If not for the musical, The Man of La Mancha, I might never have read Cervantes’ classic novel, Don Quixote. And I would have missed something important—about knights and what seems like an impossible quest.
In the story, a confused, elderly Don Quixote thinks himself a knight and goes on a quest in late 16th century Spain. Or is he confused? As he sings in the musical:
"Hear me now
Oh thou bleak and unbearable world,
Thou art base and debauched as can be;
And a knight with his banners all bravely unfurled
Now hurls down his gauntlet to thee!
Hear me, heathens and wizards
And serpents of sin!
All your dastardly doings are past,
For a holy endeavor is now to begin
And virtue shall triumph at last!
I am I, Don Quixote,
The Lord of La Mancha,
My destiny calls and I go …
Onward to glory I go!"
The point of all this: We need to broaden our concepts of what it means to be a knight. It's not about the armor, the jousting, or the swords. Rather, it is about the quest—and the kind of people who go on quests.
We meet some knights in this week’s selection from Acts. Peter and the other Apostles are dragged before Israel’s leaders. There, they are chastised because, even though ordered not to, they dared to tell everyone about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Despite appearances, this is actually a contest between good knights and evil men. Weapons are brandished—spiritual weapons. It's not the confused tilting at windmills of Don Quixote. But make no mistake about it, when Peter responds to the Chief Priest, a gauntlet is hurled down!
These Apostles are on a quest. They are "armed" with the Holy Spirit, and no amount of priestly command or threat is going to keep them from going "onward to glory!" There’s another Man of La Mancha song, The Impossible Dream, that perfectly captures the quest these Jesus followers went on.
"To dream ... the impossible dream ...
To fight ... the unbeatable foe ...
To bear ... with unbearable sorrow ...
To run ... where the brave dare not go ...
To right ... the unrightable wrong ...
To love ... pure and chaste from afar ...
To try ... when your arms are too weary ...
To reach ... the unreachable star ...
“This is my quest, to follow that star ...
No matter how hopeless, no matter how far ...
To fight for the right, without question or pause ...
To be willing to march into Hell, for a Heavenly cause ...
“And the world will be better for this:
That one man, scorned and covered with scars,
Still strove, with his last ounce of courage,
To reach ... the unreachable star!"
To dream big dreams, to stand against seemingly unbeatable foes, to bear one another’s sorrows, to right wrongs, to love purely, to keep trying and to never lose faith. Perhaps all that seems impossible, but it’s not. Because Jesus, scorned and covered with scars, marched into hell for a heavenly cause—the heavenly cause—and returned triumphant, we can now reach what was once unreachable.
Now, we are the knights engaged in the heavenly endeavor. This is our quest.
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ART:
Hear Josh Groban sing The Impossible Dream:
Ricky Comeaux sings Man of La Mancha:
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We meet DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast Friday morning on Zoom** or in person at Our Breakfast Place. Join us from 8:00 to 9:00. We'll have some good food, read some great scripture, and enjoy each other’s company.
I promise: no gauntlet throwing.
Many Blessings!
Steve
**Contact me for the Zoom link
NOTE: Zoom allows you to mute the camera and microphone if you don’t wish to be seen or heard.
SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY AND THE COMING WEEK
Acts 5:27-32
Psalm 118:14-29 or Psalm 150
Revelation 1:4-8
John 20:19-31
Second Sunday of Easter (April 24, 2022)
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