Your Story
Pt. 3 - Trashed?
I. Introduction
We have been following the escapades of Andy's toys . . . Woody and the gang - Buzz, Rex the dinosaur. Stinky Pete the prospector. Bo Peep. Porky the Piggy Bank and of course Woody a rag doll cowboy, his horse Bullseye and Jessie his cowgirl counterpart. But eventually Andy, grows up and in Toy Story 3 you discover that Andy is leaving for college. He wrestles with getting rid of his beloved toys so, rather than throwing away he goes to a family friend's house and as he pulls up he sees a little girl by the name of Bonnie playing with her toys in the front yard. The movie closes with Andy and Bonnie in the yard playing with all the toys he has loved so much. Then he pulls away and he leaves the toys with Bonnie knowing that she will love them as much as he did. Then Toy Story 4 comes along and chronicles a new toy adventure with Woody and the gang and their new owner Bonnie.
VIDEO
At kindergarten Woody watches as Bonnie creates a new toy out off a spork that had been discarded. She names this new toy "Forky" and when she completes constructions and writes her name on "Forky's" stick feet. However, there is a major problem. Forky keeps trying to return to the trash. With these scenes as a backdrop let me take you to Scripture into a scene that is very similar.
Text: Luke 22:54-62 (GNT)
They arrested Jesus and took him away into the house of the High Priest; and Peter followed at a distance. A fire had been lit in the center of the courtyard, and Peter joined those who were sitting around it. When one of the servant women saw him sitting there at the fire, she looked straight at him and said, “This man too was with Jesus!” But Peter denied it, “Woman, I don't even know him!” After a little while a man noticed Peter and said, “You are one of them, too!” But Peter answered, “Man, I am not!” And about an hour later another man insisted strongly, “There isn't any doubt that this man was with Jesus, because he also is a Galilean!” But Peter answered, “Man, I don't know what you are talking about!” At once, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. The Lord turned around and looked straight at Peter, and Peter remembered that the Lord had said to him, “Before the rooster crows tonight, you will say three times that you do not know me.” Peter went out and wept bitterly.
I know the last verse says that Peter went out and wept bitterly. But have you ever really stopped and asked yourself how Peter must have really felt? He just betrayed, let down, turned his back on, failed his best friend, life changer, and savior. He did this when Jesus needed him most. How did he really feel after doing this? Can you imagine how he must have felt when Jesus locked eyes with him as the third and final betrayal crossed Peter's lips? All you have to do to discover how he felt is flip to John's account.
John 21:3
Simon Peter said to the others, “I am going fishing.” “We will come with you,” they told him.
I submit to you that this statement reveals how Peter really felt. He came to the conclusion that he had gone to far. That he had crossed a line he could never recover from. It was over. He had publicly failed and fallen. His hopes were dashed. His dreams crushed. Life ruined. Or . . . to put it in Toy Story terms he was trash.
Here are the lessons from Forky and from Peter . . .
How you see yourself matters. Knowing how your Master see you matters more!
Forky saw himself as trash. Therefore, it impacted how he lived and how he acted. He saw himself as trash so, he wanted to live like trash. But notice what Woody said, "Forky is the most important toy to Bonnie. If Forky would have understood how Bonnie saw him, then he would have recognized he wasn't trash to her.
Peter didn't see himself correctly. He saw himself as a failure. He didn't understand that Jesus still saw him as a follower. He saw himself as a denier but Jesus still saw him as a disciple. That's why in Mark 16 when the women who come to the tomb Jesus appears to them and He tells them to go and tell the disciples and Peter that He is alive. He wanted to make sure that Peter understood that He didn't see him as a failure, as a reject, as trash. He singles Peter out to signal that He still believes in him.
It is imperative this morning that you understand that your Master sees you as valuable, worthy, a treasure, as special, as mentionable. You are a prized possession to Him. Regardless of how bad you have failed. In spite of the fact that you have trashed your life. In spite of the fact that you have made serious mistakes you are still the most important one to Him. That is why we are told that Jesus will leave the 99 just to find you - the one. He values you that much!
How you see yourself matters. But it is more important to know who the Master views you!
Another reason it is important to see yourself correctly and to know how your Master sees you is because if you don't, then you will conclude that . . .
Trash belongs in the trash.
If you see yourself as trash, then you will try to return to the trash. We come into relationship with Christ and we are told "old things pass away and all things are new". We are told we are a new creature. But if we don't change how we see ourselves, then we will continue to go back to the trash. Woody and the other toys spend the entire 4th movie trying to keep Forky out of the trash. Peter sees himself as trash so he goes fishing. He returns to the life he had left. The trade he had walked away from to follow Jesus.
When we see ourselves as trash we go back to the trash. If we don’t know who we are, then we will go back to what we were. I challenge you with this question . . . What is your go back? What do you keep going back to? What habit? What attitude? What relationship? What environment?
What you go back to is a revelation of how you see yourself.
The Children of Israel wanted to go back to ways of Egyptians after they had been delivered? Why? They still saw themselves as slaves. Peter goes back to a boat after he denies Christ. Why? He still saw himself as a fisherman. Why do you keep going back to the bar? Is it because you still see yourself as a drunk? Why do you keep going out with the same kind of man or woman? Is it because you see yourself as needy, damaged, incomplete, undesirable, desperate? Why do you keep going back to the debt? Is it because you see yourself as less than your neighbors?
What you go back to reveals how you see yourself. Treasure keeps hanging out in the trash only because treasure sees itself as trash!
Paul warns us in Romans not to think more highly of yourself than we ought but too many of us take that to mean that we should have no self-esteem. However, the implication is that there is an appropriate level of self-esteem and that it is based in our understanding of how God sees us. The challenge is that we must make sure that we don’t swing the pendulum too far one way or the other. Too much is dangerous and destructive. Not enough is equally as dangerous and destructive.
It is imperative that you quit seeing yourself as trash because . . .
Trash only sees trash!
If you see yourself as trash, then you will see everyone else as trash! When Woody introduces Forky to the gang the first words out of Forky's mouth when he meets the everyone is "trash!" Forky labels the other toys as trash.
Peter basically does the same thing. He sees himself as a failure and so when he quits He pulls the others with him. If I'm a failure, then you must be a failure too so, let's go fishing. If my future is ruined, then yours must be too.
We need you to see yourself how God sees you so that you can see others how God sees them. The reason you see others as worthless is because trash only sees trash. The reason you see others as an interruption is because trash only sees trash. The reason you see others as annoying is because trash only sees trash. Your view of others will change when you see yourself correctly.
I also want to challenge you . . .
We need some trash collectors.
We need to be a group of people that will gather those who are considered trash! We need to rescue them, collect them, protect them, love on them, clean them up and then hear me we have a responsibility to keep one another from returning to the trash. When I see my brother or my sister going back, then, like Woody, I need to rush to get between them and what they used to be so that I can help them see who they are now. I need to be diligent and vocal. I need to continuously remind them how The Master sees them!
Who are you keeping from returning to the trash? They will try to go back. They will try to revert. Can we count on you to cut them off? Will you step in and remind them they are treasured, valued, and necessary?
So, my question for you today is are you trashed? Have you reverted or run back to what you were?
