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Transformers Dark of the Moon
Intro
Let’s face it, as much as we may complain about it, we are fascinated by celebrities. And these days celebrity is a pretty diverse word.
Top Lists-Sexiest, Richest, Beautiful,
7 of the top 10 searches from 2009 & 2010 were celebrities
A big hit in the last few years was Rockstar by Nickelback-we all just want to be big rock stars
The people featured in video hits on Youtube will be on the national news.
And this desire for celebrity can even affect our attitude about church…we want to be a famous church, we want to build new facilities, we may even envy churches like Lifechurch.tv…
Our movie example today is no different. We’ll be taking a look at Transformers 3. The first two Transformers grossed $1.5 billion worldwide and the 3rd one has already grossed over $700 million worldwide. Not too shabby for a movie about some alien robots that transform into vehicles and planes.
As we’ll see in the first clip on of the main characters Sam Whitwickey is struggling to find a job. In the first 2 movies Sam has worked closely with the Autobots, the good robots to save the world from the evil Decepticon robots. Sam has now completed college and of course his parents are giving him a hard time because 3 mos after graduation he still has been unable to find a job.
Show clip. You’re looking for the job after this one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QY46zXRlPks
In this second clip Sam has teamed up with the Autobots to once again try to save the world from the Decepticon attacks. He is meeting with some other human Autobot allies when his girlfriend comes home.
Show clip-I just want to matter-you matter to me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCYTsUpNIoE
There is much truth in these scenes and as I watched this part of the story unfold I was reminded of a similar problem the early disciples faced.
Luke 9
46 An argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest. 47 Jesus, knowing their thoughts, took a little child and had him stand beside him. 48 Then he said to them, “Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For he who is least among you all—he is the greatest.”
What’s going on in the story?
Just before this argument Jesus had largely deflated the disciples’ hopes for glory and grandeur by emphasizing that he would suffer and die. So the disciples are left wondering about their own place in the Kingdom as much as they were wondering about Jesus’ role in the kingdom.
The answer Jesus gives is a long way from the disciples’ ideas of a Kingdom raised by revolution and apocalyptic triumph. They were ready to go to war with Jesus as their victorious King, leading them to conquest. I can imagine the young child, standing before them, grinning and simpering under the amused gaze of the thirteen men, hardly the warrior zealot they would have imagined as greatest in the Kingdom.
Don’t you see as Christians we have it all backwards.
The scene reflects the situation that has affected the church since Jesus was resurrected, namely the struggle for leadership and status that still continues to this day. Jesus flips our desire to be famous and #1 upside down and presents a child as the model.
To become like a little child is to humble oneself, giving up all pretensions of self-importance, independence, and self-reliance and turning in trust to the heavenly Father. The story is not for us to imitate children but rather take on a different understanding of status. As followers of Christ we are to abandon the quest for status.
In the movie Sam is obsessed with status. Several times throughout the movie he loses it because he wants people to know how important he is, that he saved the world, that he matters.
This idea that I have to do something big in order to matter. Because this movie doesn’t relate to any struggle we have ever had…we all just wanna be big rock stars…
Maybe we could look at it this way. Let me ask you a few questions.
Who saved Billy Graham? Who mentored Mother Teresa? Who impacted Rob Bell or Joel Olsteen or Beth Moore? Did those people who influenced these famous Christians matter? Were they great?
But we don’t their names so how can they be famous? How do you know you aren’t the person who is going to impact the next Christian who is going to something big for God? But if we are too busy looking to be famous for fame’s sake, we’ll miss the vision and plan that God has.
It’s important for us to take each step set before us. I believe God has a plan and we have to complete a section in order to be able to move on. I can look back at my life now and those things that I had no idea why I was doing them or learning matter. At the interview-you’re looking for the job after this one.
Like Sam we want to skip steps, but there’s something important that we may need to learn in this step. I think some of the smartest companies are the ones that make you do everything before you can move up. So that way you have a better understanding.
I’m not saying we shouldn’t do our best. Great people do the small things well. We should be doing our best for God’s glory and not our own. Our desire to be known or noticed should not be driven from selfish motivations, but rather selfless, like the scripture suggests as servants.
I think what it comes down to is are we being Childish or childlike? In the movie is Sam being childish? Of course-he wants the important job, but isn’t willing to work for it. He wants to feel important by saving the world. Being ordinary is not good enough.
It is easy to lose our eternal perspective and compete for promotions or status. It is difficult to identify with children-weak and dependent people with no status or influence.
The disciples were embarrassed to answer Jesus’ question. It is always painful to compare our motives with Christ’s. It’s only wrong when that ambition becomes sin. Why do you want that status? What’s at the heart of it? Is it greed? Or is it because you are serving Christ to your utmost?
Conclusion
So this morning may we learn from the lesson of Transformers 3 and the plight of Mr. Sam Whitwicky that in order to be the greatest we must be the least.
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