I had the privilege of preaching from this passage on Sunday 15th March 2026 at All Souls Church, Eastbourne. You can read the sermon below or listen to it by clicking the image above. God bless!

Why are we doing this? This. Right now. Here. It’s lovely to see you all. But seriously. What’s the point? Why do Christians gather together in the first place? And what is it that keeps us gathering together?

When I moved into my flat I got a TV licensing letter. Have you ever got one of those? It’s when you move into a new place and they want to make sure you’re not watching TV illegally. It’s a terrifying letter to read. It screams at you in bold red letters:

“Official warning: we have opened an investigation… It is a criminal offence to watch or record programmes as they’re being shown on TV unless you have a TV Licence… If we don’t hear from you, our Enforcement Division will schedule a visit.”

Wow. Certainly gets the heart pounding. And that’s the point. It’s commanding you to do the right thing in the name of the law. Fair enough.

Well, tonight we’re looking at another letter urging someone to do the right thing. But it has a very different tone. It’s not cold and commanding. It’s personal. It’s relational. It’s appealing to something much greater.

Here’s the context. Paul is an Apostle, a man whose life has been turned upside down by an encounter with the risen Jesus. And he’s been called to share the good news.

Philemon is a Christian friend of Paul who lives in Colossae. And Philemon used to have a slave called Onesimus. But one day, Onesimus the slave ran away from Philemon, and into Paul. He became a Christian.

And here’s what’s crazy.

Paul is sending Onesimus back to Philemon with this letter. And he’s urging Philemon to receive Onesimus, not as a slave, but as a brother. Think about it. The runaway slave, returning to his former master, as family. Is that even possible?

How would Philemon feel about that? According to the culture of the time, Onesiumus could only be his enemy. A runaway slave. A traitor. The lowest of the low.

And how would Onesimus feel? It’s like, great, you’ve just become a Christian. Now go back and hang out with the person you ran away from. What?

Is any of this possible? And even if it is possible, why? What’s to be gained from living this way?

Well, in this short introduction to the letter, we get a beautiful vision for Christian fellowship. It’s extraordinary. And it’s only possible through a shared faith in Christ. If anything can bring Onesimus and Philemon together as brothers, it’s this.

Point 1: Faith in Christ Unites Us

Because first of all, a shared faith in Christ is the only thing that can truly unite us. Verse 1.

Philemon 1-3 (NIV)

1 Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother,

To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker— 2 also to Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier—and to the church that meets in your home:

3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

So Paul is in prison for his Christian faith. And he’s sending the warmest of greetings. The family language is everywhere.

Verse 1. “Timothy our brother”, a close companion of Paul, he also sends his greetings. Paul calls Philemon a “dear friend”.

Verse 2. Paul extends this greeting, not just to Philemon himself, but to the other Christians around him. “Apphia our sister”. Perhaps she was Philemon’s wife, or an active member of his church.

There’s Archippus, who is also mentioned in Paul’s letter to the wider Colossian church. In Colossians 4:17, Paul says…

Colossians 4:17 (NIV)

Tell Archippus: “See to it that you complete the ministry you have received in the Lord.”

So Archippus is serving alongside Philemon in the Colossian church. And it’s a house church. Notice the end of verse 2: “the church that meets in your home”.

Many Christians at the time didn’t have a dedicated church building to worship in. So they often met in someone’s house.

And if Philemon was wealthy enough to have owned slaves, then he probably had quite a big house. And he opened it up to his Christian brothers and sisters. It’s where they gathered together.

So the family language is constant. Paul, Philemon, Timothy, Apphia, Archippus and the rest of the church, they are brothers and sisters. Not in a biological sense. But in a spiritual sense. Because they share the same Father in heaven. Verse 3.

Philemon 3 (NIV)

3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

It’s the glorious good news of the gospel. Jesus is the true and only eternal Son of God the Father. But in him, by grace, we can become sons and daughters of God the Father.

So Paul and Philemon and the others are brothers and sisters, because they’ve all been adopted into this one family of God.

It’s not something that they brought about by themselves. It’s not something that they could ever bring about by themselves. It is in Christ that they have received the very grace and peace of God himself. And they share it with one another.

So there’s family language. There’s also mission language. In verse 1, Philemon is called a “dear friend” but also a “fellow worker”. In verse 2 Archippus is described as a “fellow soldier”.

So these Christian brothers and sisters, they’re one family with one mission. They’re pulling in the same direction. They want the same thing. To grow in love for Jesus and to share Jesus with others.

That’s what excites them. That’s what motivates them. That’s what brings them together. Verse 4.

Philemon 4-5 (NIV)

4 I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, 5 because I hear about your love for all his holy people and your faith in the Lord Jesus.

It’s beautifully simple. Philemon loves Jesus and that goes hand in hand with loving other people who love Jesus. And Paul gives thanks for it. This is Christian community.

Now, you might be thinking, if Philemon is so loving, what was he doing owning slaves? That doesn’t sound very loving.

That’s a good question. And we’ll get to that. But at this stage, Paul is pointing to the ways that Philemon is already loving the people in his church and saying, that’s good! Praise God for that.

And the challenge to Philemon will be; will you extend that love further? Will you extend that brotherly love in Christ, even to Onesimus? The runaway slave.

Will you welcome him, no longer as a slave, but as a brother? That’s where Paul is heading. But he begins the letter with encouragement, praising God for the good work that has already begun through Philemon.

So faith in Christ unites us. And that’s something Philemon is already experiencing. What about us?

Imagine a village high in the mountains one night in the middle of winter. It’s freezing cold, it’s pitch black. All the people are locked away in their own homes watching Netflix. But then, there’s a power cut. And everyone begins to panic.

One man in the village has a good supply of firewood. So he builds a bonfire in his back garden. And he invites the entire village to come around and enjoy its light and warmth. So one by one the villagers arrive and take their seats around his fire.

And as the wind howls and the snow falls, they move closer to the fire. Not too close, hopefully. But as they move closer to the fire, they also move closer to one another. They start to talk and share stories and break bread. For the first time, they’re a real community.

And so this rag-tag group of villagers, with wildly different backgrounds and struggles, were they planning to spend an evening together? Did they want to spend an evening together? No, not at first.

But they all wanted to come to the fire. And when the fire brought them together, they then discovered that actually, they did want to spend the evening together.

The fire is the reason they came together in the first place. And it’s what’s keeping them together. It’s what they unite around. And for Christians, Jesus is like that fire. He burns fiercely with a blazing love.

And as we each draw closer to him, we also draw closer to one another.

Everyone wants unity, right? Ask anyone on the street “is unity a good thing?” They’d probably say “yes”. But here’s the thing. Unity for the sake of unity is actually impossible to maintain. We need to unite around something. And the world offers a lot of options. Nations. Political movements. Activist groups. Sexual identities. Fandoms. These are all attempts to unite people around something. But they all fall short. They all go wrong. Why?

Human beings have a lot in common but we’re also very different. There are so many things that could divide us, and a lot of the time, those things do divide us. That’s how the world works.

So what’s different about Christian unity? Because that can go wrong too, right? Yeah, it can. But Christian unity is possible. And it has proved itself to be remarkably effective over the past 2000 years. And here’s why.

As Christians, our unity depends, not on our abilities, but on Christ. Our faith isn’t something we muster from within ourselves, by our own strength. No, faith is receiving Christ and what he has done for us. Receiving him as our Lord and Saviour. Receiving his free gift of grace.

And if we do that together, then we are brought together. That’s a different kind of unity. That’s supernatural unity. Faith in Christ unites us.

Point 2: Faith in Christ grows us

So in Christianity, you come to Jesus as you are. But you don’t stay as you are. It changes you. And that’s the next point. Faith in Christ grows us. Verse 6.

Philemon 6 (NIV)

I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ.

Now, this is a difficult verse to translate from the Greek. There’s a question of whether it’s talking about Philemon himself and his personal growth, or the growth of the people he’s ministering to.

Most commentators agree that it’s probably talking about Philemon himself, because this is a very intimate, personal letter. And given that Paul is about to make a difficult request, it makes sense that he would appeal to Philemon’s personal growth as a Christian.

In any case, Philemon’s faith is producing good fruit in his life. That’s verse 6. And this good fruit blesses the people around him. Verse 7.

Philemon 7 (NIV)

Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people.

There is this shared participation in the joy of Christ. Paul is encouraged, even from afar and in prison, by the flourishing of Philemon and the people he’s ministering to.

Imagine an apple orchard. The apple orchard is healthy when two things happen. First, each apple tree puts down deep roots into the soil. To be nourished. That’s vital. Each tree needs to be rooted.

But the trees are stronger together than they are alone. I only discovered this recently but trees actually share nutrients with each other via networks of fungi in the soil.

So if one apple tree gets sick, the others will actually help it out by sending more nutrients to it. Pretty cool. So each tree is rooted in the soil and connected to the other trees. And together, they produce good fruit.

In a similar way, Philemon himself is rooted in Christ. He’s been saved from his sins. His life is being transformed. He’s hosting a house church. He’s a new person. He’s producing good fruit.

And he is also blessing and being blessed by the Christians around him. Together, they are producing good fruit.

Serving one another. Proclaiming Christ to one another. Overflowing with that love out into the world. Sharing Jesus with people who don’t know him yet. These are good works. These are meaningful works.

It’s a mission that has the approval and oversight of God himself.

And that’s a simple lesson for us. In order to grow, we need to be connected! We need to be rooted in Christ and his word, personally.

But we also need to be part of his body, the church. Christianity is not a solo sport. We’re in this together.

So it is a shared faith in Christ that can truly unite us. And from that place of unity, we can truly grow and flourish. Producing good works.

But where is Paul going with this? He has in mind one particular good work for Philemon to do. He wants Philemon to forgive Onesimus.

So what’s with the lovely introduction? Is it simply a way to butter Philemon up? Is it a spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down? You know, is Paul going to turn from Mr Nice Guy to Mr Scary Guy?

Well, no. Because this introduction isn’t small talk. It’s not just some pleasantries to get out of the way before the command. No, this introduction couldn’t be more serious.

Of course Paul is pointing to their shared faith in Christ. Because only that will enable Philemon to follow through on Paul’s request.

If it is Christ alone who makes unity possible, if it is Christ alone who makes fruitfulness possible, then it is Christ alone who makes reconciliation possible. And that’s the third point.

Point 3: Faith in Christ reconciles us

Verses 8 and 9 reveal why Paul began the letter this way.

Philemon 8-9 (NIV)

8 Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, 9 yet I prefer to appeal to you on the basis of love…

Paul and Philemon are Christians. That makes them brothers. They share a brotherly love. And now, Onesimus has also become a Christian.

And that means Onesimus is now a brother to all other Christians, including Philemon. It’s the nature of the case.

It’s true whatever Philemon makes of it. Onesimus is now his brother. The question is simple. Will Philemon recognise that? Will he receive Onesimus, no longer as a slave, but as the brother in Christ that he truly is?

It’s time I address that elephant in the room. Slavery. Because you might be thinking, yes, this letter was probably very radical for its time. But why doesn’t Paul explicitly condemn the practice of slavery?

Why doesn’t he encourage Christians to campaign for the abolition of the slave trade in the Roman Empire?

Well, this is a big question. But I’ll say a few things. At the start of the Bible, there is no slavery in the garden of Eden.

And at the end of the Bible there is no slavery in the new heavens and the new Earth.

So slavery is not part of God’s ideal design.

But in this temporary, fallen state of the world, slavery has been a reality. It has been a universal practice in societies around the world and down through history.

Does God care? Yes. Because God himself enters into this broken reality. And on the cross, God the Son dies the death of a slave in order to set us free from the deepest slavery of all. Our slavery to sin.

And it was Paul’s calling to proclaim this Jesus. And Paul wasn’t pro slavery. In 1 Timothy 8:10, he condemns the practice of slave-trading.

So why didn’t he campaign for its abolition? Well, at that point, slavery was so baked into society that it would have been impractical for Christians to try and get it banned. It would have gotten them into a political fight. A fight which they almost certainly would have lost.

Instead, Paul nurtured a grassroots movement of people loving Jesus and sharing Jesus. And this revolution of love spread like yeast working through dough. Such that by the Middle Ages, slavery was largely abolished.

Centuries later, it came back in an especially brutal way. The Transatlantic slave trade. And sadly, there were self-professed Christians who owned and abused slaves. Some even tried to use the Bible to justify it. And that is a terrible stain on the church.

But the people who abolished THAT slave trade were Christians who took the Bible very seriously. Paul’s words, God’s words, were sword in the hands of the abolitionists.

We might find parts of the Bible uncomfortable. But it’s hard to imagine how slavery could ever have been abolished without the Bible. Because it is the Bible that taught us that all human beings are equal, made in the image of God, with immeasurable value and dignity. And this little letter to Philemon is especially radical.

