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My heart beats for love. I want to be different. I want to be who I am called to be. WORTHY and LOVED!

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Gen 29: 14-35 Lilo and Stitch: Who Is My Family?


In 1979 Sister Sledge recorded the dance sensation, “We are Family” proclaiming that “We are family. I got all my sisters and me. We are family. Get up everybody and sing. Everyone can see we’re together, as we walk on by.” Similarly, we hear churches proclaim that they are a “family church” or all are treated like family when they come through the door. But what does that really mean? How are the family of God and how should we treat our brothers and sisters?
We are now in the last week of our Disney movie sermon series where we have looked at themes about who we are and who God is in popular animated movies. Next week we will begin our next sermon series on the Genesis of Relationships, thus this last movie teaching us about family bridges the gap between the two series.
Lilo and Stitch is one of my top three favorite Disney movies. It is relatively new, being released in 2002. The story tells of a mad scientist who creates a creature whom he calls experiment 626. The creatures sole purpose is to cause mayhem. However, due to some quick thinking the creature escapes inprisionment and ends up on an island in Hawaii, where he is adopted as a pet by a little girl named Lilo. 
Lilo is going through a lot in her life. Her parents recently died in an accident and she is now living with her older sister, Nani, who has to transition from being a sibling to a parent. She doesn’t seem to have any friends - none of the other girls her age will play with her. After a large fight one evening, Nani over hears her sister praying for friends and decided to allow her to have a pet. Lilo instantly becomes attached to an animal she believes to be a dog, but is actually experiment 626, whom she names Stitch.
Lilo and Nani are a family in transition. A family that isn’t composed of a mom and dad and two kids. And they are a family with a lot of drama. At one point in the movie Lilo asks Nani, “we are a broken family, aren’t we?”. But isn’t that the dirty little secret about families that we like to sweep under the rug or dismiss. Families have drama. We only need to look to this morning’s scripture to see that family drama precedes us back to ancient times. 
Jacob ran away to a different part in the land after deceiving his father into giving him his brother Esau’s birthright, but that is another story of family drama for a different day. He ran to the land of his uncle Laban where he fell in love with Laban’s daughter Rachel. Where we pick up in the narrative today, Laban is asking Jacob what he would like his wage to be for working for him on his land. Jacob pledges to work seven years for Rachel’s hand in marriage. But while Laban agreed at first he later schemed and gave Jacob his other daughter Leah to marry instead. Eventually Jacob takes both women and their maid’s as his wives. The result was twelve sons and a daughter who got into a lot of fights and trouble, along with their mothers fighting as well. Jacob understood family drama. 
But family isn’t just drama, it is also a bond of unconditional love. Something that Jacob seemed to be missing with any of his wives other than Rachel. In fact Leah declares that she is bearing so many children because the Lord has opened her womb because he has heard that she is hated. When we declare that we are family, we aren’t just saying that we know about all of the drama, but that we accept each other in the deepest form of love anyway. In one scene in the movie after Stitch has been acting up and destroying everything in his path, Nani declares that they have to return him, he is just too unmanageable. But Lilo cries out that she can’t because of Ohana the Hawaiian word for family, which means that no one gets left behind or forgotten. Ohana at its very core is unconditional love, the type of love that embodies God’s grace. Nani sighs in exhaustion and states that Stitch hasn’t been around long enough to qualify as family, but Lilo corrects her saying that is just not true.
What does make someone family? One could declare that Jacob, Rachel, Leah, and their children were all family. And in the biological scene this is very true. But Jacob loved Rachel best. And he loved the two sons she bore, Joseph and Benjamin, more than the others. Leah knew that she wasn’t loved. She saw how Jacob treated her. Maybe she even heard her husband declaring to Laban that he had deceived him, as if he wanted to exchange Leah in for her sister. She was so despised that the Lord could see that she was unloved. Is this really family? Is this Ohana? Or do Leah and her children constantly feel like they are left behind and forgotten?
Family isn’t just genetics, its a choice to show and live into unconditional love. The type of love that God showed us in that popular verse that some of us memorized as children, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son...” This type of love is inviting and embraces all of us, faults and all. This is the type of love that forms lasting bonds and reconciles us even when we are going through drama or difficult times. One evening, after Stitch has misbehaved again, Lilo tells him that he can be part of their family if he wants to. 
I find so much joy in this particular scene in the movie. In contrast to the scripture lesson, where Jacob acts in a way that is contrary to the deep love of family and pushes some of his family members away, prioritizing others, Lilo with the humble heart of a child invites Stitch to be part of her family. Yes, it may be broken. Yes, it may be small. Yes, there may be hard times. But he is welcome to be part of them fully if he so wishes.
Brothers and sisters, this is what it means to be the church. Not to say that we are a family centered church. Or a welcoming church. But a church where people are invited and feel the unconditional love of the family of God. That’s what I hope you feel when you are with each other and every Sunday when you walk through these doors. If not, we need to ask ourselves how we can get to the place where no one feels left behind or forgotten. 
In the following scene in the movie Stitch ends up being captured by those who had been looking for him. When asked what he was doing he said that he was looking for his family, to which the scientist who created him stated that he had no family and that he could never belong anywhere. Oh Church, how many people there are today who feel like that. Who feel as if they aren’t good enough or worthy enough to belong. Those who have never felt unconditional love. Those who are desperately searching for a place to belong. Are we going to wait for them to come inside this building to know the love of the family of God or are we going to invite them, intentionally, to be a part of this family. Right here. 
And when they come will they feel that love? Will we go out of our way to welcome them. Or will they leave, feeling mistreated like Leah, even if we do so unintentionally?
Brothers and Sisters, what today’s scripture passage and this movie remind us of is that family is so much more then a name or biology. Its the feeling of being embraced by love. It communities that come together to serve one another. My hope and prayer is that we embrace being a loving family of God, not just with those who are in our presence currently, but for all of those in this area who God yearns for us to invite. Yearns for us to show unconditional love to, maybe for the first time in their lives. Years for us to see family through the eyes of a child so that people can come to know the love of Jesus Christ. May we be a place, where those who are invited can declare along with Stitch, “This is my family! I found it all on my own. It is little, and it is broken, but it is still good!” Oh Church arise and be the family of God in this hurting world. Amen. 

