Category: Christian Movie Review

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

Lent is about glory. Sure, part of Lent is about anticipating Jesus’ death on Good Friday. But the other part of Lent is celebrating Jesus’ resurrection on Easter Sunday. Jesus defeated death!

Death has been swallowed up in victory. “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (I Corinthians 15:54b-55)

I need Lent

As I stated earlier, Lent is a very emotional time for me because it marks the life of my middle child, my middle son, Jude.

Jude was born February 11, the week before Lent began and died, two years later, on April, 12, shortly before Easter. Because of this, Lent is a very emotional and meaningful time for our family.

First, I need to mourn the death of my son. I need to feel the sting of death.

But, I also need to celebrate his life and his eternity. I need a reminder that even though Death took my son, Jesus has already defeated Death!

As we kept saying at his memorial service and funeral service, “Because Jesus lives, Jude lives also.”

Groot and Lent

As we saw earlier, Groot sacrificed himself to save the other Guardians. Groot’s death saved the Guardian’s lives. If Groot did not choose to sacrifice himself to the point of death, then all the Guardians would have died. But Groot did not stay dead! Sound familiar?

Yea, I know it’s not the same as Jesus’ resurrection, but Guardians does show us that there is life after death! Not only do we see Groot die, but we see little Groot live!

When Rocket asks Groot why he was sacrificing himself, he responds, “We are Groot.” Up to this point, all he said was, “I am Groot.” This time it was about community, and that is part of the glory. Because of Groot’s sacrifice – as a result of his death – the other Guardians lived and found community.

Peter Quill – Star-Lord (who?) – is no longer a loner. Drax, who lost his family, is no longer alone. Rocket, who longed for acceptance, now has a family, a community.

Community is part of the glory.

But that is not all; don’t forget that Groot lives!

The life – the glory – is a result of the sacrifice.

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 2:9-11)

Even with Jesus, the glory is a result of the sacrifice.

Want the glory? Great! Just understand that the glory comes as a result of the sacrifice. Jesus didn’t get the glory without the sacrifice and neither will you.

What are you missing out on because you don’t want to deal with the pain or the sacrifice?

[Tweet “What glory are you missing out on because you don’t want the pain that must come first?”]

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

[Tweet “Check out Emptied & Humbled, a movie based Lenten devotional.”]

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. Jesus’ death and resurrection showed that he was both the Son of God and the Son of Man. Spider-man’s sacrifice revealed that his secret identity was Peter Parker. Ralph’s sacrifice showed that he was actually a good guy (even though he was his game’s bad buy). So who is the hero of Guardians of the Galaxy? I say Groot!

Guardians of the Galaxy plays like Star-Lord is the hero, and he does sometimes act heroically, but Groot is the real hero of Guardians!

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can this kind of faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm and eat well,” but you do not give them what the body needs, what good is it? So also faith, if it does not have works, is dead being by itself. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith without works and I will show you faith by my works. You believe that God is one; well and good. Even the demons believe that – and tremble with fear. (James 2:14-19)

Faith without works is dead. Yea, that’s hard to swallow. And, honestly, I am not 100% sure of what it means. But I know this, James, the brother of Jesus, ties our actions to our faith. He even says faith without actions is dead. Wow.

While hard to understand, we see this in the movies we’ve talked about in Emptied and Humbled.

While Peter Parker struggled with his own wants and desires, we know he humbled himself to be the hero because he was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. He was not defined by his lot in life (poor, girlfriend-less college student). Instead, he was defined by his actions.

Even though Ralph was the bad guy in Fix it Felix, Jr, we see by his sacrificial actions that he is really a good guy at heart. He was not defined by his position. Instead, he was defined by his actions.

And what of Vanellope, the messed up girl everyone thought was a mistake or a glitch? Because of Ralph’s sacrifice, we found out that she was really a princess, the daughter of the real king of Sugar Rush.

We see the same thing in Groot. The quiet and (mostly) gentle giant is not defined by his position. No, Groot is defined by his actions! Groot is the hero!

The same is true for Jesus, right?

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

God demonstrated his love. He didn’t just declare it, he demonstrated it, he showed it.

So, I leave you today with this question.

Who are you?

Behind the title, the position, or your lot in life, who are you?

(I trust that part of your answer is that you are a Christian, an adopted child of God, a prince or princess of the one true King, and a fellow heir of Jesus! If not, hit me up. I would love to introduce you to the one that loves you so much that he died for you. I would love to introduce you to Jesus.)