It’s the only letter of Paul’s that begins with the words ‘Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus’. Paul the Apostle is identifying with Onesimus, the runaway slave. He’s saying to Philemon, ‘look, if you call me a brother, and I’m in chains, then you need to call Onesimus a brother too.’

So from what we’ve seen so far, what will enable this reconciliation between Philemon and Onesimus? It is the faith in Jesus that they now share.

Returning to my bonfire illustration. The fire is lit. The villagers gather around it for light and warmth. Imagine that among them are two men. Let’s call them George and David. They had a big falling out. They haven’t spoken for months. They’ve been keeping themselves to themselves. But when the power goes down, they both separately make their way to the bonfire.

And suddenly, they find themselves sitting next to each other. Two sworn enemies, sitting by the fire. To say it’s awkward at first is an understatement. It’s excruciating.

But eventually, they start to talk. And then they start to laugh. And over the course of the night, their grudges melt away and their friendship is restored.

Were they planning to spend an evening together? No. It’s the last thing they wanted. But the fire brought them together. And now, they are glad to be spending the evening together.

In the same way, our reconciliation with one another is enabled by our reconciliation with Jesus. The one who burns with a blazing love in our midst.

Jesus died the death of a slave to be connected to each of us. And if we know that forgiveness for all the things we’ve done, will we not be reconciled to each other?

Paul knows this isn’t easy. It would have been a big deal for Onesimus to return to Philemon’s household and become part of their house church.

Imagine that. The slave who used to be working in Philemon’s back garden during the Bible studies. The slave who ran away. He returns, not to continue the gardening, but to join in with the Bible studies.

That would have been a massive deal. It might have been excruciating at first. But it’s possible on the basis of a shared faith in Christ.

Conclusion

So. Do you long for unity? Actual lasting unity between people of all backgrounds? It’s only possible in Jesus.

Do you long for goodness? To participate in a mission that truly brings flourishing? It’s only possible in Jesus.

Are you struggling to forgive someone? With Jesus, forgiving others becomes possible. Because we realise how much he has forgiven us. And then, we can start to release other people from the hurt we feel towards them. And guess what? That actually releases us, too.

There are complexities to that, sure. But in Romans 12:18 Paul says:

Romans 12:18 (NIV)

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

Christ really does enable us to live differently. Together. Let us encourage one another to do the right thing on that basis. That’s Christian fellowship.

The German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote this…

Christianity means community through Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ. No Christian community is more or less than this. Whether it be a brief, single encounter or the daily fellowship of years, Christian community is only this. We belong to one another only through and in Jesus Christ.

Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1939)

Let’s pray.

Auntie Anne smiled at Billy as he stumbled down into the rowboat.

“You’ll find your sea legs, don’t you worry young man.”

Billy managed a chuckle as he nestled himself in the bow, planting his feet as far apart as he could. Already the sea was getting choppy. Auntie Anne cast them loose and proceeded to work the oars with ease. Billy looked back at the shore and waved to the shrinking figure of his mother. She waved back.

Billy had just turned seven. He was a bright and lively boy, if a little cooped up. His mother had been looking for ways to broaden his horizons, deciding to pack him off for a weekend on Auntie Anne’s island. He hadn’t been exposed to the elements for a while, not like this. Maybe it would do him good.

“You alright pumpkin?”

“Yeah!”

Billy winced. He had a wobbly tooth, his first in fact, and the cold salty wind made it sting whenever he opened his mouth. Thankfully Auntie Anne didn’t tend to say much aboard her rowboat. This was her sacred time, ploughing homeward through the waves to the tune of nature’s chorus. She wasn’t about to spoil it by shooting her mouth off.

Soon enough the crags of the island were looming over them. Billy shivered, and Auntie Anne seemed to notice.

“Almost there now. Almost there.”

The gulls were wheeling overhead, as if gathering to scoff at Billy. The newcomer. The landlubber.

They approached a small wooden jetty, dancing on the crests of the waves. Auntie Anne moored them up and extended a strong weathered arm down to Billy. He tried to climb out unaided but the waves were getting stronger, knocking him to and fro.

“Come on pumpkin, I don’t bite.” Auntie Anne smiled.

Billy grabbed her arm and felt himself rising up and then down onto the eerily stable surface of the jetty. Auntie Anne didn’t let go of his hand. She led the way, with Billy staggering alongside her like a drunk.

Suddenly, it was raining. The wind hurled its droplets at the island like a million tiny bullets. The grey sea blurred into the grey sky and within seconds, Billy could feel his raincoat clinging to him. For a moment he resented his mother for sending him here. He dreamed of his bedroom back home. Of hours spent lying in bed, staring at the peeling stickers on his radiator. Where the fiercest storm couldn’t lay a finger on him.

Here, Billy felt exposed in every sense. Enfolded by the raw power of the elements. Auntie Anne had her head down, ploughing on through the downpour at an unwavering pace. Billy became aware that his grip on her hand had tightened. Though his dizziness had already subsided, he had no intention of letting go. The lights of her cottage were beckoning through the grey. Auntie Anne dragged him to the doorstep, and dug deep into her pocket for the key.

After what felt like an age, they were inside the cottage with a roaring fire and a cup of cocoa. Auntie Anne leaned back in her chair, eying Billy with a curious look.

“What are you thinking about, young man?

Billy took a swig of cocoa. He was staring into the fire.

“Nothing.”

“I find that hard to believe, bright young man like you.”

Billy looked at her.

“My tooth.”

Auntie Anne looked puzzled.

“What about it?”

“It’s gone.”

Billy opened his mouth, revealing a gap in his smile. One of the incisors on the top row. Blood mixed with cocoa began to dribble from Billy’s mouth into his cup. Auntie Anne got to her feet and crossed the room in a heartbeat.

“Oh you poor dear. Let’s get you to the kitchen.”

She pulled him to his feet and wrapped her hand around his, keeping the mug of cocoa beneath his chin as they marched to the kitchen sink.

Auntie Anne mixed up a salt solution and turned to Billy.

“Where’s the tooth? Did you swallow him up?”

Billy shook his head. He pointed to his bloodied mug of cocoa, now resting on the worktop. Auntie Anne relaxed.

“Alright pumpkin. Swill this salty water around your gnashers.”

Billy took a painful mouthful, sloshed it around a few times, and spat it into the sink.

Meanwhile, Auntie Anne picked up his cup of cocoa and proceeded to drain it into the sink until she spotted the tooth, protruding from the brown sludge like an island of chalk.

“There’s the beauty.”

She showed it to Billy. He smiled a gappy smile.

“It’s a big moment when your first baby tooth jumps ship. More to come laddie, more to come.”

She patted him on the back.

“After all that, we need a bit of music, wouldn’t you say?”

Billy nodded, and they returned to their chairs in the living room. Auntie Anne reached for a mandolin hanging on the wall. She tested its tuning and proceeded to play. Her fingers glided over the strings, letting loose a gentle yet mysterious melody. Billy began to sink into his chair, his eyelids growing heavy. But then, as the piece concluded, he sat up.

“Auntie Anne?”

Auntie Anne looked up at Billy, her fingers poised to play another piece.

“Yes?”

“Can we put my tooth out for the tooth fairy?”

Auntie Anne stared at him for a few moments. She cleared her throat and returned her mandolin to the wall. For the first time, she seemed a little uneasy.

Billy felt an instinctive need to clarify.

“Mum said I could put it under my pillow when it fell out. She said the tooth fairy would come and change it for a coin.”

Auntie Anne leaned back in her chair, her fingers drumming against her knees.

“I’m sorry Billy, but the tooth fairy doesn’t fly here.”

“Why?”

“Too windy. She’d get blown away like a dandelion seed.”

Billy was crestfallen.

“Oh.”

Auntie Anne reached for her mandolin once again. But Billy wasn’t finished.

“Can I still put it under my pillow? Just in case?”

Auntie Anne’s hands returned to her lap. She looked him straight in the eye.

“No. Don’t put it under your pillow.”

Billy looked puzzled.

“Okay.”

Auntie Anne didn’t seem satisfied, and neither did Billy. He sat up in his chair.

“Why not, Auntie Anne?”

Auntie Anne nodded, expecting the question. She looked out of the window. The rain had stopped and it was getting dark outside.

“This island has its secrets.”

Billy was intrigued.

“What secrets?”

Auntie Anne turned back to him.

“It’s a long story and you don’t need to know it. Just so long as you do as I say, you’ll be perfectly safe.”

Billy nodded.

“Okay Auntie Anne.”

She leaned forward, her expression quite serious.

“Promise me you won’t put that tooth under your pillow.”

“I promise.”

Auntie Anne kept looking at him for a while. Eventually she smiled and got to her feet, drawing the curtains.

“You’ve had a big day. Time for bed.”

Billy yawned and got to his feet. He glanced through the kitchen door and noticed his tooth, gleaming on the worktop. Billy explored the gap it had left in his mouth with his tongue. There was something weird about a former part of his body lying in a different room.

Auntie Anne followed his gaze.

“I’ll deal with the gnasher, don’t you worry. Follow me.”

Auntie Anne took Billy by the hand and led him up the rickety stairs. They crossed the landing to the guest bedroom. Billy stood in the doorway, taking it in. It was small, but perfectly comfortable. A narrow bed with a quilted cover spanned most of its length. Billy’s suitcase was sitting on the floor, still a little damp. Auntie Anne must have taken it up while he was warming himself by the fire. A set of wooden draws stood against the opposite wall, supporting a collection of unusually shaped pebbles. Through the window, Billy could make out a faint splatter of lights shining from the mainland.

Auntie Anne drew the curtains. She turned and smiled at Billy, hands on her hips.

“Will this do, Master Billy?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. You sleep well now. No rush in the morning.”

Billy gave her a hug.

“Goodnight Auntie Anne.”

“Goodnight laddie. Welcome to my island.”

She chuckled and walked out of the door.

Billy took a moment to survey his new home for the next six weeks. It would have to do.

He got into his pyjamas, brushed his teeth (those he had left) in the bathroom next door and slid under the covers. As he lay in bed, he realised he could still hear the muffled churn of the sea. He felt his eyelids grow heavy and was just about to let the wave of sleep wash over him when suddenly…

A thought struck him. His tooth. He’d waited a long time for it to fall out. He’d spent weeks wobbling it in class with his finger. If he wasn’t to receive payment from the Tooth Fairy, so be it. But did he not at the very least have the right to keep it?

Before he could process what he was doing, he found his legs sliding out from under the quilted cover and planting themselves on the floorboards. He opened the door, slinking across the landing and down the stairs. Auntie Anne was in the kitchen, humming.

Billy crept across the living room and hid behind an armchair. The humming stopped. Billy braced himself.

The humming started again. Ever so slowly, Billy raised his head, peering over the chair into the kitchen. Auntie Anne was standing at the worktop, trying to unscrew a bottle of something.

Billy couldn’t make out the label. A chemical of some kind, definitely inedible. Auntie Anne used a tea towel to loosen the lid. She proceeded to pour the clear liquid into a glass until it submerged… What was that? Billy squinted. The unmistakable form of his tooth rested on the bottom of the glass.

It began to fizz under the liquid. Auntie Anne watched for a moment. Apparently satisfied, she turned off the kitchen light, crossed the living room and climbed the stairs. Billy waited for the sound of her footsteps to die out. Then, ever so quietly, he made his way into the kitchen and turned on the light.

The tooth was fizzing away in the glass. It was smaller and rounder than he remembered it. He felt a pang of anger towards his aunt. The audacity, not only to confiscate the tooth, but also to dissolve it! This was too much. Local superstitions notwithstanding, this was Billy’s tooth. And he wanted it back.

Billy reached into the glass and stopped himself just before his fingers touched the surface of the liquid. He was smart enough to know that the substance eroding his enamel was probably a threat to his fingers too. He picked up the glass, about to drain the liquid down the sink. But he stopped himself again.

Auntie Anne had intended to dissolve the tooth. Billy deduced that she was thus expecting to find the glass in the morning exactly as she had left it, with the same volume of liquid and the tooth gone.

Billy found a cutlery drawer and pulled out a fork. Holding the glass at an angle, he clawed his tooth to safety. He washed it along with the fork, leaving the kitchen exactly as he had found it.

Soon enough, he was back in his bedroom without hearing a peep from Auntie Anne. He climbed under the covers, pleased with the success of his mission. He felt the tooth digging into his side through his pocket.

He hesitated. Auntie Anne had been rather serious in her warning. He reasoned that grown ups often seem to exaggerate things. He reached into his pocket, pulled out the tooth and slid it under the pillow. There. Either the tooth fairy would come and change it for a coin, or she wouldn’t. In the latter case, Billy would simply hide the tooth until he could stow it under his pillow back home. If the tooth fairy couldn’t visit the island, she would certainly manage Billy’s house on the mainland.

It took a while for Billy to fall asleep in his nervous excitement. But eventually, he drifted off. The next thing he knew, the morning sun was streaming through the gap in the curtains. It took a moment for Billy to remember.

