This is part of Emptied & Humbled, a movie based Lenten devotional. The whole devotional can be found here.

Lent is about glory. Or in movie terms, the happy ending.

Yes, part of Lent is solemn, contemplative, sorrowful. This is the time when we consider sacrifice and death. But part of Lent is also celebratory! We mourn for Good Friday, but we celebrate the happy ending of Easter Sunday!

Jesus has won. Death has been defeated!

Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (I Corinthians 15:55)

We mourn the death but celebrate the glory.

But (Jesus) emptied himself by taking on the form of a slave, by looking like other men, and by sharing in human nature. He humbled himself, by becoming obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross! As a result God exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow – in heaven and on earth and under the earth – and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:7-11)

Everything Jesus did, he did for the Father’s glory.

He emptied himself for the Father’s glory.

He humbled himself for the Father’s glory.

We saw that Ralph was willing to sacrifice himself to save Vanellope. In doing so he saved all of Sugar Rush and even got to be part of his Fix-it Felix, Jr community.

All Vanellope wanted was to be able to race! She ended up being a princess, the daughter of the true King and got to be part of the Sugar Rush community.

Both Ralph and Vanellope received their glory, they received community.

What community are you a part of?

What community should you be serving?

What should you give back to your community?

This is part of Emptied & Humbled, a movie based Lenten devotional. The whole devotional can be found here.

Get my free e-book, How to See God’s Story in Movies. This free download will help you share God’s story with your kids and students by showing you how to see God’s story in movies.

Not only will this guarantee that you get the latest Reel Parables posts, but you will also get my most popular downloads, including “How to Time Travel.”

And be sure to check out my About page for more info on what I do around here at Reel Parables.

Until next time, God bless.

Simon L Smith

This is part of Emptied & Humbled, a movie based Lenten devotional. The whole devotional can be found here.

Lent is about identity. Like Jesus, the choices and sacrifices we make tend to reveal our true identity. This is doubly true in Wreck-it Ralph!

The Good Bad Guy?

Yea, Ralph is the bad guy in Fix-it Felix, Jr. But by his actions – by his sacrifice – Ralph shows himself to truly be the hero!

His position did not define him, his choices and sacrifice did.

You’ve seen this, I’m sure.

Leaders lead. Just because someone has the word leader in their title or position does not make them a leader. Conversely, we all know people who lead well, even without position or title.

The same is true for pastors, right? Just because someone is a pastor doesn’t mean they are a pastor or a shepherd. At the same time, you probably know someone who is a true pastor – a real shepherd – even though they are not one by trade or title.

The same goes for Ralph. He is the hero – the savior – because of what he did, not because of who he is.

The Real Princess

One of my favorite parts of Wreck-it Ralph is when we find out that Vanellope is really a princess!

(Watch before you continue.)

As I’ve written before, Sugar Rush is under the control of a counterfeit king, King Candy. Sugar Rush is “fallen.” King Candy has reprogrammed Sugar Rush so that no one knows how it used to be or how it should be.

When Vanellope crosses the finish line, something miraculous – something biblical – happens; Sugar Rush is restored and transformed! The curse is lifted and Sugar Rush is restored to its original creation. When this happens we find out that Vanellope is really a princess, the daughter of the true king!

Ralph’s sacrifice saved Vanellope and revealed to her her true identity. Vanellope, the sweet little “glitch,” is really the daughter of the true king!

That’s us!

We are the sweet little “glitches” that, when we trust Jesus, become children of the true King!

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery leading again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself bears witness to our spirit that we are God’s children. And if children, then heirs (namely, heirs of God and also fellow heirs with Christ) — Romans 8:15-17

Because Jesus emptied and humbled himself to the point of death on the cross – and rose again! – we can be adopted into God’s family!

Because of that sacrifice, we know our true identity – we are God’s adopted children!

Lent is about our adoption into God’s family. Lent is about our true identity.

Today, take the time to consider that if you have trusted in Jesus, you are one of God’s kids and a fellow heir with his only begotten son, Jesus.

