The book of Proverbs has been called a 'Manual for Living.' The wise words contained within this book discuss the human condition as practically today as they did 2700 years ago. Humankind has always seen itself clearer through the lens of narrative storytelling, and no group of creative storytellers accomplishes this today better than the team at Disney/Pixar. We are going to spend 7 weeks examining God's 'Manual for Living' and discovering how those truths are illustrated in some of the most beloved animated films of this generation.
Finding Trust in Finding Nemo
May 23, 2021
Proverbs in Pixar Week 3
Proverbs 3:5-6
Jonathan Hill
What are the qualities you look for in someone you trust?
· Honest – a truth teller
· Maintain their character no matter who is around
· Confidentiality in conversations
· A willingness to speak the truth to you even when it is uncomfortable or unpopular
· Veracity - which means consistently truthful.
What are the characteristics of someone who is untrustworthy to you?
· Do not tell the truth
· Changes their character depending who they are around
· Gossips with confidential information
Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and He will make your paths straight.
Do you have trouble trusting someone?
God IS ALL of the trustworthy characteristics. This is His character.
God is Honest
God is Integrity
God speaks the truth always
Acts Chapter 9
Finding Trust in Finding Nemo
Proverbs in Pixar Week 3
Proverbs 3:5-6
Jonathan Hill
What are the qualities you look for in someone you trust?
Take a moment and think about this. What are the qualities you are looking for in someone you trust? If you are online, comment in the chat box. We have staff and volunteers who are standing by to interact with you. If you take notes, jot a few words down. [take a drink of coffee] Did you think of a few attributes? What are the qualities we look for in someone who we consider worthy of our trust?
I have a good friend named Tim. He is my mentor and also a leadership coach. We meet over coffee or breakfast every so often. We have fun together but he also has the gift of straightforwardness. He asks me REALLY hard questions, and then I attempt to answer. He has many more years of wisdom gathering than I do. Usually our conversations end with a big PUSH of encouragement to just dig a little deeper.
Tim knows things about me that could be embarrassing. He knows the ugly stuff that no one except my wife knows.
This is a picture of a medieval knight. They look pretty covered and protected right? Well, notice there are sections in there where the armor doesn't cover. (POINT) Those are his weak areas. Those are the spots if you really want to take him out, you go there. A friend like Tim.. they know all our weak spots and if they wanted to injure you they could. Tim knows vulnerabilities but yet he uses kindness and gentleness mixed with a PUSH to help me to do better and grow. This is what trust can look like...
Maybe you have something similar written down?
I polled the staff this week and here is what they said:
I like the “consistently” part of that last one. A person who I trust is truthful with a high degree of regularity. They are not only truthful when it suits them. [Series Logo]
It is hard to think of a trustworthy person without thinking of the opposite right? Take a second and let yourself go there... when you have experienced an untrustworthy person what was that like?
Take a second and think about that. Again, make a comment online, or write down what you come up with. What are the characteristics of someone who is untrustworthy to you? [pause]
I want to tell you about a car salesman in Dallas, Texas. Let's call him BRUCE.
[10 second clip of Shark in Finding Nemo]
[Series Logo]
So I ventured out one evening to find the most reliable car that my small amount of savings could buy.
Bruce was about the same age as me. We both had a wife and kids. He understood my life circumstances. I shared OVER and OVER again how Dallas traffic was so crazy and we needed something safe to get around. He knew exactly what I was talking about! He felt the same way! He had just the car for us, he was CERTAIN and sold me on it. We bonded some more and he even stayed late after close to help with paperwork. I signed on the dotted line and wrote him a check for all our savings.
I got home that evening and lemme tell ya, I was so proud of the work i had done! I made a big purchase and took care of my wife and new baby. I was feeling really good about myself. When I got back Angela wanted to give it a test drive since she would be the one mostly driving it. I swear...we weren’t two minutes into driving and she says... WHAT IS THAT LOUD CLUNKING noise every time we turn. And I’ll quote her "it feels like the wheel is going to fall off!"
We decided to take our new purchase to the mechanic the next morning. He came back from the garage with the look of a doctor who has bad news. We stood and held our breath.
Turns out the car wasn’t in nearly as good of shape as I had been promised by my friend Bruce. In fact... our mechanic told us not to drive it home! It wasn't even safe to be on the street.
I was not JUST upset about the car. We were able to return it and then 4 MONTHS and many gentle threats later we got our money back. The hard part... Bruce was my friend! Like I really really thought he cared about my family and our safety. However, Bruce was really more interested in making that sale and going home. I see now I fell for a few tactics of someone who is untrustworthy... Things like....
Here are some comments I got about what untrustworthy looks like...
I am sure there could be many more attributes to list here. Online folks, help me out here with your comments.
We are in the third week of a series called Proverbs in Pixar.[series logo] And since these types of series at church are so fun for me, John encouraged me to share with you this morning. I LOVE movies and what they can teach us about ourselves. My birthday is June 29th and almost every year a new Pixar movie comes out around that date. I have gone to see a new Pixar movie around my birthday almost every summer for over 2 decades. The one this summer is called Luca, and we may actually get to see it in a real movie theater with comfy seats, big sound system, giant tubs of popcorn, sour gummy worms and buckets of soda.That sounds nice.
