The Incredibles

“The Incredibles: Courage” Deut 31: 6-7

Psalm 31:24

To have courage. The ability to do something that frightens you. Strength for whatever you may face. Courage. 

We are now in the third week of our sermon series of finding gospel themes in Disney Pixar movies. I’m so excited for this sermon series because it gives us an example of how to use things around us to point out the message of Jesus Christ! What a gift we have to share with the world brothers and sisters, and there are so many different platforms to share the good news.

The Incredibles came out in 2004 and tells about a family of superheroes who are forced to hide their superpowers in order to better fit in the the world around them. In fact, the world is so disenchanted with superheroes that they are put in a relocation program that helps them fit in better with other civilians. Yet, at the the end of the day, they are still endowed with superpowers, so they are drawn into a battle to save the world from the villain and his robot, when Bob, the superhero dad, came home to a mysterious message on his answering machine asking him to become Mr. Incredible again. 

When we think about people who have courage, most of the names that comes to our minds are our own personal superheroes, those that we think have extraordinary power and gift to change the world. For me, those are people like Martin Luther King Jr, who was the face of the civil rights movement and Dietrich Bohnhoffer, who stood up against the Hilter-reigme. But the truth is there are every day heroes among us who share their faith in God and deeply love people. These are the people I think show true courage.

In this mornings scripture from the book of Deuteronomy we find that Moses’s time is drawing short. God has told Moses that he will not be the one to lead the children of Israel into the promised land, instead one among them will lead the charge, following God, to take the promised land - Joshua.

Whenever I read scriptures from Deuteronomy and the book of Joshua, I find myself wondering what the people of Israel really thought about Joshua. Years before, he and one other spy sent by Moses to assess the promise land said to go and seize it, but the people refused because they were scared by the reports that others had brought back that scared them. Did they trust Joshua? Were they willing to follow Joshua at this time? Did they know Joshua for his leadership or did they think that someone else should have been called upon?

Then Moses spoke words that are oft quoted - be strong and courageous. Have no fear. Very often in scripture when someone - a person, an angel, or God - shows up and tells people to not be afraid it is at a moment in time when they should be most afraid. That is certainly the case here. The people were losing their leader. While things were not always smooth sailing with Moses, he was familiar to them, and now they were being asked to follow someone new. They were also being asked to actually claim the promise land. Sometimes people think that the Israelites wondered around for 40 years and then just ended up in the promise land, but we are told in scripture that other people and tribes were living there. They had to fight for the land God had given them. The Israelites, under new leadership, were actually gearing up for battle. 

Yet, the people are told to be bold and not afraid, for God was going before them and with them into the promise land. They were told that they would not fail. The promise that we will not fail is a rare one in this lifetime. All around us, it seems as if there is much to struggle and fail at, yet in this particular case, God is telling the people that if they trust in God they will not fail.

Far too often today we let the fear of failure block us from working towards God’s kingdom purposes. But God tells us if we work for the Kingdom, trusting God, we too, will not fail. Now we may not have success by the world’s standards. We may not have a lot of money or attract a lot of people, but if we are faithful we will plant seeds so that others may come to claim Christ as their savior in their own lives - and that, friends, is what matters most. That is what we must claim the courage to pursue.

But Joshua was not the only one who needed to have courage. In the Psalm this morning we also find the Psalmist writing to be strong and have courage in your heart as we wait upon the Lord. Here is the thing about courage, you don’t just wake up one day and magically have it. In other words we don’t just simply react with bold courage in certain situations. No. Instead we are training our hearts each and every day to react with courage if we ever find ourselves in a situation of need. So how do we train ourselves?

In 2015 I was part of a group of young people who asked just that question - how do we get to the point where we can react with courage in the situations we face? First, you pray. You pray for God’s strength and wisdom, for the ability to follow God’s leading. You pray for opportunities to show courage. You pray. Second, you make yourself avaibale to God. Stop and think about it - Joshua could have refused to serve God and the people at that moment. He could have avoided God’s calling on his life. He could have ran the opposite direction. But he didn’t. He trusted that God had appointed him to be a leader for such a time as this and he claimed it. How often are we so busy that we can’t be present to what God may be calling us to do at any given moment? Third, we have courage when we realize what is our responsibility and what is not. This can be super hard for us church, and is often what can lead us to feeling like we are burning out or failing. We are called to plant seeds. To offer acts of mercy. We are given the opportunity time and time again to share the gospel story, but we cannot make someone accept Christ - only the Holy Spirit can do that. We simply present ourselves as an offering to be used by God to share the good news and let the Holy Spirit do the rest. Lastly, we have courage when we hope. When we hope that a different future is possible. When we catch a glimpse of the vision of what God is doing among us. We have courage when we hope. 

Courage is the ability to overcome fear in order to do what is right. But courage does not give us permission to do whatever we want. Courage goes hand in hand with love, grace, and mercy, especially as we share the good news of Jesus Christ. As Christians we have courage in the first place because of our trust and confidence in God alone. Courage gives us the ability to stand up when others are being hurt or intimidated. It gives us the ability to stand with those who are being treated as if they are small and weak. Courage allows us to offer the hope of Jesus Christ. 

The truth is it is easier to be a coward, giving into fear. It would have been much easier if the Incredibles would have said that saving the world wasn’t their problem. It would have been easier to think that someone else would come around to defeat the robot. But they didn’t. They had courage. Brothers and sisters, it would be easier to think that other people will do the hard work of making disciples. It would be easier to think that its only the superheroes in our life who are called to act with justice and mercy. It would be easier to think that our faith is a private thing. But we can’t. Because we are called to follow the leading of Christ, and to be strong and courageous. Let us be bold in how we share our faith and how we proclaim the hope of the Kingdom of God. Amen.