Sunday, July 21, 2013

The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Our God Delivers! Ps 72: 11-14


We are now in our third week in our summer sermon series exploring how we can see Biblical themes about who we are as humans and who God is in Disney movies. Last week we looked at Pocahontas and how she chose to live into a different path for her life, mirroring how we are to choose a different path, the ancient path of God, as Christians. This week we will be focusing in on the Hunchback of Notre Dame.
The movie is based off of Victor Hugo’s novel bearing the same name, but with Disney twist and flare. The storyline focuses on Quasimodo, a disfigured man who was raised in the bell tower of Notre Dame following the death of his mother. Quasimodo grows into a man with a gentle heart, but he is hidden from the world, being told by Frollo, the man that raised him, he was too ugly to be seen by the outside world - a monster. One day Quasimodo enters the streets of Paris and meets Esmeralda, a gypsy woman who also has a kind heart. The rest of the movie goes on to tell of their affection for one another and struggles against Frollo, who tries to control them both through any means necessary.
This is by far the most explicitly Christian movie that Disney has ever made. It centers around the Norte Dame Cathedral. It has songs that are words of prayer in it, most notably “kiera elisson” - Lord have mercy. It shows people praying, and Esmeralda even sings a song of prayer to God. 
The movie opens with a jester singing a song describing Quasimodo and Frollo’s past. How Frollo killed his mother and was going to throw her infant child away until a priest stopped him, telling him that he must care for the child, providing for him. The first thing Frollo provided was the child with a cerul name - Quasimodo, meaning half formed. During the telling of these two men’s tales, the jester asks the question, “who is the monster and who is the man?” I think this question begs us to not only ask how do we, as humans see each other, but how does God view us. Does God view us monsters, drenched in sin, or as the beloved children of God?
The problem is that there can often be a disconnect between how we see people, how we treat people, and the care that God describes having for them in today’s Psalm. In the narrative, Frollo is a man of the Church, and thus is seen as a man of God, serving God’s purposes in the world. Yet, we have to ask, is he really? Or do other people jump to this conclusion simply because he says that he is Christian? In the opening song, we are told that Frollo saw corruption every where but within. Brothers and sisters, do we pursue to live the Christian life or do we pursue becoming God? We are told in scriptures that only God can judge, yet often the Christian faith is deemed judgmental? How did it get that way? Because of the reputation we carry for each other as we all bear the name of “little Christs” which is what the title Christian means.
This past week at camp we spent time talking about having a radical faith. Tuesday the theme was living radically. As the students shared what it is that makes them fearfully of living radically for Christ, the thing that kept coming up was a fear of being judged. This lead to a discussion about how most of society’s ideas of what it means to be Christian are negative. It did not always used to be this way. But that is where we are at now, because of people choosing to be God instead of representing God. One of my favorite song lyrics puts it this way, “My Father told me people see a preacher preach and assume that the words are the Lord’s”. But this isn’t just true of preachers, its true of all Christians, even if what we do and say is contrary to the heart of God, we are representing our Lord and Savior in the world. 