In the first week of this series We talked about Forgiveness in the movie Brave, and last week we talked about Fighting for Joy in the movie Inside Out. This week we are going to focus on Finding Trust in the movie Finding Nemo.
Find Proverbs in your bibles or on your phones. The YouVersion app is great for reading the bible on your phone. Remember, the book of Proverbs has been called a Manual for Living. This is a series of instructions from a parent to their child. We can hear each of these verses as some of the wisest encouragements ever to have been written. Proverbs Chapter 3.
Proverbs 3:5 - 6
This was one of the first verses I purposely tried to memorize. Let’s read this out loud together. Try it at home and here. Read it out loud with us all together.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and He will make your paths straight.
Our movie today has a character who has trust issues. He doesn't trust his son, friends, or even himself. Let me introduce you to Marlin.[photo]
Marlin is a clown fish who is unfortunately not very funny. Instead, he’s incredibly anxious, a constant worrier. When Marlin was younger, his wife and 199 babies were eaten by a barracuda, leaving only Marlin and his son, Nemo. Marlin is incredibly protective of Nemo, to the point that Nemo begins to resent Marlin’s helicopter parenting. On Nemo’s first day of school, Marlin accompanies him to class and follows closely as they take a field trip. Nemo, in an effort to assert his independence, ventures beyond the safe zone and gets captured by a scuba diver. This sets events in motion where Marlin begins a journey to find his son. Thus, “FINDING NEMO”
On his journey to Find Nemo, Marlin meets this fish named Dory [photo] she is sweet and kind and just wants to help. Yes, she has memory issues but her instincts are strong. While Marlin begins his worry spirals, Dory tells him to "just keep swimming" He unfortunately discounts her advice over and over until they are stuck inside of a whale! The good news is Dory can speak whale, Marlin isn't buying it... take a look.
Finding Nemo Clip (Inside the Whale) 4:00
I think we can all relate to Marlin. He has been hurt. He has reason to not trust. However, he can't keep going like this.
So what is your reason? Like me... I have a hard time buying a car because of my one experience with Bruce. Some of you may not trust politicians? What about Pastors? Have you been hurt by someone in church in the past? It is wise to be careful about who we trust. Prudent is the word. James 1:5 says we can ask God for wisdom on things like that.
Can I share another hard truth though... even the most trustworthy person has bad days. People are not flawless. My car guy Bruce... he may have been having a really bad month, and that sale was important to his family. But here comes the Pastor...
God IS all of the attributes of a trustworthy person we mentioned earlier. God is Honest. God is Integrity. God shoots you straight, gently. God IS veracity. God loves you more than you could even imagine. God is trustworthy.He will never let us down. He promises to never leave us or forsake us.
I loved our finding Nemo illustration of trust but the story in Acts 9 takes it a notch deeper. Lets turn there.
[Band come out here] [Keys start playing in D]
God made one of the least believable, hateful men in the Bible into one of the most trustworthy. No logical Christian would purposely cross paths with him. This guy was a part of killing 100’s of Christians. He hated the disciples of Jesus. No one would have trusted him. And of course, this is the man who God chose to change.
Saul was travelling to Damascus with instructions to arrest some Christians who were teaching about Jesus in the city. While Saul was traveling He was confronted by Jesus and told "Saul, Saul why are you persecuting me? I am Jesus, now... Get up and go into the city and you will be told what you must do"
Jesus made himself really known! He didn't mince words.
Meanwhile, one of the Christians in the city, a man named Ananias, is minding his own business when he receives a vision of Jesus.
The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying…”
“Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”... (no big deal, right?)
Ananias is like, “God, I just want to make sure I heard this correctly. You mean Saul. the guy who has been killing all the Christians? You want me to go to meet him - by myself - in a secret location?....riiiight…..”
But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel.”
Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength.” [ Series Logo]
Time and after time God shows us He is the checklist of trustworthiness. He even took someone like Saul... and turned him into Paul. Paul who wrote 13 books of the New Testament... and wrote many of them in prison because of his deep love and TRUST of Jesus. God changed him.
It is really easy to lean on our own understanding. OUR vantage of the world, our experiences, our fears... However, we are told don't DO THAT! Understand trust... who is the definition of TRUST. Lean on that! God will sort it out. Right?
[Singers come out here] [Jonathan step to side of podium]
[Nathan/Cameron/Lucas remove the TV and Podium]
The book of Proverbs has been called a Manual for Living. Today’s instruction from God is that of a father lovingly patting his children on the head and saying “You can trust me.”
Are you giving God the opportunity to reveal His trustworthiness to you? [include chat text on this slide] Are you trusting God with your whole heart and leaning NOT on your own understanding? Where are your blind spots? Do you have someone in your life who like Tim will speak to me will speak honestly to you and are constantly telling you... God is trustworthy! Maybe you need a little encouragement with a push to get out of living purely in "your ways" Meaning you need some help understanding why God can be trusted, why it is good to believe in Him.
Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and He will direct your path. Just let go. You are not being swallowed by a whale and eaten.