Kingdom Come

Our youth group was recently on a three day retreat on Mt Lemmon. While on this retreat we explored some questions that Jesus poses in Scripture. And we did this in an incredibly creative and engaging way. We used Disney and many of their characters as a back-drop. Disney really is the master at creating a magical world. There is nobody better at putting art in motion, offering well-crafted story lines and characters, and providing plenty of human emotion mixed with a sound life message. Take for instance the movie Tangled and how it reveals that sometimes the people we think care about us do not actually have our best interest in mind and that one does need to go deep and outside their comfort zone to find ultimate truth and love. The movie Brave teaches that while sometimes you might struggle with the relationship with a parent, family is very important and having the ability to really care and listen to each other is at the heart of being family. Aladdin tells us that you are created to be yourself and greatness rests in becoming the best version of who you were created to be. Cinderella paints a picture that being unkind gets you nowhere. And despite the odds appearing to be against you, you are meant to choose what’s right. Keep your eye on the ultimate prize – the reward in the end is huge. The Lion King makes it clear that the destructiveness of envy and the poison of betrayal have fatal consequences. We are taught about loss, regret, and that love in the end is what conquers fear. Moana points to the fact that we will fail at something. So, get over yourself! Mistakes are a part of what will shape you . And by the way the more you travel you will see the truth that we are not that different from one another . Everyone needs good community to hold them accountable and to share their joy and pain . Mulan is a classic as well. It divulges some valuable life lessons too . Like grandma was right, eating breakfast is important . And we do need to stand up for ourselves at times . Things happen in their own time . And strange friends can make life more interesting . Personally, I think this movie confirms metaphors make great song lyrics .
 
My favorite Disney movie is Beauty & the Beast. I think our human story rests in it . How you ask --- Beauty enters into the troubled world of Beast, not because he was so loveable, not because he deserved her, but because she loved her father. But the world of Beast does not change in one quick moment just because Beauty enters into the picture. Beast’s servants (the ones turned into a teapot, time clock & candlestick) tell the angry and mean Beast that Beauty just might be the one they are waiting for to change everything. As much as Beast desires to be rescued, he can’t control the darker side of himself, and so, he ends up ignoring their counsel and in a fit of rage, he dismisses Beauty . Wolves then attack Beauty, but Beast for some unknown internal reason won’t allow himself to stand by without risking his life for her cause. He incurs injury as a result.  In his time of injury though, Beauty doesn’t abandon him. Beauty offers him the comfort and healing he needs, and he rather likes the attention. Soon though, he gravitates back to his lowness, until in one beautiful moment, Beauty truly enters into the heart of the ugly Beast. It is in that moment Beast begins to change slowly. And, he finally realizes that he loves Beauty. In an amazing display of his new found love, making the hardest choice he has ever had to make, he allows love for another to prevail over selfishness . The choice leads to his immediate loss, but it reveals a capacity for greater love to be received. His decision also allows Beauty to reveal the depth of her love . After responding to her need to save another first, Beauty chooses to return to the ugly world where the Beast still lives. Beauty returns in an effort to lead Beast away from the evil that awaits him. The return does not prevent Beast from being wounded to the point of death though, and all does seem lost, but it is only then that Beauty reveals the depth of her love for Beast. It is then that Beast is completely transformed , transformed by the power of Beauty’s love . The final scene reveals this profound mystery about God’s love. Beauty entered into the world Beast made ugly, and as a result Beast is changed little by little. In the end he is transformed into something more beautiful than he could have ever imagined.
 
God’s greatest creation is love, love without limits and without end, love that burns like an eternal flame. For saving love did enter into our world. And one must choose whether to be transformed by it or not. This love came at the greatest cost. God’s love, made manifest in Jesus is the only thing that can save you and I, because he is the only one who is eternally life giving. Your and my entire identity rests in him and the community you and I choose to hang with will either help to lead us closer to him or it will lead us from him.