In contrast to Frollo are those who he is judging, Quasimodo and Esmerelda. People who are kind. When we seen Quasimodo when he gets older he is encouraging a baby bird to fly with words of tender care. When we meet Esmerelda, she is freeing Quasimodo after he is tied down and mocked by the people of Paris under Frollo’s command. These two characters stand up for the down trodden. They work for the redemption of other, and treat them as precious children of God. They truly reflect the heart of God we see in today’s Psalm. 
Of course Disney is simplifying the battle that rages in all of us - this tension between the darkness of Frollo and the light and hope of Quasimodo. For in reality, we all have been both characters at any given time. But who we end up being each and every day really traces back to what our ambitions are and who we are serving. In Psalm 72 we are told that kings fall down before God. Yet, in many of our heart of hearts we are striving to be Kings and Queens. Striving to be people other see as worthy. Striving to be people are precious in the sight of others. So we start to serve our own personal ambitions, instead of God’s. We get swept up in the way of the world instead of acting in a way that reflects the generous love and grace of our Savior. We choose, sometimes consciously, sometimes unconsciously, to let the dark monster side of us out because we see these type of people advancing in our world and being labeled as successful, and we want that to.
Yet, it isn’t Kings that the Psalmist speaks of God upholding, but the needy, the poor, those with no helper. These are not labels that we would readily ascribe to ourselves, because they require us humbly admitting that we don’t have it all together, and that we aren’t able to do it all on our own. Another way to describe those that the Psalm describes are the outcasts. 
There is a song in the movie when Esmerelda, this women who Frollo describes as depraved and a vermin, sings a prayer to God entitled, ‘God Help the Outcast’. During her prayer others are seen in the church praying for wealth and fame and other things for themselves and their own glory, while she is pleading with God to show outcasts the mercy that others deprive them of. She asks because she recognizes the outcasts as the children of God.
There is nothing wrong with praying for ourselves. In fact, we should pray for our needs, honestly bringing them before God. But it can’t stop there. Another song lyric says “As long as we say prayers for our children, but do not pray for others there won’t be peace.” We need to also be praying for something more than ourselves. We need to be praying for our heart to reflect God’s heart, that our concerns reflect God’s concern. And then we need to act upon those prayers with the strength and direction of the Holy Spirit. 
God is concerned for the oppressed children of God. Those who are forgotten and abused. Those who are in need of mercy and help. And because God has such concerns, so should we. It’s not a suggestion. Over and over in scripture we are told to stand up for those who are looked down upon. These are the people who Christ is seen dining with and ministering to through his presence. Yet, too often we let our dark side, our monster side, judge other children of God instead of seeing them with the eyes of Christ and responding with the heart of God who delivers the outcasts, who is on the side of the outcasts.
Despite what Frollo says, Quasimodo is not the monster in the movie. In fact, he is the exact opposite, as he sacrificially gives up his own security in order to help others. But we must ask ourselves, are we the monster or are we the man? Can we risk ourselves for the outcast? Can we identify ourselves with the outcast, humble and in need of God in our lives? Who are we praying for? And do our prayers and actions reflect the heart of God? My prayer is that as we leave this place that we take time for serious reflection, in order to see who we represent in this world. May we repent of the times we poorly reflected upon God and may we boldly go and love those whom God has a heart to deliver. No matter what the cost. Amen.