He scrambled onto his knees and lifted the pillow. The tooth was gone. And in its place…

…A coin! Billy almost laughed with delight. The tooth fairy did business on this island after all. After getting dressed, Billy pocketed the coin and smiled. He peered through the curtains, taking in the beautiful landscape. The grassy hill tumbling down to the seething ocean below. In a moment, the pains of the previous evening were forgotten. This was an adventure.

He bounded down the stairs and into the kitchen where Auntie Anne was making bacon and eggs. The glass of corrosive fluid was nowhere to be seen.

“Good morning young man! You sleep alright?”

“Yes Auntie Anne. Very well, thank you.”

“Good man. You like bacon and eggs?”

Billy nodded hungrily.

“Think your teeth can handle them?”

Auntie Anne eyed Billy curiously. His heart stopped. Did she know?

Auntie Anne laughed. Billy relaxed.

They had breakfast and ventured out to a beach on the other side of the island. Auntie Anne had prepared a picnic hamper with a flask of tea for herself and jam sandwiches for Billy. She equipped him with a rock pooling net, a bucket and a spade. The sun was shining and there was a salty breeze, strong but refreshing. They had an easy morning, mostly occupied with Auntie Anne reading her book and Billy playing in the sand.

At midday, Billy became aware of a melody drifting over the beach. Like a music box but bigger.

“Auntie Anne?”

“Aye?”

“What’s that music?”

Auntie Anne strained to hear. Her eyes darted to the sea. She pointed. A rowboat carrying two men was approaching the shore. Billy watched them, intrigued.

“Who are they?”

“They’re from the sweet shop. Odd sorts, they are.”

“What are they doing here?”

“They wanna sell us some sweets I s’pose.”

Billy scrambled to his feet and waved with both arms. Auntie Anne grabbed him.

“Don’t. They’ll stop if you do.”

Billy looked at her innocently.

“But I want to buy some sweets.”

“You got any money?”

Billy pulled the coin out of his pocket. Auntie Anne’s eyes widened.

“Where’d you get that?”

“Mummy gave it to me.”

Auntie Anne nodded, a little uneasy.

“Okay then. Well, looks like they saw you.”

Already the rowboat had run aground. One of the men climbed out and waded towards Billy in his thick rubber boots. He smiled as Billy ran to meet him.

“Hello, young man. What can I do for you?”

“What sweets do you have?”

“All of them.”

The man unzipped his jacket and held it open. The inside was lined with beautiful illustrations of dozens of sweets, each labelled with their names and prices. Billy gasped. Auntie Anne joined them. The man smiled at her.

“Hello ma’am.”

“Hello. You from the mainland?”

“Yes we are. And fully loaded with stock.”

Auntie Anne nodded.

“Okay, Billy. Not too many now.”

Auntie Anne made her way back to the picnic rug.

Billy held the coin out to the man.

“How many pear drops can I get with this?”

The man smiled.

Auntie Anne watched the man climb onto the boat, mutter something to his partner, and open up a big wooden chest. He scooped a mass of sweets into a paper bag, and climbed back out of the boat to hand it to Billy. Just as Billy was about to leave, the man tapped him on the shoulder. He placed something in his hand and pointed at Auntie Anne, whispering something in Billy’s ear. Billy nodded. The man patted him on the back and climbed into the boat. His partner began to work the oars, and quickly, the boat pulled away from the island. It produced that strange music box melody once again. Billy skipped over, grinning. Auntie Anne looked down at him, hands on her hips.

“What did you get?”

Billy held up the bag. It was bulging.

“Pear drops.”

“Goodness me! Don’t eat them all at once or you’ll be sick.”

Billy nodded. He took something out of his pocket.

“The man told me to give you this. It’s for free.”

He held out a wrapped humbug. Auntie Anne took it.

“A humbug! My favourite. Thanks, Pumpkin.”

The two made their way back to the picnic rug, each sucking away at their sweets. As Billy manoeuvred a pear drop around the inside of his mouth, he became aware that another tooth was beginning to loosen. It seemed to give ever so slightly under his tongue, like a wooden floorboard. Strange. A second wobbly tooth already. Was that normal?

After another hour on the beach, the pair made their way back to the cottage and Auntie Anne took herself upstairs for a nap. Billy spent the afternoon in the living room, looking at picture books from Auntie Anne’s shelves while sucking away at his pear drops. The tooth was well and truly wobbly now. It got to six o’clock, Billy’s usual dinner time, and he was about to go upstairs and check on Auntie Anne. But then he heard her familiar footfall on the staircase.

Auntie Anne crossed the lounge to the kitchen. She smiled at Billy. She looked as though she had just woken up. Her hair was unkempt, and she was sweating.

“Just getting some dinner, young man.”

Billy nodded. Soon enough, he could sense the pleasing aroma of onions and sausages frying in butter. Billy passed the final half hour before dinner leafing through more picture books. The two sat down to eat at the little table in the kitchen.

They didn’t talk much. Billy enjoyed his sausages and mash, a favourite of his, although he had to be careful to chew it with his molars and not his new wobbly front tooth. When he finished, he looked up at Auntie Anne. She had only eaten half her plate. She was leaning back in her chair, rubbing her eyes.

“Gosh Billy, I think I need a lie down.”

Billy didn’t know what to do. He watched his aunt scramble to her feet, almost losing her balance. He’d never seen her like this. Sensing his concern, she turned to him.

“I’ll be okay. Aright if you do the dishes?”

Billy nodded.

“Thanks pumpkin.”

Auntie Anne left the kitchen and Billy heard her make her way up the stairs. He got to his feet and studied the collection of pans and utensils soaking in the sink. His mother had shown him how to do the washing up. Here, everything lived in an unfamiliar location. But he figured it out.

Afterwards, he treated himself to the final pear drop in his bag. And something extraordinary happened. The second tooth came out. Billy felt it detach in his mouth. He rushed to the kitchen sink and gargled some water as he’d done the night before. He washed the tooth under the tap and studied it. He couldn’t believe his luck.

Billy climbed the stairs and checked on Auntie Anne. She was fast asleep. Billy thought better than to wake her; she must have needed the rest. He retreated to his room and slid the tooth under the pillow. He climbed under the covers and drifted off.

This time, he remembered as soon as he woke up. He scrambled out of bed and lifted the pillow ceremoniously. The tooth was gone and in its place, a coin. Billy was ecstatic. He got dressed, pocketed the coin and bounded down the stairs for breakfast. Auntie Anne wasn’t up yet. Billy sat on an armchair, twiddling his thumbs.

Eventually, he heard the creaking of the staircase. Auntie Anne made her way across the living room. She looked more exhausted than when she went to bed. But she managed a smile.

“Good morning, Billy.”

“Good morning, Auntie Anne.”

Auntie Anne slumped down in the chair opposite him.

“I dunno what’s come over me. I better call your mum to pick you up. I’m not much fun like this.”

“It’s okay, Auntie Anne.”

Auntie Anne waved a hand.

“No, you came for an adventure. And I can’t show you much when I’m like this, other than the beach.”

“I like the beach.”

“You do? Well, you’ll be sick of it if it’s where we go every day.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Okay. Easy to please. We’ll go again today and see how I feel later.”

Soon enough, they were on the sand once again. This time, Auntie Anne brought a deckchair. She lay on it with a straw hat covering most of her face. Another beautiful day, with a strong sea breeze.

Billy spent an easy morning in the rock pools. Auntie Anne had forbidden him from swimming on account of the strong currents, and he didn’t mind. The cold frothing sea wasn’t exactly inviting.

At midday Billy began to hear that mysterious melody once again. There it was, riding over the surf. The sweet shop boat. Billy’s eyes darted to Auntie Anne, who was dozing in the sun. Would she let him buy sweets two days in a row? Probably not.

The man got out of the boat and beckoned Billy over.

“Hello again, young sir. What will it be today?”

“More pear drops.”

“You like those, don’t you? Well, we’ve got plenty.”

Billy produced the coin and bought another bag. He watched the man get back into his boat with his partner and off they went, to the twinkle of their tune. Auntie Anne hadn’t stirred. Billy sat next to her and popped a pear drop in his mouth. He gasped.

He had another wobbly tooth. A molar this time, on the bottom left of his jaw. Billy laughed, almost guiltily. Was this right? Do a person’s baby teeth really fall out this fast? He looked at the bag of pear drops. His mother had always warned him not to eat too many sweets or else his teeth would rot. But here, Billy’s teeth weren’t rotting. They were being jettisoned entirely! Billy had to agree that, on the face of it, the latter sounded worse. But baby teeth were meant to fall out. Adult teeth would eventually take their place. That’s what Billy had been told. This was all natural. It was just happening faster than he expected. Auntie Anne began to stir. Billy stuffed the remaining pear drops into his pocket.

“Billy?”

“Yes, Auntie Anne?”

“How hungry are you?”

“Quite hungry.”

“Okay. Let’s get you some lunch.”

The two made their way back to the cottage, and Auntie Anne managed to rustle up some corned beef and potatoes. While he was crunching into a potato, Billy felt his new wobbly tooth detach itself. He panicked. If Auntie Anne saw, she would surely confiscate it. With his mouth full of potato, Billy asked if he could go to the bathroom. Auntie Anne nodded, scarcely registering the question.

In the privacy of the bathroom, Billy managed to extract the tooth from the mass of potato in his mouth with his fingers. He washed it in the bathroom sink, swallowed the remaining potato and swilled out his mouth with a few handfuls of water.

He smiled at the mirror. Auntie Anne had already failed to notice the second missing tooth in his smile and she was unlikely to spot the third. Being a back molar, Billy himself could barely see the gap in the mirror. But when he probed it with his tongue, it was there alright. His mouth felt strangely empty.

The rest of the day went by with Auntie Anne dozing on an armchair and Billy looking at picture books. He managed to make some jam sandwiches for dinner. Auntie Anne was grateful.

“Aren’t you a well trained young man?”

Of course, that evening, Billy placed the new tooth under his pillow. And he woke up to find a coin in its place. Billy was no less ecstatic than before, but he began to ponder his unique situation. The Tooth Fairy was able to visit the island, of that he was certain. But something strange was going on. Before the trip, Billy hadn’t lost any teeth. Since eating the pear drops from the sweet boat, he had lost three in the space of three days. It seemed a remarkable coincidence, if indeed it was a coincidence.

Billy decided to put his hypothesis to the test. When the sweet boat came, Billy told the man he didn’t want anything. The man seemed a little disappointed, but gave Billy a smile.

“We’re here every day, you know that.”

Billy spent the rest of the day playing on the beach while Auntie Anne dozed. All the while, he explored his remaining teeth with his tongue, checking for loose ones. All were sturdy.

Billy felt a little disappointed going to bed that night without a new tooth to put under his pillow. But he needed to test the hypothesis. It took a while to get to sleep. Around midnight, he became aware of a damp smell in the room, like mildew. Eventually it passed. Billy thought little of it and drifted off to sleep.

The following day, he waited with anticipation for the sweet shop boat. Checking that Auntie Anne was asleep in her deck chair, he bought a bag of pear drops with the coin he’d earned from his third tooth. He pulled a sweet out of his bag and popped it into his mouth. The moment of truth. Sure enough, he felt a tooth loosen. This time, a canine on the top left. He gasped. It felt exhilarating to have made such a discovery. Billy had now confirmed that these particular pear drops were indeed loosening his teeth. But only ever one tooth at a time. It was magical.

The days went by. Billy decided to start conserving his funds. He thought better than to blow all his money on sweets. Each day going forwards, he bought half a bag of pear drops rather than a full bag. That gave him some change, which he hid in his room.

It was a perfect business. For every tooth he lost, he gained a coin. He invested half in the loosening of the next tooth, and accumulated the change. He was making a profit.

Auntie Anne didn’t seem to notice the many gaps opening in Billy’s smile. For the most part, she was so dozy that she could barely keep her head up. She had just enough energy to help Billy make the meals. She wasn’t in pain. In fact, she seemed content, as if trapped in a daydream. But she lacked the energy to do much. At Billy’s protests, she stopped threatening to call his mother and end the holiday. She didn’t take much persuasion. If Billy was happy, she was happy.

By the final week of his stay on the island, Billy had lost all his baby teeth, and all he could eat was soup. Auntie Anne had shown him a lovely carrot and coriander recipe, and he had mastered it. It was a pain not to be able to eat all the things he liked. But it was worth it. He now had enough money to buy something really special. A camera or a telescope. Maybe even a bicycle.

In those final days, Billy ignored the melody of the sweet shop boat. His teeth were all out. And if he was honest, he had grown sick of the pear drops. It came to his final night on the island. Auntie Anne was still in her exhausted yet contented stupour. She arranged for a friend on the mainland to ferry Billy the following day.

