Oregon pastor Jesse Lusko recently recalled an opportunity that God brought across his path to share the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ with extremely popular actor Joaquin Phoenix, most well known for portraying Arthur Fleck in “Joker” and Christian country legend Johnny Cash in “Walk the Line.” What’s even more amazing is that Lusko says the conversation with Phoenix was used by God to help him forgive the man who once abused him. Our Lord never ceases to amaze.
Lusko, who is the leader of the Counterculture Church in Portland, discussed his experience while delivering a sermon to his congregation. He went on to talk about Phoenix and his role in “Joker” and how that performance serves as a great example of how we are to forgive those who have committed sins against us. And everyone experiences that to some level during their lives. Not always as serious as abuse, but an offense can still be hurtful even if it isn’t physical.
via The Christian Post:
The church leader explained that he met Phoenix, who happened to be his dad’s favorite actor, the day before his father’s funeral. “The day before my dad’s funeral, I met Joaquin Phoenix, and it was literally the day before my dad’s funeral. My dad had just died. I had worked at this restaurant group previously, and the day before the funeral, we wanted the kids to go swimming, and I go to the coffee shop across the street, and my old boss sees me and goes, Jesse, I’m so sad about your dad. By the way, you realize that guy you were standing with waiting for the coffee shop to open is Joaquin Phoenix. And I go, Whoa, that’s crazy. that’s my dad’s favorite actor,” he said. Lusko explained that after he shared the details about his father’s passing, he and Phoenix bonded over both losing family members to cancer. Along with telling the actor of his late father’s love of Phoenix’s career, the pastor also got the opportunity to share the story of his dad’s “coming to Christ moment.”
“And I also shared with him my dad’s story of coming to Christ, that my dad had experimented with tons of drugs, that he’d hitchhiked around the United States, that his mom had died of brain cancer that his stepdad was murdered by his business partner to tell a true story. My dad had come to Christ and Joaquin was blown away by that story,” he went on to say.
Lusko got to take a picture with Phoenix and the actor told him how much he as moved by the story. Then the pastor took that experience and tied it in with how you have to forgive those who have done you harm, stating that getting revenge against them is not the answer. And you know, God Himself tells us in the Bible that He will avenge us of wrongdoing. It’s not like those who wrong us get away with it. Eventually, somehow, some way, they get held accountable for their actions.
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“But here’s the thing, when you allow bitterness to fester in your heart, it twists you, and you don’t become like that man. You become like Arthur Fleck. You become like the Joker. It twists you and it sours you, and you start to feel entitled to things with people, and you start, you go into other relationships, and it and it taints those relationships, and that person who stole something from your past starts to steal something from your present and from your future, and it brings this, this this horrible anger and this fury and this fuming rage like Jonah, and it sours all of your relationships,” Lusko stated in his sermon.
He then said, “But as I began to understand the gospel, and as I began to understand Jesus, he began to heal me of that, and he began to bring forgiveness into my life and bring joy and peace into my life. And here’s what I think is really significant, my dad told me I was like a superhero. The day before his funeral, I got to share the gospel with the Joker. And then at his funeral, I stood on stage with 1000s of people watching, and I said the name of my abuser, and I said, I forgive you.”