If you have not yet trusted Jesus, then today is the day!

Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved! (Acts 16:31)

Jesus loves you.

If you have questions about Jesus, the faith, or Lent, please reach out to me.

This is part of Emptied & Humbled, a movie based Lenten devotional. The whole devotional can be found here.

Get my free e-book, How to See God’s Story in Movies. This free download will help you share God’s story with your kids and students by showing you how to see God’s story in movies.

Not only will this guarantee that you get the latest Reel Parables posts, but you will also get my most popular downloads, including “How to Time Travel.”

And be sure to check out my About page for more info on what I do around here at Reel Parables.

Until next time, God bless.

Simon L Smith

This is part of Emptied & Humbled, a movie based Lenten devotional. The whole devotional can be found here.

Lent is about Death. We anticipate Jesus’ death on Good Friday and then celebrate his defeat of death on Easter/Resurrection Sunday!

As we said yesterday, Ralph emptied himself and humbled himself. So much so that he was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. Ralph emptied and humbled himself to the point of death.

Yea, I know he didn’t die.

But he was willing to die.

He thought he was going to die.

And he did it anyway.

Ralph made the ultimate sacrifice.

This sacrifice is the point of Lent.

During Lent, we stop and remember what Jesus did for us. We stop and consider what Jesus sacrificed for us.

We ponder what he emptied himself of. We wonder at how the creator God could humble himself.

Somewhere during Lent, we remember that what he did, he did for us. What he did, he did for me.  What he did, he did for you.

In the same way that Vanellope had he “glitch,” we have our own glitches.

We know our crap. We know the stuff we usually try to hide.

Even with all that stuff, Jesus loves us. Jesus loves us so much that even while we were still dirty, rotten sinners, he died for us.

Yes, Lent is about death.

Not just Jesus’, but also the little deaths we die to every day.

The death of our pride. The death of our own selfish desire. The death of our ego.

What in your life needs to die? What are you holding onto? What do you need to let go of?

This Lent season – today – think about what Jesus did for you. Then consider what you should do for Jesus.

This is part of Emptied & Humbled, a movie based Lenten devotional. The whole devotional can be found here.

Get my free e-book, How to See God’s Story in Movies. This free download will help you share God’s story with your kids and students by showing you how to see God’s story in movies.

Not only will this guarantee that you get the latest Reel Parables posts, but you will also get my most popular downloads, including “How to Time Travel.”

And be sure to check out my About page for more info on what I do around here at Reel Parables.

Until next time, God bless.

Simon L Smith

This is part of Emptied & Humbled, a movie based Lenten devotional. The whole devotional can be found here.

Ralph had a choice to make. Would he help Vanellope or would he pursue his own desire, to take a hero’s medal back to Fix-it Felix, Jr and join the community?

While Spider-man sacrificed his wants, Ralph chose to sacrifice his life.

King Candy, now the “Lord of the Flies” bug-like creature, has Ralph high above Candy Crush. Vanellope, who cannot leave the game, is about to die at the hands claws of the demon-like bugs from the game Hero’s Duty.

Ralph knows that the bugs are drawn to light, that if he can crash the Mentos into the Coke River, then he can erupt the volcano and draw the bugs away from Vanellope.

The catch, however, is that he would have to sacrifice himself. And that is what he does.

Ralph breaks free of King Candy and falls to (what he thinks will be) his death. On the way down he crashes through the Mentos, igniting the Mentos/Coke volcano.

This is exactly the attitude that Jesus has in Philippians 2.

Instead of being motivated by selfish ambition or vanity, each of you should, in humility, be moved to treat one another as more important than yourself. Each of you should be concerned not only about your own interests, but about the interests of others as well. You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had, who though he existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking on the form of a slave, by looking like other men, and by sharing in human nature. He humbled himself, by becoming obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:3-8)

Ralph, like Jesus, thought of others – specifically Vanellope – as more important than himself.