Sunday, July 14, 2013

“Pocahontas: Choosing a Different Path” Jer 6:16, Matt 5: 43-44


We are now in our second week of a sermon series focusing on reflecting on the gospel message as found in Disney movies. As a reminder, for those of you who couldn’t be with us last week, we are not saying that Disney is the gospel. Instead, we are saying that biblical truths about who we are as humans and who God is can be found all around us, because they so permeate our world. Therefore, they can be seen, even in the stories of Disney, when looked at with a Christian perspective.
Last week we talked about how the movie Aladdin illustrates that God chooses to use people who are less than perfect, diamonds in the rough, for Kingdom work because God sees who we are in our heart and knows our potential. This week we will be looking at Pocahontas. Remember that the movies for each week sermon are shown Friday night at 7pm in the gymnasium, if you would like a refresher on what the movie is about.
As a refresher, Pocahontas tells the true story of the Jamestown settlement and the interactions the settlers had with the teenager Pocahontas and her tribe when they arrived, though Disney took some liberates in retelling the story. In 1607 a ship departed from England for the “new world”, containing sailors who were excited to find gold in the new land. The ship was captained by John Smith. On the other side of the ocean, unaware that a ship is coming, is the Powhatan tribe, which Pocahontas is a part of. When the settlers land they begin to strip the land and hunt out the Native Americans, seeing them as a threat. But along the way, John Smith and Pocahontas meet and fall in love. They hope that they can unite their two tribes.
But underneath this basic story is an internal struggle within Pocahontas. She faces a series of choices throughout the movie, that define who she is and what she believes. She keeps having a reoccurring dream about a spinning arrow that she can’t quite understand, but knows its important, so she seeks out spiritual guidance from Grandmother Willow. She feels like something is about to change just around the river bend. But while she has a sense of anticipation her father has a different plan, in which she marries the strongest and bravest warrior from their tribe. So she needs to make a choice about what path she will follow, the one her father laid out for her or the one that she feels tugging at her heart.
We all have similar decisions that we need to make every day about what path we will follow that speak of what we value and who we are. The prophet Jeremiah in our first scripture passage today is writing to the people in captivity reminding them that they  were given the ancient path, the path of covenant with God, but they choose a different way instead of walking in it. What path do we choose? The one that has the opportunity to know God and do God’s will or the one that strays? God’s hope is that we be directed by the Holy Spirit, but we are also each given free will and the choice of which path we will follow. 
This week I spent time preparing for summer camp, where we are talking about how to listen to God, especially in a world that is so noisy and tries to pull us different directions. While Pocahontas may not call the advise Grandmother Willow gives her to “listen with her heart” prayer, thats what it truly is. Are we listening with our heart for the still small voice of God? Are we going where the Holy Spirit takes us? Or are we choosing a different path?
What makes choosing a path so difficult is that often the path of being faithful to God requires courage and understanding. It requires us to step outside of our comfort zone in order for us to grow to trust God’s will. Its not always the safest path, in fact sometimes it can seem just reckless. But our faith is not meant to be tame. It is meant to take risks that help us grow in relationship with God. So we need to listen to discern the will and path that God has laid before us.
It reminds me of Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken”. “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” Brothers and sisters, the road of faith is not necessarily the most well traveled road, and it is often difficult terrain. The other path may look appealing. But God asks us to walk hand in hand with Christ down the less traveled path of faith. 
Such cross road decisions are also difficult because they can seem overwhelming. Do I take the new job? Do I tell someone how they have hurt me? One of the cross road decisions I had to make in life was whether to listen to God and go to seminary or go down the path that I had chosen for myself. When we go down the easier road, it may feel okay for a while, but when we listen to that still small voice in our heart, the prompting of the Holy Spirit, we realize that it in fact is not the path of faithful response. 
“But Pastor Michelle, what if I can’t hear that still small voice? What should I do?” That is when we seek out wise counsel from spiritual mothers and fathers who we know to be seeking and following the will of God in their own life. Sometimes we can become so overwhelmed that we become paralyzed, it is then we need these wise people in our lives to help us discern the paths before us.
Another choice that Pochonatas has to make is whether to fight with those who are different from us, those whom we consider to be our enemies, or if we talk with them. Once again, Pocahontas and John Smith seek out spiritual wisdom from Mother Willow who has them look at ripples in the water - how they are small at first but grow with time. She tells that “Sometimes the right path is not the easy one.” and “Someone has to start the ripples”. 
They had a choice - to love those who are different then them, which is countercultural, or to hate their enemies. And they choose the way of peace, knowing that not everyone, and possibly maybe not anyone, would follow them. But they needed to start that ripple effect. 
When you are angry with someone what is your first response? Be honest. Is it to pray? Or do you let your anger consume you or tell someone else how this person has wronged you? Do you exhaust all other paths before bringing your hurt and pain before God? And when you do pray is it for that person to be blessed or that God punish them? When Jesus speaks about praying for our enemies, its not simply that God will eliminate them or that they would come around to having our opinion. Rather its that we can show them the love of God and that God’s blessings will be showered upon them. A pretty radical and courageous prayer.
Once again, a far from easy path to choose. So how to you choose it? You prepare yourself spiritually before anything takes place to choose it. You go to God daily in pray, praying not only for yourself and those you love, but for those you struggle with. You seek out wise counsel, when issues to arise, from spiritual parents who can remind you to pray for your enemies, and covenant to pray for you during that time as well. 
Brothers and sisters, we all have paths before us. Maybe you have a decision you have been wrestling with this morning. Maybe you have someone that you are struggling with deep in your heart. What path are you going to choose? If you don’t know where to turn who can you go to this morning to seek out wisdom, who can prayer with and for you? I ask you again, what path are you going to choose? Are you going to choose the way of God or the other way? Amen. 

