Optimus Prime & Sacrifice

"One shall stand, one shall fall," --Optimus Prime 

On Memorial Day, we stop to thank those who have paid the ultimate price for our freedom, those countless men and women over the generations who have willingly laid down their lives for others.

Sacrifice is a lost virtue in today's society and yet it is so central to the Gospel.  Social media, selfies, and an entire industry of reality shows centered around vapid self-centered people have conspired to baptize this generation in narcissism.

As a result, the Christian idea of sacrificing for others often falls on deaf ears.

As a child of the 1980s, I was one of many in that generation traumatized by the death of Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots.  Any child of the 1980s knows who the Transformers are--robots in disguise!  The evil Decepticons and the heroic Autobots were locked in a struggle for survival throughout the mid 1980s.  The cartoon show was part of my afternoon routine growing up.  If I didn't have a VHS tape ready to "time record" them, I needed to be there.  There were no such things as DVR, On Demand, or Netflix.  How did we survive?

Optimus Prime was my favorite.  I didn't own his toy until much later, however, as he was expensive. My Transformers were usually the cheaper ones.  So, the Autobots in my bedroom were often being led by lesser robots in hopes that Optimus Prime would one day arrive.  Then I had the great idea of pausing my VHS tapes and drawing the Transformers one by one.  I then cut them out and played with paper dolls of my heroes.  It was quite impressive.  I had a complete set of drawings.  And if one of them ripped or got faded, I just drew a new one!

Anyway, after several seasons, the cartoon series made the leap to the big screen in Transformers: The Movie. This seemed exciting.  Optimus Prime on the big screen!  That booming voice!  That awesome heroism!  The epic smackdown between Prime and Megatron!  That is until kids realized that the toy makers who inspired the show apparently needed to create a new line of toys and directed the storyline of the movie to kill off all that we held dear.

That included Optimus Prime.

As the Autobots on earth were nearly slaughtered, Optimus Prime showed up to save the day.  Graced with his own musical montage of the 1980s rock anthem called "The Touch," our dear Optimus Prime single-handedly defeated the entire Decepticon army.

Then he faced Megatron with the promise that "One shall stand, one shall fall."

Optimus was rocking it.  Then that annoying new toy Hot Rod interfered and Megatron got a massive shot in at Optimus Prime.  Although Megatron was also mortally wounded (so that they could introduce the new Galvatron toy!) Optimus Prime died and handed off the leadership of the Autobots to another new toy.  This was about 40 minutes into the movie.  Oh, and annoying Hot Rod ended up becoming the new leader by the end of the film.  What a kick to the gut!

There was weeping, gnashing of teeth and rending of garments. I would say that I went on a hunger strike, but as a chunky kid, I likely sought comfort in the house of TastyKake.

In fact, so scarred by Prime's death was I that when I saw the Michael Bay film Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, and witnessed Prime die on screen a second time, I turned to my friend and stated, "Optimus Prime better come back to life before this movie ends or I will burn this theater to the ground!"

Although I joined in the massive letter writing campaign that ultimately convinced Hasbro to bring Optimus Prime back from the dead, I learned a great lesson as a heart-broken 10 year old.

John 15:12-14 says:

"This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you."

Today's generation is so soaked in narcissism that it is missing out on what Optimus Prime understood: there is honor in laying down your life for others.  Jesus modeled this in His own sacrifice for our sins, but it was really the culmination of living an ENTIRE life putting Himself aside in favor of serving others.

Jesus laid down His life for our salvation, but He also continually laid down self in every action He took during her earthly life.

On Memorial Day, when we stop to remember those who gave their lives for our freedom,  it's probably a good idea to stop and think about our priorities in life and how we choose to live.

Do we put others first?  Do we serve others?  Do we understand the life-altering freedom-giving power of sacrifice?  When asked to sum up the greatest commandments, Jesus said to love God with all of your being and to love your neighbor as yourself.

In order to fully embrace the Christian life that Jesus has in mind for us, we need to embrace our inner Optimus Prime (complete with 1980s rock anthem of your choice) as we slay the Decepticon armies surrounding mankind.

Sacrifice.  Don't miss it.  When you "lose" your life as you narcissistically define it, you will gain a life beyond your comprehension just like Optimus Prime.

MERRY CHRISTMAS: Jesus For Kids From 1 to 92 (And Beyond!)

Last night we had the honor of presenting the Christmas story to the kids of Calvary Fellowship.  It was a really fun time!  As we took the time to walk through the nativity story a few new things jumped out at us. Our daughter Reagan insisted that she must play the part of Elizabeth. Now, we weren't really going to get into the whole Mary visits Elizabeth portion of the story, but since Reagan insisted that she had perfected her impersonation of a pregnant elderly woman, we felt that we had to find some way to incorporate it into the lesson.