Billy went to bed as usual. But come midnight, he found himself lying awake. It took a moment for his senses to click into gear. He became aware of that strange damp smell once again. And this time, it was accompanied by a sound.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Billy sat up in bed. The room was dimly lit by a shaft of moonlight from between the curtains.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

The wind whistled outside. Billy shivered. He scanned the room, alert.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Where was it coming from?

Billy’s heart was pounding. Though he could not bear to think about it, he just knew that there was something or someone, somewhere in the room.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

It was getting closer. A floorboard creaked. Billy cried out.

“Auntie Anne!”

Nothing. Auntie Anne was presumably fast asleep. Billy wanted to do something. Anything. To climb out of bed and turn on the light, revealing the foul fiend in his bedroom. But all he found himself doing was sitting, frozen, in bed.

The dripping grew closer still. Another floorboard creaked. Billy’s heart was in his throat.

“Auntie Anne!”

No use. And then he saw it. Something silvery was crossing the shaft of moonlight. Billy saw two grey eyes looking at him. A big rubbery mouth stretched across an even bigger face. Billy was paralysed with horror.

The mouth began to open, revealing a perfect set of sharp white teeth.

Billy’s teeth.

2 Peter 2 discusses the nature of false teachers within the church, comparing them to the angelic rebellion, the flood and Sodom and Gomorrah. It’s a confronting and baffling text. But ultimately, it’s about the Lord’s commitment to sustain his people through even the darkest of times.

I had the privilege of preaching from this passage on Sunday 2nd November 2025 at All Souls Church, Eastbourne. You can read the sermon below or listen to it by clicking the image above. God bless!

Image: ‘The Fall of the Rebel Angels’ (1562) by Pieter Brueghel the Elder

False Teachers Will Come

The reed warbler is a small British bird. And it faces a terrible threat. The cuckoo. Because the cuckoo is very sneaky.

Here’s what happens. The female cuckoo lays an egg in a reed warbler’s nest. The cuckoo egg hatches, and the unsuspecting warbler parents raise the cuckoo chick as if it is their own offspring. They feed it. They protect it. They tend to it.

And the young cuckoo grows faster than the young warblers. It gets bigger and stronger. And it even pushes the warbler eggs and chicks out of the nest.

It effectively becomes the centre of attention, in a family where it never truly belonged. Draining life from the nest. Like a parasite.

Could something like that ever happen to the church? Well, the Apostle Peter says yes. It has happened already. And it will happen again. It’s a warning that Peter’s readers needed to hear. And it’s a warning that we need to hear.

Peter is writing to a group of churches in Asia Minor. Modern-day Turkey, effectively. And in his first letter to these churches, 1 Peter, he talked largely about the challenges that come to God’s people from beyond the church. Persecution.

And Peter’s encouragement to them was simple and profound. Suffer well, with hope. Cling to Christ. Cling to the good news of the gospel, because there is nothing greater.

And he reiterates that in chapter 1 of 2 Peter. But in chapter 2, his attention shifts to the trouble that will come from within the church. False teachers.

2 Peter 2:1 (NIV)

But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.

So Peter begins with the reminder that false teaching is nothing new. In Old Testament times, there were the true prophets, the ones who “...spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21), as Peter says at the end of chapter 1.

But there were also false prophets. There were teachers who distorted the truth and led the people of God astray. Peter will go on to give us some examples of that.

So false teaching is not a new problem. And just as it happened before, it will happen again. “There will be false teachers among you”. It’s inevitable. But notice the next part of the verse.

2 Peter 2:1 (NIV)

…They will secretly introduce destructive heresies…

These false teachers act secretly. They’re not going to advertise the fact that they’re false teachers. They’re not going to put on their Twitter bio: “Father of three. Arsenal fan. False teacher.” You’re not going to see that.

According to Peter, these people don’t call themselves false teachers. They might not even think of themselves as false teachers. But they will secretly introduce destructive heresies.

Now, heresy. That’s not a word we hear very often nowadays, is it? It conjures images of severe-looking theologians in robes with long beards. Heresy!

But Peter is dead serious about this. He has been entrusted with the gospel. The good news of Jesus. The most glorious message the world has ever heard. Because it is not of this world. It is the beating heart of the living God himself. John 3:16.

John 3:16 (NIV)

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

This is the gospel! This is how God saves people and brings them into his family. Including Peter himself. So of course Peter can’t stand any teaching that undermines that! Especially when it comes from people who claim to be Christians.

If heresy means preaching a different Jesus to the real one, then heresy must, by definition, be damaging. It can only be damaging. It’s the nature of the case.

There is only one Jesus who saves. If I preach anything other than this Jesus, the Jesus of scripture, don’t let me up here again. Peter goes on. Verse 2.

2 Peter 2:2-3 (NIV)

2 Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3 In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

So these false teachers, sadly, will gain a following. Turns out that heresy sells. And you don’t have to look far to see that.

Throughout the world and down through history, many people have been drawn into false gospels that enslave them, rather than setting them free.

There was gnosticism in the early church, denying the physical resurrection of Christ. There were the indulgences of the Medieval church, offering spiritual blessings for a price. Islam, Mormonism and the Jehovah’s Witnesses preach a different Jesus to the one that Peter proclaimed. And then there’s the prosperity gospel. With pastors becoming millionaires at the expense of their own congregations. Doesn’t that make you angry? When the words of Jesus are twisted for selfish gain?

Peter says of the false teachers: “Their condemnation has long been hanging over them”. Now, their ultimate fate is in God’s hands.

But there is a sense in which false teachers are already experiencing the judgement of God. Here and now. Because if the true gospel is what we are made for, it is the grain of reality. And if you go against that, you will get splinters.

False teachers might think they’re living a fulfilled life, but they’re not. If they stubbornly, unrepentantly continue to hold out against Jesus, they are piling condemnation upon themselves.

God’s Salvation Plan is Unstoppable

So false teaching is a big problem. But in this next section, Peter wants to remind his readers of how God is ultimately in control. Let’s see how he describes several incidents from the book of Genesis. Verse 4.

2 Peter 2:4-9 (NIV)

4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment; 5 if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; 6 if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 7 and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless 8 (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— 9 if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.

So Peter talks about three examples. The rebellion of the angels, the flood, Sodom and Gomorrah. Let’s keep an eye out for what these three examples have in common.

First, the angels. Angels are heavenly beings. They are servants of God, messengers. And there was a time when some of them sinned against God.

When did that happen? Well, many commentators think that Peter might be referring to Genesis 6. I’ll read it to you.

Genesis 6:1-2 (NIV)

1 When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose.

So apparently, just before the flood, there were these potentially angelic creatures, called the sons of God, and they had forbidden sexual relationships with human women, producing offspring called Nephilim.

What did God do to these rebellious angels? Verse 4. He “sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment”.

Notice God’s judgment and mercy. His judgement in punishing those angels, but also his mercy to the world in restraining those angels from causing further damage.

What about the flood? The world had become so corrupt, so compromised by sin, that “every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time” (Genesis 6:5 (NIV)). And as Peter reminds us, God acted in judgement. Verse 5.

2 Peter 2:5 (NIV)

…he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others…

So the waters of judgement came, but there was a path through that judgement. And 8 people were saved. In the midst of God’s righteous judgement, we also see his mercy.

No matter how bad the world gets, if there are people who love him, even imperfectly, God provides a way for them to be saved.

From verse 7, Peter gives a third example of this. The people of Sodom and Gomorrah were profoundly wicked. Ezekiel 16 talks about their pride and how they did not care for the poor.

And when two angels showed up, the men of Sodom wanted to have sex with those angels. Another perverse attempt to combine heaven and earth on human terms rather than God’s terms.

So God, in his great love, burned with anger against the depravity of Sodom and Gomorrah. And he destroyed those cities. But just like the flood, even in the midst of his judgement, he had mercy.

Abraham’s nephew Lot was saved from the burning sulphur that rained down from the sky.

Now, Lot wasn’t a perfect man. But as Peter says, he was tormented in his soul by the darkness of Sodom. He trusted in the Lord. And he was saved. Not by his works, but entirely by God’s grace. Verse 9.

2 Peter 2:9-10 (NIV)

9 …if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment. 10 This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the flesh and despise authority.

And this is the point of Peter’s three examples. They remind us that God’s judgement and mercy aren’t in a tug of war. They don’t get in the way of each other. God is able to do both.

He does not throw out the baby with the bathwater. Even when the entire world is riddled with corruption and false teaching, God in his great mercy does not scrap the whole thing.

Judgement will come, and come it must. But God will not forsake even the one person who puts their trust in him.

So Peter is encouraging his readers that God does not let anything derail his salvation plan for the world. Not even false teachers.

Red Flags

After this tour through the book of Genesis, Peter turns his attention back to the false teachers of his time. And he shares some red flags to be on the lookout for.

These red flags won’t all be present in every false teacher. But they are all dangerous. Arrogance, the love of money and the love of sex.

First, arrogance. Second part of verse 10.

2 Peter 2:10-12 (NIV)

10 …Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings; 11 yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not heap abuse on such beings when bringing judgment on them from the Lord. 12 But these people blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like unreasoning animals, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like animals they too will perish.

Okay, what’s going on here? Apparently there are some specific heavenly creatures called celestial beings or glorious ones, in some translations.

We don’t know exactly what they are. But notice verse 11. Angels bring judgement upon them from the Lord. So these celestial beings have clearly fallen in some way. And they deserve judgement.

And the good angels pour out the judgement of God on these wayward celestial beings. But, verse 11, the angels do not heap abuse on the celestial beings.

So the good angels, even though they are more powerful than humans, they have humility. They do not abuse their authority, because they recognise that it comes from the Lord.

And here’s what’s shocking. The human false teachers, though they are less powerful than the angels, they do heap abuse on celestial beings.

So the false teachers think of themselves as having more power than the angels. The arrogance. And Peter is saying, we need humility.

It is not our place to be flippant or dismissive when it comes to the supernatural. When it comes to matters that are beyond our control. The affairs of heaven. Beyond what we can see.

Human beings, and especially teachers of the gospel, are called to be humble. Peter continues to describe the false teachers. Verse 13.

2 Peter 2:13 (NIV)

They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.

Commentators have suggested that the feast described here is the Lord’s supper. Communion.

And this is another example of the false teachers being dismissive about spiritual matters. Even while they take communion, they are focused on their personal pleasure. Verse 14.

2 Peter 2:14-16 (NIV)

14 With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed—an accursed brood! 15 They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Bezer, who loved the wages of wickedness. 16 But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey—an animal without speech—who spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.

False teachers, in their dismissal of the supernatural, live for the things of this world. And so often that boils down to sex and money.

This characterised the false teaching of Noah’s time. A warped love of sex and money. Same thing in Sodom and Gomorrah. Same thing today.

And Peter adds a reference to Balaam. You can read his story in Numbers 22. And although he appears faithful to begin with, he eventually sold his soul. Revelation 2:14 tells us that “[Balaam] taught [king] Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality.”

Balaam went after money, and he enticed God’s people into sexual immorality. False teaching is nothing new. And why is Peter so affronted by this? Because it takes things that are good gifts from God, and corrupts them.

Take sex, for instance. Page one of the Bible. God created the heavens and the Earth. Heavens is a masculine word in the Hebrew. Earth is a feminine word.

And the gospel is the love story of God pursuing his unfaithful people. And it builds to a marriage. Christ, the bridegroom, giving himself in self-sacrificial love so that he can marry his bride, the church.

And so human marriage in the eyes of God is between one man and one woman for life and that’s the only context for sex because it is a signpost to that greater marriage.

As for money, why would we seek to accumulate wealth for ourselves when it can be poured out in service for the Lord and for others?

This is the way of Christ. It’s glorious! And all of us will fail to live up to it perfectly. But Peter warns us that there are false teachers who will seek to undermine this vision entirely. Verse 17.

2 Peter 2:17-22 (NIV)

17 These people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. 18 For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.” 20 If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. 21 It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. 22 Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.”

Here is the fiery devotion of God, speaking though the Apostle Peter. It’s uncomfortable. It’s confronting. But God is not saying this in spite of his love. He’s saying it because of his love.

Because Jesus really is the only door to true human flourishing. This is what we are made for, to participate in the divine nature. Nothing less. So God, because of his love, burns with anger whenever that door to flourishing is obstructed.

Whenever anyone tries to lead the flock away from Jesus, the one true shepherd. Do you love Jesus? His compassion? His kindness? The way he meets and transforms the outcasts. The rejected. The people at the fringes of society. Is he not glorious?

Then don’t settle for anything less than him. Accept no imitations. Only the real thing. Compared to the way of Jesus, every other way of life is like returning to vomit. Wallowing in mud.

And Peter’s harshest words are to those who have experienced the goodness of Christ, and yet have turned away from it. Those who stubbornly, unrepentantly hold out against Jesus.

