A Hidden Life
John 19:1-16, Part 4
This is the final part of a sermon which has focused on the question of God's sovereignty and our free will. The 2019 film, A Hidden Life, provides an example of what it looks like to live as if we not only have free will, but are also responsible to God for what we do or fail to do.
Watch part one here
Watch part two here
Watch part three here
Notes:
Official movie trailer for A Hidden Life, Terrence Malick, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJXmdY4lVR0
This trailer is the property of Searchlight Pictures. It is used under Fair Use (Section 107 of the Copyright Act). We will in no way profit monetarily from the use of this trailer. Consistent with the intent of the owners of the trailer, our intention is to promote the movie. We highly recommend this movie.
“...for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.” (George Eliot, Middlemarch)
This movie is “inspired by true events.” It’s the story of an Austrian farmer named Franz Jagerstatter. The trailer starts by showing the simple, happy life that he lives with his wife and children in a small mountain town. When Germany takes over Austria during World War II Jagerstatter is conscripted. Jagerstatter does not refuse to serve in some capacity—they offer to allow him to serve as an orderly in a hospital—but absolutely refuses to sign allegiance to Hitler—something the Nazis require for all who serve. Jagerstatter stands virtually alone (he has the support of his wife) in his humble defiance. A devout Catholic, he turns to the Church for direction and support. The Church, the town, his friends, even his mother, the Nazis, all try to convince him he is making a mistake, that what he is doing is arrogant, foolish, meaningless, and hurtful to his wife, family, town and country and contrary to the will of God. He is not considered a hero. He is considered a traitor. These are some of the arguments raised to convince him to sign the pledge:
The Church says you have a duty to the Fatherland.
You are being arrogant. You think you’re better than the rest.
You are a traitor to your family, town, country.
Jesus tells us to love. What you are doing is hurting others.
What you’re doing won’t make any difference.
Even if it is sin to pledge allegiance, God will forgive you.
The movie shows the arduous and painful internal process Jagerstatter endures in holding to his faith, following his convictions, doing what he believes is right, what he believes is God’s will.
The reason why I’m talking about this movie is because it invites us to consider the idea of free will and responsibility.
“If God gives us free will, we’re responsible for what we do or what we fail to do.”
Jagerstatter not only understands and confesses this, but intends to live it. The truth is, what we live is what we believe. “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them…? …faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead” (James 2:14,17).
In the movie Jagerstatter says,
“I can’t do what I believe is wrong…. We have to stand up to evil.”
This makes it sound as if he “can’t” sign the pledge because it is wrong, because Hitler is evil. That’s true. But it sounds as if he is refusing to sign because it is inherently the right thing to do and not necessarily out of obedience to God. Jagerstatter refuses to sign the pledge not simply because it is the morally right thing to do according to his conscience, but because it is what God calls him to do and he is accountable to God for what he does. “If God gives us free will, we’re responsible for what we do or what we fail to do.” His action comes from faith (see Gal 2:20).
What I want to emphasize is the importance of living, of acting in a way that is not merely “inherently right,” but is consistent with, is true to what we believe about God. We must intend to live by faith in God. Here’s what I think Jagerstatter in the movie should say,
“I will not sign the pledge because of my belief in God,
because I believe he gives us free will and, therefore,
I am responsible to him, to do his will, to obey him.
You see, I fear God, more than anyone or anything.
You see, I love God, more than anyone or anything.
It is wrong for me to sign the pledge because I would be
disobeying God and I will not do that.
My action may be meaningless in this world, at this time,
but it is not meaningless before God and in eternity.
I will not betray God.
And because I know that God is sovereign over all things
and that all things work together for his glory and good purposes,
I trust him, and know that what I do, according to the will of God,
is what is ultimately good, right, best and loving,
and, therefore, meaningful.”
Jagerstatter is finally executed for his defiance. His was a “hidden life” and death. His was a “quiet act of resistance.” What he did didn’t change the course of things. His wife was widowed. His children were orphaned. The family was ostracized for what he did.
Did he do the right thing? Was it worth it? I think that the justification Paul gave for his tortured and, at the time, ignominious service to God applies to Jagerstatter’s actions:
…if indeed we share in his [Christ’s] sufferings… we may also share in his glory.
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us….
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:17,18,38)
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal…
For we live by faith, not by sight…. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18; 5:7-10)
What Jagerstatter did, what Paul did, was not extraordinary. This kind of life is the only life that “saves” any one of us. It is the “life that is life” (John 10:10). The confrontation between right and wrong, was more clear-cut and dramatic for Jagerstatter and for Paul than for most of us. (This might have actually made it easier for them than it is for us.) But the challenge to live by faith and not by sight is no less serious and no less necessary for us. Jesus said,
“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.”
(Luke 9:23-24)