Sunday, July 7, 2013

1 Cor 1: 26-29 “Aladdin: Choosing a Different Way”


Today we are starting a new sermon series - perhaps even a new type of sermon series for you. For the next four weeks, during the month of July, we are going to be looking at gospel truths and messages that can be found in Disney films. “But Pastor Michelle, why are we looking at movies? Is that really Biblical?”. To which I would answer, yes it certainly is. We are not saying that Disney movies are gospel. What we are saying is that the Bible so speaks to the condition of our spirit. The Bible is a collection of stories and letters and laws that tell us about who we are. Because it speaks to human nature, those same themes can be seen in the world around us - movies, art, theater, literature. If only we take time to look. Further, Jesus preached using stories. He took things that people knew about family and farming and money and wove them together into narratives for the purpose of teaching people about God. For the next four weeks we are going to be taking modern stories, as presented by Disney, and look at what they say about our human condition and what they can teach us, as Christians, about God, if only we look at them differently.
The movies are going to be shown each Friday night. But in case you missed the showing of Aladdin lets review the basic plot. The story is based off of A Thousand Arabian Nights and tells of Aladdin, a young man who survives living on the streets of Agraba by stealing. In fact we are first introduced to him in the movie as he is being chased by guards calling him all sorts of names, “worthless”, “rift-raft”, “street rat” for stealing a loaf of bread just to be able to eat. But we are invited to see Aladdin as more than that. To see him as the one who is worthy, “a diamond in the rough”. 
For like all of us, Aladdin’s true character is not seen in his outward appearance or even the titles that others ascribe to him. Who he truly is lies in his heart. And the first time we see Aladdin’s heart in the movie is after he went through all of this trouble to steal a loaf of bread just to be able to eat that day. He sits down to dine with his trusty side kick Abu, only to come across two young children digging through the garbage for something to eat. Moved by tender compassion, Aladdin gives them all that he has, this loaf of bread, so that they can be filled, even if it means that he has to go hungry. At his core, Aladdin is a young man of courage, compassion, and self-sacrifice. 
And when we look at Aladdin in his totality, he truly is a “diamond in the rough”. One that is often overlooked by others but that has priceless value. One that isn’t quite all that he could be yet, but at his core is a treasure. Brothers and sisters, its the diamonds in the rough that God chooses to use. Those who the world looks down upon, if they are noticed at all, to do the marvelous work of God. The Apostle Paul is trying to remind the church of Corinth of that in today’s scripture passage, because Corinth is facing a problem. The Church is beginning to divide because some are judging themselves to be better than others, instead of seeing each other as brothers and sisters in the faith, all children of God. So Paul writes to the church telling them that God takes the foolish things of this world, those things that are often discounted, and uses them for the Kingdom. In fact, God chooses the complete opposite of the worlds standards in order to let the Glory of God be known through them. God takes the foolish, weak, low, and despised, so that the presence and work of God may be boasted.
Just think about some of the stories of who God chose. David the weak and lowly shepherd boy, the very youngest, to be the leader of Israel. Solomon, a young boy, to be filled with wisdom. Jeremiah, a young prophet, to tell the Israelites the tough truth about their captivity in Babaloyn. Ruth, a foreigner, to be an ancestor of Jesus. Moses, who had committed murder, to lead the nation of Israel to the promise land. Mary, a teenager from a discounted city, to be the mother of our Lord. The list goes on and on. God continually chooses to turn the standards of the world on their head in order for nations through space and time to praise God!