Apparently, there will be some people who, by all appearances, are born again Christians. People whose lives seem to be transformed in light of the gospel. And yet, they will walk away. They will not endure to the end. And that is a confronting reality.

But what does Peter want us to do about this? Well, we’ve seen a few things. We should expect that false teachers will come. We should expect that they will be damaging.

And there are practical things that we can do as a church to combat this problem. We should be wary of what we watch and listen to online. Because in the vast marketplace of ideas that is the Internet, there’s a lot of false teaching out there. If you’re new to faith, perhaps ask a more experienced Christian which resources they’d recommend. And we’re called to be careful as a church, when we appoint people to teach. Do they love Jesus? Do they love his word?

But ultimately, Peter’s emphasis is that we cannot fully solve this problem by ourselves. The problem of false teachers has been in God’s hands from the beginning. Christ himself is the good shepherd. And will he not deliver his flock from the wolves?

In Romans 8, the Apostle Paul says this:

Romans 8:38-39 (NIV)

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 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.

That list sounds pretty exhaustive to me. I think Paul is including false teachers in that list. So friends, be encouraged. No false teacher will ever derail God’s salvation plan for the world.

This passage is intense. Reading it this week, it felt like sitting slightly too close to a fire. But what shines through is Christ’s fierce devotion to his bride, the church. Peter’s words shouldn’t push us away from Christ, they should draw us into his embrace.

Because the only way to identify and avoid false teaching is to focus on Christ. It is only when you know the real banknote that you can identify the counterfeit. It is only when you know the truth that you can identify the lie.

Because at the end of the day, humans, by default, are lost sheep. We need help. And only the Jesus that scripture proclaims can save us.

Jesus alone is the door to life, the door to ultimate flourishing. Nothing else will do. Nothing else will satisfy. Nothing else will ultimately quench our thirst for meaning and truth and goodness and beauty.

I know how this might sound if you’re new here. It might sound like I’m saying that we’re right and everyone else is wrong.

But here’s the thing. At All Souls, we’re not better than anyone else. We’re just people who realise that we need help. And it is entirely by God’s grace that we have come to see that Jesus is the answer. We are beggars, telling other beggars where to find the bread.

And all who come, all who repent and believe, all who simply receive Jesus, will be forgiven and brought into his family. It’s happening all over the world. Whoever you are, whatever you’ve done, even if you have been drawn into false teaching yourself, it’s not too late to come home to Jesus.

It’s the most glorious message the world has ever heard. It’s what we’re made for. Come to Jesus.

I had the privilege of preaching from 2 Kings 8:16-29 on Sunday 3rd August at All Souls Church, Eastbourne. You can read the sermon below or listen to it by clicking the image above. God bless!

God’s Lamp (2 Kings 8:16-29)

The Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell recounted a story of his time in the Navy. The year was 1954. He was on a nighttime training mission off the coast of Japan.

He was flying back to the aircraft carrier, the USS Shangri-La. And suddenly, his cockpit electrical systems malfunctioned.

Picture the scene. A man. Alone in an aeroplane. Flying over the murky depths of the Pacific Ocean. In the dark. Trying to land on a tiny strip of runway aboard the aircraft carrier. Without navigation.

So what did he do? Well, he turned off the lights in the cockpit, and looked out of the window. And he saw something extraordinary. He saw, down below on the surface of the ocean, a glowing strip of green light.

These were millions of tiny glow-in-the-dark plankton, churned up in the wake of the aircraft carrier. And Jim Lovell was able to follow this trail of light to the runway, where he made a safe landing.

When his immediate situation seemed utterly hopeless. When the systems on his plane failed. He looked beyond them. And what did he see? A lamp. Leading him home.

And our passage tonight is all about a lamp, the lamp of God himself, shining in the midst of deep darkness.

And how dark it is. We are continuing our series about the torn kingdom. Why is it torn? Well, back in 1 Kings 12 you can read about how the kingdom of Israel split in two. When King Solomon died, his son Rehoboam took the throne. And there was a rebellion. Leading to ten of the twelve tribes forming the Northern Kingdom of Israel. And the remaining two tribes formed the Southern Kingdom of Judah.

Much of 2 Kings so far has been focused on the Northern Kingdom, where the prophets Elijah and then Elisha spent their time. Through the influence of corrupt kings, especially Ahab, the Northern Kingdom has descended into the worship of false gods and all manner of wickedness.

God’s judgement is about to fall on the Northern Kingdom of Israel. And in the first part of 2 Kings 8, we were reminded that this judgement will be enacted through the figure of Hazael, king of Aram.

But in our passage for this evening, the text shifts its attention to the Southern Kingdom, the Kingdom of Judah. How have things been going in the South? Well, we’re told about the reign of king Jehoram, and then the reign of his son, Ahaziah. Verse 16…

2 Kings 8:16-18 (NIV)

16 In the fifth year of Joram son of Ahab king of Israel, when Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat began his reign as king of Judah. 17 He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. 18 He followed the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for he married a daughter of Ahab…

So right off the bat, Jehoram, the King of the South is marrying a princess from the North. Her name is Athaliah. And she is a daughter of Ahab.

Alarm bells are ringing. Ahab was that wicked Northern King. He was married to Jezebel. And together they plunged Israel into the worship of false gods, and even child sacrifice. They killed many of the prophets of the true God.

And God’s judgement is about to fall on the Northern Kingdom through Hazael, largely because of the evils that Ahab introduced. And now, Ahab’s daughter Athaliah has married into the royalty of the South.

And she is just as bad as her parents. We’re not given many details about her in this text. But she will go on to order the murder of her own grandchildren in 2 Kings 11. So Jehoram’s marriage to her brings terrible consequences. It invites the corrupting influence of Ahab’s family. And now the South is going the way of the North.

There’s a fascinating detail. In 2 Kings 1, we read that the Northern Kingdom had a king called Ahaziah. And then a king called Joram, which is actually short for Jehoram. In our passage this evening, the Southern Kingdom has a king called Jehoram. And what’s the name of his successor? Ahaziah.

So in the North, there’s a king Ahaziah followed by a king Jehoram. And in the South there’s a king Jehoram followed by a king Ahaziah. You see, the Southern Kingdom is now mirroring the Northern Kingdom. They’re both going off the rails together.

2 Kings 8:18 (NIV)

[Jehoram] followed the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for he married a daughter of Ahab. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD.

It’s a classic case of ‘be careful who you marry’. But notice, the text blames Jehoram as much as it blames his wife. Because his decision to marry Athaliah reflects a deeper problem within his heart. He desires her more than he desires the LORD.

2 Chronicles 21:11 tells us that…

2 Chronicles 21:11 (NIV)

[Jehoram] had caused the people of Jerusalem to prostitute themselves and had led Judah astray.

This king, supposedly an anointed leader over Judah, has plunged the kingdom into deeper darkness and corruption. Imagine a shepherd leading the sheep into a swamp. That’s what Jehoram is like.

And now, the streets of Judah are filled with the worship of false gods, and all manner of wickedness. And God-fearing Jews at the time might well have been thinking: Where is the LORD in all this? Does he care? Can’t he see what’s happening?

Do you ever feel that? Our context is very different to Ancient Judah. But maybe you look out at the world. And you see the failure of political leaders. You see the failure, even of prominent leaders within the church. And maybe you yourself wonder, where is God in all this? Does he care? Can’t he see what’s happening?

And as we read through 2 Kings and see the influence of one terrible king after another, it’s easy to look at Judah and think, it’s a lost cause. It’s on its way down the drain. There’s no coming back from this.

And make no mistake, God does not turn a blind eye to evil. He burns with anger against the wickedness of people like Jehoram.

John Stott once said that “the wrath of God… is his steady, unrelenting, unremitting, uncompromising antagonism to evil in all its forms and manifestations.”

From before creation God has eternally been a Father loving his Son in the joy of the Holy Spirit. And now, as he watches over this fallen world, his wrath isn’t in spite of his love. His wrath is because of his love. He sees evil for what it truly is. He sees the harm that it does.

And he opposes it. He wouldn’t be a loving God if he didn’t. And this makes verse 19 all the more extraordinary.

2 Kings 8:19 (NIV)

Nevertheless, for the sake of his servant David, the LORD was not willing to destroy Judah…

The LORD is withholding judgement, righteous though it is, from Judah. Why?

2 Kings 8:19 (NIV)

…He had promised to maintain a lamp for David and his descendants forever.

The LORD had made a promise to King David. Way back in history, before the kingdom split. A covenant. A binding agreement. And a key place you can see it is Psalm 89. God says…

Psalm 89:35-36 (NIV)

35 Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness—and I will not lie to David—36 that his line will continue forever and his throne endure before me like the sun;

This is the LORD’s promise. The line of David, the throne of David, will continue into eternity.

And so the reason that God does not wipe Judah from the face of the Earth, the reason that he preserves it, even when it is wallowing in its own wickedness, is that through it, an eternal kingdom is being established.

This verse, verse 19, is the only explicit mention of God in this passage. And as we read on, things are going to get even worse. But undergirding it all is this promise of God. A promise that will not be broken.

2 Kings 8:19 (NIV)

…for the sake of his servant David, the LORD was not willing to destroy Judah. He had promised to maintain a lamp for David and his descendants forever.

The throne of David will extend into eternity. It might not look like it now. It might seem that the throne of David is in dire straits. And that’s why the faithful remnant of Judah needed to hear the promise again and again. They needed to cling to it.

Let’s see how the rest of Jehoram’s reign panned out. Verse 20.

2 Kings 8:20-22 (NIV)

20 In the time of Jehoram, Edom rebelled against Judah and set up its own king. 21 So Jehoram went to Zair with all his chariots. The Edomites surrounded him and his chariot commanders, but he rose up and broke through by night; his army, however, fled back home. 22 To this day Edom has been in rebellion against Judah. Libnah revolted at the same time.

Notice how the surrounding lands are recoiling at Jehoram’s rule. Edom in verse 21 had been under Judah’s control since the time of King David himself. And the fact that they choose to rebel during Jehoram’s reign is a sign of Jehoram’s failed leadership.

Libnah in verse 22 is a city that was originally conquered by Joshua. And now they too are rebelling against Jehoram. Well this all leads to a scrap and Jehoram survives this time. But his days are numbered. Verse 23.

2 Kings 8:23-24 (NIV)

23 As for the other events of Jehoram’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 24 Jehoram rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David. And Ahaziah his son succeeded him as king.

In God’s sovereignty, the book of the annals of the kings of Judah is a lost book. But the account of Jehoram in 2 Chronicles 21 describes his downfall in more detail. I’ll read it to you.

2 Chronicles 21:16-20 (NIV)

16 The LORD aroused against Jehoram the hostility of the Philistines and of the Arabs who lived near the Cushites. 17 They attacked Judah, invaded it and carried off all the goods found in the king’s palace, together with his sons and wives. Not a son was left to him except Ahaziah, the youngest. 18 After all this, the LORD afflicted Jehoram with an incurable disease of the bowels. 19 In the course of time, at the end of the second year, his bowels came out because of the disease, and he died in great pain. His people made no funeral fire in his honor, as they had for his predecessors. …20… He passed away, to no one’s regret, and was buried in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.

You see, Jehoram was so bad that he wasn’t even given a proper kingly burial. His own people seemed to recognise that under his leadership, they had hit rock bottom. These are dark times.

And God does act in judgement. He forcibly removes Jehoram from the throne as a punishment for his wickedness. But he could have gone a lot further. He could have purged the land of Judah entirely. And he didn’t. Why?

2 Kings 8:19 (NIV)

…for the sake of his servant David, the LORD was not willing to destroy Judah. He had promised to maintain a lamp for David and his descendants forever.

So that’s Jehoram. How about his son, Ahaziah?

2 Kings 8:25-27 (NIV)

25 In the twelfth year of Joram son of Ahab king of Israel, Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign. 26 Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem one year. His mother’s name was Athaliah, a granddaughter of Omri king of Israel. 27 He followed the ways of the house of Ahab and did evil in the eyes of the LORD, as the house of Ahab had done, for he was related by marriage to Ahab’s family.

So Ahaziah is following in his Father’s footsteps. He continues to spread the evils of the house of Ahab. 2 Chronicles tells us that…

2 Chronicles 22:3 (NIV)

…his mother encouraged him to act wickedly.

That unwise marriage choice that Jehoram made is now affecting his son. There’s this ripple effect, this spreading corruption, being passed down the generations.

2 Kings 8:28-29 (NIV)

28 Ahaziah went with Joram son of Ahab to war against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth Gilead. The Arameans wounded Joram; 29 so King Joram returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds the Arameans had inflicted on him at Ramoth in his battle with Hazael king of Aram.

Then Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to Jezreel to see Joram son of Ahab, because he had been wounded.

Now remember, God’s judgement on Israel will come through Hazael. So this human attempt to defeat Hazael proves unsuccessful. Whatever their motives for fighting this battle, Ahaziah and Joram are definitely not seeking the Lord. Joram is wounded, and our passage ends with Ahaziah setting off to visit him.