So we talked about John the Baptist leaping in his mother's womb when Mary and the unborn Christ came to visit.  We talked about how awesome that was because the unborn John is the youngest person featured in the Bible to recognize Christ as the Messiah worth leaping over.  It was a pretty cool presentation and Reagan giggled as the baby doll hidden under her coat jumped around.

As we continued the story of the nativity, we noticed that it is a study in contrasts meant to demonstrate God's love for all humanity.  The story of Christmas is that Jesus came to earth for all of us.  And so in the context of the story, you have the unborn John the Baptist leaping for joy at the arrival of  Messiah and then at the other end of the story you have the aged Anna the Prophetess and Simeon celebrating the arrival of Messiah at the temple.  Simeon famously had asked God not to let him die until he saw the arrival of Messiah.  Anna had been widowed early on and spent the bulk of her life single and devoted to teaching the Word of God as a prophetess.  In the words of the famous Christmas song, Jesus is demonstrating to us that He's truly come for kids from 1 to 92.  (Editor's note:  I need to extend that age because my grandmother is now 97 and I don't want her to feel left out!)

As we continued to present the story of the nativity we talked about the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Prince of Peace, Mighty God, Wonderful Counselor, Emmanuel (special thanks to Amy Grant for burning those titles in my mind in the 1980s with her Christmas classic!) who decided that even though He was the most important baby to ever be born on planet earth, He would be born in a stinky manger among animals in Bethlehem--the tiny little town known as the "house of bread."  

We talked about the shepherds (as played by Phineas and Ferb with a stuffed alligator & Perry the platypus as their sheep) and how in the eyes of the world, these guys weren't important.  They weren't super rich.  They weren't super powerful.  Most people wouldn't really think twice about these guys.  They probably smelled bad. (Ew, gross!)  They were better friends with the animals than they were with most of the people in their community.  And yet on that very first Christmas, God sent angels to invite them to herald the arrival of the Messiah in that stinky manger in Bethlehem.

Phineas and Ferb were very impressed indeed.

And yet in a study of contrasts this English teacher truly enjoys, we find another element at the manger with the entrance of the apparently super-wealthy wise men (sometimes referred to as kings) who give Jesus all sorts of fancy super expensive gifts. In our version the wise men were represented by Optimus Prime, Yoda and Mario (Luigi was not available as he was competing in a race on the Luigi circuit against Dry Bones and Koopa Troopa.)

 In the course of a few short verses God comes to earth to dwell among folks ranging from the unborn to the super elderly (which admittedly sounds like a new kind of super hero, but in this case just means really really old--even older than my elderly 35 years) and the poor insignificant social outcasts of the shepherds (not to impugn the reputation of Phineas and Ferb) to the super important and "lifestyles of the rich and famous" types the wise men represented.

This quiet little birth in the dirty barn full of animals represented such a paradigm shift in eternity that the entire world was rocked.  We sing of it being a "Silent Night" and in many ways it was, but this truly was the birth heard round the world.

As that young Mary gave birth to Jesus in the midst of animal filth, death's grip on humanity was shattered,  The angel-filled sky lit up as God came to dwell among man.  Eternity split open time itself and a Savior stepped in to contend for our very souls.  Life entered death and won.  Love entered into hatred and division and brought peace, joy and reconciliation.

Those shepherds witnessed the beginning of death's end, the beginning of Satan's demise.  The Bread of Life came to feed us.  The Good Shepherd came to tend His flock.  The Wise King of Kings came to dwell among the common folk to lead us to Him.

Everything about His birth testified to the awesome power and reality-changing truth represented in that moment. The Bread of Life was born into the town known as the "house of bread." The shepherds and visiting kings testified to His identity as the Good Shepherd and the King of Kings and source of all wisdom.  The humble circumstances of His birth testified to His servanthood.  The star testified to His deity.  The wide array of ages, social classes and financial means represented at his manger-side testified to the universal nature of His mission.  That not one should perish but that all should have eternal life--all who will, like the shepherds, drop everything to run to Jesus.  Those who will, like the wise men, no longer trust in their own wealth or achievements but seek Jesus for their identity.

And even though the hatred of Herod and power-hungry narcissism of Caesar Augustus testified to the haughtiness of man and worldly power, the glory of that Christmas night in the manger demonstrated that even the most powerful forces of the world could not stop Jesus from accomplishing His purposes and His Will.  A maniacal king couldn't stop a simple baby being born to two insignificant folks in a barn full of animals.

May we, like Phineas, Ferb, Perry, Optimus Prime, Yoda, and Mario find the powerful truth of our salvation, joy and hope in that eternity-changing, life-saving, paradigm-shifting collision of heaven and earth found in that little manger in Bethlehem.  May we find our salvation, hope and identity in Christ alone.  And may we never lose that sense of awestruck wonder that the lowly shepherds and the lofty wise men shared that first Christmas season.  And may all of us from the baby Johnny boys to the geezer-tastic Annas and Simeons find that Messiah and know Him as the Lord and Savior of our lives.

Merry Christmas!