Ralph, like Jesus, emptied himself of his own desire – to go home a hero – and became a servant, serving Vanellope to the point of death.

(Yea, I know he didn’t die, but he thought he was going to die. He was willing to die and chose to sacrifice himself thinking he would die.)

This is how Jesus loves you.

Jesus emptied and humbled himself for you.

But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

Today, instead of thinking of what you need to sacrifice, thank God – thank Jesus – for what he did for you!

This is part of Emptied & Humbled, a movie based Lenten devotional. The whole devotional can be found here.

Get my free e-book, How to See God’s Story in Movies. This free download will help you share God’s story with your kids and students by showing you how to see God’s story in movies.

Not only will this guarantee that you get the latest Reel Parables posts, but you will also get my most popular downloads, including “How to Time Travel.”

And be sure to check out my About page for more info on what I do around here at Reel Parables.

Until next time, God bless.

Simon L Smith

This is part of Emptied & Humbled, a movie based Lenten devotional. The whole devotional can be found here.

Last week we looked at Spider-man 2, Philippians 2, and saw how they both apply to Lent. This week will look at Disney’s Wreck-it Ralph.

Ralph wanted something that we all want; Ralph wanted friends, Ralph wanted community. Ralph, the bad guy of the video game Fix-it Felix, Jr, wanted to be a part of the community. He simply wanted to be friends with Felix and the others.

When Ralph crashed an anniversary party, he found out that he would only be invited if he was a hero, if he won a medal. The problem was, there was no way to win a medal in his game. To win a medal, Ralph had to “go Turbo;” that meant he had to leave Fix-it Felix, Jr and enter a different game.

In the world of Wreck-it Ralph, “going Turbo” was a very bad thing.

And now Ralph had a choice to make; would he stay in his game or would he “go Turbo” to try to win a medal?

In the context of this movie, it is easy to see that the characters in Fix-it Felix, Jr are in the wrong. What Ralph wants is a very good thing. We are all made to live in a community.

First, we are made in the image of God and God lives in a community.

Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness...” (Genesis 1:26)

Before we were even a thing, God lived in a community. God – in the Trinity – lives in a community. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – the holy three-in-one – live in a perfect community. A perfect mix of unity, equality, and submission.

And we were made in his image. It is good for us to live in a community.

Ralph’s desire – his ambition – was a good ambition. Regardless, Ralph still needed to choose between his desire – community – and something greater. That something greater was Vanellope.

Ralph wanted the medal so he could join the Fix-it Felix, Jr community. After he met Vanellope, he had to choose between his own desire and her’s.

He wanted to take the medal back so that he could join the Fix-it Felix, Jr community.

She wants to enter – and win – a race.

What did Jesus want?

So what did Jesus want? What did Jesus give up? I don’t know, to be honest.

But (Jesus) emptied himself by taking on the form of a slave, by looking like other men, and by sharing in human nature. He humbled himself, by becoming obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:7-8)

We know that he emptied himself and took the form of a slave. Yea, I don’t know everything that this means, but it sounds to me that he gave up being the master. Jesus gave up being in charge to being a slave.

We also know that he humbled himself. The creator God, the God that created even life, humbled himself to the point of death. The Lord – the God of Israel – humbled himself to the point of death.

Jesus gave up a lot.

What do you want?

So what do you want? What are you in the middle of choosing between?

Spider-man wanted the girl, grades, and a job. All good things.

Ralph wanted friends. Certainly a very good thing.

But both choose something greater.

What is your greater?

This is part of Emptied & Humbled, a movie based Lenten devotional. The whole devotional can be found here.

Get my free e-book, How to See God’s Story in Movies. This free download will help you share God’s story with your kids and students by showing you how to see God’s story in movies.

Not only will this guarantee that you get the latest Reel Parables posts, but you will also get my most popular downloads, including “How to Time Travel.”

And be sure to check out my About page for more info on what I do around here at Reel Parables.

Until next time, God bless.

Simon L Smith