So we’ve encountered two terrible southern kings this evening. And do you know what the name Jehoram means? It means "Yahweh is exalted". The LORD is exalted. And interestingly Athaliah, the name of his wife, is the female version of that name.

As for the name of their son, Ahaziah, that means "Yahweh sustains". The LORD sustains. So on the face of it, the names of our characters in this passage seem incredibly ironic. None of them are living up to their names.

But here’s the thing. Whatever the failings of the human rulers who bear these names, the names proclaim a deeper truth. The LORD is exalted. And the LORD sustains.

Because the line of David does not end with Jehoram or Ahaziah. They are not the answer. The answer comes in the person of Jesus. His name means ‘The LORD saves.’ And he is the Messiah. The anointed one. The true king in the line of David.

Let’s keep a finger in 2 Kings, and turn to Matthew chapter 1. The genealogy of Jesus. Look down at verse 8. Slap bang in the middle is Jehoram. And as you read down through those descendants of Jehoram, one generation after another, eventually you get to Jesus himself.

After what we’ve seen of Jehoram, we might be surprised to see his name included in the family tree of Jesus. Isn’t Jehoram a bit of an embarrassment? After all, when he died, he wasn’t even given a proper burial. “He passed away, to no one’s regret”. The people of Judah didn’t want to remember him, understandably so. But here he is.

Jesus isn’t embarrassed to include Jehoram, and countless other deeply flawed men and women on his family tree. Why? Because it proves that the line of David, this eternal kingdom, depends not on human efforts but on God. Through this broken family, often even in spite of it, the line has been preserved and has finally reached its fulfillment in the person of Jesus.

Let’s turn back to 2 Kings 8. Verse 19. Because the promise was always there.

2 Kings 8:19 (NIV)

Nevertheless, for the sake of his servant David, the LORD was not willing to destroy Judah. He had promised to maintain a lamp for David and his descendants forever.

Jesus is that lamp. He is the eternal son of the Father, anointed with the Holy Spirit. And he calls himself the light of the world. The lamp of the world.

The fullness of God’s shining goodness dwells in him and emanates from him. He came to fulfill his promise to David.

His promise that the throne of David would continue. But this Kingdom extends far beyond David’s physical descendants. Jesus is the lamp, not just of David, not just of Judah, but of the entire world. Of the entire cosmos.

In John 1, we read this.

John 1:9-11 (NIV)

9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.

The most glorious person to ever set foot on this earth, the true king in the line of David, the lamp of the world, he was rejected. He was rejected even within Judah. And in his early thirties, he was nailed to a Roman cross outside the city of Jerusalem.

In his final years, the songwriter Leonard Cohen wrote and recorded an album called ‘You Want it Darker’. He says this…

Magnified, sanctified, Be thy holy name

Vilified, crucified, In the human frame

A million candles burning For the help that never came

You want it darker, We kill the flame

We kill the flame. Humanity as a whole. We might not be as bad as Jehoram and Ahaziah. But like them, we have inherited a curse. All of us living downstream of the failure of those first human rulers, Adam and Eve.

We are broken. We are corrupt. We are compromised. We are perishing. And day by day, we contribute to the wickedness of the world. That’s what humans are like. Even the best of us.

We kill the flame. Because on that cross, Jesus, the true lamp absorbed the full force of the darkness in this world. The darkness in every single human heart, including our own.

He did what only the best king could do. He took responsibility. God the Son himself shouldered the righteous judgement of God in our place.

It was unimaginably costly for him. But the lamp was not extinguished. He only burned brighter. Pioneering a path into glorious resurrection life. And in Revelation 21 we see the vision for his eternal kingdom.

Revelation 21:22-24 (NIV)

22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.

The lamb is the lamp. The lamb who was slain on the cross, is the lamp of David and of the entire world. And people from all nations are being brought into his kingdom. This is the Father’s eternal plan. For his people to dwell with him forever. Illuminated by the face of Jesus himself. The king who made the ultimate sacrifice in our place.

This is the glorious good news of the gospel. It’s a message that came, first to the Jews awaiting their true king, and now it has spread to the ends of the earth. And all who come. All who will simply receive Jesus, the lamp of the world, will be included in his kingdom.

We are awaiting the return of Jesus. And things are going to get worse before they get better. There will be more leaders like Jehoram and Ahaziah. But God hasn’t given up on this thing. He hasn’t given up on his church. And he hasn’t given up on his world. Because through the church, as the word and Spirit go out, the light of Jesus is reflected to the world, so that many will be saved.

The throne of David is alive and well and it belongs to Jesus who is seated at the right hand of the Father. Hallelujah! And one day, he will return to judge the world, and lead his church into a new heavens and a new Earth.

If you would like to know this lamp, this king, this Jesus, we would love to chat to you after the service.

Whatever you’ve done. Whatever your struggles this evening, he holds out his hand to you. It’s a nail-scarred hand. Because he made the ultimate sacrifice on that cross, to open the door to his kingdom. Will you receive Jesus? Will you take that nail-scarred hand? Will you receive the lamp who will lead you home?

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The Joy of Long Train Journeys

I had an idea. A long-form video essay exploring the deeper themes and symbolism of the Scream franchise. Sure I’d made YouTube videos before. Lots of them. But most of them were short and snappy.

This was to be a proper deep dive. Something I’d never attempted before.

On a crowded train from Eastbourne to York on the 27th of January, 2024, I opened a notebook and began to write the script.

Weeks later, after multiple rewatches of the six movies, hours of writing and a colossal edit, the 38 minute long video was finished. I had no idea if anyone would want to watch it.

With a deep breath, I hit publish.

And to my surprise, it soon became my most-viewed video.

That taught me a vital lesson. Depth and detail are what people are looking for in a video essay. Those things aren’t barriers, even in an Internet age geared to favour instant gratification.

It’s been a fascinating journey, and one I hope to continue. Throughout the process I’ve been extremely blessed by the wisdom of others exploring theology and culture; Nate Morgan Locke, Glen Scrivener, Josh Larsen, Jonathan Pageau and the folks from Popcorn Theology to name a few.

So to kick off my Substack, where I intend to post from time to time, here’s the script for that first video. Enjoy, and God bless!

Intro

We no longer believe in monsters. But we didn’t get rid of them. They just made their way into our cinemas, the cathedrals of the 20th century. People congregate in these buildings at particular times to have a shared experience of something beyond. Stories told by light passing through stained celluloid. The monsters kept us coming. The scary ones, at least. But they were hard to come by. For every monster that worked, countless didn’t. And so, unable to rely on fresh ideas with the potential to flop, film studios doubled down on the only way to guarantee success.

Sequels. Remakes. Sequels to remakes. On and on it went until every ounce of cultural cachet had been drained from our monsters. Audiences were getting tired. Perhaps horror movies had run their course. Perhaps it was time to hang up the mask and move on. But then, in December 1996, there was Scream. Scream writer Kevin Williamson, recounts the lightbulb moment that birthed this landmark film…

Kevin Williamson: “I got the idea from watching a Barbara Walters special on the Gainsville murders. I was broke, house-sitting for a friend to pay him back for money he’d lent me for groceries, and I was scaring the hell out of myself. I thought I heard a noise. I walked the house with a butcher knife and a phone and called a friend while I searched the place. We got into this huge discussion, testing each other on horror movies. And that’s how Scream was born.”

(Robb, B. J. (2022). Screams & Nightmares: The Films of Wes Craven. Birlinn Ltd.)

Sound familiar?

Ghostface: “What’s your favourite scary movie?”

(Scream, 1996)

The opening scene is the DNA of Scream. It lays the groundwork for everything to come. Casey Becker, played by Drew Barrymore, is plunged into a home invasion nightmare. She’s told the only way to get out is to play a game. Horror movie trivia. But she gets a question wrong. Her boyfriend is slaughtered in front of her. She makes a dash for it, just as her parents pull into the driveway. The killer catches her and stabs her. She fights back, coming tantalisingly close to escape. But because of her neck injuries, the one thing she can’t do is the one thing she needs to do. The title of the movie. The killer closes in. She discovers its identity but we don’t. And we’ll be left trying to figure it out until the third act. Casey’s parents find their home in disarray. And then they find the body of their daughter. Now we hear a scream.

This 13 minute sequence is an entire operatic tragedy in itself. It made a bold statement to seasoned horror fans and newcomers alike. This isn’t just a horror movie. This is a horror movie in which the characters know about horror movies.

It wasn’t the first. Even Scream’s director Wes Craven had previously made Wes Craven’s New Nightmare, lamenting the studio overreach that milked dry his own creation. Freddy Krueger, the nightmare on Elm Street.

But Scream did something fresh. Most of the franchise is situated in the fictional but entirely believable town of Woodsboro. A comfortable but disenchanted setting, populated with cineliterate kids. The young audiences of the 1990s could see themselves in these characters and at this school.

Like much of the modern world, the sleepy small town of Woodsboro was crying out for something more. A mythology. Something to give its people meaning. Something that could be retold, re-enacted and adapted for generations to come with the regularity of a religious festival. It needed a story with a monster and a hero. And in the absence of anything better, it got one, through a sequence of brutal murders.

Marnie Cooper: “Don’t we hear enough about this story every year?”

Jenny Randall: “At least Woodsboro’s known for something.”

(Scream 4, 2011)

But unlike the horror franchises that came before, the terror of Woodsboro didn’t come in the form of a monster. It came in the form of an idea. Ghostface.

Ghostface

Many people have been Ghostface. Men and women of different ages. Ghostface is a mantle which gets picked up, passed on or stolen. Those who play the part usually die, but the idea lives on. So what is Ghostface? At its most basic level; it’s a costume, a voice (“Hello Sidney”) and a relentless bloodlust pursued through a knife.

The most crucial component, the mask, dates back to 1991, when Fun World employee Brigitte Sleiertin was asked to create a new Halloween costume. She developed this now iconic design; ‘The Peanut-Eyed Ghost’. As fate would have it, one of these masks ended up in a house that was used for a Scream location scout. Soon, the rights were obtained, and Fun World licensing director R. J. Torbert gave it the name ‘Ghostface’. He said it had the appearance of a ‘ghost in pain’.

And this is vital. Before Scream, killers in slasher movies were designed to look scary. But Ghostface, first and foremost, isn’t scary. It’s scared. It’s a screaming face, white with terror, expressions simplified to the purest depiction of melancholic dread. When Ghostface kills, it acts as a mirror, reflecting the fear of its victims back at them. And so they die looking much like Ghostface themselves. In the unassuming town of Woodsboro, in which there’s little to be afraid of, Ghostface arises to embody fear itself.

Culture and Pop Culture

Quick word of warning. From now on we’ll be getting into some spoilers. A big part of the fun of these movies is trying to work out who the killer will be. So if you haven’t seen all 6 films and you want to go in not knowing who the killers are, you’re welcome to leave. Okay. Let’s continue.

The feedback loop of fear between Ghostface and victim which I just mentioned reflects the grander feedback loop of the Scream universe. The interplay between culture and popular culture. Gale Weathers is a cheesy tabloid journalist with a passion for writing.

Gale Weathers: “Has a cheesy tabloid journalist ever won the Pulitzer?”

(Scream, 1996)

Whenever someone gets killed in Woodsboro, she can’t help but pursue the story. She adapts the horrific Woodsboro murders into a series of sensationalised true crime novels, which in turn are adapted into the Stab movies.

So the culture generates pop culture. The Woodsboro murders inspire the Stab movies. But perhaps more disturbingly, the Stab movies feed back into the culture. They keep the idea of Ghostface alive. And the people who decide to put on the mask themselves are movie fanatics, desperate to play a part in the growing mythology.

Mickey Altieri: “It’s a classic case of life imitating art imitating life.”

Student 1: “This is not a hypothetical. It’s not about art. I had biology with that girl; this is reality.”

(Scream 2, 1997)

A superficial reading would say that the Scream franchise is admitting that horror films amplify violence in the real world. And the films do wrestle with that possibility.

Cici Cooper: “You can’t blame real life violence on entertainment.”

Student 2: “Wait a second, yes you can! Don’t you even watch the news?”

Student 3: “Yeah, hello, the killer was wearing a ghost mask, okay? Just like in the movie; it’s directly responsible.”

Cici Cooper: “No it’s not. Movies are not responsible for our actions.”

(Scream 2, 1997)

I think she’s right. The root of the problem is never the movies themselves, but rather the human capacity to produce violence which would remain even if we destroyed every horror movie out there. What the Scream films can’t deny however, is the fact that movies give people ideas. If you watch a movie, any movie, the impact it has upon you is not nothing.

Billy Loomis: “Don’t you blame the movies! Movies don’t create psychos, movies make psychos more creative!”

