Tell his story

I had assumed the relaxation position.  I had an ice cold mountain dew sitting on the coffee table next to me and I was reclining on the sofa with the remote control in my hand.  As I began flipping through the channels, I realized quickly that my laziness was missing just one thing, something to watch on TV.  Finally, I decided to watch Happy Feet.  I've always thought it was one of those movies that I could take or leave.  Not particularly a movie I would just put in and watch, but still a movie that I can at least sit through.  I turned to it right around the scene where the main character Mumbo is making his trek to the coast to figure out what has happened to the fish.  He quickly discovers that the humans are responsible for disrupting the food chain and have taken away all the fish.  Having vowed to save his fellow penguins from starvation, he makes the ultimate sacrifice, he dives off a cliff and follows the fishing boat to stop them from taking the fish.

Now right around this point is where I started to notice my throat begin to clench and moisture begin to appear near my eyes... yes I was beginning to tear up.  I started thinking about it and how he didn't know if he would return or if any of his efforts would have any impact, but he knew that he had to do something, anything.  He told the other penguins to tell his family goodbye and that he had done all that he could.  Then he really did all that he could and followed the boat until he washed up on shore completely exhausted and near death.  Lovelace, one of the other penguins, shouts in a loud booming voice after him, that he would be telling his story long after Mumbo is dead and gone.

The moral of the story is the sacrifice that Mumbo shows through his actions.  He chooses to sacrifice himself so that the colony of penguins can survive, despite the fact that they rejected him for being different.  Now sure, this a kids movie and please don't take this as an assault to your intelligence, I just feel that we could learn a lot from it.  This is the same kind of sacrifice that Jesus showed us.  He gave up his life so that we may have life abundantly.  He chose to give us his life despite our first condemning Him.  Whenever I see that kind of sacrifice, something deep within me wells up inside and pushes me towards a desire for greater surrender.

The title of this blog is "Longing for Passionate Surrender."  The Passionate Surrender that I'm talking about is the kind of surrender where you are so devoted to God that every part of your being shouts his praises.  It is the kind of surrender that denies self and seeks to lift up others.  It is the kind of surrender that seeks to change the world.  The kind of passion that is always seeking to bring glory to God.  Whether it be by bringing a meal to the homeless, doing your job with integrity, or speaking an encouraging word to someone.  It is about living every moment in step with the spirit of God, conforming to his will.  It is the surrender of every part of yourself to God's purposes.

Our call to surrender is one and the same as Lovelace's call in the story.  God sacrificed for us and gave us the opportunity to share in the work that he is active in doing.  He calls us to boldly proclaim the story of Christ.  To show others how Jesus has impacted our lives.  Paradoxically, we are to surrender ourselves so that we can have abundant life.   Proclaim boldly the message of Jesus.  Do it through your actions, your words and by who you are as a person.  May our message continue to repeat that Jesus IS Lord and may we never be too proud to accept the insights of a kids movie.