"Reel" Cool Readings...Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

Without a doubt, Robin Hood is one of the most well known and received characters ever portrayed.  Some have claimed that the origin of this legend stemmed from actual outlaws, but since this folk figure has been around since the medieval period it's hard to know for sure.  At any rate, his adventures have been told and retold for centuries on end.  The fact that so many have sought to recapture the magic of his exploits evidences the storyline as perennial.

What started as popular English folklore has gradually made its way to modern literature, television, and cinema.  And while most remakes adequately entertain their respective audiences, the front-runner in my opinion of all the countless copies has to be Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves with Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman (close second being Disney's Robin Hood, can I get an Oo-de-lally!)

This 1991 version has been fresh on my mind as of late due to a recent Parents Gathering we held here at Allen Bible Church.  As most of you know, I just recently came on staff here part-time as the Student Ministry Director.  While trying to think of an effective way to convey my heart for partnering with them in equipping their students, I was drawn to Psalm 127.  This scene from Robin Hood fit nicely into my desired message.  How convenient that it's one of my all-time favorite movies!  Take a look:

Now before you think I only showed this because of my personal affinity for the film, let me point you to Psalm 127.

Psalm 127

Unless the LORD Builds the House

A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.

¹Unless the LORD builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city,
the watchman stays awake in vain.
²It is in vain that you rise up early
and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
for he gives to his beloved sleep.
³Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,
the fruit of the womb a reward.
⁴Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
are the children^[a] of one’s youth.
⁵Blessed is the man
who fills his quiver with them!
He shall not be put to shame
when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.^[b]


Since my first exposure to this Psalm a few years ago through my good friend and mentor Ben Johnson, I've absolutely come to love it.  It is very clear and for the most part self explanatory.  The following quote one commentator uses to describe another section of Scripture I still think is appropriate for this and most every verse in the Bible.  He speaks of it as "a pool, so shallow at the edges that a child can wade, and yet so deep at the center that an elephant can swim."

What I wanted the parents to take away from the Psalm and the video is that we have, in our students, the next generation of arrows that God is going to use as weapons in His battle.  We are privileged to not only fight ourselves, but also to mold and shape our children into instruments of spiritual warfare for God.  Just like the men in the video stripping the branches, fashioning the arrow heads, etc. 

Likewise, we must allow God to mold and shape us, so that these arrows we have can be accurately launched out.  I wanted them also to know that I am NOT claiming to be Robin Hood in this equation haha, that would definitely depict the Holy Spirit.  I and them would instead be likened to the other archers in the video. Through continual training and practice, their marksmanship drastically improved.  And the same arrows that once were missing and bouncing off the dummies were later piercing the targets with precision, penetrating purposefully!

One could draw out several other parallels between the full Robin Hood story and Scripture.  The evil Sheriff of Nottingham governs as if he were the true king, while King Richard is away advancing the cause of His kingdom, unseen and too often forgotten by His subjects back home.  Robin Hood and His Merry Men aren't desiring to overthrow the Sheriff in a worldly sense.  Instead they try to gradually build an army of loyal followers and families, seeking to, as much as possible, prevent the Sheriff from completely having his way and ruining the lives of a people he seeks to oppress.  The Sheriff's selfish agenda is to steal and destroy.  Robin Hood's main objective on the other hand is to save people from this, and hold off the forces of evil until the rightful ruler returns to take the throne and make all things right and new.

I'll stop there, but you see how this landscape sounds all too familiar.  Until Jesus, the Rightful Ruler, returns to set up His kingdom, we the church must wait expectantly and obediently.  We aren't going to usher in the Kingdom on our own, so we must instead hold off the charge of the evil one and his legions until the Second Coming of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  Our objective is to proclaim the good news and call all men everywhere to faith and repentance, acknowledging that God has set aside for Himself a people.  That the present world is not as it once was, nor as it will be. 

Wow what a hope we have in Jesus returning!  But until that day, we and the next generation must prepare for the present spiritual conflict, knowing that the ultimate victory has already been delivered us by Christ at the Cross.