(Scream, 1996)

What Scream is really exploring is the power of story. Whether in real life, on paper or on screen, the Ghostface story is so potent that people find themselves wanting to inhabit it. Scream 2 begins with a screening of Stab, the film within the film based on the events of Scream 1. And people go wild for it. Dozens of audience members are wearing the ghostface mask, and it’s all meant to be harmless fun. Until it turns out that one of them is a killer, hiding in plain sight. If you’re a wolf, it’s easier to get away with murder when you’re surrounded by sheep dressed like wolves.

The Rules

Like any genre of storytelling, horror has accumulated a set of conventions or tropes that can be codified into rules. If X happens, Y tends to follow. In the first 3 Scream films, Randy the film nerd acts as a prophet, zealous for the laws of horror. He’s seen enough movies to have a pretty good idea of what the film-loving killers will do next.

Randy Meeks: “There are certain rules that one must abide by in order to successfully survive a horror movie. Number 1: You can never have sex… Number 2: You can never drink or do drugs. It’s a sin, it’s an extension of Number 1. And Number 3: Never ever ever under any circumstances say ‘I’ll be right back’. Because you won’t be back.”

(Scream, 1996)

What he’s picking up on is the strange moralism of killers in slasher movies. They rarely go for innocent people, preferring instead to target wayward teenagers, who are fooling around and abdicating responsibility. That’s not to say that the killers are righteous judges. The filmmakers certainly wouldn’t want us to come away thinking that.

Consider 1978’s Halloween, for instance, the film playing on the TV behind Randy. The killer, Michael Myers, is framed as pure evil. And as Randy observes, he picks off teenagers who are indulging in sex, alcohol and flippant promises. The protagonist, Laurie Strode, is an early example of a ‘final girl’, a term coined by Carol J. Clover in her 1992 book Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film. She is a young, responsible, virginal woman, who survives to the end. And this vindication of the virgin led some to accuse Halloween director John Carpenter of being sex negative, something he vehemently denied.

John Carpenter: “It has been suggested that I was making some kind of moral statement. Believe me, I'm not. In Halloween, I viewed the characters as simply normal teenagers.”

“…the one girl who is the most sexually uptight just keeps stabbing the guy with a long knife. She’s the most sexually frustrated. She’s the one that killed him. Not because she’s a virgin but because all that repressed energy starts coming out. She uses all those phallic symbols on the guy…She and the killer have a certain link: sexual repression.”

But regardless of what John Carpenter is trying to say or trying not to say with the film, it’s interesting to note that the one teenager who stands a chance against Michael Myers is the one who shows self-control and maturity. As much as we might want to, in our storytelling we can’t seem to separate the hedonistic lifestyle from death and destruction. In fact, whenever you’re watching a horror film and you get to a mad party scene, it’s pretty much guaranteed that someone will die.

Which leads us to the subversive final girl of Scream, Sidney Prescott. In Scream 1, there’s pressure from her boyfriend Billy Loomis and her peers to lose her virginity. But she’s still recovering from the murder of her mother, Maureen Prescott.

Billy Loomis: “I mean you haven’t been the same since… since your mother died.”

Sidney Prescott: “Is your brain leaking? My mom was killed. I can’t believe you’re bringing this up.”

Billy Loomis: “It’s been a year.”

Sidney Prescott: “Tomorrow.”

Billy Loomis: “I think it’s time you got over that.”

(Scream, 1996)

Eventually, Billy manages to win her trust, and they do the deed at Stu Macher’s party. Which means, according to Randy’s rules, Sidney’s name is now on the kill list. And it is.

Stu Macher: “You gave it up. Now you’re no longer a virgin… Now you gotta die. Those are the rules.”

(Scream, 1996)

But through a twisty final showdown, she manages to survive. She gets to be a final girl, even though she had sex. This might be interpreted as an effort on the part of the film to be more sex positive than its predecessors. But it’s not quite that simple. Because who is Billy Loomis? One of the killers. Through deceit, he won Sidney’s trust and gave her a sexual encounter which she instantly came to regret. Scream plays with the conventions and expectations of horror. But that doesn’t mean that within the Scream films, nothing matters or actions don’t have consequences. Far from it.

The Star

Horror is especially wired to explore the unnerving reality that much is beyond our control. Because if you make a horror movie, you build a world and you allow a threat to enter into that world. Even the subversive Scream films can’t get away from that. The specifics can be played with. But one thing is certain in every movie. Death is coming. And the protagonist will have to do battle with Ghostface. Call it fate. Call it destiny. Whatever it is and however it arises, it’s inevitable. Every time.

Scream makes this point through the use of a classic horror movie staple. The classroom scene. This is the place where the protagonist is forced to contend with the existence of fate. They can accept it. They can ignore it. They can rail against it. But what they can’t do, is stop it. In the Scream 1 classroom scene, the teacher gives Sidney some ominous words.

Teacher: “Sidney, it would appear to be your turn.”

(Scream, 1996)

What she means that Sidney is up next for questioning by the police. But the deeper meaning is that Sidney is next in line for a Ghostface attack. There it is, that sense of the inevitable. Sidney will have to come to terms with the fact that she is the star of this movie.

Sidney Prescott: “This isn’t a movie.”

Billy Loomis: “Sure it is, Sid. It’s all a movie. It’s all one great big movie. Only, you can’t pick your genre.”

(Scream, 1996)

In Scream 2, Sidney is a drama student, playing the part of Cassandra in the college production of ‘Agamemnon’. Her teacher presses her once again on the subject of fate.

Gus Gold: “Cassandra’s one of the great tragic visionaries of literature. She saw it all coming. The wars. The murder. The madness. She knew she was cursed. It was her fate and she embraced it. None of us can avoid our fate, but as an artist, you can honestly face it and fight it.”

(Scream 2, 1997)

So that’s the question. Will Sidney face her fate?

Sidney Prescott: “You know, I knew this was coming. I knew this wasn’t over.”

(Scream 2, 1997)

You wouldn’t wish Sidney’s situation on anyone. And after suffering two movies of Ghostface attacks and the loss of many loved ones, she decides to flee. In Scream 3, we meet her in a secure house in the middle of nowhere. She’s taking calls for California women’s crisis counseling. And it’s precisely her admirable concern for others that draws her back into the danger zone.

In an extraordinary scene, she finds herself on the deserted set of Stab 3, an uncanny recreation of her old house and bedroom. Her personal life is being immortalised on film all around her. And it’s at this moment that Ghostface attacks. From the classroom to the stage to the film set, Sidney is challenged to confront her fate. She can’t run away from Ghostface.

But she’s not in this alone. There’s Dewey Riley. A crime fighter with a big heart. He never ceases to love his sometimes unlovely bride, Gale Weathers. And he acts as a protective big brother towards Sidney, always checking in to see how she’s doing.

Sidney Prescott: “What are you doing here?”

Dewey Riley: “I was worried about you.”

(Scream 2, 1997)

Sidney Prescott: “Hello?"

Dewey Riley: “Hey Sid, it’s me…”

Sidney Prescott: “Dewey?!”

(Scream, 2022)

And Gale herself, for all her flaws, cares deeply about Sidney.

Gale Weathers: “I talked to Sidney… She deserves to have her happy ending”

(Scream VI, 2023)

This is part of what makes Scream unique. The returning central characters are the heart of the franchise. We come back for them. Previous slasher franchises were mainly about the killer. It was the killer who brought the box office returns. You’d go to the sequels to see Jason or Freddy or Michael. But Sidney, Dewey and Gale? We care about them.

Family Secrets

The studio had obvious financial motives for wanting to make Scream sequels. But Wes Craven was excited by the possibility of being one of the first directors to helm an entire horror trilogy with returning characters.

Kevin Williamson, the writer of Scream 1 and Scream 2, had an idea for Scream 3 that would conclude the story in Woodsboro. But Craven wanted something more expansive. He wanted to take the small-town characters to the vast soundstages of Hollywood and round off the self-referential commentary on the film industry. A new writer, Ehren Kruger, took over. In the wake of the Columbine High School massacre of 1999, the studio decided that Scream 3 should have less violence and more jokes at Hollywood’s expense.

Randy Meeks: “True trilogies are all about going back to the beginning, and discovering something that wasn’t true from the get go… Godfather, Jedi… all revealed something that we thought was true, that wasn’t true… Whatever you think you know about the past, forget it. The past is not at rest. Any sins you think were committed in the past are about to break out and destroy you.”

(Scream 3, 2000)

Thanks Randy. And thus is it Scream 3 that fleshes out Sidney’s backstory. We learn that her mother, Maureen Prescott, was an aspiring actress with the stage name Rina Reynolds. In a sickening moment, film producer John Milton discloses details about what happened to her.

John Milton: “I was well known for my parties. Rina knew what they were. It was for girls like her to meet men. Men who could get them parts, if they made the right impression. Nothing happened to her that she didn’t invite in one way or another. No matter what she said afterwards.”

Gale Weathers: “Are you saying she-“

John Milton: “I’m saying things got out of hand. Maybe they did take advantage of her. You know, maybe the sad truth is, this is not the city for innocence. No charges were brought. And the bottom line is, Rina Reynolds wouldn’t play by the rules. You wanna get ahead in Hollywood? You gotta play the game.”

(Scream 3, 2000)

Scream 3 came out 17 years before #MeToo. And let’s not forget that Harvey Weinstein himself was involved in its production. This devastating account of the treatment of a young actress at the hands of powerful men is all too familiar. And that is where the film takes us. Down into the seedy underbelly of this Hollywood producer’s mansion, in which there is a sealed screening room chamber. This is the place where Maureen Prescott was exploited. We’re not shown any flashbacks to the incident. It’s all implied. This is the real horror of Scream 3. Maybe movies don’t produce criminals. But there are certainly criminals who produce movies.

Roman Bridger: “Here he is (John Milton). The man who gave away your mother’s innocence… She never recovered from that night. Right here in this room”

(Scream 3, 2000)

Roman Bridger, the killer of Scream 3, is Maureen’s first child. Sidney’s half-brother.

Roman Bridger: “I searched for a mother too, an actress named Rina Reynolds. Tried to find her my whole life… Knocked at her door thinking she would welcome me with open arms. But she had a new life and a new name, Maureen Prescott. You were the only child she claimed, Sidney. She shut me out in the cold forever, her own son.”

(Scream 3, 2000)

This maternal abandonment led him to orchestrate the events of Scream 1.

Roman Bridger: “Seems Maureen, Mom, She really got around. Cotton was one thing. Everybody knew about that. But Billy’s father, that was the key. Your boyfriend didn’t like seeing his daddy in my film too much, he didn’t like it at all. Once I supplied the motivation, all the kid needed was a few pointers.”

(Scream 3, 2000)

Billy Loomis: “Your s*** mother was f****** my father, and she’s the reason my mom moved out and abandoned me. Maternal abandonment causes serious deviant behaviours…”

(Scream, 1996)

And thus Ghostface is born. The Gale Weathers novels are born. The stab movies are born. Round and round it goes. The feedback loop of tragedy and trauma. For Scream fans, one of the more uncomfortable aspects of the series is the apparent victim blaming of Maureen Prescott. We’re told she had a string of romantic affairs later in life, and most of the Woodsboro killings are framed as the fallout of those affairs. So what’s going on there? Is she being blamed for everything?

The franchise could have used more tact in discussing the darker themes of sexual abuse. But in terms of the story, I think the criticism often misses something. Yes, Maureen Prescott led a promiscuous lifestyle later in life. And that is shown to have had negative consequences. But according to Scream 3, the key factor in the breakdown of her family was the abuse she suffered at the hands of Hollywood. The people who place the blame solely at Maureen Prescott’s feet for the harm that befell her and her family are almost always the killers. The villains. They’re the ones who do the victim blaming.

It takes multiple people, some well intentioned, some not, to create and enable the Ghostface mythos. Ghostface is birthed by the collapse of an entire family. And caught in the centre of the storm is Maureen’s daughter, Sidney Prescott.

Roman Bridger: “Introducing Sidney, the victim. Sidney, the survivor. Sidney, the star.”

(Scream 3, 2000)

Competitive Victimhood

Another constant challenge for Sidney is the public attention and scrutiny. Throughout the franchise, she is disbelieved, accused of seeking the spotlight and envied for being the star, even though it’s something she never asked for.

School bully 1: “She was never attacked; I think she made it all up.

School bully 2: “Why would she lie about it?”

School bully 1: “For attention. The girl has some serious issues.”

(Scream, 1996)

Murphy: “It’s really weird, isn’t it? To think this fuss is all because of you [Sidney]! I mean, not directly.”

(Scream 2, 1997)

Ghostface: “It was always all about poor sweet Sidney sucking up all the oxygen.”

(Scream VI, 2023)

Scream 4 is the only time Sidney voluntarily goes public with her traumatic life story. She’s written a book called ‘Out of Darkness’. Here she is, reading an extract.

