Christmas Movies at the Port The Island of Misfit Toys Westport Christian Church December 21, 2014
When you are talking to someone about the church, not this congregation but the Church in general, do you find it hard to describe the people within the Church? What do you say? You can t say people in the church are perfect because that isn t true. So what can we say? One of the things I say is simply, we re different. I think we need to just tell them the truth, the best way to describe people in the church is simply to understand that we are sinners saved by God s grace. I mean we are different, are we not? I mean we should be. So this morning I want all of us to understand that according to the world we are misfits. So, I feel that our movie this morning is the perfect fit for the church, The Island of Misfit Toys. Isn t that really a great description of the Church? In case you are not familiar with the movie, The Island of Misfit Toys, is about a location where toys go that are no longer wanted or because they were broken. Other toys were weird looking with defects like a train with square wheels or a toy boat that sinks in water instead of floating or a water pistol that shoots jelly. There is a Charlie in the Box, an elf named Hermy that wants to be a dentist. Yukon Cornelius a boisterous prospector whose goal is to find silver and gold to get rich quick. A bird that swims instead of flying and we can t forget about the Bumble. They all had something in common, they were simply looking for acceptance and the desire to be useful. And how can we forget about the leader of the island. A king, not just a king but a lion with a
crown on his head who welcomes in the misfits no matter who they are. Many people feel like those misfit toys-unwanted, messed up, weird, or defective in some way. Have you ever felt like a misfit? I have. Have you ever been called a misfit? I have. Do you know people who feel like they are misfits? I do. There are so many people who the world would consider misfits who desire to know they are loved and accepted and that is the responsibility of the church. Now I know the Bible doesn t use the term misfits, and even the terms the Bible does use is rejected by the world. The term the Bible uses instead of misfit is the poor, the hurting, the sick, the wounded, the lost, and even sinners. We read passages like, And hearingthis, Jesus said to them, It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners. (Mark 2:17NASB) In Luke 15:2 when the Pharisees were talking about Jesus they said, This man receives sinners and eats with them. In other words, this man eats with misfits. The church should be filled with misfits because it is the church that should be expressing the love of Jesus Christ to everyone. The world doesn t want anything to do with someone that they deem different, or strange, or weird. Did you know that throughout history, some of the most brilliant minds and world leaders would fit into the category of misfits? Let me share with you just a few.
G.K. Chesterton, the English writer, could not read until he was eight. One of his teachers told him, "If we could open your head we should not find any brain, but only a lump of white fat." Thomas Edison s first teacher described him as "addled," and his father almost convinced him he was a "dunce." Albert Einstein s parents feared their child was dull, and he performed so badly in all high school courses except mathematics that a teacher asked him to drop out. Winston Churchill seemed so dull as a youth that his father thought he might be incapable of earning a living in England. God enjoys using what the world would call misfits. Paul wrote, For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God. But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD. (1Cor. 1:26-31NASB) This morning I don t want you all to think of yourselves as misfits I want you to see yourself as someone that God can use in mighty ways. You may be sitting here thinking, Really? Preacher do you really think God wants me much less use me?
Yes I do. As a matter of fact, I just want to share with you some of the people that God has used in the past. Let s start with Abraham. Abraham had a problem with telling the whole truth. When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, This is his wife. Then they will kill me, but they will let you live. Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake. (Genesis 12:11-13ESV) Yet he became the father of the Israelite people through which Jesus came into the world. And then we have Moses. Moses was a murderer who lost his temper several times. God still used him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt to the promised land of Canaan. Do you remember Eli? We discover Eli in the Old Testament who was a bad father who did not discipline his sons, but God let him raise Samuel who became a great prophet and judge. How about one of the Old Testament prophets, Jeremiah. He was the most pessimistic prophet burdened with sorrow, yet he wrote a warning to us found in the Old Testament books of Jeremiah and Lamentations. And if that isn t enough let s look at some people in the New Testament. Let s just start with Peter. We know Peter had a problem with putting his foot in his mouth. We know that he was rebuked by Jesus more than once and if that isn t enough he even denied that he knew Jesus. Yet God used
Peter to proclaim the first Gospel message that began the Church and 3,000 people were saved. Then we have James and John. Two brothers who threw a fit and wanted to destroy a whole city and if that wasn t enough they argued over who was the best and even had the mother involved. Yet it was John wrote three letter we have in our New Testament today. It was John writes to the church an encouraging letter to keep the faith. And how can we forget about Saul who not only persecuted the church but had people put in prison and some killed just because they believed in Jesus. He became a believer and became Paul, the greatest missionary the world has even know. Not only that, he wrote two-thirds of the New Testament. I haven t mentioned Jacob was a cheater, David had an affair, Noah got drunk, Gideon was insecure, Miriam was a gossiper, Jonah ran from God, Hosea had a bad wife Rahab and Tamar enjoyed the company of men, Martha was a worrier, Thomas was a doubter, Sara was impatient, Elijah was moody, Moses stuttered, Zacchaeus was short, Abraham was old, and Lazarus was dead. What s your excuse? God doesn t call the perfect, he perfects the ones He calls. As a matter of fact, it was a bunch of misfits that received the message that a special child had been born. In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them,
Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased. When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us. So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger. When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. (Luke 2:8-18NASB) The birth of the King of kings and the Lord of lords, was proclaimed to some shepherds, some misfits of the day. Now I want to make sure you all understand some very important things about the people God used. They were all sinners because they sinned. Some of them God punished because of their sins others repented of their sins and God welcomed them in. And some of us even though we have repented and came to Christ, there is still consequences of our past sinful life that we may have to face, but the truth is God always took
ordinary people and used them to achieve extraordinary results. God used 12 misfits to change the world. And today, God has confidence in us to proclaim to hurting, loss people everywhere. God has chosen the foolish things of this world to prove to an unbelieving world who He is and he desires to use the misfits of the world to express His strength and His love. Conclusion; A story is told about a man named John who attended a love in action meeting. Love in action a group dealing with sexual addiction. John tells the story of sitting in on one of their group meetings. He had never experienced anything like this before. There was a good size group of men and one of the men stood up and went to the front of the group and he began to tell his story, to share his testimony. He told about driving home one night, passing a nightclub for adults. He said when I drove by that nightclub and I really wanted to stop. When he said this many of the men raised their hands and John was confused, who would ask a question at a time like this, he as uncomfortable and he began to think who would raise their hand to ask a question during this time. The guy continued and said I turned around and went in and many of the men raised their hand again. He said I went inside and there I spent the night and again many hands went into the air. He continued to share his story about what he did and once again many hands went up. In his story he said after he had left that place, he felt like God
could never love him. After he said that all the hands in the room went up except John s. Why so many question After the meeting was over the director went to John and said, you look troubled, in which John said I am. Why was there so many questions and no answers? Why so many hands raise without a response? The director told him we have one rule here at love in action, you never struggle alone. So if you have ever struggled with the same thing someone is confessing you have to raise your hand when someone confesses it. That need to happen here, that needs to mark who we are as a church in a more significant and meaningful way. We need to be a place of raised hands, not pointing fingers. We need to understand that we are all misfit toys. Just like the movie, Island of Misfit Toys, we too have a King. Not just any king, not just a lion, but the Lion of Judah and the King of all kings. My friends, the church is the Island of misfit toys, welcome home! Amen!