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

[Tweet “Check out Emptied & Humbled, a movie based Lenten devotional.”]

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. Specifically, Lent is about Jesus’ sacrificial death. Yes, a huge part of Lent is preparing for Good Friday.

As we saw yesterday, Groot, like Jesus, chose to make the ultimate sacrifice for his friends, for his community.

While sacrifice does not often lead to physical death, it does usually lead to a death. When we choose one thing over another we must often let our pride, our will, or our own desire die.

Going a little farther, he threw himself down with his face to the ground and prayed, “MyFather, if possible, let this cup pass from me! Yet not what I will, but what you will.” (Matthew 26:39)

Look, I don’t completely understand what this means. But there is some sense where Jesus, the Son of Man, pleaded with God the Father to let the cup, the crucifixion, pass from him. But in the same prayer Jesus, the Son of God, emptied himself of his own will and humbled himself to, submitted to, God the Father.

[Tweet “Sometimes we have to let our own will die for the sake of others.”]

Today I leave you with one question; In what area of your life is God asking you to submit to him?

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

[Tweet “Check out Emptied & Humbled, a movie based Lenten devotional.”]

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 sacrifice. Specifically, Lent is about Jesus’ sacrifice. The thing is, Jesus’ sacrifice is a hard idea to grasp.

As we’ve seen in Philippians 2, Jesus emptied himself and humbled himself. Jesus chose us.

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)

God emptied himself. That is crazy to me. Of what did he empty himself? To be honest, I don’t know. I have some ideas. Some are probably right on. Some probably stray into heresy. But it doesn’t really matter. Jesus emptied himself to the point of sacrificial death.

In Guardians of the Galaxy, we see this in Groot. While everyone else in the movie was looking out for their own selfish ambition, Groot emptied and humbled himself to the point of death. Why? To save others. Groot saw the others as more important than himself. Groot chose their needs over his own.

When Rocket asks him why he did it, Groot, who has only said “I am Groot,” says “We are Groot.” Groot gets community.

[Tweet “Groot shows us what it means to live in community.”]

We belong in a community! We are not made to go through life alone. God created us – and expects us – to be in community.

We see this in the world, right?

Most of us are born into families. Our families are typically part of an ethnic or religious community. We go to school and become part of another community – sports, band, art, geeks, nerds, punks, etc. In college some of us some join academic or social communities, sororities, or fraternities. Those of us that join the military are adopted into a “band of brothers” that often lasts a lifetime. As we grow and develop our own interests and hobbies, we join other communities of like-minded people. We bond instantly when we see someone in our favorite band’s t-shirt or see our Alma mater’s sticker on a car. Some of us are a part of a running club or a specific gym. Our options for a community are virtually endless. We even develop communities around movies. Don’t believe me? Go to a midnight showing of the upcoming Star Wars movie! You will see a whole community dedicated to all things Star Wars!

Chances are you are already part of a community. The question is, is your community good for you? Is your community looking out for you? Is your community helping you become the best “you” possible?

Listen, I don’t think you need to leave your communities (unless its illegal or immoral or something), but do not let your community replace your Church community.

And let us take thought of how to spur one another on to love and good works, not abandoning our own meetings, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and even more so because you see the day drawing near. (Hebrews 10:24-25)

If you are a Christian, then you are a part of the Church and God expects for you to take part in a Church. He even calls us – the Church – the Bride of Christ! Jesus loves us like a husband loves his wife.

Look, I know that most of you probably have wonderfully warm and fuzzy feelings about the Church. I grew up in the Church. My grandfather was a pastor. Even when I hit those “awkward teen years” and felt alienated from the Church, I dug my pastor. He truly loved me unconditionally and was a wonderful face for Jesus’ bride.

But to some of you, the Bride of Christ is quite ugly. Some of you have been hurt – maybe even abused – by the someone in the Church. If this is you, please find a good Church. Don’t let one crappy experience stop you from being a part of God’s community.

When the Church lives like Jesus – and acts like Groot – it is the most amazing community you could ever hope to find.

No Church is perfect – since no Christian is perfect – but the Bride of Christ is a lovely thing when we empty ourselves and humble ourselves to serve others.

You need the Church and the Church needs you.

[Tweet “The Church is at her best when “we are Groot.””]

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

[Tweet “Check out Emptied & Humbled, a movie based Lenten devotional.”]

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