Sidney Prescott: “I began to believe myself that that was all I was, a victim. And that was unacceptable to me. So I sat down and began to write a new role that would be my own. A role for a woman who could leave the walls of fear behind and step out into the sunlight. Out of darkness.”

(Scream 4, 2011)

Sidney has come through the darkness and out the other side. But how? We get a hint during a conversation with her cousin, Jill Roberts.

Sidney Prescott: “What I do is I try not to think about me… I have people I care about. I focus on them.”

(Scream 4, 2011)

This is Sidney’s hard-won wisdom shining though. She endures by focusing on others. She never seeks to use her status for selfish gain, much to the bewilderment of her cynical publicist.

Rebecca Walters: “Accept your situation. You’re a victim. For life. So embrace it. Use it… And a lucky break like this! I’m talking 100% increase in sales. Minimum. That’s maybe a million more people get your message and you get a tonne more cheques. Win win.”

Sidney Prescott: “I won’t be needing you anymore.”

(Scream 4, 2011)

Sidney is absolutely mortified by her publicist’s corporate, instrumental view of the world. But as for her cousin Jill, not so much. Jill is one of the killers in Scream 4. But ultimately, she doesn’t want to be Ghostface. She wants to be Sidney.

Jill Roberts: “This has never been about killing you. It’s about becoming you… You had your 15 minutes, now I want mine!”

(Scream 4, 2011)

In what is, for me, one of the most disturbing scenes in the franchise, we see Jill enacting her masterplan. She stabs Sidney, and frames Trevor. Then she proceeds to inflict wounds on herself in spectacular fashion. These are the lengths she will go to. She lies down next to Sidney’s body and waits for the police. She has set everything up such that the police will instantly view her as an innocent victim. A new Sidney.

In ancient times, people didn’t want to be seen as the victim. Certainly people in power. Because victims are weak, surely. By definition, they are worse off. But then Christianity came along. In Christianity, the Son of God voluntarily becomes the victim on the cross in self-sacrificial love. He gained the victory by becoming the victim. It’s a radical inversion of power. Whether you believe it or not, our culture has been meditating on that story for centuries. And it has profoundly shaped our view of the world. The Romans would look at the crucifixion of Christ and say that glory resides in the Roman centurion. The one inflicting the violence. But now, in our Post-Christian culture, we see glory in the one who’s on the receiving end of the violence. The victim. That’s a seismic shift.

Many people really have been victims. Like Sidney herself; been through the most horrendous suffering and abuse at the hands of others. But there are some people, like Jill, who cynically see the cultural cachet that can be gained in our current time if you are identified as the victim, if people see you as the victim.

Jill Roberts: “We all live in public now. We’re all on the Internet. How do you think people become famous anymore? …You’ve just gotta have f***** up s*** happen to you.”

(Scream 4, 2011)

Jill plays the victim card when it isn’t hers to play. She uses deception to become as pitied and admired as Sidney in the public eye. This makes Scream 4 an incisive commentary on our culture of competitive victimhood, and how it has been supercharged by social media. Nowadays, people will fight mercilessly for victim status. And this makes life even harder for the actual victims.

Remarkably, Sidney survives to bring about yet another victory and Jill is defeated inside the hospital. But in a genius storytelling move, the camera cuts back to the world outside the hospital. The news reporters don’t yet know what we know about Jill. We hear their reports, honouring the new victim. The new survivor. The new star. Jill Roberts. The disturbing thing about Jill’s masterplan is that it very nearly worked.

Reporter: “Jill Roberts of Woodsboro, a girl who’s lifted all our spirits tonight. An American hero, right out of the movies.”

(Scream 4, 2011)

And that’s it. The ending of Scream 4. Wes Craven’s final film before his death in 2015. That’s what he left us with.

The Scream Canon

Kevin Williamson had plans for a second Scream trilogy. The main reason it fell through is that Scream 4 underperformed at the box office. Williamson turned his attention to other projects, including the TV series The Following, based on his original idea for Scream 3 before he was replaced by writer Ehren Kruger.

Whilst we’re on the subject of Scream-adjacent media, the Scary Movie films had been riding the wave of success created by Scream, with the first coming out in 2000 and the fifth coming out in 2013. These parody films try to do for the slasher genre what Airplane! did for disaster movies. I'm not a fan of Scary Movie. For me, Scream itself is a better parody of the horror genre. And it even manages to be good horror in its own right.

2015 saw the premiere of the Scream TV series, which arguably attempted to reboot the Scream franchise. Wes Craven was even in line to direct the first episode, but he turned it down. Much of the series’ self-referential commentary is driven by the fact that the slasher genre doesn’t typically lend itself to television.

Noah Foster: “You can’t do a slasher movie as a TV series. Well, think about it. You know, girl and her friends arrive at the dance, the camp, the deserted town, whatever. Killer takes them out one by one. Ninety minutes later the sun comes up as survivor girl’s sitting in the back of the ambulance watching her friends’ bodies being wheeled past. Slasher movies burn bright and fast. TV needs to stretch things out.”

(Scream: The TV Series S01E01, 2015)

People didn’t take to the redesigned Ghostface mask, including Craven himself. The original, it seems, is unimprovable. Scream Season 3 formed yet another reboot, with brand new characters, and the original mask restored.

It was in 2022 that a fifth Scream instalment was finally released. An actual canonical Scream movie made after the death of Wes Craven. Created by the team behind the horror comedy Ready or Not and executive produced by Kevin Williamson, it was given the title ‘Scream’. And that’s crucial. Scream 2022 is a requel. Allow Randy’s niece to explain.

Mindy Meeks-Martin: “New main characters, yes, but supported by and related to legacy characters. Not quite a reboot, not quite a sequel. Like the new Halloween, Saw, Terminator, Jurassic Park, Ghostbusters…”

(Scream, 2022)

Scream 5, as we’ll call it, is a smart commentary on the nature of fandom. The killers are fans of the Stab franchise, and they feel utterly betrayed by the apparently woeful cinematic offering of Stab 8. And who made Stab 8?

Mindy Meeks-Martin: “Remember the Stab movie that came out last year?”

Liv McKenzie: “Oh yeah, the one the Knives Out guy directed, right? You know I actually really liked that one.”

Mindy Meeks-Martin: Of course you did, you have terrible taste.”

Liv McKenzie: “I hate you.”

(Scream, 2022)

Of course, they’re referring to director Rian Johnson, who made the most divisive Star Wars movie of all time. Episode 8, The Last Jedi. That film marked a sharp increase in the animosity of film discussion. Many described it as the film that ruined their childhood. There were heated debates about Disney smuggling certain ideologies into their entertainment and throwing beloved characters under the bus. Movies became the battleground on which the culture war was being fought. Just as Gale Weathers predicted in Scream 3.

Tom Prinze (to Gale): “Watch your show all the time. You’re so right. Pop culture is the politics of the 21st century.”

Gale Weathers: “Thank you.”

(Scream 3, 2000)

Scream 5 had to introduce a new star. Someone to pick up the torch. The first 4 Scream films begin with a Ghostface attack, followed by Sidney Prescott. Scream 5 goes to a new character. Sam Carpenter. The implication is that Sam is the new Sidney. There’s a rather wonderful moment where Sidney offers some advice, but Sam ignores it.

Sidney Prescott: “I tried running too. It doesn’t work. It always follows.”

Samantha Carpenter: “All due respect, that’s your life, not mine.”

(Scream, 2022)

This is nicely paid-off at the end.

Samantha Carpenter: “You were right. About not running.”

Sidney Prescott: “Sorry about that.”

(Scream, 2022)

But then there’s Dewey. You could say that Scream 5 does to Dewey what The Last Jedi does to Luke Skywalker. The grizzled former hero, now living in exile and unemployment after failing his loved ones. Until he makes a final return and dies in battle.

David Arquette and Courtney Cox really were married at the time of Scream 4, but not at the time of Scream 5. As reflected by their characters, Dewey and Gale, who are divorced in Scream 5. So that’s an extra layer of meta. But the death of Dewey marks an important change in the franchise. Something of what his character represents is lost. And I don’t know if we’ll get it back.

Ghostface as Hero

Remember how Scream 4 explored the possibility of Ghostface becoming the victim? Well Scream 5 and 6 explore the possibility of the victim becoming Ghostface. Sam Carpenter is the daughter of Billy Loomis, the original killer from Scream 1. She’s haunted by visions of him, tempting her to commit violence. In the climax of Scream 5, she launches a frenzied counterattack against her ex-boyfriend Ritchie, one of the killers. This goes well beyond self-defence. She almost seems to enjoy it.

Scream VI pushes this even further. At the start of the film, Sam seeks therapy to process her dark desires. The Internet is swirling with conspiracy theories about her. She’s fiercely protective of her half-sister Tara. By the end of the film, it seems that almost anything is justified in eliminating the killers. Tara stabs Ethan in the mouth and tells him he’ll die a virgin. Shortly after, Sam unleashes fury on Detective Bailey. She even wears the Ghostface costume as she slices and dices. That’s new. Or is it?

It is true that Sidney wears the costume in Scream 1 in order to evade Billy. But she immediately sheds the costume onto the floor, almost in disgust. For Sidney, Ghostface is never justified. Ghostface must always be defeated.

For Sam, it’s okay to don the Ghostface costume for the purpose of cutting the toxic people out of her life. Of course, the people she kills are terrible people. They’re killers. But the ease with which she enacts her brutal revenge? The fact that Tara’s okay with it, and they have a tender interaction straight afterwards… Somehow, it doesn’t sit right. I don’t think Wes Craven would have done that.

I suppose that if Scream 4 is about people competing to be the victim, the logical next step is people competing to be Ghostface. That was the plan for Kevin Williamson’s second trilogy. Jill Roberts was going to live on into Scream 5 and go to college, only to be hunted by a killer herself. I think the problem is that we’re meant to sympathise with Sam. She’s a person with serial killer tendencies, who’s become increasingly willing to put them into practice. But we’re meant to sympathise with her.

This does reflect a broader shift in the storytelling of today. We’re deconstructing the categories of hero and villain. It’s now okay for heroes to draw some power from the dark side. And the modern ‘villain’ is often just someone who didn’t get enough hugs as a kid, someone who is misunderstood. For a while, it was the horror genre that retained a refreshing lack of moral ambiguity. But maybe that won’t be the case for much longer.

Now, look. I get it. Scream VI, perhaps, is meant to be cathartic, like a Quentin Tarantino movie. We’re watching someone get revenge against her oppressors in spectacular fashion. But it’s worth noting that Wes Craven himself walked out of a screening of Reservoir Dogs.

Wes Craven: ”…I walked out of a screening of [Quentin Tarantino’s] Reservoir Dogs because I felt at a certain point that the filmmaker was just getting off on the violence and that it was being treated as something amusing, which it isn’t to me.”

(Robb, B. J. (2022). Screams & Nightmares: The Films of Wes Craven. Birlinn Ltd.)

The filmmakers of Scream VI clearly have a high regard for Wes Craven. I don’t doubt that for a second. Some of their set-pieces are aesthetically among the best in the franchise. But what they’ve missed is Wes Craven’s strong moral core. In Scream 1 to 4, all the murder scenes have a weight and a seriousness to them. There is good and there is evil and they are distinguishable. But now, all bets are off. In more ways than one for Scream 7, it seems; Melissa Barrera was sacked from the project and Director Christopher Landon walked away.

Who knows what they’ll do with it? Who knows the original plan for Scream 7? But there’s an inkling that if they’d continued that thread, maybe Sam Carpenter would have been framed as a Joker-esque character. In Joker, you’re watching a man descend into darkness. You completely understand why it happens and yet you are still utterly repulsed and disturbed by what he becomes. Maybe that’s what they were planning to do with Sam. I could get on board with that. It’s naming evil as evil. But the way things are left with Scream VI, which is all we have to go on at the moment, I find it uncomfortable.

In Closing

So there we go. The Scream franchise. The original trilogy captured the zeitgeist of the 1990s and the anxiety surrounding the arrival of the new Millenium. It put its finger on the pervasive influence of a film industry living on borrowed time.

Scream 4 reflected the rise of competitive victimhood amplified by social media in our Post-Christian culture. And Screams 5 and 6 explore the possibility of conflating Ghostface with the protagonist.

I think these films help us to make sense of the past three decades. They show us the power of an idea. The power of story. And at their best, they show us the power of endurance, love and friendship. The possibility of light at the end of the tunnel.

I’ll leave you with a quote from Wes Craven himself.

Wes Craven: “I think what Scream did was showcase quite intelligent characters who talked about real world names and places. In the past, horror films were set in a kind of never-never land where everything was kind of made up. Suddenly, Scream came along and thrust it all into the real world in a very interesting way. In the Scream films we’ve created a much more complex human story. I don’t think we’ve even begun to mine this approach to the genre.”

(Robb, B. J. (2022). Screams & Nightmares: The Films of Wes Craven. Birlinn Ltd.)