God chooses a different way. A way that isn’t about what is on the outside, but what is in the heart - who we are at our core. God takes all of these people who the world had dismissed and saw what they could be, what they could do for the Kingdom. They were truly diamonds in the rough. But in almost all of the examples given above the chosen of God responded at one time or another saying “Why me God? Surely there is someone better, more worthy.” Maybe some of the Corinthians being looked down upon by their brothers and sisters felt the same way. “I can’t be used. I’m too weak. Too poor. Not smart enough”. They were judging themselves through the eyes of others. But God choose a different way. A way that isn’t about what others say about us, or our past, but the Holy Spirit leading others, and yes, even us, to who we could be through the Holy Spirit.
Spiritual writer, Henri Nouwen, tells the story of Adam in many of his books and lectures. Adam was a young man in the Daybreak community in Toronto. A house where men and women with severe handicaps, whose families can no longer take care of them, come and live with people from around the world who want to grow with them. Adam couldn’t speak. He couldn’t move on his own. He had a severe seizure disorder that would strike many times a day despite medication. Yet Adam taught Nouwen, this learned man who taught at Ivy League schools, what it means to have the peace of Christ. He taught him about what is truly important in this world. Without ever uttering a word. God chose Adam, one who had been dismissed by so many, to speak to people’s hearts. A diamond in the rough.
The question we need to ask ourselves is what truly determines someones worth? Is it awards won and praise given? Is it status in society or money? Or is it about something different, something that God sees? Who we are on the inside and our potential. At one point in the movie Aladdin falls in love with the princess. Head over heels, smitten for her. But he knows that there is this law that says that she can only marry a prince. So he seeks to win her approval by asking a magic genie to make him a prince. Wish granted. Aladdin becomes Prince Ali and marches into the city and up to the palace with an entourage of dancers and animals. But the princess is not impressed. In fact, its not until she spends time alone with him and gets to know his heart that she falls in love with him.
But the charade could not last forever and finally Aladdin makes the definitive statement that “I have to stop pretending to be someone I’m not”. He sheds the false outward appearance, but even then Jasmine still loves him. Because of who he is on the inside. 
The problem is that all too often we don’t take time to get to know who people truly are. Sometimes we don’t even want to explore who we truly are at our core. Because it takes time and we are afraid of what we may find. But for God, who knows us better than we know ourselves, its not about the false outward trappings that others so quickly judge us by. Its not about our job title or the size of our house. How much money we make or how we dress. Its about who we are on the inside and how God can use us for the Kingdom to change others lives - even change the world. God sees our potential for the Kingdom. Sees us a diamonds in the rough. 
Brothers and sisters, if Aladdin walked into this Church today how would you treat him? Would we want to get to know him, see him as God sees him, or would we simply dismiss him as not being worthy? And when you walk into a new place, do you want others to judge you by whats on the outside, or do you want them to see who you are at your very core? May we pray this week that God opens up our hearts and eyes so we can see others and ourselves, as the God who chooses a different way sees us, diamonds in the rough full of potential and loved as children of God. Amen.