The Sunday Sermonette – Life’s a Cabaret, old Chum! Until…
As the sparkling chandelier dimmed in Biloxi’s Saenger Theater, I had no idea what the musical Cabaret was all about. Then, a slow syncopated musical vamp filled the theater, and suddenly the screen came alive with a misty montage of partying people.
From one corner of the screen, a diminutive Master of Ceremonies, sporting pasty-white makeup, jet-black hair, rouged cheeks, and ruby-red, bee-stung lips, began singing, welcoming the theater audience in three different languages. I was immediately mesmerized. And fifty-three years later, I’ve never forgotten that mysteriously androgynous man who smiled and said, “Willkommen to Berlin!”
Cabaret, based on Christopher Isherwood’s 1939 novel, Goodbye to Berlin, tells the story of two doomed romances and explores the decadence of pre-World War II Berlin during the Weimar Republic, amid the rising threat of Nazism. One seemingly innocent scene begins with a teenage boy singing Tomorrow Belongs to Me. The song’s lyrics are sweet and nostalgic. He stands under a friendly oak tree, surrounded by happy people, on a sunny day in a German Biergarten.
As the boy sings, others join in. But as his song continues, his facial expression turns from sweetness to militancy. So do the others’ faces as they sing in unison with him. At the song’s ending, the camera pulls back to reveal that the charming, smiling boy is a member of the Hitler Youth. He ends the song by giving a defiant Nazi salute.
Amongst the jubilant, singing people is an elderly man who sits silently, listening and rubbing his forehead as if recalling times past. His disdain for the song and its militancy is evident in his mannerisms. He remembers all too well the meatgrinder of WWI and knows what the future holds. Should he have said something? Warned the singing masses to change course? He didn’t. Neither did they. And the war came.
Thankfully, we have a Heavenly Father who consistently warns us through His Word about the consequences of disobedience, emphasizing the importance of heeding Divine warnings to guide our moral and spiritual choices.
Father God warned the Israelites not to worship idols. They did. He warned them to trust Him when they were about to enter the Promised Land, regardless of the circumstances. They didn’t. He warned against forming alliances with those who did not share their faith and values, as such alliances would lead to moral and spiritual compromises. They didn’t.
During the period of the Judges, the Israelites fell into an endless cycle of sin, oppression, repentance, and deliverance. They had been warned to stay committed to God’s ways. They didn’t. The Weeping Prophet, Jeremiah, along with Isaiah and Ezekiel, warned the Israelites to turn back to God. They didn’t. Their eventual exile to Babylon is a testament to the seriousness of God’s warnings and the reality of His divine judgment.
Israel’s Old Testament history serves as a clear reminder that divine lessons are timeless, guiding us today to avoid disobedience, unbelief, and moral pitfalls, just as they did in ancient times.
While the Good Book portrays Father God as patient and merciful, it also shows that ignoring His warnings leads to inevitable and often severe consequences, urging us to obey and embrace His path of righteousness.
Remember the elderly man in Cabaret? He sat silently, but God’s warnings are loud and clear. Let us choose to heed His guidance and walk faithfully with Jesus on this journey called Life.
Ponder this and go forth.
