremiah 23 is just one such passage.

Can the same be said of us? Have we gotten so comfortable with our lives, including our lives of faith, that we've become intoxicated with our blessings, blinded by our wealth, hungover with our relative power? Do we all need a strong cup of coffee (or a whole pot) to wake up to reality?