Preaching "Invictus"

The film "Invictus" centers around Nelson Mandela's work to unify and build a post-apartheid nation. The story retells his efforts to encourage the national rugby team to win the 1995 World Cup as a means of bringing the country together.

The film's title is drawn from an 1875 poem by William Ernest Henley that Mandela used for inspiration during his long imprisonment by the South African government. Mandela gives the poem to the captain of the rugby team after a discussion about inspiration:

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
Invictus, 1875, William Ernest Henley

While this is a poem of one person's overcoming personal challenges, and a hymn to individualism, it is clear that Mandela is using it to feed his dream for a united South Africa. The individual is always in relationship to a community, a nation, and commonly-held goals.

The sport of rugby features prominently in the film. Any team sport is a combination of individuality and teamwork. As such, the sport becomes a metaphor for the challenges facing South Africa during this time. Rugby in this film becomes a metaphor of the struggle for social change, which is often rough and bloodied.

The images of the scrum, and then the individual popping out with the ball to either run or kick, shows the "dance" of the team/group and the individual. Each needs the other. For a good look at rugby in relation to this film, check out this article.

Texts for Preaching "Invictus"

Several texts are prompted by the title, story, and dialog in the film. I'd suggest the following:

Matthew 5:43-48, "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you..."
Luke 6:37, "Forgive, and you will be forgiven."
Romans 8:37-39, "We are more than conquerors through him who loved us..."
Romans 12:17, "Repay no one evil for evil..."
2 Corinthians 5:20, "So we are ambassadors for Christ..."

Religious References

Aside from a short scene featuring a Congregational Church in the background, and the team's prayer at the end of the match (all of 15 words, including "Thanks for the win. Amen.", there are few "obvious" religious references. Yet the film is full of clippable dialog about fear, forgiveness, individual effort to bring people together, legacies of apartheid and efforts to overcome them, and the need for people to become the change they wish to see. The theological references in the film are vast and the preaching opportunities many!

Short Notes:

1) The Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa was set up around the same time as this film is set. To understand more of this as background for a sermon, you could go here. This was part of the Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act, No. 34 of 1995.

2) Director Clint Eastwood seems to be focusing on the theme of redemptive non-violence in this film and his Gran Torino (2008). This is an important theme to highlight as so many films take on stories with the "myth of redemptive violence" (see Walter Wink's work on this).

3)Other references to popular culture, for use with a multi-media sermon presentation, can be found here.

[A word about my use of Wikipedia: while some may frown upon it as an academic source, I find it can give a jump-start to your work and get you moving into your topic. Like anything on the Internet, it’s important to read a number of articles to arrive at a fuller understanding. Wikipedia is a great place to start.]

4) As said earlier, the film lends itself to a message about South African apartheid and Nelson Mandela's efforts to bring reconciliation and unity to a divided nation.

5) Another preaching theme could be that of leadership, organization, and inspiration. Examples in the film come from Mandela's understanding of this and his strategies for implementing it, as well as the rugby captain's (Francois Pienaar played by Matt Damon) learning this and communicating it to the rest of the team. Relating this to your own leadership and organization challenges within a congregation might be an application.

6) An important line from the film is something like, "Forgiveness removes fear--it is a powerful weapon..." and this alone can be a starting point for your message. The story shows the intentional work of breaking "the cycle of fear" rather than reinforcing it in the context of the national situation at that time.

This film lends itself as a foundation for a preaching series on themes such as reconciliation, forgiveness, fear, social change, building unity out of diversity, and partnering for greater social, political and/or organizational progress.

There is also much in this film that could be illustrative material for a more general sermon about reconciliation, forgiveness, individual and group effort, the need for inspiration in individual and team challenges.

Once the script/DVD is out, we'll be able to suggest those clippable moments.