The 19th of June was a big day. The fifth movie in one of my favorite franchises premiered in the theaters: Toy Story. Toy Story five.
I have not seen it yet. So, in my sermon today I will not give any spoilers. But I would like to talk about the franchise because it just is great. And in many ways, it relates to today’s Readings.
“… love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…”
That is just one of the many quotes from today’s Readings that resonates a lot with Toy Story because to begin with – in the first movie – the story that is told is all about hatred towards an enemy that turns into love.
Woody. Sherif Woody is Andy’s favorite toy, and he loves living in that glory. He has been his favorite toy for a long time and all the other toy respect him – or at least respect his special relationship to Andy.
Oh, and just to those of you who are not all that familiar with the franchise: The movies are about how toys come to live once no human being is present. They have fun together, organize themselves, and settle issues if any occur.
Andy loves all his toy – plays with it and takes care of it – so in short, they have themselves a paradise on earth. This is not to be taken for granted though. Either the owner of the toy can be mean, or the toy can fight among each other.
Anyway, back to Woody. All is good. At least until a foreigner arrives. A foreigner who is loved by Andy. Loved so much that Woody gets jealous. And in jealousy, Woody have this new toy – the Space Ranger, Buzz Lightyear – kicked out of the sanctuary they live in.
Truly Woody did not love his enemy. A thing we are told to do in today’s Gospel Reading. Nor did he share his wealth with this new toy. A thing that we in today’s Old Testament Reading are told to do.
Instead, he is judging him evil the instance he sees him. Something we are warned against in today’s New Testament Reading. He is not really acting like a hero.
Because of this many people have a hard time loving Woody – at least to begin with – but to me the great thing about the franchise – and the first movie in particular – is not how the toy acts as a hero or not. The strength of the franchise is how the toy always grows. Grows in friendship. Grows in joy. Grow in love.
A lot of things happen in the first movie, and I am not here to repeat all of it. But summing up, Woody and Buzz not only become friends, but they also become partners. Once they were enemies. Once they persecuted one another.
But as they faced a series of things together, they experienced how hatred was not at all beneficials. They had to work together. And not just the two of them. But they had to work together with toys from a different house as well – a different country with another ruler.
Many do not like Woody to begin with, but let us think for a moment about how we would react if we were put through the same things as him.
I am pretty sure we would react to some degree in the same way. And here I do not want to make judgement of us. All I want to do is for us to realize how showing love – love to your enemy – truly is a hard thing to do.
Because of that, what I like about the movie and the franchise is how it constantly tells us about the benefits of working together, the benefits of love.
“… none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone…”
This was said in today’s New Testament Reading and truly Andy’s Toy throughout the franchise have experienced this. So much that they – in a way that always makes me cry – holds hands just as they are bound to be burned in the third movie.
Today we just had a baptism. The wonder of baptism can be explained very nicely through the franchise of Toy Story as well.
Of course there is the unity that I have just talked about. With baptism you become a part of a similar unity. A unity that will last. With baptism ‘we belong to the Lord’.
Being in a unity with God is in the franchise of Toy Story nicely explained through the God of the toy: Andy.
Andy takes good care of his toy. And he has fun with it. And most iconically he writes on all his toys with a permanent marker.
And throughout the franchise we see times when the toy is either lost or discouraged. Then it sees the letters though: A-N-D-Y. And they are reminded that they belong somewhere. Somewhere good. They get back on their feet and fight for a better world.
So, it is with baptism. Through baptism God writes his name on us. And nothing can overpaint what God has written on us. We are his. Beloved and protected. Saved – even from death.
Now comes the fifth movie in the franchise. Again, I have not seen it. Hence, I cannot give any spoilers. But I truly look forward to seeing it which I will later today. Not least because the trailers looks so good.
This time the enemy does not seem to be a toy or a person, but a tabloid. A tabloid that keeps the kid away from playing with the toy.
I love this because of how it is current. And then it also relates interesting to what I have talked about in my sermon today.
Because in a way one should think that the tabloid would assist us in making more friends than enemies. After all, through the tabloid and the like we are exposed to more people. More people whom we have the potential of bonding with.
But it is not so. Echo chambers exist, and sociologists suggest that we see more enemies are created than friends when we expose ourselves to other people through a screen.
How come? Well because the more we dwell into echo chambers, the less we engage with other. Just the more likely we are to regard the stranger as one who will oppose us. After all, the person is not down in the ditch with us.
And so, despite exposing us to more, we do not use it as a benefit. Rather it makes us see enemies everywhere – just as Woody saw Buzz as an enemy the moment, he entered Andy’s chamber.
And here we are not as good as Woody and Buzz in showing love towards our enemies. No, we have a lot to learn from Toy Story. Just as we have a lot to learn from the Bible.
I do not know how the fight against the tabloid will be, but I somehow guess that although the tabloid to begin with might be seen as an enemy, it by the end will be seen as a friend. After all, that will be in great line with the rest of the movies. Just as it will be in great line with what we are told in today’s Biblical Readings.
I look forward to seeing it later today and will most likely include it in one of my future sermons once we all have had a chance to see it. Either with our children, grandchildren or great grandchildren.
Amen.